The beginning of the week basically consisted of me getting things ready for seminary, getting things ready for the kids to start school and getting things ready for a girl's get away. Just busy doing all the things, althought I did get to go out kayaking one night with Stefanie and that was nice.
On the way back, Melissa and I took what looked like shortcut...and it was! The other two were to nervous it wasn't so it was fun to beat them to the end. Afterwards we strolled a souvenir shop and then drove over to the lower falls. It was too big of a hike to get a good view so I didn't really get any good pics of them (they were smaller too) but we did have this fun photo op.
Our next stop was our air bnb in Newberry. We were all ready for dinner after we dropped off our stuff but finding a food place turned out to be a challenge. Newberry was a SMALL town and the only open restaurant was crazy busy. When we went it to a random teenager popped out of a dark room and took our names on a piece of paper, told us it was an hour wait and disappeared into the dark room again. This room had no connection to the rest of the restaurant. It was so weird. We decided to leave and drove to the outskirts of town where we discovered a Subway in a gas station. That worked much better.
We brought our Subway back to the Air BNB and then watched the "Quiet Place". Afterwards Melissa thought it would be funny to sneak outside and knock on the window behind Caroline and me. Not cool. When Caroline recovered from that fright, we did Tarot cards because we are cool like that. I was told to nourish my relationships and in the future I would have many blessings. That sounds nice...
Friday we had a real laid back morning, learned some about Grace's live before she moved here and then we essentially had a therapy session with Melissa. She has had a lot on her plate and a lot of it is her doing too much for others, We tried to give her some helpful advice. Around lunchtime we headed to Munising and found some food trucks for lunch. I got a ranch chicken taco which ended up being tasty. The owner of the truck was also exteremly friendly and nice. Melissa is a lot like my dad and makes friends everywhere she goes so she enjoyed chatting with him. When we finished eating we strolled through some of the shops and even met a sassquatch.
When we finished shopping we headed to the beach. Melissa and Caroline got in but Grace and I just chilled on shore. I listened to a book and closed my eyes for a bit and at one point did some rock hunting. It was a nice, chill time. We also made friends with the Indian Family next to us because Grace shared her bug spray with them (there were these awful biting flies).
Our last event of the day was a Pictured Rocks Sunset Cruise. We had to stand in the hot sun for an hour to wait to board but it was well worth it. Once the boat got going there was a nice cool breeze and amazing sites to see. This is not a tour that would've been super exciting for kids but it was so nice for grown ups.Caroline made a comment about the amount of time it took for these rocks to become so pretty and compared to the time it takes for God to make our lives beautiful. Deep thoughts.
The only negative part of the cruise was when the boat would turn around so the other side of the boat could see whatever point of interest we were looking at. Those turns were always bumpy and nauseating. The ride back was especially nice as the sun set and the breeze blew.
Next it was a scramble to find dinner. We tried a recommended restaurant but they said they were not taking any more orders, they were too full. So after driving past many closed places, we finally found one open food place and thankfully the wait wasn't terrible. I got a chickem pita and so did Melissa. She thought it was way to spicey and I thought it was just perfect. So either she's a wimp or maybe they over did the spice on hers? The ride home was dark and quiet and then we all crashed.
Saturday we got up and at it quickly so we could head out to Mackinac Island. We had the hardest time getting all our bikes back on the bike rack, it was a struggle bus but I am so grateful Melissa and Caroline are much more adept then me at configuring things. Everything went smoothly for getting on the ferry and getting to Mackinac. The first thing we decided to do was ride our bikes to the archway and oh my goodness it was hot. Then there was a walk up many steps. We were all roasty and toasty but the view was beautiful.
We climbed back down the steps and rode into town for some lunch. Grace, Melissa and I managed to find a good spot with smoothies and bagels but Caroline wanted a salad (she's GF) and she ended up having to go somewhere for food and waiting almost 30 mins for it. Bummer for her.
Our next stop was The Grand Hotel. It was at the top of a hill and with the heat it was the hardest bike ride EVER. But we survived and eagerly paid the fee to tour the hotel so we could have some a/c. Only the tour wasn't really a tour and we could probably have gone without paying the fee because all we did was walk around the lobby essentially and peek out a window on the top floor. It was pretty lame. But the a/c was decent so we collapsed on their couches for a bit.
Once we had cooled off, Caroline wanted to ride her bike further to get a good pic of the hotel. The rest of us were not interested so we found a shady spot on the hotel's lawn and rested some more. As we were getting up to go an older, bigger man was coming down the hill and collapsed. Melissa rushed over to help. Her some other passerbys got him up and brought him to a bench. Poor guy. She's always saving people. And then it was time for us to do some shopping. I wasn't going to get souvenirs but then I found an "I Love Lucy" cup and things sort of spiraled. I ended up getting something for each kid and the hubby.
After shopping we took the ferry back, got some food (with a cranky waiter who didn't appreciate doing seperate checks) and went back to our Air BNB. Melissa was pooped and passed out quickly. She attempted to watch "Quiet Place 2" with us but immeaditely fell back asleep and started snoring. After the movie, we managed to get Melissa to go back to her room and the rest of us stayed up chatting about how difficult it is to raise kids. Actually hearing about their kids, made me exteremely grateful for my own.
Sunday it was time to go home. I didn't really want to head back to reality and was feeling pretty meh. On our way back we stopped at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. As we were walking the beach, I saw a monarch butterfly and it reminded of Isaac and added to my bummer mood. It made me think of how much my life has changed and wonder again why I couldn't keep him. My friends all got in the water under the Mackinac bridge so they could have there feet in 2 lakes at once but I wasn't feeling it. They went into a nearby gift shop and I sat on a bench and took in the pretty view, trying to find peace with this life I have. I know if I had Isaac I probably wouldn't have been able to go on this trip and I probably wouldn't be teaching seminary and I just wish I could be ok with the turn my life took but every time I see an adorable baby or toddler I feel that ache. Clearly I am not good with things not going as planned.
We didn't do much talking the rest of the ride home, I think we were all tired and my bummer mood wasn't helpful. We ended up stopping at a Walmart for lunch because all the fast food places where we were at had gigantic lines. It worked out in our favor. And then we were home and I was scrambling to get things ready for our Seminary Orientation. Thankfully Tyler had done most of the prep work for it. I think the Orientation went well. Tyler insisted on doing a basketball analogy which didn't go as well since I think no one was really into basketball there but we got to give our spill and everyone seemed mostly ok with things. I am equal parts ready for Seminary to start all ready and not ready to wake up so dang early. It's going to be interesting to see how it all goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment