Bill's Blog

Back in Belgrade

August 10, 2010billkralovec

Owen Playing Chess Against His Cousin Sebey as Ocean Looks On

We are back in Belgrade and enjoying the beautiful weather and relatively empty city, with everyone on vacation. We are also hosting Nadia’s sister and my nephew for the week as they do not have to be back to school until September. I am working hard getting ready for the arrival of the new teachers. In the photo above, we had a pizza at “Brodic” one of our favorite splavovi (restaurant floating in the Sava River) and Sebey taught his cousin how to play chess.

We also are spending time at Belgrade’s “seaside” or Ada Ciganlija. The family is shown below on the rocky beach cooling off. It is an amazing place and the thing that most impressed Nadia and I was the fitness level of the Serbians. There are not many overweight people in Serbia as it is the US. We were discussing why that is so. I think it is a combination of more activity and less food intake.

Upper Peninsula Family Fun

August 2, 2010billkralovec

Sitting Around the Campfire at Golden Lake

My village of Caspian is located in a beautiful, sparsely populated region of the USA. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is located between the Great Lakes of Superior and Michigan. It has the area of Maryland (500 km long and 200 km wide) and only about 300,000 people. It is a land of forests, rivers, lakes and cool weather. This summer renewed my love of this land. We hiked, camped, swam, etc. in the beauty of the northwoods. It is a great place for enjoying wilderness and has a slower pace because of the lack of people. It reinforced my desire to eventually retire or live up here, at least on a part-time basis. Real estate is cheap as well as the cost of living. We also have lots of family and friends in the region. It is a summer paradise for kids.

Above is a photo of our campsite at Golden Lake (285 acres – max depth of 100 feet). We actually enjoyed a night in a tent and the kids loved the camping experience. We’ll definitely have to do it again. We also stayed at the Aurora Borealis Resort in Skanee, Michigan last week. We spent two days swimming and beach combing at Lake Superior. Ocean is shown below on the beach front of Huron Bay. The resort is owned by a retired doctor from Milwaukee, and him and his wife have made the cabins and gardens look like Martha Stewart designed it.

Kralovecs Sweep 2010 Rodeo Run

August 1, 2010billkralovec

: Post Race Press Conference

Yesterday we ran our final race this summer. The Windsor Center (building behind me) hosted a 5K and 10K run. The Windsor Center is my old high school. As the population dwindles in my hometown, schools are consolidating and there are more empty former school buildings. A group of citizens are trying to use the building benefit the community and so they are raising money to keep it open and develop it for other things besides classes.

It is also Rodeo weekend here in Iron River. Annually, the town holds a rodeo and it attracts many tourists. The rodeo performers are part of a semi-professional regional circuit and this is one of their tour stops. This was the first time in several years that they held a road running race in conjunction with the rodeo. I would like to thank Dawn Pisoni and the people at the Windsor Center for making it happen again this year.

Nadia ran the 5 kilometer race and won her age group with an amazingly fast time of 24 minutes. That is about 6 minutes faster than her times a few years ago in Venezuela. I ran the 10 kilometer and finished third in my age group with a time of 4 7:20. We both earned medals and it completed a successful summer of running with us competing in three races (Bass Run, Canal Run, Rodeo Run). I am inspired to continue to train and get more serious about my running. That is of course, time permitting. At least we would like to get more serious about running. Hopefully, we can do it this school year.

Owen and Ollie also got into the act with the Kiddie Race. It was a 70 yard dash and both boys did well. They won participation ribbons, so we all came away with something to put in the trophy case. The kids are pictured below with their friend, Avery. We want them to enjoy running and being active and events like this will help it. In the photo above, we are pictured with my dad, who was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. It was a fantastic morning!

Global Warming Has Its Benefits

July 28, 2010July 28, 2010billkralovec

Nadia, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

The water temperature of Lake Superior this summer is15 degrees (F) above average. Yesterday we had a doctor’s appointment in Marquette, so we took advantage of the beautiful, sunny day and spent the day at the beach. We found a nice sandy beach near Harvey, Michigan, just east of Marquette. It looked like the Caribbean, so much so, that Nadia actually swam in the Lake for the first time ever.

