Can't Wait

I can't wait to travel up to MI to see the progress on the home! Your trip sounded so fun!! I foresee many fun summer vacations here- relaxing by the lake, hiking the dunes, wineries, Cherry Republic... yippee!

Website Counter

Just added a Website Counter to the The Suttons Bay Project website! It's a free service provided by amazingcounters.com (although I think most website counters are free...). It wasn't difficult to put onto the site...more or less a copy & paste into the raw code.

Anyways - it'll be interesting to see how many hits we get for the site - it is a public site that anyone can hit.

The counter is located on the right-hand side of the page - within the side bar.

Things I didn't know

I loved reading about the days. But I didn't know about Rob's breakfast at the Village Inn...the cinnamon rolls at the coffee shop... or the trip to look at wide screen televisions. Rob forgot to tell me about those things - wonder why!

3 Acres of woods behind the house.

High Ceilings!!

High Ceilings!!!

What a view!!!

What a view!!!

Luke the builder has plans for us!

Some days are sunny!

It looks like house!!

Day Four: Trip Up North w/ "Dad" - Coming home...

We woke up pretty early and packed up the Pathfinder. Had a quick cup of coffee...I don't recall if we had breakfast or not...

On our way back home...it was a great time spent with my new dad - not really new anymore....it's been more than 6 months - really more than that. I would not have missed this time spent with him in the world...it was quite the bonding experience and found out a lot about him personally. I hope he certainly feels the same.

We both agreed that it will be very nice to come back and have the opportunity to stay at a place we call home versus having to stay at the Whaleback Inn (nothing against the Whaleback at all...).

Rob started the first leg out of Suttons Bay and we switched outside of Ann Arbor.

The tunes were on...travelling at a pretty good clip (averaged prob 80 MPH). It took us almost 7.5 hours from Traverse City to Cincinnati - let's see if we can beat that!!

I believe that the next trip up North will be towards the end of April. I will be staying in Cincinnati taking care of the girls, while Sarah and Nancy drive up to meet Rob (flying into Traverse City from Chicago).

Day Three: Trip Up North w/ "Dad"

Holy Mackerel - we got slammed with snow...and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. Good thing we brought the Pathfinder with us.

We began our day with a trip over to the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company to warm up with some coffee and a cinnamon twist. Once served our coffee and cinnamon twist, we walked over to the dining area to sit down and have our breakfast. The place was filled with locals chatting and laughing away. We were obviously 'out-of-towners'. The guy that you would least expect to stand up and offer his table to us...in fact...stood up and offered his table...what a guy...After breakfast we supplied ourselves with bags of coffee ammunition to bring back to Cincinnati for all to enjoy.

After breakfast, we headed back to the lot to figure out what we would do about lighting fixtures in the kitchen and downstairs hallway. We wanted to get the scale of the lighting fixtures anyways...to make sure they 'fit' with the proportion of the ceiling. We found ourselves about 45 minutes later (not realizing the time that had passed)...walking through the house and 'visualizing' how the interior would turn out - this was definitely the favorite part of the trip...

We decided to go to Home Depot vs. Lowe's, hoping that they would have a better selection. They definitely did...as we came out with all three of the lighting fixtures for the kitchen and the light above the kitchen sink. Had lunch at Burger King and had the The Angus Bacon and Cheese Steak Burger. You know the commercial...the one with Hooty....yeah it's Hooty....without his Blowfish - he must be pretty desperate to be singing a cheesy song about a hamburger.

We went back to the house, but deemed that the lighting fixtures picked out for the kitchen ceiling were too small. We decided to trek back to Home Depot and get the larger size. Back to the lot we went and there was no doubt in our minds that not only were the fixtures perfect for the space, but glad we went back to get the larger size...good sense of accomplishment.

We then went over to Good Harbor Vineyards to get a few bottles of wine for one of Nancy's friends at work. We were their only customers the entire day!!

