The Storage Auction

My husband as we waited for the auction 

The idea for this adventure, as with most of my adventures, began with television. There was a marathon of "Storage Wars" on and I watched it. I was mildly intrigued by how these people buy these storage units full of junk and make money with it. Just imagine, a person's life summed up in 10x10 ft space full of stuff and another person just shifting through it to make a profit or find a treasure.  Luckily for me my husband, Randy, and our friend Joe decided to try this and it made me want to do it even more.

Joe and Randy did each purchase a storage unit. Joe found a bunch of change that was pretty close to the amount of money he paid and many other items that will be easily sold on Criagslist or eBay. The second storage unit that they went in on hasn't yielded any profits yet, but it did contain some very promising items. Seeing all the "booty" they collected from their adventure made me want to go to an auction even more. I found one for the very next day and Randy and I registered for it.

When we arrived at the storage facility there were already many people waiting around. Randy went and registered. When he was registering people kept walking up and asking the auctioneer what it was like. He kept telling them it's just like storage wars. In reality it's not exactly like storage wars because the show really only highlights the "good stuff" that is found. There is a lot of junk. As time grew closer more and more people showed up. I don't know how many people are typically at these auctions but there was at least 100 people at the one we went to and they were all very anxious. Each time the lock was broken and the door was opened a line formed and people were allowed to walk past and glance in before the auction started. 

One of the units

The first thing they explain at these auctions is that all things must be cleaned out of the unit within 48 hours. One auctioneer said, "It's just like Marriage, for better or worse you own it". It is a lot of junk with maybe some treasures inside, but really it's kind of a crap shoot. You don't really know what you are going to get inside there or what you can do with it. 

Each unit we saw was different. Randy and I spoke to the owner of the facility and he told us about all the issues he has with these auctions. All the legalities he goes through because some people pay several months in advance, then they forget. He ends up contacting them. He gives them so many months to pay up. Then he has to fill out legal papers. One of the units that we saw that day belonged to a man who had committed suicide. It just reminded me that each of the units we saw had their own story. A reason why the items were put there and why they may have been forgotten or left behind.

It felt like modern day pillaging, but at the same time it was all stuff that was long forgotten. If it were old it would be an anthropologist's dream come true. It makes me wonder about the future. Are we going to have digital storage wars? Is there going to be a place with caches of old blogs and music that one can upload and pick through? Only time will tell.

Rockford Ice Festival

My amazing husband (Ice Sculptures LTD) does several ice festivals every year. One that he has done for the last three years is the Rockford Ice Festival in Rockford, MI. Randy's team sets up ice sculptures all over the town. This festival is pretty amazing. This blog will be mostly pictures and less talking, but I would like to describe Rockford for those who have not visited. Rockford is a lovely west Michigan City. It has this "Sleepy town" kind of feel. Comforting downtown streets, with The Corner Bar (with amazing hot dogs and veggie dogs as well), they just opened a brewery (with delicious beer), and Reds on the River, just to name a few businesses around town. Randy did a live demonstration at Herman's Boy this year where he and Jake (one of Randy's team) made a grill out of ice. Complete with ice carved into meat.

This year Randy and his team added two winners of the National Collegiate Ice Carving Competition to sculpt at the festival. They made their own designs and sculpted blocks of ice at Red's on the River.  

The sun was out as well and it shined through the ice beautifully. Every idea for the sculptures came to fruition and was amazing. 

This is Randy with local business owner Jeannie, this was an excellent ice sculpture in front of Sage and Roses. The store smelled wonderful and the people were so nice. Typical Rockford. This store ran a contest for guessing how many hearts are in the ice...... it looked like a lot. 

Some of the sculptures were just really cool. Lots of color, some were really detailed and some were just simply beautiful. Some of them were excellent for posing for photos. 