It was such a nice day – the kind of afternoon you wish could last forever…

Latest Reading: “Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle”

July 28, 2010billkralovec

The book tells the stories of three Americans who were kidnapped by Marxist Guerrillas in the Colombian jungles for over 5 years. The three men were private contractors, monitoring the cocaine production by flying over southern Colombia. On one of their flights, they had to emergency land their plane and were quickly taken hostage by the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) the biggest insurgent army in Colombia. They were eventually rescued in a clever plot by the Colombian army.

The book has special meaning to me as I lived in Colombia for five years and know the country well. I even had a brush with the FARC when travelling through the Darien Gap which I’ll tell about someday in my memoirs. It read like a prison novel, describing their routines and adventures in captivity. It is sad that over 2000 ordinary Colombians are still being held by the FARC. The toll on the families must be devastating. Two of the three Americans’ marriages broke up over their long captivity.

I have experienced the huge inequalities in Colombian society and understand why groups like FARC exist. The upper class really needs to consider the majority of the population and give all Colombians decent lives. The country has made great progress in the past 10 years and I hope that they continue to grow economically. It could be a rich culture and with the many natural resources, it could become a real tourist destination.

The treatment the Americans and other hostages received was horrendous. I felt sorry for both them and the poor ignorant soldiers guarding them.

Nadia Finishes Fourth in Canal Run

July 19, 2010July 19, 2010billkralovec

Kids At the Beach, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

Yesterday we went up to Hancock, Michigan to compete in the 35th Annual Canal Run. Hancock is located in the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is the “ear” of the rabbit-shaped Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The peninsula juts out into Lake Superior and is about an 1 & 1/2 hour drive north of Caspian. The canal is a shipping route made through the peninsula to serve the former mining boom towns of Hancock and Houghton. It is a beautiful area and with two universities (Michigan Tech and Finlandia University) a place that we love to visit.

Nadia ran the 5-mile race and finished 4th in her age group with a time of 42 minutes and 46 seconds. She was the 25th woman overall. I ran the 10-mile race, but took the second bus to the starting line. The 5 of us on the bus missed the start. We estimated we left 6 minutes after the start, so my time of 1 hour 22 minutes, would be 1 hour 16 minutes. Despite the 6 minute delay, I finished 13th in my age group and 70th overall with my 1:22 time. I am waiting to see the results to see where I would have finished. Too bad Nadia didn’t get a medal.

It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the weather and spent the afternoon at the McClain State Park beach. The water in Lake Superior was surprisingly warm and the kids loved it. Above is a video I took with my iPod of the kids having fun.

Big Catch for the Kralovecs

July 16, 2010July 16, 2010billkralovec

Grandpa with Owen and Oliver - Plus Two Beautiful Bluegills

We had a great day of fishing today at the Indian Lake boat landing. The boys and Ocean pulled up many bluegills and one perch. Owen even caught a couple on his own. Grandpa was a champion, baiting and hooking fish for the kids to land. We had great fun with so many fish. It didn’t matter that they were small, anything on the hook was an exciting moment for the kids. A big thanks to Hoover for the fishing tips.

Nadia Wins a Medal

July 12, 2010billkralovec

Yesterday we participated in the “Run Your Bass Off” 10 kilometer run in Crystal Falls, Michigan. The race is part of the Bass Festival in the small town located on the eastern side of Iron County. We try to run the race when we are here for the summer.

Nadia won second place in the 30-39 age group and ran a fantastic time of 54 minutes and 33 seconds. This is much faster than she has run in the past. I ran 48:15, which was 15 seconds faster than last year, but still only good for fourth place in my age group. The race made both of us wanting to train more seriously and get our times down. We’ll see if work and family committments will deter this.

Fourth of July Celebrations

July 5, 2010billkralovec

It was a rainy afternoon and evening for the Fourth of July celebrations this year. We celebrated America’s 234th birthday by hosting a BBQ at my childhood home in my village of Caspian, Michigan. We invited my aunt and uncle, Jim and Ione, and they are pictured in the back row. It is nice to reconnect with my aunt, as she looks very much like my mother and she reminds me of her.

We had some fireworks in the back yard, ate a lot of food, and then went downtown Iron River to watch the city fireworks.

Lake Superior

July 3, 2010billkralovec

Every year we make a visit to Lake Superior. We went up the other day when the weather was not very nice. Besides shopping in Marquette, we also stopped at the beach. Below are the pictures.