Up North – again.
3rd August in a row visiting the UP with Mom and Dad at my Uncle Bill’s cabin on Lake Michigan. This year also joined by Danette and Andy. We decided last minute (again) to join – we were trying to see how the other family plans shook out — my new project at work, our family trip to Myrtle Beach, Marcus’s and Danette’s work and back to school schedules. But it came together and my Mom and Dad were gracious and flexible enough to accept our late RSVPs.
As always the days are slow – mostly quiet reading or working on puzzles (Andy was building a 3000 piece lego of Michigan Stadium), playing games in the evening, and sporadic conversations about current events that popped up as people looked at their phones and tablets. Long and short walks on the beach, a few visits with the Kramers (relatives from my Grandmothers side of the family) who have a cabin not-quite-a-mile around Wiggins Point and down the beach. It’s remote and quiet enough that the to-do list seems really far away and you have the mental space to read or just sit and look at the lake and listen to the waves.
The highlight every year is the lake, the quiet, the stars and the woods. But unique this year was a day trip to Lake Superior starting with Whitefish Point in Lake Superior and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum where the bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald resides and ending with a swim in Lake Superior. It was a long day — 2 hours drive North East across the peninsula through the woods to Whitefish Point, then 2 hours west along the southern coast of Superior to Miner’s Beach where we took a dip in the big lake. The water in both lakes (Michigan and Superior) were much warmer than we have experienced in the past so swimming was actually relatively nice. The water in both lakes is amazingly clear and resembles more like what (I imagine) the water on Caribbean beaches looks like and the swimming is great. I’m definitely bringing a snorkel with me next time.
Much love and gratitude to uncle Bill, Aunt Janice, and my Mom and Dad for sharing that place with us.
Other tidbits:
- Stopping in Ann Arbor as a way station on the way in and out and visiting with our friend Steve is always great. We hit the Vault of Midnight and picked up a few decent games for the week – Mantis and Ravine. Both games were fun and easy to play by everyone around the table after dinner.
- Ice cream at the Washtenaw Dairy in Ann Arbor is perfect as always.
- The Shipwreck museum was a cool place. The Edmund Fitzgerald’s bell and the creepy wax dummies of the old lighthouse families.
- Watching the season finale of House Of Dragons S3 with Andy and Steve. Good finish to a meh-ish season.
- Finished 100 Years of Solitude – didn’t love it and I can see why it is beloved but it wasn’t for me really.
- Listened to a few podcasts on the long drive – “This is Important” made me laugh a bunch.
- Seeing Pictured Rocks from the above was really cool.
- I flew my drone and got some decent shots but haven’t sat down to edit anything yet.
- Dinner at The Dock in Garden with the Kramers.
- Getting to meet up with and chat with my cousins (first cousins once removed?) and meet their families. Cool people.
- Picking berries (raz, black and blue) with Dad and then having berry pancakes for breakfast.
- Driving home Andy took a 6.5 hour stretch behind the wheel from eastern Ohio to Nova. Our bladders holding-on was the biggest miracle. At Breezewood I said, “want me to drive?” and he said, “I’m good if you are?” And I was good, so we pushed on. Definitely a record for me.
