A Pentwater Afternoon

 Here's Pentwater Lake, although that wasn't the focus of my activities, it's always nice.

The primary reason I went there is the last thing I did. But since I was headed that way, I got in a few fast miles at the Pentwater Pathway trails. And I do mean fast. I cut myself short on time. But the trails were dry.

I ended up with just 45 minutes to walk. I tried for the 2.6 mile loop, and I did it, but I was moving! I haven't hiked the trails there for several years, so it was fun to visit some of them again. There are more loops- it's really set up for X-Country skiing.

I made it back to town in time to participate in the Wednesday evening dinners at their Methodist Church. Tonight was spaghetti.

But my primary reason for the trip was to be a substitue ringer in their bell choir this weekend, and tonight was the practice.

Let's say that my sight-reading skills had a good workout. Only one of the pieces has a hard spot where there is an impossible page turn, so I'm doing a little fix to overcome that. We have one more practice on Sunday morning, and then we play. Whew!

Total miles hiked in 2024: 108.3 of which 18.7 is North Country Trail.

Pentwater Pathways, Pentwater, MI. Blue Loop, 2.6 miles

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Pentwater Pathway with Cathy

  Cathy didn't work today- she is semi-retired now, and we went to the Pentwater Pathway and did the loops in such a way that our miles added up to 7.7.

The terrain is similar throughout the forest where it's located, and things are still brown and gray. That means pictures tend to look mostly like this. But since it's a series of ski loops there are some decent hills.

Here's a large black oak. We stopped on Long Bridge on the way home. It was super windy locally for almost 24 hours. It's finally calmed down now, but you can see how windblown we were out there in the open. It wasn't bad at all in the woods, though.

Here's the view down the lake, toward the village of Pentwater. Similar view in the link below about kayaking.

The temperature made it into the 50s, the sky was clear, and the water blue. I love the blue and tan of the old cattails. (not snow in the background but sandbags- big problems here with high water last year)

A lone mute swan was hunting for lunch.

Nice hike, nice day.

Pentwater Pathway, Pentwater, Michigan. Various loops for a total of 7.7 miles

In other news: I came home and got cleaned up and did a few odds and ends. Since the wind was trying to remove the tarp from my trailer, it's now officially removed for the season.

See Pentwater Pathway Hike See Kayaks Loaded, Kayaks Launched

Same and Different

 
I'm always fascinated by the textures of water surfaces in different lights. I can let my eyes unfocus and see the patterns shifting and swirling, the colors weaving in and out. Yet it's so hard to capture that with a camera. Our brains must do some editing on the raw data.

But here are two attempts at sharing the moods of Pentwater Lake with you.





Ready to call it a day. Tomorrow is work.

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More Fun! What, Me Work?

 
Just call me Maynard G. Krebs. And if you are old enough to understand this joke, you'll know how young we are. Today after church I headed for Pentwater to spend time with Loretta, GayLynne and Paula. Loretta leaves to go home in the morning. So sad.

We sure do have fun when she's here.



Lunch, fooling around, games, and watching the sunset over Pentwater Lake. Mighty fine.







What, you don't think we were having enough fun? OK, how about this?

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Kicking Back - Awesome Day!

 
Got to spend the day with Loretta, Paula and GayLynne. After a leisurely morning, we headed out for a couple hours of kayaking. Relaxed!



Loretta and Paula exhibit good form. We paddled downstream on the Pentwater River into Pentwater Lake and around to a landing near the house.





Back at the house, Loretta and I had to check out Paula's zipline, built for the grandkids. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it too!





Ending the day with pizza!

Of course, now I have to go to work very soon, but what an awesome day!

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An All-American Day

 
I was out doing assignments all afternoon, and then had to go out in the evening again. It was one of those perfect summer days... warm with a light breeze that kept it from getting too hot.

I was out in real farm country... acres and acres of fields and orchards. Red barns, big trees shading lawns.



The wheat isn't quite amber yet, but it sure was waving.



Coming home across Longbridge...Pentwater in the sunset. I caught a big bird in the shot.



Then I looked to see what it was... Sure enough. An eagle! He scooped up a fish and flew away.

	See Kayaks Loaded, Kayaks Launched for the Pentwater scene in daylight
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Kayaks Loaded Kayaks Launched

 

The day got off to an iffy start with gray skies and a downpour. But I had loaded the kayaks last night, and things can always get better, right?



I have the loan of a kayak for the summer from Dave and Loren, who are off bicycling across the country (see A Front Seat View).

The rain and clouds blew away and the sky turned blue. So after church, we launched the kayaks into Pentwater Lake. The wind was strong and the water choppy, but not too bad.



Fortunately, we were paddling against the wind on the way out, so we knew it would be easier coming back. How far did we go? We paddled all the way to Longbridge from the marina.



I took this picture just after turning around, and our return destination is beyond the water tower. But the wind pretty much pushed us back. We sure made the return trip faster! Total miles, about three, in roughly two hours.



By then our small lunch had completely worn off so we got sandwiches (I had a BLT, Loretta had grilled cheese and ham), then we went to the local patriotic concert. Excellent program!

It was a wonderful, relaxing day, and I feel as if I can actually face work tomorrow! Thanks, Loretta!

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