Roamy on the Mackinac Bridge to the Land of the Yoopers

Because he is interested in becoming a bridge building engineer, Roamy spent a lot of time exploring the Mighty Mac (as the 5 mile-long suspension bridge connecting Michigan's two peninsulas is fondly called). The bridge connects the city of St. Ignace on the north end with the village of Mackinaw City on the south.

"Mrs.  Zoey,"  he asked before we crossed the bridge, " Could we stop here and get out of the car so I can check out the substructure underneath the bridge?"  He is such a precocious little gnome. 

"Impressive," he said as he inspected every little detail. "I wonder how long it took to complete this bridge."

 I informed him that the building began in 1954 (waaay before Mrs. Zoey was born) and the bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957.

"Amazing," he replied. "Mr. Zoey, Could you please drive across the road to the lighthouse?"


How could Mr. Zoey  resist a sweet face like that? 



As all with  most young boys, Roamy loved this cannon near fort Michilimackinac. (I know some of the  native American words are tough to pronounce - Mish-el-mac-a-naw)

We drove through Mackinaw City (the city ends in a "w", the bridge and island end in a "c"--yet both are pronounced the exact same - mac-a-naw--very confusing, I know).

"Mr. Zoey, why are there so many fudge shops in Mackinaw?" Interesting that Roamy should notice the overabundance of fudge shops.

Over the years the city has become known for its fudge. Tourists are referred to as "fudgies" because they buy so much of it.

Roamy talked us into buying 4 different kinds before he was finally ready to jump back in the car and cross the Big Mac.  I told him he was now an official "fudgie".

Roamy seemed a bit agitated as we drove up the slow incline to the halfway point of the bridge. I noticed a few sweat beads on  his brow as we drove along the outer lane (next to the water).

 I informed Roamy that we were now 199 feet above the water.

"How deep is the water below us?" he asked. Did I detect a tremble in his voice?

"250 feet," I replied.

PLOP! The noise startled me.

Poor Roamy passed out cold from fright!

 There are many people who fear crossing this bridge. Some absolutely cannot drive themselves across. The toll takers call them "timmies" -- people who have to stop and ask for help in getting to the other side of  the bridge.  It is said that many timmies have to get in the backseat and close their eyes as one of the bridge workers drive them across the Straits of Mackinac.  Even some big  burly truck drivers have to have the Mackinac Bridge Authority take the wheel of their rig to drive them across. 

Luckily we had all that fudge. I waved a big hunk of chocolate almond across Roamy's nose and he woke right up! 

Within 60 seconds he was all better and able to stand as we approached the toll booth to enter Michigan's upper peninsula.

It was an enjoyable honor to host Roamy.  I hope he had as much fun as Mr. Zoey  and I had introducing him to Michigan's Mighty Mac and taking him  into the land of the Yoopers (residents of MI's upper peninsula are referred to as Yoopers---it comes from the abbreviation UP for upper peninsula).

Tomorrow I will pick another destination for Roamy. I will email the person selected. 

P.S. Roamy has decided that his vocation may not be designing bridges. He says that perhaps a florist would be his true calling.

Roamy sighting in Michigan!

 Roamy showed up on the doorstep of Zoey and family in  lower Michigan...

 
Zoey says:  "In our get-acquainted chat, Roamy told me that so far he has been to these starred states:

Through chattering teeth, he said that so far Michigan is the furthest north he's traveled. 

I think he enjoyed Missouri's weather last week a bit more than he likes the still freezing temps in Michigan.  He was not really dressed for temps in the mid 30's, so I took him over to the sunny side of the garden so he could warm up. 

 He thought the garden was a playground and seemed to have a lot of fun running around and climbing on pieces of garden junk art.

He was pretty tired after the long journey from Missouri so he had a quick dinner, asked me to notify his family that he was in good health, and went right to bed.

This weekend we are planning to take him to visit the Mackinac Bridge (where the arrow is pointing on the map). He's pretty excited about that. He said he once dreamed of being a bridge engineer. He's pretty young, so his dream may still come true.

Roamy only sticks around a few days and then gets the itch to move on. He will be looking for a friendly place to visit next, preferably in a state he has not yet seen. If you would like to host Roamy, please leave me a comment and I will let let him choose his next state later this weekend.

Update on the ATV win:  It's been sold already. I never even saw it.  I guess I will have to haul rocks my usual way -- in a wheelbarrow. :)

 

Zoey, thanks for the update on Roamy!

We look forward to your excursion with him...

Roamy takes in Jefferson City -

  The blacksmith and I took Roamy to town. Our first stop was the Jefferson Visitors Bureau. We visited the county courthouse, the old Missouri State Penitentiary (which we could have signed up for a ghost tour), it is open on certain days for tours. We stopped by the Governor's Mansion (where the gate talked to me).

  We went to Jefferson Landing where we found there was an iron exhibit (music to the blacksmith's ears, so we checked that out).

We saw the Lewis and Clark bigger than life size bronze statues, including their dog Seaman. Across the street we saw the Governor's gardens, the tulip trees had been nipped with frost, but still pretty and pink.

  The Capitol was in the same block, there we took Roamy to see the north side which over looks the mighty Missouri river.

 Our last stop was the Missouri Conservation Runge Center (combine pleasure and business, the blacksmith had to pick up his season Turkey tags, to hunt them legally) and Roamy took a ride on the new bronze turtle which will be dedicated April 16, when the blacksmith has an invitation to demonstrate there!

 He also had a nice visit with Smokey the bear.

  Roamy has already left the building, headed for a new adventure.  Restless soul, he is. 

