Country Clubbin'

Welcome back, kids.

So my buddy Mitch is a golf pro, as you all know, and used to be the resident pro at Midland's local Country Club. He also happens to be a Cancer Survivor, having beat colon cancer, like, a decade or so ago (before I knew him.) Now, Midland hosts an annual Spring Soiree that raises money to fight cancer by giving funds to people undergoing procedures, transportation to hospitals downstate that specialize in cancer treatments, and whatever else it is that ends up costing so much damn money in order to beat cancer.

Erik bought a fossil like this last time around.

While he was employed at the Country Club, Mitch got onto the local board that oversees this giant fundraising effort, and they began to hold an annual soiree every spring (fourteen years ago, to be exact) at said Country Club. This has always been super important to Mitch, putting this thing on ('cause, you know, the dude had literal cancer), so whenever the event comes around, he puts aside some tickets for interested couples in the Tribe. This is noteworthy because this is a pretty exclusive event, and not open to just anyone.

This year, the Houghs, Johnsons, Colliers, and Alicia were able to show up for the Spring Soiree, which included the usual three-course meal, open bar, silent auction, and dancing. Things kicked off at 6pm and lasted until 11pm, and we more or less shut the place down (like we did two years ago.)

All in all, a great night for a great cause. I'll just let the following pics tell the tale.

Enjoy. . . 

They had a small fence set up in front of a photo op background outside the banquet hall, and as folks rolled in they wrote their name on a lock and attached it to the fence (like you see in a lot of European cities.)

Each lock represented a $250 donation, so for those of us who donated $125 (Mitch gave us free tickets but we all donated anyway) were doubled up onto one lock.

Before it got dark out, and before things got too busy and chaotic, we decided to nab some couple pics on the balcony overlooking the golf course.

Kris went with a 'Spring-y' dress this year (which ended up being a wise move on her part, because that was definitely the theme this year.)

The Johnsons

While folks entered the club house and mingled with drinks and hors d'oeuvres, most amassed in the outdoor passageway where all the Silent Auction items were on full display. They had some app that you could use to keep track of your bidding, which Kris downloaded (there was a pair of season tickets to the Midland Center for the Arts that she was eyeing, but ended up being outbid on it) but I didn't see anything I liked.

It quickly became overly-crowded out in the hallway, so the staff began corralling people into the banquet hall and to their respective tables. The meal was kicked off with a salad and creme brulee.

I waited to dig into this until after I had finished my meal, and then only ate a little of it. Waaaaay too sweet for my taste.

Kris, Danielle, Mees and Courtney.

Food was slow coming out, so Kris and I went back into the hallway where a roaming photographer was taking pics of people with this portable ring-light/SLR rig he had going on. You entered your phone number and he texted the picture right to you. Kind of a cool opportunity, our group definitely took advantage of this throughout the evening (as you'll see throughout this post.)

Mitch stands up to be recognized by the Midland Cancer Services Foundation, as the speeches - and meal - finally kick off.

Post-salad, pre-meal bourbon time.

We were sat at Table 23. Not only was this my high school number (on the ski team), but it was also Morgan's (on the swim team.) Fun fact.

Dinner is served. I grabbed a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the steak, as I am nothing if not classy.

Nobody enjoyed this steak. There was no fat on it and it was cooked too long, almost rubbery in texture but super tender. That white thing is chicken wrapped around some kinda ham thingy. The orange sauce was pretty good, but that yellow stuff off to the left was grits. Not bad, but didn't really go with the rest of the meal. I would not have ordered this plate again, for sure, but I'm not one to turn down free food, folks.

After the meal, Kris and the girls got some pics done with that aforementioned photographer.

Our first attempt at a group pic. Collier was shooting a wedding that evening, but was planning on swinging by afterwards (probably around 9:30/10pm), so Mees and Alicia went with each other as dates instead (Alicia's husband, Steven, had a work thing going on or something.)

Couple pic in front of the 'official' photo op background.

The Larsons

The Johnsons

The sun was setting so we made sure to get a Wives pic out on the balcony before it got too dark out.

Pretty cool looking course. Not that I golf or anything.

The King of the Hill, Inner Circle (minus Collier.)

Morgan ran into an old coworker while we were out there getting pics and ended up talking to her for like 45 minutes or some shit.

Mees and Alicia

Makers Mark was the bourbon they were offering up at the open bar (free booze is always appreciated), but Mitch put in a good word with the guy who oversees the booze at the Country Club (who he knows from his time working there) and requested a round of Eagle Rare for us dudes. At about $70 a bottle, it's not all that expensive for a bourbon, but it's hard to find up here and really, really good. The guy comped it so we got it for free, which was bad ass.

