Author: fhdiii

Homemade Desk History

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This is a desk made by Hudson Dexter Mead I (my great grandfather) who was married to Grandma Nora.  Probably made in the 1930’s or thereabouts.

It was made in Chadron Nebraska with a lot of the wood coming from used wood crates.  Great Grandpa also made the wooden train set which is in storage at 306 Woodside right now.

This was passed down from Hudson Mead I to Hudson Mead II to Hudson Mead III (Uncle Huddie) and then passed down to me after Uncle Huddie passed away in 2016 and for now resides in the dining at 1202 Borton.

desk1desk2desk3

Iargo Springs – 10/28/2016

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A quick day trip up to the AuSable river to Iargo Springs.  This is a trail head for a 7 mile trail along the river, which we did not do, and also a boardwalk with 300 steps to get down to the back waters of the river, with plenty of natural springs at the bottom.  We were about 1 week late for the best fall color, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless for myself, Mary and Alex Chevalier.iargo-signiargo-sign2springstairsviewattopwe-made-itdsc00898

Wakeley Lake – 10/8/2016

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This is a beautiful lake located on the north side of M-72 a few miles east of Grayling.  The only access is by foot (no vehicles or motor boats) and all the trails and the lake are on national forest land.  I was there on a Saturday and only met one other person during the whole time, which was a hike that ended up around 7 miles.  You can go around the lake in about 4 miles, but if you take some of the other trails and then get a little confused, well, it gets a little longer.

Trail Map
Scenic
Colors just starting
Winter Green mmmm

Road Trip #5 – Kids

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A two week trip through Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania to see 60% of my children and 2 of my grandchildren, and assorted spouses, in-laws and relocated friends from South.  Great trip with warm humid weather.  I’ll have pics from a couple great hikes in other posts to follow.

Here’s a pic of Emma and the Fireman, Steven and Stephanie on the trail and Brian and Sammy (at least his backside) at the Barnstormers baseball game.

Emma
Steven and Stephanie
Brian and Sammy

Here is a pic of Ron and Pat Guoan who now live outside of Cleveland Ohio.  I will get floor plans from them so can share with my children what a good grandpa addition to their house should look like.

ron-and-pat
Ron & Pat Guoan

Hartwick Pines

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Made a trip, with Mary Martini, to Hartwick Pines for the first time since I was still in grade school I believe.  There was a big tree that I remember being gigantic, which is now only a stump about 30 feet high, after a wind storm knocked the top half off.

We ended up walking over 7 miles by the end of the day, taking a long hike on the Ausable River trail.  The highlight of the walk was a close encounter with a black bear which unfortunately ran away before we could get a picture (or maybe I should say fortunately).

Mary pondering the tall trees
Ausable River
Old Growth Eastern Hemlock
Chapel in the Pines

2016 Road Trip #4 – Zoe

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This was not a planned trip, but special none the less.  On Thursday May 5, Zoe called and said I should get out to Palm Springs right away.  Uncle Huddie was in hospice and not expected to live much longer and I had promised to help Zoe when that time came to get from Palm Springs back to Texas.  By Friday morning I was in Palm Springs and that Saturday night, May 7th, I was alone in the assisted living room with Uncle Huddie when he took his last breath of Palm Spring air.

On Wednesday two of Zoe’s best friends (Mark and Tim) arrived from Texas and by that evening we were in Tuscon Arizona (Marks brother’s  house).  I rode with Zoe and her friends drove the motor home.  On Thursday night we stayed in Roswell New Mexico, but no UFO’s were sighted.  By Friday night May 13th we were back in McKinney Texas.  On Wednesday I headed out for Michigan, with a stop over at Dave and Julies in Illinois, via Route 66, and by Friday evening May 20th I was back home in Michigan.

Here are a few pictures from along the way.  Also, here is a link to Uncle Huddies obituary (hopefully this works):

Uncle Huddie Obituary

Double Run!

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Posted just for posterity sake.  I had a double run in pinochle (single deck) a few years back, which is something my parents said they never had in all their decades of playing pinochle.  It was during a game of three handed pinochle, which has a slightly better odds than with four handed, but it is the least likely of all melds one can get in pinochle.

score

Odds