SKYZONE: Super Trampolines

Tonight my sister met me somewhere that was a lot of fun. A place with trampolines everywhere! It was a little over whelming because there were a great deal of parents and children there (after all it was a Friday night and in Michigan we are covered in snow.) There were different sections, like one section was for slam dunking basketballs, another was for jumping into giant foam blocks, then there were dodgeball courts, and last but not least, there is a track. Yes, I called it a track, but it didn't look like a track. My niece actually called it a track, I think she is probably more savvy on the terminology of the place.  It was a very large room with little squares for each trampoline. It also had them on the walls so that you could jump off of them.


We all tried jumping into the foam first. This part was easy, climbing out, not as much.  I noticed my sister, who is very tall, had no problem climbing out. I however found it a little more difficult. The children climbed in and out easily. They made perfect flips and it was so cute how they waited patiently until the number of their tramp was called. Then they ran, jumped on the tramp and flung their little bodies into the sea of blue foam. I am told this is how many stunt people practice. Maybe someday Grand Rapids will have a lot them.

The track we tried next. One person per trampoline, that is the rule. This prevents double jumping (when you cause someone to jump high off of your jump.) We bounced from section to section, then off the walls. That was hard and I ended up on the ground a couple of times.

The final place we went was the basketball courts. There were three nets all different heights. Once again you had to wait for the attendant, so that no one bumps into each other, and you bounce up to try and make a slam dunk. It was really hard. In fact our friend Chris actually got hit with the Basketball trying.

There was also dodgeball courts, I didn't use them, but my nephew and his friend did. They told me it was very intense and when gets down to the last two or three people it gets really hard.

All in all it was really a lot of fun. Good exercise as well. It had been a long time since I was on a trampoline and I really enjoyed it. The experience was $13 an hour per person and I highly recommend it for people wanting good exercise and as a good extra circular activity for the children.

Where we went:

http://www.skyzonesports.com/grandrapids

Florida Everglades: Gators, Skunk Ape, Air Boats

Dwight our tour guide 

My mother in law and I went out to the Florida Everglades to experience the land. First of all I learned the Everglades are not swamps or marshes, they are rivers and slowly moving water. A swamp is stagnant water and the Everglades are anything but stagnant. Everything, is always moving. The water, the animals, and even to some extent the plants. There are air plants that grow on the trees, they are not parasites, there are Fig Elk, which are giant tree parasites that kill their host trees. Gators, snakes, and green everywhere. I don't even know where to start.

I'll start with Dwight. He was our tour guide on the Everglades Adventure Tour, he was awesome.  He had a wealth of knowledge of the Everglades and the tours he set us up on were beyond amazing. Swamp tours, Air boat rides, interactive animal parks (petting zoos with unusual animals), and some stops to see wild birds.

First, we took a tour of the Everglades Via Air Boat. It was exhilarating.  We flew through the Everglades, went pass Mangroves, Snowy Egrets flew past us, and of course the gators bobbed their heads up and down in the murky water. The water in the Everglades is brackish, which means it is part saltwater, part fresh water, so different creatures live throughout.

We went on the Gator tour and saw a lot of Gators inside of Wooten's Airboat tours. The air boat ride was cool, but afterwards we went on a swamp tour across the street. There was a giant swamp buggy.  The woman driving it took us through the grasslands and then through what looked like a jungle. She explained the sable palms, wax myrtle, air plants, and Strangler Fig (which is a tree parasite but it is protected by law and it looks really cool).  We saw Raccoons and deer. She said sometimes there are bears.

After the swamp tour we met a guy who let us hold baby alligators.  I got to hold the big baby alligator. His name was Fred. He was a bit bigger than the other alligator because he was five. That's still a baby for Alligators, they really don't know how long they live, probably around 100 years.  There were also venomous snakes, tigers, and other gators all over the place.


The last place we went was the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters. It was the coolest place I've ever been. They have no Venomous snakes. There were birds, giant snakes, a baby alligator, peacocks, snapping turtles, and a tortoise. I'm told there were tarantulas and Scorpions, but I did not see them.

