Four Bridges to Home

Yes, I am safely home. And I want to say a definite thanks to God that I managed to miss driving in any bad storms either coming or going. Mostly clear roads, and only a little rain to drive in. That said, it was a long time in the car today. The longest driving day in a couple of years- 10.5 hours. I'd like to quit doing that, but I need to develop a friend near Port Huron to break it up.

Anyway, here's where I was last night- with Dan and Ruth in Canandaigua, NY. They are two of the few people who have walked the entire North Country Trail and I love spending time with them. We have much in common.

I show you three of these bridges that define my route home pretty regularly. But I got pix of all of them today! First up is the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, NY, to Fort Erie, Ontario.

Then when you leave Canada at Sarnia/Port Huron, you cross the Blue Water Bridge into Michigan.

When I take the northern route home it puts me over the Zilwaukee Bridge.

And I'm adding this one in. This is a causeway type brigde over Sanford Lake. This was in the news in 2020 when the dam that created it failed. No one died, but it was pretty dramatic. Repairs have been made and the lake is beginning to refill. So I included this picture because you can see the ice surface beyond the guardrail.

I think I have a touch of Marie's cold. And I have to get up and go to a meeting in the morning which is why I had to get home today. I'm going to bed early. No walking occurred except to and from the car. I'm pretty stiff, but not as bad as I expected.

What a wonderful trip!

See Travel Adventures

That Large Acquisition

I mentioned a large purchase a week or so ago. Well, it arrived on Tuesday.

What is lurking back there in the shadows?

It's big.

Well, the delivery guy was a young man with nothing on his mind except delivery. He was going to leave it in the middle of the driveway. "Wait a minute," I said. "You've got a pallet jack... we are at least going to put it over at the edge."

So we did that, and he was gone in a flash.

Um... what just happened here? I now have a new lawnmower, but it's not even fully assembled. It's in a crate stacked on a pallet. The wheels aren't even on the pallet. It weighs (according to the specs) 615 pounds. I don't think I'm getting this baby on the ground without help.

Friend Dan to the rescue again. He and I together were actually able to get it on the ground. He wanted to see it put together, so we assembled the disconnected pieces. It does have oil in it, but no gas. I will go get gas tomorrow. Oh, and Riley! Riley helped of course because I got a pupper fix.

Yes, this is a big deal. But I just couldn't face another summer of having a mower that didn't work more often than it did. I had gotten the former mower started, and did a little bit last week, but it was already acting up. And it just never was heavy-duty enough for what I'm trying to do here.

I did go to the retalier where I made the purchase and suggested to them that they at least warn people who order this (with the free delivery option because the store didn't have any in stock) that they are going to get something that isn't ready to run. I also mentioned that I paid the same price as I would have if this had been on their floor, ready to run and drive onto my trailer. But they didn't offer to give me any money back. No comment.

I am holding my breath until I actually have it running tomorrow, but I'm tentatively thrilled that I once again own a tractor worthy of the name. 547 cc engine. 15.7 HP, 42" deck. 18-in turning radius. Vroom, vroom!

And I am going to owe Dan bigtime. He seems to be my secret weapon for success this season.

I had high energy today and got a lot of work done outside as well as editing and other stuff. Finished the first weed-through on the rock garden for the year. I know I promised you flowers today, but the mower took priority. Flowers tomorrow!

See A Little Help from a Friend