What fun!! We’re well into the first part of what has become for us our annual “Northern Tour.”  We’ve had an incredible time so far! The end of last week was very busy for us with four gigs in three days…and we enjoyed every minute of it.  We have so much we want to share with you, so here we go!

Cadillac Area Sunset, 25 June 2013
(Click on any of the pictures for a larger view)

Howard Street: Taking the back way across Petoskey.

Petoskey State Park at dusk

We started heading up north on Tuesday evening.  We figured we’d make it a leisurely drive, enjoy the scenery, and reach Petoskey by around 11:00 pm.  By the time we reached Cadillac the sun was setting and we were treated to a breathtaking sunset.  Shari grabbed the camera and caught some great pictures of it through the windows of our rig.

We arrived in Petoskey right on schedule, got the rig set up, and relaxed a bit before turning in for the night.

When we got up the next morning we decided we’d spend the day working at the beach, so we headed to Petoskey State Park to prepare for our next three days.

Once there, we got our guitars out, went over some songs and worked out our set lists for the upcoming concerts. We also made up a couple of main dishes, with plenty of extra, so we wouldn’t have to do much cooking over the next few days.

Even though the day included a fair amount of activity, it was still a day of rest and renewal, which we’ve found, for us, to be one of the most important  aspects  of  preparation!

On Thursday afternoon we put the guitars  in  the  car  and  drove  into

Bay Bluffs, Harbor Springs, Michigan

Singing in Front of Mary Ann Archer, Harbor Springs, Michigan

Harbor Springs for the first of two gigs we had that day.  We were scheduled for a performance at Bay  Bluffs  Medical  Care  Facility. While we thoroughly enjoy singing at summer concerts, festivals and other public venues, our day work with the seniors means so much to us and is especially rewarding.  The staff and folks at Bay Bluffs were great and really made us feel welcome.

After our program we packed everything up and went back to the motor home for a brief break before heading into downtown Harbor Springs, where we were scheduled to sing for their “Street Musique” series.  The forecast called for a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms and the clouds did indeed look threatening.  When we got to our spot in front of Mary Ann Archer Jewelry, a young lady came up to us saying that the radar showed “a big patch of red” coming our way.  But looking at the sky, we felt it might all go north of us.  We decided to go ahead on faith and set up.

This is our third year as performers for Street Musique in Harbor Springs and it’s always a pleasure to sing there. The people have always been good to us, and Thursday’s attendees were no exception.  It was fun to also see some of the staff and people who had been at Bay Bluffs earlier in the day stopping by to see us again.  We sang for two hours with hardly a break, but the time flew by.  There were lots of smiles, and throughout the evening young and old alike listened, sang along, and danced to the music.

We met a delightful couple who gracefully danced to a few of our tunes.

As our time came to an end, we gave a prayer of thanks that the rainy weather had indeed gone north of us, with not even a drop of rain falling on those of us downtown. We packed up our instruments and equipment for the second time that day. We were tired, but excited and charged up by the day’s events. A late night dinner invitation from a favorite relative topped off the evening, and was the perfect ending for a perfect day!  We went home eagerly anticipating the next two nights’ performances.  And that’s where we’ll pick up the story in our next post. Stay tuned!       -Wyatt & Shari