Over sixty years ago, the federal government
excavated a turning basin in the mouth of the
Cheboygan River to accommodate large lake vessels
entering the Cheboygan harbor.
Today, that basin is the home to the United
States Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw WLBB-30.
Cheboygan has been the homeport for the Coast Guard
Cutter Mackinaw since 1944. The original Mackinaw,
WAGB-83 was decommissioned June 10, 2006, and will
soon be turned into a museum in Mackinaw City. The
new version, USCGC Mackinaw WLBB-30 is a 240-foot
icebreaker and bouy tender, equipped with
state-of-the-art navigation and engineering systems.
While its main role will still be icebreaking, the
Mackinaw's duties also include search & rescue, aids
to navigation, Homeland Security, marine
environmental protection and public relations.
When the ship is moored, tours are available by
appointment. Please call ahead to make sure tours
are available, 231-597-2030.
04/06/07 One more pic of the girls holding up Balanced Rock in
the Garden of the Gods.
04/05/07
1/2 marathon update.... ONE MORE WEEK TO GO!
Garmin data.. 11miles...moving time 1hour,39minutes...moving avg 6.6mph
...max speed 20.4mph. This route was all pavement..a good thing as the
1/2 marathon will be all on the road. Check out the
route..HERE
Back to El Salvador pictures..... A Compassion sponsored
child at his house...
I donated my Vail hat...
Another home visit....a family of 9 lives in this house. The
girl in the blue dress was sponsored by a couple on the tour.
Their kitchen
04/04/07 The girls discovering SHELL!!! Yum!
04/03/07 Moon this morning....anyone that can figure out what those
red dots are in the bottom right of the picture...let me know. I
cannot figure out what they are....???!!!
FREAKY!
04/02/07 Visited Northern Colorado University today with
Kayli and Kristin. Nice campus and everything is new! Greeley kind
of smells though. Kayli and Kristin
The girls on our hike yesterday.
OK....we will miss Abby...
04/01/07 Kayli and her friend Kristin are out here to
visit. This is us hiking at Ute Valley. Abby sure doesn't
act like she is sick. Especially when it comes to a hike!
Taking a break
03/31/07
Kayli is going to be visiting us for a few days... She wants to go to
college out here and we will visit Northern Colorado and University of
Colorado-Colorado Springs, while she is here.
Well, we found out today that Abby has lung cancer
now....she won't be around for long. It will be a tough time, as she has
been a great dog, and goes EVERYWHERE with us.
Talked to Anika yesterday, and Josh has graduated from Coast Guard
boot camp. More details and pictures to follow. Sounds like
he is very tired and considers the experience tough but a good thing.
1/2 marathon update....beautiful day, but not a beautiful run.
I have lost some fitness since going to El Salvador....
11miles...moving time 1hour,44min...moving avg6.3mph...max speed 9.6mph.
Trudged the last mile...ugh!
More El Salvador pics... this is the kitchen at one of the
Student Centers...they are fixing food for the kids...
Doing the dishes afterward...
03/30/07
Visited a house down the road from the Student Center we saw in the
pictures on the 03/30 post.... this is a typical "house" The
child leaning in the doorway is one of those we saw at the Compassion
Student Center. The picture on the right is the kitchen in the
back yard.
The bed they shared between the mother and 3 boys....
03/29/07 Visited a Compassion Student Center north of San
Salvador... Teaching the kids computer skills and sewing skills.
They would never get a chance like this without Compassion.
This is me with a bunch of kids...they are getting fed. These
kids go to school every morning or afternoon and spend the other 1/2 day
at the Compassion Student Center. Getting a meal is very important as the average monthly income of families
in this area is
around $100.
The pastor of the church and attached Compassion Student
Center. His home(parsonage) is across this dirt playground area.
Compassion does not pay any salary of the pastor or the volunteer tutors
for the kids. Compassion does not pay for any building in this
church or Student Center. The money you give goes for food,
books, clothes (if needed), learning material....etc.
1/2 marathon update......tried to run again today...not a good day
for it.... Howling winds and thundersnow!!! Yikes!!!
Garmin data 5.03miles...moving time 46min,32sec.......moving avg
6.5mph.. This is DEFINITELY not El Salvador weather.
37°F
RealFeel®
23°F
Winds: N
at 26mph
03/28/07 Stick a fork in me...I am done. You have no idea
how burned out I am. I have a week off..time to veg....
