Jacquelyn's Space

Ack! School is back in session.

My brain is not ready for school. All summer long I couldn’t wait to get back in school but now that I am I am not ready. All I can think about is up north – the U.P. and the Straits area. Over Labor Day, my husband and I went up there to do the Bridge Walk. Because we waited so long to decide to do the Bridge Walk this year we had to find a place to stay outside of Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. I decided I would rather go further north and drive down to the bridge (less traffic) than stay south of Mackinaw City and drive up. We ended up getting a mini cabin in Brimley State Park on Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior. It was fun and I love it way up there of course. We only went up for Sunday and Monday but we packed a lot of stuff in that brief time.

We set up camp around 6 or 7 then went checked out the beach on the bay. The day was cold and overcast and the water was pretty rough but I put my feet in. It was refreshing. On our way back to our cabin a tiny little blond boy was standing in the middle of the street sizing us up. He looked like a mini version of my husband. I smiled at the boy and was about to say hi when I noticed the little stinker was sticking his tongue out at me! I started laughing and tried to tell my husband but it was too late, the boy turned away and walked on.

We went for a ride to see what we could see. We had never been in that area. We checked out the casino up there (Bay Mills). Lost about $20, naughty us. Then we took a jaunt over to Sault Ste. Marie. By that time it was dark and not much was going on. There were a few bars restaurants open but we had brought food to cook so we headed on back to the cabin for a late supper. We had a campfire and cooked hamburgers. It was a relaxing night by the fire listening to the waves and a drunk sing-along a couple of camp sites over. It was a cold night but we couldn’t snuggle because the mini cabin was only equipped with two sets of bunk beds. Luckily it had a small heater that really put out some heat. We were roasting in there by morning.

In the morning we cooked breakfast which took a lot longer than anticipated. We had to hurry and pack up to drive down to make the Bridge Walk by 11am. The drive down was pretty easy – hardly any traffic like I thought. We made to St. Ignace about 10:30 and hurried for the bridge. Yay! I love Mackinac Bridge. There were still plenty of people walking. This is our second year walking the Bridge. It is just cool to be a part of the event. The walk went by so fast this year though. It is hard to describe. Let’s see – great panoramic views of the Straits, great views of the bridge you don’t get to see just driving over, a small sense of danger, a larger sense of danger when you look down through the steel grating or get to close to the rail, ha and a wonderful sense of pride and community with the other walkers.

After the Bridge Walk we checked out a few shops in Mackinaw City – it was a madhouse so we made our way to the buses to get bussed back over to the other side, to our car. It was still early and we didn’t want to go right home so we rode around. We took a coast rode along Lake Michigan that had spectacular views of the bridge. We eventually came out to HWY 2 so we drove west on that and checked out a National Forest then ended up on the beach. My husband napped while I stalked some small cute birds on the beach. A whole flock just peeped up close to us and they were fun to watch – they would get close to the water, looking for food, and the waves would chase them away knocking a few of the slow ones over. The little birds would roll around in the sand and then get up, shaking out their feathers and peeping. Too cute! I think they are called plovers. Eventually we had to leave.