To wrap up our tour Dwight took us to see some of the native birds by the riverside. We did not get out of the van because there are gators that hang out near the edge of the river. They run really fast and we saw them swimming around in the river. It is illegal in the state of Florida to feed alligators. You will get arrested. This is because once you feed them they become dependent and see humans as people that will feed them. They are not good pets, so please do not buy baby alligators.













Where we went:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13341
http://wootenseverglades.com/
www.evergladesadventure.com 
http://youtu.be/lCTMUCRoBU8 <------You tube videos
http://youtu.be/edUX118xYYc <-----Youtube videos

Portland Oregon Day Three: Voodoo Doughnuts, Aerial cabs, and Random stuff

I was alone. My cousin took me with her on the bus and I wandered around the city all day. It took a few minutes to get my bearings. The all day bus pass I bought worked on the street cars so that helped me cover a lot of ground. There was a lot of ground to cover. Portland is divided into quadrants, and each one has different stuff in it. For example,  Portland State University (PSU) takes up a lot of blocks or there will be a city block of boutiques or restaurants.  I found one of these selling items from Russia, which I was amazed by and I got to practice speaking Russian.  Be forewarned that there are few public restrooms because the homeless population is so large. I took a stroll by the Willamette River, which runs through the downtown and wished it had been less rainy, but the weather was pretty typical for this area of the country.


It was obvious to me that downtown Portland was the center for shopping. There were a couple of good size malls and many clothing stores. I browsed Nordstorm's Rack and Ross. I also found the Pioneer Court house. It is still a working court house, but it's very central in the city. You can check in at the front and they will search your bags, check your ID, then you can go to the top of the Cupola. It's a pretty good view and it's cheap entertainment. Also, there is a really cool old elevator. It only goes to the third floor, but it's beautiful.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=559335047412494&notif_t=like

I took the street car to the Ariel cab. I had scene it my first day and was intrigued. It looked like a giant enclosed ski lift. I don't like cable cars, sky cabs, or any large heavy object that is hanging by cables higher than 15 feet in the air.... So taking this by myself was really scary. I made a video to go along with this adventure as well and the link is attached to my Facebook page, it is public. The video was a lot of fun to make, not as much filming it. As the cable car descends back down it swings when it hits the towers. I think it's really pretty scary.





















I found a place called voodoo doughnuts. It had tons of different doughnuts. The one I got wasn't the tastiest doughnut I'd ever eaten, however it was pretty creative. The place looked like it had been there forever, and it had a really cool neon sign outside the building.

The final place I went I have no pictures for, it's a store named Powell Books. It's a place so big you need a map. Seriously. The whole store is divided up into colors and floors. It's a crazy hot mess unless you know what you want. But it's also a dream come true. I wandered around for at least an hour before picking up two books, one on writing in Russian and the other a novel, which I discovered upon opening it on the plane had been signed by the writer. I knew they sold used, but this book was in really good condition. I guess you never know what you'll find. I highly recommend going in if you are in the area, it's in the Pearl on 10th Street. The street car stops right in front.

Where I went:

http://voodoodoughnut.com/
http://gobytram.com/
http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books/

Portland Oregon Day Two: Mad Hatters, Water Falls, and Food Carts

Multnomah Falls 

One of the Food Trucks 

On the second day Anna and I went to Multnomah Falls just outside Portland. It is a beautiful waterfall that is over 500 feet tall. We walked up to a lovely bridge. The sky was overcast and it was raining, but it was beautiful. There were a dozen other little waterfalls to see along the way as well! The weather was a balmy 37 degrees Fahrenheit and the mocha that I bought at the base of the falls warmed me up nicely. They had delicious fudge as well. The walk up to the bridge was worth it, despite the fact it was so chilly.


