The Last Lap

Liz Meyer This morning I was awakened at about 3:00 AM (not sure which time zone) in our campsite in Golden, CO. with shattering thunder, lightening and a downpour of rain. Concurrently, Miki was burrowing Into my sleeping bag, and Cinda moved to curl up around my head! The remainder of the night was noisy, but cozy and dry for the three of us. Today brought crossing the Rockies, with passes higher than 12,000 feet that requires drivers to stay alert with varying high and low speeds, curves, and construction. The views, when you took a peek, were spectacular! I am camped tonight in Richfield, Utah. A cooling swim and the dry evaporation factor makes things comfortable. An early start tomorrow will bring me home, grateful for over 6,000 miles of driving, wonderful camping sites (and some not so wonderful) and great family time.

Goodbye to the Green

Liz Meyer The flannel PJs and the sweatshirts are packed away, leaving just the shorts and flip flops for the needed attire to travel back to the Desert. I leave first thing in the morning for the four camping nights and five days of driving to get home. Just the two dogs and me are making the return trip. I'll miss the company of David and Hannah, and following along with Jeff and Lauren and Katelyn in their 5th wheel, but I look forward to the adventure. Another wonderful summer at Hatch Haven.

Path to the Cook House (Picture)

Liz Meyer

The Path to the Cook House

Liz Meyer I don't know which came first....the homestead house slid over to the island when the lake was frozen, or the Sears and Roebuck kit house, but both were here by 1909. The Main house sleeps about 14, and was modern enough to have inside plumbing for a toilet, wash basin and a claw-foot tub. The cook house has the wood burning cook stove and had an outdoor pump for water. Modernization has occurred...we have electricity which provides cooking improvements, and running water into the kitchen.
When I was a girl, I thought the cook house was a quarter of a mile "down the path" from the Main house. One of the rights of passage to growing up was to walk to the cook house without being accompanied.
It's really not that far, I learned. Walking the path in the dark takes even more courage. We try keeping flashlights in both houses for that event, but invariably they all end up in the wrong house when we need them. 🙁

The Gathering Place

Liz Meyer Boats, beaches, forests, fairy houses, it's all here at the Island, yet a favorite gathering place is my van. This picture was taken by Hannah from her "loft", a part of the bunk bed system where she and her brother slept on our cross country trip. She shares it with the cousins when they come to Grammy's van. The adults sit in the front seats when they visit. I am not always "home" when they come, but they stay to talk or play, anyway. Aunt Ada comes to discuss the planning of meals and events, work in progress on the boathouse, and how to get the lighthouse updated to LED lighting. Angela and Jeff drop in to cover some of the same items and talk about the boat. The kids come to love the dogs and tell me secrets I PROMISE not to tell. The dogs come because....well they come just because they follow me everywhere. Whenever I am home, the music is playing and my door is always open. Did I ever mention how I love this van?? 😏

Fairy houses

Liz Meyer When the beach is quiet, we know we can find the kids in the deep forest with fairy houses under construction. Construction plans must consider the elements of safety ( rats are the enemy) and protection (fairies can't fly with wet wings, thus must be protected from the rain). There is no limit to the imagination we find when we are invited into fairyland.....but one must be invited. There is no age limit to building ferry houses. My granddaughter Katelyn was my guide into fairyland and got to pose in front of her fairy's home.

My Home Away from Home

Liz Meyer Did I ever mention how I love this van?? With my front seats swiveled for inclusive camping, tonight's picture show my view as I write. For my "Girls" and I to escape to my favorite music and this view from every window puts the crowning touch on wonderful days with family and peaceful evenings. Tonight's event included boating with neighbors over to Government Island for S'mores . I opted to a "night in". Tomorrow night we will be hosting the annual Hatch Haven pot luck/ hamburger feast for all the neighbors living close to us on the island. We pick the night when the most of us can be present. All 19 of our family will be here, and most of our nearest and dearest neighbors. We all look forward to the gathering.

Happy 4th of July!

Liz Meyer What a great country we live in!! If you google Cedarville MI, you will see the 3 square blocks of the town, which puts on a wonderful 4th of July parade every year. Early in the parade kids will be handing out little flags to everyone, so that we can wave them all through the parade. Later in the afternoon other families will be joining our families here on our beach and cookhouse for a barbecue, games and fireworks, then when it gets dark (not until about 9:00 at this high latitude) we will all take our boats into Cedarville Bay for the fireworks show. I'd you google Cedarville, follow out to Island #8, and Hatch Haven is all the wooded land at the south-east end of the island. I'll be waving! 😊