One of our prized possessions...

Check out this link -- this is our Cottage -- Green Bay Press Gazette did a story on the Cottage:

Click the start button on the video to start (that is not me in the video -- we are not part of the original family that owned it for 70 years):

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20081112/GPG0803/311120008


Someday we will retire to this Cottage -- all 450 sq ft of it (it does have a loft that adds a few more sq ft).

Here is the story from the paper:

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Max Schober was a weekend warrior of a different breed.

An architect and a craftsman, Schober built a cottage on the east shore of Green Bay with a playful look, like something out of a Brothers Grimm fairy-tale illustration.

"He constructed it mostly by hand on weekends, and it is a small stone place with hand-carved wooden shutters (with bird and animal figures), details around the doors and windows and a copper roof," said Nancy Miller, a neighbor.

"The place was a day cottage for my grandparents, Max and Addie," said grandson Tom Schober. "My grandmother had a gazebo that is still there. She'd sit and watch Max work."
Stone was hauled from the nearby shore, and much of the cedar framing likely was from the vicinity.

"Although my grandfather founded companies that built many buildings in Green Bay with well-defined architectural styles, it's hard to peg the style of his cottage," Schober said. "I'd call it Green Bay rustic."

Schober remembers his father, Leonard Schober, telling of being enlisted while in high school to help with heavy work. The stones and lumber look formidable.

Rocks were hauled with a travois, a device with long poles lashed together and pulled by horse — or in his case, human. The facing on the cottage is split stone. That translates as more hard labor — breaking the stone to build exterior walls and chimneys.

"It was all masoned in that way," Schober said. "Max did all of that. He also built all of the woodwork and all of the metal hinges and things that are on the house.

"He did all the carvings of the animals and did basically everything that you see here. It was all done in the early '20s, and it's still in place."

The family is proud of the lore associated with the cottage.

"What I like about the architecture of the place is its originality," Schober said. "It doesn't really have a particular style. I think Max modeled it on some things that he probably had seen from Germany.

It's a whimsical place."

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Choices...

So, this year Team BRAZO has some choices to make for our summer vacation. In 2006, we spent two (2) months on our boat cruising to the North Channel (about 900 miles of cruising on our 32’ 1990 Sundowner Pilothouse). In 2007, we stayed close to home in order for me to do what I needed to do to finish IronMan Wisconsin 2007.

So, this year we have some choices to make. I’m doing IronMan Louisville 2008, but the training will not be my #1 priority this year. Instead, our #1 priority will be again cruising our boat around the Great Lakes.

So here are the possible trips:

n Complete a full tour of Lake Michigan – starting in Sturgeon Bay, crossing Lake Michigan, exploring the West coast of Michigan, rounding around to Chicago, spending the 4th of July on a mooring ball right on the shores of Chicago, and making our way back up the East coast of Wisconsin.

n Explore Lake Superior – starting in Sturgeon Bay, crossing Lake Michigan, spending a few days in one of our favorite harbors of Beaver Island, traveling up to Mackinac Island and spending a few days, making our way through Sault Ste. Marie and the locks, and exploring what Lake Superior has.

n Travel thru the Trent Severn Waterway – starting in Sturgeon Bay, crossing Lake Michigan, crossing Lake Huron, making our way into the Trent Severn Waterway that connects Lake Huron with Lake Ontario. We’d spend time cruising through this historic waterway and then make our way back to Sturgeon Bay in late July.

Or maybe some other place.

More on this later. Need to do some quick planning…

New Race Scheduled - Muddy Buddy Chicago

Ok, add one (1) more race to the 2008 race schedule for Team BRAZO -- Muddy Buddy Chicago. Mrs. Team BRAZO and our Sister in-law will make up one (1) team, Oldest Mini and myself will make up another team, and Youngest Mini will participate himself in the Mini Muddy Buddy.

Here is a description of the race:

Each race features a 6-7 mile course and 5 obstacles. At the start of the race, one team member will run and one will ride the bike. At the 1st obstacle, the rider will drop the bike, complete the obstacle, and begin running. The runner will arrive, complete the obstacle, find their bike, and begin riding. Teams will continue leapfrogging each other through the entire course. At the end of the race, racers will crawl through the infamous Mud Pit crossing the finish line together!

The race is August 3rd in Chicago -- should be a Great Time!!