The food on the left is Papusa...an El Salvador specialty. It
is like a cross between a pita and a tortilla. There is cheese and
different meats inside of the tortilla. A tomato sauce is poured
on the top of it. The sauce in El Salvador is BORING!
Not spicy at all..bring on the chilies!!!
Don't you love the straws in the soda bottles!
Street vendors everywhere making Papusa's.
Guards like this are EVERYWHERE in El Salvador. Seems like the
shotgun is the weapon of choice. Unless you have a guard like this
at your business, you will be robbed for sure.
It was the same thing in Nicaragua. Very sad.
03/26/07
Ok...good news and bad news.. Bad news first. Abby the
wonder dog has cancer. Looks like it is thyroid cancer, and she is
in pretty bad shape. There is a veterinary oncology dept. at
Colorado State. We will investigate our options and see what to
do. Abby has been a great dog, and this will be a tough time for
us.
The good news is that Paul Omondi has a girlfriend (maybe fiancee?)
As some of you remember, Paul stayed with us for a while last year while
he was working with Compassion here in the United States. Paul is
a Compassion program graduate from Kenya who is a success story.
We are very excited for him and Liz. Paul says she sings in the
church choir(or whatever they call it in Kenyan churches). Maybe
if there is a wedding is in a year or two, we can figure out a way to go. Picture of Paul and Liz......
Back to 1/2 marathon training..... ran the treadmill at
the hotel in El Salvador, but that is nothing like hitting the
streets.... Today ran my 5mile DelmonicoWoodmen run.
Garmin data 5.07miles..moving time 44.07min...moving avg
6.9mph..max 11mph. Check out the route
HERE.
03/25/07
Back from El Salvador.... very emotional trip. Sponsored
another child there....Ricardo Antonio Cea Martinez. He has 2
sisters and lives in San Vincente with his mother and father...and most
of the rest of his extended family. This is me and
Ricardo(trying to get him to smile).
His immediate family...
Inside his "house" is just 2 beds and the "dresser" is the clothes
lines above the beds. This is Ricardo's bed that he shares with
his dad.
The laundry area....
The kitchen
The other part of the house is for his grandparents and other family
members... They all pretty much live outside. The
Compassion student center is just a couple of blocks away. Ricardo
goes there every day in the mornings before afternoon school. At
the student center, he receives a meal, tutoring, Christian education
and a safe place to play. Below is a map of El Salvador. San
Vincente is in the center of the country....one of the poorest areas of
the country. High crime, gangs, prostitution and all the bad
stuff. The usual monthly income for families in this area is about
$50...when they can find work.
03/17/07
Off to El Salvador... Please watch this video and consider
sponsoring a child, if you haven't already. If you do, then
let this be an encouragement to you of the difference that you are
making in the life of one "of the least of these". To
sponsor a child, click on the picture of Connie and kids from Ecuador on
the right hand side of the blog. God bless!
Sunrise this morning
On one of my runs...got a picture of the gliders the Air Force cadets
ride around in.
03/16/07
Just got done running the farthest ever without stopping...whew!!!
Gonna be ready for a break. Garmin data 12miles...moving time was
1hr,52minutes....moving avg 6.4mph...max speed 12.6mph..max elevation
6611feet. Did the Air Force Academy run..terrain is moderately
hilly(nothing is flat out here). Another beautiful
day...hopefully, it will be just like this in St Louis a month from now.
Been crazy busy getting ready for El Salvador...
Itinerary. Please consider sponsoring a Compassion child.
The life your change, may be your own.
03/12/08
Stunningly beautiful day today. It has been a long winter.
Did a short run today(Vindicator-Allegheny). Took Abby for the
first time in a long time. She has turned into an old lady(her
throat problem is not helping). I had to slow down at the end and
even stop because she was "dogging" it. Garmin
data...3.68miles..moving time 31min,18sec....avg speed 7.1mph..max speed
15.2mph..max elevation 6700 feet.
68°F
RealFeel®
70°F
Winds: N
at 6mph
03/11/07
Pikes Peak this morning....
03/10/07
Matt turned me on to this new website that tracts a run....
This is my 10 mile course through the Air Force Academy...(Yellow line)
You may check out my runs on
THIS website....
03/09/07
Finally heard from Josh....the newlyweds will be stationed in
Cheboygan, MI! This is
the link. We are very happy for Anika and Josh, as they wanted to
go there. Should be beautiful, with Mackinaw Island, the Great
Lakes, lots of great golf courses.......but the winter won't be like
Orlando. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...
