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I have this memory of when I was very young my parents took me to a cider mill far away from our house. It was at a very unassuming farm out in the country where we lived. Perched in a sea of brilliantly colored trees a white farm house and big red barn stood unchanged for decades. I remember we sat at picnic tables under the trees and drank fresh apple cider and ate warm doughnuts. For most of my life fall has been my favorite time of year. I love those cooler crisp days where the vibrant orange and red trees shower country roads with leaves. I can only imagine this would be the perfect scene if I were zipping down said country road in a BMW M3 with the windows and moonroof wide open. And I would, of course, be on my way to a cider mill and apple orchard. Over the years I have become somewhat of a coinsurer of southeastern Michigan cider mills. I would like to share some of my favorites with you…

This is a very nice cider mill very close to my parent’s house. Everything is housed in an old barn (the way it should be) and everything is very traditional. I think they give demonstrations but I cant remember for sure. I don’t believe they have a U-pick orchard on site.

Alber Orchard & Cider Mill
13011 Bethel Church Road Manchester
734-428-7758
Sept. 3-Thanksgiving: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.
Established in 1890. Unpasteurized cider. 45 apple varieties include McIntosh, Gala, Red and Golden Delicious, Ida Red, Northern Spy, Snow, Chieftan, Liberty, Empire, Winesap, Granny Smith and Cortland.

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Dexter Cider mill is one of my favorites. Right in town on the river they have some of the best cider and doughnuts around. They also let you watch them making the cider with the old fashioned presses. Again no orchard on site and sometimes not many places to sit down by the river (but hopefully they have remedied this.)

Dexter Cider Mill
58 Cavanaugh Lake Road Dexter
734-426-8531
Aug. 25-Nov. 15: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sun.
oldest continuously operating mill in the state.

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Wasam is more of an apple orchard than a cider mill, but it is one of the best orchards I have ever been too. They have all kinds of apples there, including my favorite, the Cortland. A little less rustic than the rest, but still worth the trip out to Milan.

Wasam Fruit Farm
6580 Judd Road
Milan, MI
734-482-2842

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I have not been to either of these last two but hopefully I will get the chance to go this fall. They look very intriguing.

Parshallville Cider Mill
8507 Parshallville Road, Parshallville
810-629-9079.
Labor Day weekend-November: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.
More than 125 years old, one of the few remaining water-powered mills in Michigan.
Fenton

Windy Ridge Orchard and Cider Mill
9375 Saline-Milan Rd.
313-429-7111
Saline

Surf Board

Originally uploaded by bbaier.

My trip is now half over. I have moved on from Waikiki beach on Oahu to Wailea, Maui. I am currently staying at the Grand Wailea Resort and Spa. I have some pictures posted on my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbaier. Check them out.

This surf board was by far my favorite picture so far. But there are a few more. I will be updating this page with pictures periodically throughout the next few days. My trip is just over half over, but I know these last few days will go fast. Check back for more.

Its 5:17 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Or its 10:17 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). I don’t know why I just had the intense desire to check GMT but it is 5:17 a.m. Today is the start to my Hawaii trip 2005. In my grand scheme I have decided to re introduce my blog while on the trip. So whenever possible I will be updating. With pictures from my new exotic locale of Hawaii for the next 16 days. Now I go to the airport.

Going to the hockey game tonight. It will be fun.

After a weekend of deck-work (sunburn included) and no internet I’m back at the office ready to jump into action…Actually I’m sitting in more of a reclined position in the corner ready to go to sleep.

In this post apocalyptic era of summer most of my friends find themselves thrown out on their collective behinds by the University of Michigan. After four (or more) years of being shielded from the fray of reality they must embark from the protective space that is college life into a cold cruel world of uncertainty.

This scares me.

I see it happen to them and I know that it is only a matter of a little longer than a year before I find myself in that same position.

I wish I could just stop time.

That would make everything better…

….

13. If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.

RAUR!!!
*punds fists like Donkey Kong*

Is it just me or do the days seem to be getting longer and longer.

We took Cameron to Saika for lunch today. For those who don’t know, Saika is a sushi restaurant on Plymouth Road. Cameron had never eaten sushi before. Sushi tends to be one of those things that people either like a lot, or seem to hate. Cameron seemed to think the sushi was decent, but he didn’t care for the Wassabe. I took this to mean that Cameron would probably have sushi once maybe twice more in his life and stick to more conventional foods like bacon cheeseburgers.

I like sushi quite a bit, and lately I have had sushi pretty often. It’s a real treat. Except for the squid and octopus pieces, which I find repulsive. Which is not to say that I didn’t try them, because I did try them. On numerous occasions. Unfortunately every time I tried them I wanted to vomit. But that?s ok, there is plenty more sushi that I do enjoy more than squid and octopus.

A big welcome back to the good old USA goes out to PFC Brandon Maggetti. We are all glad to see you back. With the possible exception of Kyle, who is afraid you may kill him.

Lately, and by that I mean for the past few days I have been getting up early. How early, you ask? 05:30a.m. early. It’s all in some sort of effort to get healthy. Because 5:30 is the best time to go work out, as I am told. It’s perhaps a little early for my taste, but I feel like it is doing me some good to get up early and get some exercise. My original plan at the beginning of the summer was to participate in an alternating routine of swimming, running, and biking, which still may happen. For now at least I think it is working out well that I go in early with my dad and work out in the DPS “wellness room” as they call it.

Hopefully it will continue. For it is my intent that by the end of the summer I will be utterly irresistible to women. That’s the plan at least. So far so good.