The snow still kept dropping and made traveling a bit cumbersome and time consuming. We decided to have dinner at the Roman Wheel. A pizzeria in downtown Suttons Bay and a place that both of us have never tried. I have to admit the pizza was pretty good - back to the Whaleback Inn...

Day Two: Trip Up North w/ "Dad"

We woke up early Friday morning (7am if I recall) to meet with Luke at the Village Inn in downtown Suttons Bay. The decor consisted of deer heads mounted on the wall and a very 'lodgey' feel. As we peered into the window, we noticed Luke sitting in his usual spot next to a massive fire pit. It was the best seat in the house.

As we discussed details about the home (anywhere from actuals vs. budgeted allotments to lighting fixtures). I ordered the Portabella and Swiss omelet with a side of sausage links w/ Rye Toast....same as Luke - he had ordered the wheat toast. Rob ordered - and I don't recall the name of the breakfast - a plate piled high that consisted of eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, more hash browns, topped off w/ more bacon....good stuff indeed....enough to keep you warm in the cold Michigan climate.

After breakfast, we headed over to the lot and met Luke and his crew. It's truly amazing how much progress they have made in such little time. I remember pacing the lot with the family back in late August last year....before they even broke ground. We followed Luke giving him answers to many of his important questions about details within the home (lighting fixtures, light switches, the custom built entertainment center, etc).

After exploring the bowels of this structure, Rob and I couldn't help to get caught up in the fun we had 'visualizing' the inside of the house. After a couple of hours of vizualizing, we decided that we needed to get some work done. We headed over to a Sam's Club and a local electronics store to scope out some widescreen TVs...then drove over to Lowe's to pick out some lighting fixtures and paint samples. After a few minutes in Lowe's we determined that they didn't have a great selection.

Ohio University lost to the Florida Gators in the First Round of the NCAA tournament 67-62. It was a bit disappointing, but they had a great season. No one had picked them to go to the torunament - especially with three freshman in their starting lineup. First time since my freshman year in 1994 - this was the last time Ohio University went to the Big Dance. Watch out - they're going to be a great team next year...

After still being full from breakfast (it was enough to get us by without having lunch)...we decided it was time for Dick's Pourhouse. I had the homemade fried chicken and Rob had the fish and chips - with each of us having a side of cole slaw. I couldn't help to notice that everyone knew everyone there...it was a neat feeling that maybe some day we'll stroll in and 'Hey man...any luck w/ deer season this year?'

We went back to the Whaleback Inn for the evening and watched a couple of great NCAA basketball games...it was beginning to snow...

Day One: Trip up North w/ "Dad"

I met Rob at the house in Cincinnati shortly after noon on 03/17/05. We packed up the Pathfinder with boxes of lighting fixtures that have been purchased for the home...hoping that Luke the builder would have a somewhere to store them!

I started the first leg of our 8+ hour drive up north. The drive seemed to go rather fast - filled with good music and conversation. Rob took over the navigation somewhere between Toledo and Ann Arbor.

Prior to the trip, he had mentioned the idea of stopping at the Lumberjack in West Branch, MI (about 1.5-2 hours south of Traverse City). I knew that this was the place as we approached the property...a big sculpture of a Lumberjack sat proudly in front of the establishment.

Ohhh buddy....it was good....thick stew w/ large pieces of beef ladeled into a sourdough bread bowl. It hit the spot...

It was dark when we arrived in Suttons Bay. I quickly suggested that we take a quick peek at the house before retiring to the Whaleback Inn for the night. It wasn't a difficult decision to bypass the Whaleback Inn for 30 minutes or so.....we decided to drive to the site of the future vacation home. It was really dark, but was able to see the outline of the massive peak of this beautiful home.

It was a clear, chilly night with a huge collection of stars in the sky - an incredibly relaxing feeling.

We decided it was time to head over to the Whaleback Inn to rest up for a big day with Luke (and breakfast...at the Village Inn in downtown Suttons Bay).