1/2 Marathon update... 8.82miles..moving avg 6.1mph...moving
time 1hr26min. I tried to run 10, but ran out of gas. I feel
every minute of my 51 yrs right now...ugh. I have also decided
that there is no shame in walking parts of the 1/2 marathon. It
all seemed like a great idea...at the time. This is Matt's fault.
Oh well, I am down to 169 lbs....started running and losing weight at
195, so that is a GREAT thing.
03/07/07
Whoa....still recovering from that run yesterday. I am probably
a little ahead of schedule due to the fact that I will soon be gone for
a week as a photographer for Compassion in El Salvador. So that
will slow down my training...big time. The trip to El Salvador
promises to be very rewarding and demanding. There will be over 50
sponsors on this trip to see their kids, and I have to get a bunch of
photos of everyone. All the photos need to be edited and burned
onto cd's to give to everyone before the trip is over...whew!
In addition to the Student Centers, we will be visiting the El
Bolqueron volcano, Santa Letcia coffee plantation and the San Andres
ruins. From a website.... picture of the volcano...
03/06/07
1/2 Marathon update...longest distance I have ever run without
stopping..Garmin data 11miles..moving time 1hr 45minutes...avg
moving speed 6.2mph...max speed 15.4mph(not sure if that is right).
Picture on the left is the overpass for the South Entrance to the Air
Force Academy.. the picture on the right is the New Sante Fe trail,
about 5 miles out from the trail head. Terrain is hilly, but not
as bad as some places in town. Weather was great...I even got a
little overheated.
I think this is a Mountain Bluebird...hanging out in the field next
to the house.
More "moon shots". Today, on my way to church, this morning.
How can anyone deny that God exists, when you are struck by something so
beautiful.
03/05/07
Moonset over the mountains this morning
03/04/07
Kitty (Fat Boy, Gordo, Timothy) better watch out...Mr Hawk is
hanging around in the back yard.
Here he comes...AHHHH...run for all of your little(big) kitty 9
lives!
Our Christmas Cactus is blooming again...
03/03/07
1/2 Marathon update...Beautiful day... Garmin data
3.79miles..moving time 32min07sec...moving avg 7.1mph max 12.6mph.
Terrain was hilly(aren't they all out here☺).
Went to see Kim Hill at Glen Eyre last night. Wow.
Her website is HERE.
She has been through the "ringer". But God uses broken things.
Always loved Kim's music. She is the real deal.
Castle from the hills above....
Bighorn across from the castle.
Looks like we will be at New Busch Stadium in April to cheer on a
Cardinal victory against the Brewers. Go Cards!!
From a blog...
The
10 top reasons why you might be a real
Cardinals’ fan:
10. If you can properly
pronounce Grudzielanek, Pagnozzi, Schoendienst,
Isringhausen, Stechshulte, Sutter, et al, you
might be a real Cardinals’ fan.
6. If you can do or have
ever done – heck, if you
have ever even wanted to
do the Ozzie Smith
flip , you might be a
real Cardinals’ fan.
5. If you can converse
intelligently about such
personages as “The Man,”
“Albert,” “The Wizard,”
“Pags,” “Red,” “The Mad
Hungarian,” “Old Diz,”
or “me ‘n’ Paul,” you
might be a real
Cardinals’ fan.
03/02/07
Misc. stuff..... Anika says that Josh is doing well at
Coast Guard Basic Training. He is a "watch coordinator".
Sounds like a little more leadership and some free time...yippee!
Abby is not doing any better...we may have to take her to a
ears/nose/throat vet...
Tried to run today, but just too wiped out...got a couple of miles in
before the wind/snow/cold got to me. Oh well, better luck
tomorrow.
A picture of one of our buddies this morning.....looks like he is
missing something.
My new toy
HP
Pavilion DV6225US 15.4" Entertainment Notebook PC (AMD Turion 64
Processor TL 50, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, SuperMulti DVD Drive,
Vista Premium)
120 Gig hard drive? Awesome!
03/01/07
Been too CRAZY busy to blog the last day or so. Had to work in
Pueblo last night. Let's just say the clientele is a little
different there. At least I got to practice some Spanish....Hola!
Looks like more snow might be brewing...UGH! Time to move to
Arizona!
Abby still has issues with her throat. This is the scars and
stuff from the biopsy a few days ago. She is not getting better.
Went to see Kim Hill at Glen Eyre last night. Wow. 
The
10 top reasons why you might be a real
Cardinals’ fan:
