Yooper Surf & Turf

Tonight for dinner Margaret made what she called Yooper Surf & Turf. The "surf" is Brook Trout that Margaret caught in the creek on her property. The "turf" is venison that her friend's father shot and that she & her friend dressed. It was excellent! I'll come to this restaurant again for their Yooper Surf & Turf.

L Brook Trout, R venison.

Dinner; clockwise from 12 o'clock: brook trout, venison, salad, corn niblets; center pasta salad.

 
Earlier today Kai & I took Vivian with us when we went to visit the Sylvania Wilderness & Recreation Area of the Ottawa National Forest. We were the only people at the Clark Lake Day Use Area which has a great pavilion and bathhouse. We also checked out the boat launch areas.

Vivian at the Sylvania Wilderness & Recreation Area.

Typical road through the Sylvania Wilderness & Recreation Area.

Parking lot at Clark Lake Day Use Area.

Interior of pavilion at Clark Lake.

Showers & bathrooms at Clark Lake.

At many of the areas we found really great informational displays on how to prevent the spread of invasive species. At the main Ottawa National Forest office in Watersmeet there was also a bike cleaning station to remove seeds and parts of invasive plants from bikes.

Bike cleaning area.

Copper ore at Ottawa National Forest main office.

Tracks leading in to Ottawa National Forest main office.

Inside the Ottawa National Forest main office.

Where the waters meet display.

On the way back we stopped at the Paulding General Store again; Kai wanted ice cream for lunch. Today Kai tried the Sea Salt Caramel Cheesecake (caramel cheesecake flavored ice cream swirled with sea salt caramel & cheesecake bits). We also wanted to get some ice cream in pints for dessert later tonight, but they didn't do pints; instead Jason packed a single serving in a bowl and topped it with another bowl. We got Amaretto Cherry Mackinac Island Fudge (amaretto cherry ice cream with thick fudge swirl & fudge pieces) and Bear Claw (dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate coated cashews & Denali caramel). At the speed limit (65 mph) it took us 8 minutes to get from the Paulding General Store to the house; we had the air conditioner going at the lowest temperature setting and the fastest fan setting!

I picked up a bunch of omiyage as well as informational pamphlets so we have a better idea of what recreational things there are to do for our next visit.




After dinner we went to John & Norma's house; Margaret wanted to help Norma clean up a trailer that had been set up for their daughter Kellie & granddaughter Kassandra who are driving in from Montana tonight. Kellie is Vivian's grandson's wife. While Margaret helped Norma with the trailer; Vivian, Kai, & I spent time talking with John, who had spent 2 & 1/2 years stationed at Pearl Harbor. He had many fond memories of his time & people he knew there.

John has nicknamed Kai "Blackbeard".

John plays the ukulele for us.

The chickens were harvesting roadkilled bugs off of the rental car this afternoon. They seemed to really like the dry roasted bugs.


We saw a deer grazing along the creek on Margaret's property. She says in a couple of weeks there will be does with fawns coming up to graze on the front lawn in the early morning.


As usual, Cedar was cute today.

Cedar sleeping in Margaret's room.

Kai distracting Cedar to keep him from running out the front door.

We ended the evening by watching the remake of the Magnificent Seven, starring Denzel Washington & Chris Pratt. In this version 4 of the 7 heroes are people of color and miraculously 3 of them survive. It was also refreshing to see a woman play a significant role in recruiting the seven and helping defend the town. (They try to marginalize her but she doesn't let that stop her.) Downside; she is suggestively dressed, unlike other homesteading women in the town.

The 3 survivors; L to R Latino, Native American, & African American.

 
Happy National Loving Day! It is the anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision banning anti-miscegenation laws.