Kitchener, Stratford, and Port Huron

Our trip is over and we're home sweet home. Just in time for a low grade heat wave. But here's the rest of our vacation.

After we left Niagara we headed inland to Kitchener where Jon gave a workshop to a group of piano teachers. We could have done without Kitchener. It was a little like walking into Twin Peaks. Or the Twilight Zone. Odd, odd, odd.

Calvin and I went to The Museum (really, that's its name) while Jon was lecturing, but their idea of a museum was pretty lame. Best part? Working the animatronic dinosaur parts.

We got the heck out of Kitchener as fast as we could and landed in peaceful Stratford for two days. What a totally different experience from Niagara and its neon flashing lights. In Stratford we took a pontoon boat tour, ate at the local restaurants, shopped in the quaint shoppes, and stayed in an inn above a tavern right on the main street, a block away from the theatre and the river.

Ye olde fashioned accommodations.

We ate breakfast at the local bakery across the street (chocolate croissants and fresh coffee). We talked to ducks, geese, and swans by the river. We played pianos street side. We relaxed and took it in, two days in a row.

Of course the real point of our stop there was to take in a show, and we saw Pirates of Penzance on Wednesday afternoon. It enchanted us to end. Calvin loved it. We played the CD all the way home the next day.

Following the musical we walked across the street to a small museum of the Festival's 60 years of existence. Two rooms of artifacts and we spent over an hour in them. Mockups of models from costumes and sets through the ages, and some of the actual pieces as well. The girls working the admission desk were the best part. They fell in love with Calvin and basically gave us a private tour. They even let us touch some of the carefully guarded pieces.

To break up the trip on the way home we stopped in Port Huron to visit the lighthouse, train depot, and lightship museums there. Thomas Edison I could do without, but the other two were pretty good stops.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Different every time

Another heat wave has hit the area. We are under an excessive heat warning that will last until at least tomorrow night, and we have turned our air on for the second time since we've been in this house. Thankfully it's working well.

Mainly we've been beating the heat by being inside. Calvin is taking a jump start swimming program at his swim school, so he has lessons every day this week, bright and early. At home today we did a lot of reading, resting, and drinking of fluids, and also did a stint running through the sprinkler, just to be outside for even a few minutes. It was 99 degrees.

Yesterday, when the high was only 92, before the heat descended, we headed back to the zoo to make sure Jon got to see the zoo babies before they got too big and lazy. The otters obliged, but the bears were between romping times when we were in that area of the zoo, and were still wisely napping in the shade the second time we tried. We did see the baby camel, though, and the baby chimp, and a polar bear blowing bubbles, an anteater trying to nap while his brother harassed him, and a baby robin taking a bath in the mister. And the carousel was back up and running. You see, the zoo is different every time. I will say, though, that my favorite time at the zoo is either spring or fall, when the temperatures are cooler and the animals more obliging.

Otter pups again

A bearded something, or a black beaded lizard, or possibly one of each

pig-nosed turtle

watching for alligators who were too smart and stayed under water where it was cool

polar bear blowing bubbles

Riding a Humboldt penguin

nudge, nudge, he's bored

Taking a bath. Some of the sweetest sights are not on the zoo map.

Zoo babies (and more)

Speaking of flexible summer days, today we dropped everything and headed over meet the new river otter pups just introduced on exhibit. Actually, our zoo has several babies this year, including a camel calf we did not get to see, and river otter pups and grizzly bear cubs, all of which were very entertaining while we were there. We had a chance to see the otter pups nursing, swimming playfully, and even tumbling down the slide in a head-over-tails ball of baby otters. We also watched them them follow and perfectly mimic their mother's every move in what could only have been a river otter's version of home (zoo) schooling. The lesson included swimming, looking for food, and waste elimination, and it looked quite a bit like follow the leader. One of them must have stepped out of line, though, because we actually saw his mother drag him by the scruff, under water, across the entire exhibit, then haul him out of the water onto the shore (he's as big as she is, mind you), and sit on him. We didn't see what got him into that trouble, but I think he's not likely to do it again.

The grizzly cubs were equally as precious. The three brothers were brought to the zoo late last year after their mother was killed by a poacher (story here), and they are immensely fun to watch. While we were there they swam, chased each other, and tumbled over and over a log that was in their pool. It was as though they were daring each other to be increasingly brave. There were other animals that we greatly enjoyed this trip, too, like the giraffe drinking from a spigot, the ostrich eyeing us warily from the shade, the penguins (of course), the polar bear who was just a glass width away, and some hoppity kangaroos. We ate lunch in the shade of a powerless carousel (the power still out in parts of the zoo from last week's storms), and even happened to spy some non-resident birds: black-capped night herons (adult and juveniles), and a red bellied woodpecker. Wildlife at the zoo, just imagine that.

