Harbor Springs

Tucked into Little Traverse Bay, where the natural springs make Lake Michigan so clear you can see huge salmon swimming deep on the bottom, is the incredibly beautiful and charming township of Harbor Springs, Michigan. Luckily for us one of our best friends now resides there on a full-time basis along with his new family.

He's also perhaps our bravest friend; he's the only person I've ever know who took on a new house, new job, new puppy, and a new son Leighton III, in the same two-month period.

To his credit he's patient and well-adjusted and

doing great.

We finally pulled into a town at a decent hour and were able to make dinner and catch up. Along with his two-and-a-half month year old son, Leighton lives with his girlfriend Liz and Ophie's new little sidekick Mason. His house sits on a couple of acres and the dogs were able to chase and play for the entire week we were there. Ophie thought she had found paradise and will now only allow use to move back to a place with lots of property.

It turned out to be a great week. The weather forecast called for rain for most of the week but it never really transpired and only dumped one afternoon. Although upon entering Harbor Springs in was still summer, and we were decked in our shorts and tank tops, a week later when we left it was definitely fall with jeans and fleeces the new wear of the day. It's amazing how the Great Lakes have such an effect on the region's weather, the patterns move so quickly. They really are fresh water oceans. The boys said that its not uncommon for a front to drop 7-10 feet of snow easy. That's when paradise turns to 5-6 months of grey, cold, boring winter...

The boys in question are some of Northern Michigan's finest. The McLean brothers were around pretty much the whole time. They took us on some great single track mountain biking trails that were right in Leighton's back yard. Boyne Ski Mountain was 20 minute ride from the house and had one of the best marked trail systems I've seen. from super agressive trails decked out with ladders everywhere to mellow winding trails in was great. Leighton also took us on some driving tours of the region showing us some of the finer areas and fall color trails. The downtown area is decked out with fine shopping, art, food, and just enough local flavor to preserve it's standing as not a totally played out tourist trap. We highly recommend the local fudge! One of the highlights was our second to last night when we boated across the Bay over to Petosky for some fine dinning and then down the shore to Bay Harbor, a newer development that has some of the most glamorous monstrosities of homes you'll ever see, to meet up with some friends for a B-Day bash at the Knot.

Many good laughs and even better drinks were had by all. Jessica and I decided to partake in a local tradition and take the Buck Hunter Challenge! Having just spent several weeks viewing amazing and highly protected wild life we needed a release and Buck Hunter was just perfect. Remembering a shirt we had seen on a woman in Yellowstone which stated, "There's a place for all of God's creatures, next to the potatoes and gravy on my plate!" We pulled out the shot gun and had at it. I took down more bucks than Jessica did over the 5 different levels but she found her aim and had a perfect screen on the bonus turkey level killing all 30!! We all closed down the Knot and jumped on the boat for the 20 min. cruise back to Harbor. Along the way starring out at the water and lights on the hill sides I made up my mind that I wanted to sail around the world. I'm now accepting donations to make this dream a reality. Upon returning while we were tieing the boat to the dock I decided to show off and do a back flip into the lake. Other people said I fell off with all my clothes on including a polo sweater and Italian leather shoes. The jury's still out. What is certain is that my Blackberry doesn't like me anymore and my drivers licence picture now shows me with a snorkle and fins! The next day we BBQ'd ribs, watched a little football, and packed the car for the trip to Niagara Falls. We had a great time and we'll hopefully be back next year when the knee heals and we can wakeboard!

—Patrick