Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Report from the North

Greetings, pals. I am writing to you from the Upper Peninsula of our fair state. We are in Paradise. No, really. We're in Paradise, MI. Willa is napping in one bed, Jim's catching up on some reading in another, the dogs are sleeping, and I thought I'd see if Paradise had a good internet connection.

This morning we woke up, watched cartoons in bed, ate omelets and repacked the car leaving Sault Saint Marie to head west through National Forrest land. After our trip to Hartwick Pines (in Grayling, near my parent's cottage in Higgens Lake) a few days ago, Willa keeps asking to see "more big trees." The UP more than delivers on this request.

We stopped along the 2 lane highway to climb the 72 steps of the Point Iroquois Lighthouse. At the top of the Lighthouse one is faced with awesome beauty of Lake Superior and the surrounding woods and rocky formations. I was also faced with several phobias at once. I thought I had gotten over my fear of heights years ago. And 72 steps doesn't sound that high. But these were metal steps, with no backs, and I could see through their grating. Then we got to the top and there was no air circulating in the small space that used to house a lighthouse. None. And there was another small family already up there. It was, again, a small space. I looked around at the panoramic natural beauty, pretended that it was breathtaking, and that I wasn't hyperventilating, and then went down the steps cursing my parents ("sons of bitches") for talking it up so much that we had to stop. When we exited, it started to rain. We took the boardwalk to the lake anyhow.

It was worth the little hike up - but I could say this only after I was back on the ground.

After that we drove for a bit longer and stopped at a random side stop along the road. We walked through a thicket of trees and were suddenly the only people (and canines) on earth. We were on a sandy shore on a bay of the lake. Willa waded right in. The dogs frolicked in and out of the water. Jim and I took photos (we'll share some later).

This family vacation? So far, so pretty wonderful.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome! thanks for the update. I hope your trip continues to me a terrific "making memories" time for the 3 human sinkis, 2 canine sinkis, and unborn sinki (hopefully that makes sense!:P)~ hgh

Kerri said...

Sounds like a wonderful vacation!

Do they still have Pasty stands in the UP? I always think of them when I think of the UP.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great trip so far! We went to Paradise/white fish point for our mini-moon. Life is so different in the UP. Have a great time!

Keri said...

It always makes me laugh to think of Paradise being in Michigan's UP. It may live up to the name in the summer, but probably not so much in the winter.

I'm glad to hear that the Sinkis are having a wonderful vacation. I was concerned about how it was going to go considering you were only bringing underwear, bug spray, and Twizzlers. It sounds supurb and relaxing though!

Christina said...

How relaxing does that sound?? I have those same two phobias too! I don't know if I could have done either - esp pregnant!! Good for you!

AmyinMotown said...

Aww, sounds great! Hey, my friend runs the logging museum at Hartwick Pines! I miss Up North -- we haven't been for years and it's so beautiful. Hope Sinkis two-legged and four continue to have fun!

Maribeth said...

sounds like a wonderful and relaxing trip. I think that is what we need to do on our next vacation.