We have gotten pretty good at spotting interesting wildlife, actually. I am a naturalist at heart, much of my college learning being focused on animals, their behavior, evolution, adaptations, and habitats, and Calvin has long taken part in seeking, finding, and quietly observing nature with me. Recently we have started to talk more in depth about what differentiates various types of life, like plants from animals, or mammals from amphibians, reptiles, or birds. A few weeks ago, partly following suggestions in BFSU, we talked at length about energy as the driving force behind life and about speciation, which really added to our enjoyment of all critter sightings while we were hiking on vacation, and the same can be said about today's sightings, both wild and not-so-wild (and one green heron sighting back in our own yard). Which means, I guess, that this only seemed like just another trip to the zoo, and that, in fact, brings me back around to what I was saying yesterday about learning and life fitting quite nicely together, quod erat demonstrandum.

Or, put more simply, we had a great time at the zoo today.

Baby river otters!

Little bumbles

Black-capped night heron being sneaky in the vulture enclosure

Black-capped night heron juveniles being sneaky (and avoiding their parents) in the ostrich and kudu enclosure

Animal watching...

People watching...

Grizzly cubs (including the little guy above)

Young polar bear

Adult polar bear

Sadly, a powerless carousel
American bison

Peacock

Little boy on an elephant sculpture

Red bellied woodpecker (from very, very far away, and very, very cropped in, but he's there)

Green heron flying over our yard at home

Vacation, the final installment

The Fourth of July, our one final full day in the haven of the north. Jon and Calvin spent the morning on the public beach in Harbor Springs (our fifth beach of the trip, making us connoisseurs), while Lonnie and shopped the art fair and mingled with the over-heated crowd. The heat was creeping in, and so were the crowds, so we skipped the parade in favor of naps away from the sun, and nature watching from the comfort of a couch by a fan's breeze. You don't see frogs and kingfishers that way, but song birds, squirrels, and apparently turkeys, are abundant. Another delightful dinner on the breezy deck, then we headed into town to set ourselves up on the bluff over the football field for a breathtaking view the fireworks, and from that vantage point we could see not only Harbor's fireworks, but Petoskey's as well, and caught glimpses of the shows in Boyne City and Charlevoix as well.

We are home now. We drove home on the fifth, dodging violent storms that had entered the area, and arrived to enjoy the last few days of the heat emergency that had settled on our home lands. It had been hot up north, but not like it was at home. We are not used to heat in or near to the triple digits, especially for several days in a row, and for the first real time since we moved in four years ago (aside from the occasional test) we actually gave our air conditioner a workout. The good side to the heat, if there is one, is that it did not feel like a punishment to be trapped inside all day Friday unpacking, running loads of laundry, and completing the myriad of chores that always awaits those returning from vacation. We spent today inside, too, reading and playing games in the comfort of conditioned air, but the weather finally broke this evening, temperatures dipping well below the ninety degree mark while thunder rumbled outside, and our house is once again open to the beautiful night air and its soothing sounds.

Swimming and playing on the public beach in Harbor Springs

The colors of nature: two goldfinches and a cardinal

Even the squirrels were hot

Turkey in the front yard

On the bluff over the stadium in Harbor Springs, the bay in the background

The boys playing on the football field before the fireworks

Fireworks in Petoskey and Harbor Springs

Fireworks in Harbor Springs

Vacation, part 2

We're now relaxing in Harbor Springs. Enjoying the company of well-loved family, playing putt putt in Petoskey, driving the Tunnel of Trees, swimming the surf of Sturgeon Bay, hiking the nature preserve behind the brewery-to-be (and why couldn't it have been in time for our trip???), and boogie boarding the waves of Little Traverse Bay from Petoskey State Park. It stormed over night last night, which is why we had such monstrous waves today, but we've had nothing but enjoyable weather during our waking hours. This is what summer should be.

Pirate's Cove, in Petoskey

Back up in Wilderness State Park for a swim in our favorite spot—Sturgeon Bay

Hiking Spring Lake Park and Round Lake Nature Preserve, in Petoskey

Eastern Garter Snake

Brown Snake

Eastern Kingbird (and nest)

Mute Swan (invasive species)

Ring-billed Gull, watching us swim in Petoskey State Park