[Rhodes22-list] Happy New Year

[Roger Pihlaja]

Deb & I celebrated NYE with some good friends from high school.  We went to a Temptations concert at the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt. Pleasant, MI.  After the concert, we had a late dinner at a fancy restaurant in Mt. Pleasant called the Embers.  Very pleasant.

Daniel & Gary decided to ring in the new year with a camping trip.  The southern trailhead to a famous long backpacking trail called the Midland/Mackinac Trail is only a few miles from our house.  The trail begins at the headwaters of the Kawkawlin River.  The US Army Corps of Engineers & the MDNR have built a small earthen dam & spillway which creates a 200 acre shallow pond for wildlife habitat.  The trail actually crosses the pond on top of this earthern dam.  The boys & their friends camped near the pond.  To help them celebrate the New Year, I gave them several expired distress flares off the boat, which they fired off at midnight out over the pond.  They didn't bother anyone except perhaps a few Canada geese.  Daniel said it got down to about 11 deg F this morning!  They got back about 3:00 PM today, unpacked, took a shower, got something to eat, & promptly went to sleep.  I don't think there was much sleeping last night.

2002 was a pretty tough year for my family.  I, for one, am not sorry to see it pass into history.  I hope your 2002 was a good one & wish everyone a happy & prosperous 2003.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium