The way to the house of a friend is never long...

... unless she lives in Michigan, and then it's kinda long.  But it's
 worth the drive.   Shannon and I have been friends for years.
She and her family moved from Hendersonville fifteen years ago
(how can that be?).  Even though we stay in touch on Facebook
and through Christmas newsletters, we try to get together every five
years or so for some proper visiting.  We've met in NYC twice, and
boy was that fun, but this year I decided to go and visit her in
Michigan.

Shannon was the perfect hostess and I felt quite at home with her family.  

The children are all growing up, as children do.  I was able to get a few

family photos on Sunday.

Here we have Annie, Emma, Shannon and Jim, Jacob and Marshall. 

I missed seeing Robert and Stefan, but of course they are all grown up 

and living on their own now.   This is the serious picture,

and this is the silly one.  Silly pictures are so fun!

Aren't these sisters cute?

So what do dear friends do when they get together after all these

 years?

*They walk at the park.  Have you ever noticed that you can walk

     a lot farther when you are walking with a friend?  Walking and talking

     go together and we had a lot to say.

This is the Tridge and each bridge leads to a different area of the park. 

There are green fields for running and playing, great playgrounds, ball fields

and a rail trail.  I love the idea of having a rail trail for walking, running or

riding bikes.  I wish we had one of these in Hendersonville.  On this day, 

a Highland Festival was in progress and we were able to listen to pipe bands 

and watch some of the games.

The sheep herding demonstration was so entertaining.  Those dogs were

amazing to watch as they showed the skill with which they could tend 

to the sheep.

*They go to church together. 

  Shannon is the Stake Primary President in her stake, so on Sunday we

  traveled to a little branch to help with the primary in Bad Axe.  The primary

  president wasn't there, so we had the opportunity to teach the children. 

  I really enjoyed working with the children and with Shannon.  It felt like

  old times.

    

Isn't that an interesting name for a town?   It is located in the the "thumb" of 

Michigan, another new area fpr me to explore.  It was flat, farming land and 

very pretty.  We went through Bay City on the way back home and admired 

the beautiful, historic  homes.

*They take walking tours and dream about living in houses like this.   

We  parked the car, and with camera in hand, took off on our own little 

walking tour.

Many of these homes were built as summer homes for the wealthy lumber

barons from Detroit.

We kept getting farther and farther away from our car, as we had to walk

 "just one more block" to see the next home.  

 Half way back to the car, I was walking barefoot on the sidewalk, with my

church shoes in my hands.   I hadn't planned to take a long walk when 

I put on my cute, but not very comfortable, shoes that morning.

*They ride bikes together.

Midland is a great area for riding bikes - it's very flat.  My kind of biking.

*They deliver papers together.  Shannon's children have all had paper

    routes as they were growing up.  On this day we were helping Jacob.

It was fun, walking around the neighborhood, enjoying the pretty flowers

and throwing papers on the porches.  Shannon says I'm a natural.

*They shop, watch movies and take a trip to new places where they 

  can eat good food (that someone else cooks) and sleep in beds

 (that someone else makes).  They eat ice cream and fudge, walk

  on beaches, and climb light houses.

Thank you, Shannon for a wonderful visit.  I hope it won't be five years

before we can do it again.   Regardless of the time between visits, when

we get together it seems like we can pick right back up where we left off. 

Isn't that the wonderful thing about friends?  You are a blessing to me.

The next few posts will be about our Great Lakes Adventure.   Stay tuned.

* Summer Goals-  Take an interesting road trip,  go biking and hiking.

* My Year of Fifty Goals- #3 - Do something fun with a friend each month

             #6 - Laugh more        #50 -Ride my bike