Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. across the nation and across the world. It is just past 8:00 a.m. in "The City."

I managed to sleep a solid seven hours, but then it was time to get up and give my yak some peace, or is it rest?. While my yak is feeling better, too much time in the bed can exacerbate the flare ups, so...

At any rate, our plans to visit Frederik Meijer Gardens in GR yesterday took a slight detour. We followed our Google Map™  directions through downtown GR, a mistake we won't make next time, and arrived at the gardens only to find that the place was packed. The parking lots were overflowing, the people were still pouring in.

Since we hadn't taken into account that yesterday was the first day of spring break for the schools of MI, we just weren't ready to get up close and personal with more people than butterflies. Discretion being the better part of valor, so to speak, we opted to delay our first visit. So, no pictures of the gardens and the butterflies will be forthcoming until another week or so has passed and things calm down in GR after the kids are back in school.

However, that does not mean that we didn't get any pictures. Rather, we took a circuitous route, well actually, we were lost more than not, and went way out of our way towards home. However, that allowed us to take some pix in a small village called Sparta and see parts of MI that we'd never before seen. So, that was good. I'll share some of our "Garden Party" pix now.

Proof that we were in Sparta across from a repurposed 5 and 10 cent store..

This one too, I guess, was repurposed.

Although you can't see the writing on the plaque, this is part of the "Depot Museum" in Sparta. It is a restored/repurposed train depot that once served the Toledo, Saginaw, and Muskegon Railroad. Once abandoned, it was given to the village historical society by the Grand Trunk Railroad, the successor to the Toledo, Saginaw and Muskegon RR in the 1970s, and restored as a railroad museum. Like most of these small, museums, it is only open, sometimes.

What's a railroad museum without a caboose?

 As is often the case in small town America, Sparta had a small bank that too had been repurposed, in this case, into the village offices. So, here is what that old state chartered bank looks like now.

In small towns, they re-purpose old buildings on main street, they don't tear them down.

But on with our safari. We were traveling the back-roads of MI, meandering our way towards home, when we passed one of my favorite things, an industrial looking site, somewhere in MI. I rolled down the window after Mary pulled into the nearby parking lot for safety, and took this shot.

Probably a grain storage and transfer facility.

But, we weren't really lost, we just didn't know where we were on the map. Once we managed to reorient ourselves, we realized that we were heading west, towards GH. So we made our way to M104 and headed home past some familiar sights. One of them was this building/business of unknown purpose. So, I took a few shots of a very industrial looking facility.

Maybe it is part of "Area 81."

Who really knows?

Once back on familiar turf, we motored to our favorite watering hole for a light snack and passed our famous "Coal Tipple", another of those repurposed structures that in our case is a focal point for tourists.

Yes, no purpose in today's world, but a nice tourist attraction for our fair city.

Yesterday in baseball was a mixed day.

The 1 - 0 in the NL Central Cubs are still in first place, tied with the Reds, as they await tonight's game in TX against the Rangers, when Yu Darvish takes the ball.

The now 1 - 1 in the AL Central Tigers, couldn't get anything going in Toronto and fell to the Blue Jays, 0 - 6, and also into third place. Matthew Boyd pitched well while he was on the mound, but the Tigers' bats had "slumber in the lumber" and could generate no runs. The Tigers and the Blue Jays take the field again today @ 3:07 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox righted the ship in Seattle as they triumphed over the Mariners, 7 - 6, on a stunning home-run by Mitch Moreland. The win moves the Sox into a three-way second place tie, just behind the 1 - 0 Yankees in the AL East. The Sox and the Mariners play again tonight @ 9:10 p.m.

We have a current temperature of 38° following sunrise @ 7:31 a.m. The sun will set later @ 8:08 p.m. after a much lower high of 41° today.Is that an oxymoron, a lower high? There is also a light rain falling outside the WW. At any rate, that's nothing compared to tomorrow's high temperature forecast from the NWS of 33°! We'll have to wait until Sunday, April 7. before we return to the 50s. What's that the ephemeral "They" say about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb? I think it is going our more like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Today, we had planned to put away our winter coats after their annual spring washing, but I think that may wait for a few more days. We've already put away our winter shoes.

I guess my outdoor plans will wait a few more days too, what with the rain and colder temperatures. That's fine with me and my yak. I'll do some drawing, some reading, some cooking, and play some music. Mary will do that voodoo that she do so well, whatever that is.

We had planned to take the fur-children for a walk, but if we do, it will be with our winter coats on and unwashed, and it will be more abbreviated. Ciao.