Some interesting links -

Lewis and Clark http://visitjeffersoncity.com/blog/2009/08/14/lewis-and-clark-trailhead-plaza/

Missouri State Capitol http://visitjeffersoncity.com/blog/2009/08/14/missouri-state-capitol/

Missouri State Penitentiary http://visitjeffersoncity.com/blog/2009/08/14/missouri-state-penitentiary/

Cole County Historical Society http://www.colecohistsoc.org/home.html

Governor's mansion http://mansion.mo.gov/

Missouri Conservation Center http://mdc.mo.gov/regions/central/runge-nature-center

Elizabeth Rozier Gallery/Jefferson Landing http://visitjeffersoncity.com/blog/2009/08/14/jefferson-
landing-state-historic-site/

Roamy in Missouri!

This just in from The Blacksmith....

There was a visitor today in the shop!

Roamy is his name.

He just stopped by to say hello.

After a tour of Jefferson City, MO he will be leaving almost as quickly as he came.

Stay tuned for more MO adventures...

Looks like he's staying out of trouble... so far.

Roamy's Finland Connection

 (above images courtesy google)

 This just in from Saara of Finland... 

 - The gnome twins moved to our place at Christmas time many years ago. At first it seemed as though they were normal Christmas elves, but something about their behavior made me suspicious. The twins were very sleepy and shy. Only at the fireplace would they  show some kind of interest in being social.  It must have been the heat of the fire. So I decided not to be too demanding and I let them live in peace. They seemed satisfied but eventually disappeared  for the rest of that winter.  I thought perhaps they were hybernating after arranging Christmas with Santa Claus.

Little did I know. 



When the first signs of spring became apparent the gnome twins suddenly appeared from their hiding place and stayed by the window looking at the garden where snow was just about to disappear for good. I started my spring gardening and clean-up of the backyard. I felt their eyes on my back all the time.  It was a little bit annoying so I decided to take the twins out with me too. Despite the frozen ground it took only a blink of an eye and they were gone. I saw red flashes under the leaves and their running around made a funny sound. They seemed happy. It was then when I realised that my elves are actually garden gnomes. They seemed to love my garden.

Now, after many years together I have noticed that my gnomes share a lot of ideas with me. They like "slow gardening" and wild environment. That´s why I do not cut the lawn too often. The longer the grass the happier the twins seem to be. Now they are hibernating somewhere under the snow, or - as I told Karen before - they might have moved to Southern Europe for winter. But I´m sure that they will come back really soon when it´s time to start enjoying the springtime again.

Who knows if my twin gnomes are related to Roamy.  They seem to have the same mischievous streak!   Roamy is welcome to meet his cousins in Helsinki, Finland any time.

P.S. - Garden gnome is "puutarhatonttu" in Finnish.

Some Finland Facts:

-Finland is the fifth largest country in Europe.
-68% of the country is covered by forest.
-Helsinki is the capital, with a population of 539,000 but with the little cities around it, it’s around 900,000.
-Other big cities include Tampere and Turku.
-The language of the elves in the famous movie based on a book, Lord Of The Rings, is based on Finnish.
-Finland is a bilingual country, the two official languages are Swedish and Finnish.
-The UN  voted Finland as the second most stable country in the world.

Saara, can I come with him??... that is... if I can find him! - Karen 

Roamy in Charlotte, NC!...

I have had a little visitor this week!

  Roamy arrived at Sherri's house on Monday of last week.  Sherri says in her blog post  " I was sick Monday and Tuesday and I wasn't able to take Roamy on any adventures. Today John and I took Roamy to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden! This is how we spent our day:"


Here is Roamy at our front door. Doesn't he look cute next to my pansies!


We took Roamy to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden today. He couldn't wait to drive through the entrance!


Here he is getting closer to the entrance. He kept trying to run up to the entrance and I had to hold his hand and slow him down.


Just when I thought Roamy was behaving and walking slowly towards the entrance of the Garden he decided to hide out in a group of mini daffodils-isn't he cute!


There is a beautiful white garden at the Daniel Stowe Botanical garden. There is also a fountain and Roamy decided he needed to pose by it.


Roamy making friends with the Bunny at the Garden.


Roamy made quick friends with this little snail at the Garden and it made him feel like he was back home amongst the moss.


Roamy striking a pose in the holly hedge.


I told Roamy to stop being bad and to stop getting so close to the edge of the fountain.


Here is Roamy laughing at me being worried about him falling into the fountain.


Roamy walked with us through the entire Garden and needed a rest at the end. While John and I drank our water, Roamy decided to rest at the table overlooking the garden.


Saying goodbye can be hard, but Roamy was tired and wanted to just hang out at our house.


When we got home, we took Roamy out into our courtyard. He got very smitten with our Garden Fairy! I tried to explain that he will be traveling alot in the next year so he shouldn't make any lasting relationships. He agreed and told the Garden Fairy farewell.

Then Roamy decided to be naughty again-what is with him and water!!


Roamy was on the edge of my fountain again!


I just turned my back and then I heard a plunk in the water. That little devil Roamy had jumped in the water and was playing in my fountain!

Roamy crawled out of the fountain with my help and then jumped up on the fence next to the fountain and was admiring my neighbor's wisteria (that is just starting to bloom).



Well that has been the story of Roamy staying at the McDermitts! Who would like to take Roamy next? I will entertain offers for Roamy's next adventure until Wednesday night. I will then let the lucky person know on Thursday. This has been a really fun adventure and it could be yours!!

             Thank you, Sherri - for taking care of Roamy - I wonder where he'll go next?