We went to the food trucks for lunch. We ordered from The New taste of India. It was amazing. The food truck are all lined up in various lots all over Portland and they serve any kind of food one wants. In order to make it out here you have to be good. People of Portland are very picky about food and even these random food trucks throughout the city serve a panorama of food. There were food trucks every where I went. The were lined up in lots, but there were also carts that traveled around the city that had food as well. Any kind of food you want is available on these carts, Gyros, Mexican, Lebanese, Italian, Thai, hot dogs,.... the list goes on and on and on. I was so amazed at the diversity of the food available I had a really hard time making a decision.

A line of Food trucks down town 

Anna Modeling a hat! 

The Hat Museum is located on Ladd and its a historic district. The curator running the museum was dressed as someone would in the Victorian Era. She told us all about the difference between Victorian- when Queen Victoria ruled, then Edwardian, when her son ruled. They had over 1300 hats on display and is probably the largest hat museum in the world. We saw original hats from over a hundred years ago and recreated hats.  The museum also makes it's own hats and showed us the studio. Alice (our tour guide) went through all the exhibits that have changed hats making them more or less popular throughout the years. At the end of the tour we go to try on hats in the gift shop and we even bought some!  To take a tour you have to book it in advance. It's only $15, but it's non-refundable, so if you make the reservation you should show up!

Hat Museum House 

Here's where we went!

http://youtu.be/szI3_m2B3vs  <------Video of Multnomah

http://www.newtasteofindia.net/

http://www.thehatmuseum.com/

http://www.oregon.com/attractions/multnomah_falls

Portland Oregon Day One: Wineries, Bagels, and Race for a Good Seat

The Pacific Northwest has always been a place that fascinated me. It's really far north, but it's not really cold. I think it's a jet stream or something. Anyway, this was the case when I visited this winter.  The temperature was in the mid forties, which to me was really warm because in Michigan I had just experienced -4 degree weather.  It was wet and overcast, but it felt clean and cozy. Portland is beautiful down town. There are bridges everywhere crossing the river  running through the city. My cousin Anna and her husband live in Portland so, I was lucky to have a nice place to stay.

Photo credit: Anna  

  

For breakfast my first morning we went to a place called Bowery Bagels. We had Truffle Salt bagels, which are bagels that have sea salt and truffle oil on them. Did I mention that Oregon is a great place to grow truffles? smelled amazing. They had a ton of different spreads, BOM.com (Bacon, Onion, Mushroom), Salmon, roasted vegetable, Kimchi, plain, and then they also have weekly specials.

We went to couple of different wineries after Breakfast. The Pacific NorthWest is an ideal place for growing grapes and therefore making wine, the time of year I visited the grapes were obviously not on the vine because it is winter. We went to the Sokol Blossor and Argyle Wineries in Dundee, which is a major part of wine country in Portland.  We taste tested many kinds of wines. There were bubbly ones, red, white, and rosé. They were sweet, dry, and had all sorts of tastes to them. Anna and Justin taught me how to smell them and taste them. It was a lot of fun, but I couldn't really pick out many distinctive smells. I can imagine how beautiful it probably looks in the summer when the grapes are growing.  The Argyle Winery in Dundee is in an old house that is said to be haunted. It was a beautiful place. The Sokol Blossor was surrounded by the vineyards lined up in perfect rows all along.

After all the wineries we went to have happy hour at the Portland City Grill and it was interesting. It's on the 30th floor of the US Bankcorp Tower and from the booths you can see the entire city. There are not many booths so it is always a race to get to the top at 4pm. We got there early and waited in line to get a booth and we were lucky enough to get one over looking the entire city in all it's misty glory.  The view was worth the struggle to get in a booth. We ate Bruschetta, Sopressata spread, and steak frites.  The food was very tasty with our drinks. The first day in Portland was busy and full of exploration. 

http://youtu.be/Sx7Q8UKnKxA 

The video of us at the Portland City Grill is listed below, also listed are the other places we visited.

http://youtu.be/Sx7Q8UKnKxA
http://www.portlandcitygrill.com/menu.php
http://www.bowerybagels.com/
http://www.sokolblosser.com/
http://argylewinery.com/