As folks were wrapping up with the meal, the live auction began. Mitch was in charge of helping identify bidders around his part of the hall for the auctioneer. The amount of money thrown around during this auction was staggering. $11k for a one-night getaway at some resort, $8k for a catered fancy dinner for 10, etc. That's CEO money, guys - not teacher money, that's for damn sure.

People watch the silent auction bidding as the end time creeps up.

Ran into the Pickvits (however you spell that) this evening - they're invited to all the Collier functions. Some drunk guy at their table, during the meal, ended up choking on his steak and the clubhouse staff had to seal off the hall while the guy - who had stumbled into the hallway while choking and collapsed - received CPR. He had stopped breathing and there was no pulse, and a couple doctors that happened to be in attendance actually broke a bunch of bones in his chest resuscitating him. A couple hours later, long after the ambulance and paramedics showed up, we got word that the guy was alive. Definitely a first for this kind of evening.

Following the live and silent auctions, the dance floor was opened up and the music cranked up. Some of the wives got out there for a little bit, but nowhere near as much dancing as two years ago.

Alicia, Kris, and some filters.

Collier showed up around 9:30pm, driving in straight from his wedding. He was a little worried about his attire, seeing how he was only in business casual - and he got a couple sideways glances from some of the stuffier boomers in attendance - but nobody confronted him about it.

The O.G.'s

Towards the end of the night, we were finally able to get a full group pic in front of the backdrop, Collier and all.

Another one of the Wives.

The dance floor ramps up. Lot of drunks out there.

The photographer guy ventured into the banquet hall with his ring light to get some 'action' shots at one point, and the wives wanted a 'strip' of pics (like you'd see in a photo booth.) And of course me and some of the dads decided to crash their picture.

The place shut down at 11pm, and unlike two years ago - where we stopped off at Frick's for a few rounds before heading home - everyone called it a night. Some of the womenfolk were heading down for a weekend in Florida the next morning (Stephanie's mom has a timeshare and car down there so literally all they're paying for is a plane ticket), and we had Alayna's first Prom to prepare for. So there you go, gang - another fun time of revelry for a worthy cause. See ya next time.

- Brian

Yooper Troopers, Pt. III

 (contd.)

The morning of the Fourth of July.  Kris, Rita and myself tend to get up earlier than the girls and, most notably, Smitty.  Getting coffee and breakfast around so that folks could graze while they waited for the one, single bathroom at Duane's to become available was how we spent most mornings. 

The pantry.  Fully-stocked.  Never short on food, this group.

The weather was supposed to be stellar today, so we decided to revisit the beach at Ontonagon for the late morning/afternoon before checking out a few different waterfalls in the surrounding area.

Smitty, once again, brought along his sun shelter that he had purchased on our previous Sausage Pad adventure.  Gotta make sure your gingers are well-cared for on the beach, folks.

I'm a snappy dresser on the Fourth, kids.

We bought a set of cheap balls from a Family Dollar-ish store to toss around on the beach, and they ended up being a much bigger hit with the kids than we thought they'd be.  After an hour or so, the Bos family - minus Mitch and Drew - met up with us and their girls, Audrey and Maddie, joined in.

Smitty emerges from his ginger shelter to join the fray.

The adult women briefly got their feet wet, but couldn't deal with the cold.  I, honestly, felt it was kinda refreshing (I only got up to my waist, though.)

Maddie, Abby and Audrey.

Alayna engages in a non- phone-related activity for once.

Kelli and Kris

In the late afternoon, after about three hours on the beach (during which I spent nearly the entirety of my time in the icey water, throwing a ball to children), we decided to head in to town to grab some ice cream.

(Just in case you were curious.)

Ice cream break.

After saying farewell to our Midland friends, the Bos family, we loaded up into the van and left Ontonagon for Bond Falls, a nearby waterfall that was supposed to be pretty awesome.  Along the way, Smitty and I decided to detour about ten minutes in order to check out 'Old Victoria,' something a sign was advertising that we had noticed while driving past it twice the previous day.

After driving up a mountain (yes, seriously), we discovered that Old Victoria was the remains of a mining settlement that had was now little more than six or seven remaining, log cabins.

When we got there, a grizzled old woman who was, oh, probably in her mid-80s, greeted us in the doorway of the 'visitor center' (if you could call it that), located in one of the old cabins.  She was pretty gruff and clearly not happy to answer tourists' questions, so after a little back-and-forth with her we went off on our own. 

