The sunset on our final night night in Petowskey with Helen and and John...indeed a time of reflection and a certain degree of sadness...This night my sister and brother in law took me to a wonderful resturant in a town just down the road from their cabin in Petowskey.  I had been craving some local fare for dinner and Helen and John took me to a wonderful resturant to enjoy some of my favorite childhood local fresh water fish.  Now since moving to California I have become a strictly salt water seafood kind of guy.  My greatest craving since embarking on this trip has been suishi...I made up my mind many weeks ago that I was going to wait until I got back to the west coast to have any...another west coast bias I guess!..anyway at this resturant I ordered Walleye, which was prepared magnificently!  In the 40 years since I had left the midwest, this was a first for me.
In all honesty it was one of the best meals that I have enjoyed...hey I guess you an you can teach an old dog new tricks!
When sitting down I asked that the waitress bring me the bill.  John snaked me out of it by getting the bill and giving her his credit card and telling her it was from me...it was a very nice thing to do...but still pissed me off!
As expected I chastised the waitress for breaking that age old practice of who ever asked for the bill first got it...John is very sneaky that way...but thank you Helen and John, it was a very nice thing to do.
The only concern we had this night, was that Ruby and Divit (Helen and Johns dog) might rip each other to shreds while we were gone!

Our final sunrise in Petowskey.  We had, had a front move through the area the night before and  this was the remanents of that storm.
All in all a beautiful way to start our day!

Meet Helen, John and Divit!
As explained earlier they are my younger sister and brother in law.  Helen just turned 49!
They are a very kind hearted and generous couple who went way out of their way to make the Rubes and I feel at home!
John is a former Vice President of Chrysler and obviosly had a very successful career while there.  He also has a very passionate love of a game that I really don't understand..Golf, playing 3 times a week....I guess retirement is good!
Something I'll probably never get to experience!
Helen has supported John's career and been the strenght that has held their family together and represented John at functions that require a strong and a very social wife!
They have 2 chidren...Brian and Kelly...Brian and his wife Rachel have 3 great kids.  Brian is one of the top lawyers at Priceline and Rachel is one of the top dentists in N.Y.C.
Kelly works in the marketing department at Nissan in Nashville and is a former employee of Chrysler...I'll spare any commentary here!
Again Helen and John...thank you for everything it was really a special couple of days...lets try to agree that it won't be another 4 years before we see each other again....ok?

During our visit with my dear friend in Fenton...Ruby developed a special bond with Linda's dog Bailey...they became the very best of friends as Linda and I had a wonderful time reconnecting after many long years!

I stopped at a rest stop on my way to Chicago and saw this very large family of Asian people that had stopped for lunch...I was struck that this used to be a commonplace practice among many families when I ws young, stengthening family ties and bonds.
Have we as a country lost this type of bond that helps hold  families together?

I have seen these Lions Den Adult bookstores all over the country....whats up with that?
I know I'm behind but promise to catch up by tomorrow evening.
I've been a very, very busy guy!
Tomorrow you'll have a much better understanding....why.
Today please reach out to your loved one...that one special person in your life...kiss them passionatly and tell them how much you love them!