These cabins would belong to a miner, a wife (who, according to the old lady that kept watch over this place, had it 'way worse than the miners, because they got to spend all day in the cool mines while their wives had to slave away in the hot kitchen'), and, like, sixteen kids.  F*** that.

Kris signs the guest book inside one of the old cabins.

Our stove is slightly fancier.

Upstairs bedroom that would sleep, say, a dozen children.

Heading back downstairs.

I bet this thing was a bitch to clean back in the day.

Smitty in full-on tourist mode.

Pictures showing some of the original miners and their families that lived in Old Victoria over a hundred years ago.

So, creepy but totally true story: after a half an hour or so of checking out old miners' cottages, we got back into the van and drove away from Old Victoria and farther up the mountain for a couple minutes (the old woman had told us there were more cabins you could see from the road.)  On the brief way up, along the side of the road back in the trees, you could make out dozens of rotting cabins and stone foundations among the pines.  After deciding we had our fill of decrepit cabin-seeing for one day, we were ready for some waterfalls, and we turned around and began to head back down the mountain.  

We had only been gone from Old Victoria for, like, four minutes really - not long at all - and as we passed the site once again on our way back down the mountain, we noticed the old woman's car (that had been out front when we originally showed up) was no longer there.  She had been in the middle of eating when we got there, so clearly she wasn't packing up and leaving any time soon.  We hadn't passed her on the way down the mountain, so she wasn't following us on our way up.  This meant she had to be going down the mountain ahead of us, but Smitty - speeding with his trademark lead foot - didn't see anyone ahead of us for miles, and no roads forked off from the one we were on.  The old woman completely disappeared.  We all agreed that she must've been the ghost of some miner's grumpy-ass wife, who still haunts the ruins of the town of Old Victoria today.

Old bunkhouses that miners used to frequent after a night on the town.

Some river, I don't know.

After driving about twenty or so minutes, we finally reached Bond Falls.

A rare moment of two sisters getting along.  Documented.

These falls surprised us with how big they were - totally not expecting Tahquahmenon-sized falls as we walked from the parking lot to the trails.

Frickin' HUGE.  If we made any mistakes this trip, it was hitting up these falls first - all waterfalls we saw afterwards would be held to Bond standards, and would subsequently fail in comparison.

Got a lot of pics of people in front of these falls, folks - be forewarned.

Don't tell me my business, sign.

Another pic of Abby in front of a waterfall.

You could follow these falls farther up the river - every hundred feet or so there were another set of falls, it was pretty awesome. 

Water break.

Houghs in front of a waterfall.

Rita and Smitty in front of a waterfall.

'MERICA

More waterfalls on our way up the river.

We'd trudge along up this stone pathway, which ran parallel with the river about twenty feet or so off to the side, and walk over to it whenever there were falls or something scenic.

Lots of cool rocks and boulders to check out along this trail.  You could tell that the river used to run much wider back in the day, and had smoothed out, tossed about, and worn down all the major rock formations in the area.

Of course Abby had to climb every, single one. . .

More 'falls video

Not sure what's happening here.

Call me crazy, but this here looks man-made to me. . .

At the top of the trail, there was another parking lot, with yet another warning sign at the trail head.  Michigan parks and rec services doesn't mess around, I guess.

After reaching the end of the trail, we decided to turn around and head back down the hill.  Along the way, we snapped a few more pics of folks in front of waterfalls.  You know, as if we didn't have enough.

Back at the base of the hill.

Kris and Rita

Sans kids.

Heading back to the van.

On the way back to the house, Smitty pulled off the road where a roadside park was located.  From the park, there was a 100-yard sidewalk that ran along a river, and at the end of which you could sorta see some more waterfalls.

Some bridge, I don't know.

Another bridge (a trestle bridge, for trains.)

See that white froth there in the bottom center of the pic?  Those are waterfalls.  Apparently somewhat decent ones (not quite Bond-level, though), but you have to descend a pretty steep slope and then hike quite a ways to get an okay look at them.  None of us, by this point in time, had that in us, so we decided to head back to the van instead.

Hooray.

Back at Duane's rental, waiting for dinner and playing some Guess Who?

After dinner, we figured we should have a fire out back.  It fell to Yours Truly to make that happen.

Abby, having trouble with her camping chair.

Finally broke into my Upper Hand sampler case.  This one was pretty good for a hot, summer evening.

Hanging out, playing partner-games that Kris keeps on hand for such occasions (think Newly Wed Game, etc.)

Seriously.  This kid.

- Brian