Travel Blog Friday July 29th 2022

 

Photo credit: Scott Cain "U-Turn"

Friday: 

Northport, Michigan

Awake 5:30am, Very hungover.

I don’t know what I was thinking. Oh wait, yes I do. Pamela has been in an awful mood and there was so much to do before leaving, that by the end of the day drinks were needed, and it turned into more than too many were consumed. now I was paying for it. However we had a scheduled to keep. I got up showered and tried to finish packing. What a mess. I threw things pellmell into the first bags I found and decided it will just go as it is. 

    We were on the road by 6:45am. We drove for one hour south and then stopped in Traverse City at the Bob Evans to eat breakfast. An hour later we were back on the road and pointed north. We drove towards the Mackinac bridge. The sun was out and the conversation with mom was lively. Our drive took us across the entire North end of Lake Michigan. We did not make a second stop until Marrinette Wisconsin.

    There we found a lunch spot at a Jimmy John’s. Mom had a lettuce wrap turkey un-wich and I had my regular #12 Turkey sandwich. I was still hung over. And it was then that I realized that I would have two more days of not dropping the F bomb while riding in the car with mom. This was not such a big deal, but in practice I have never in my adult life driven this sort of distance with out using some sort of colorful metaphor to express my rage at other drivers. 

    After lunch we started to cut our diagonal path to the southwest across Wisconsin. For those not familiar with the geography of Wisconsin, there are not many roads that traverse this state in a southwest trajectory. And so our trip was composed of many two lane back roads many of farm roads. It was simply beautiful. By 3pm my hangover had finally abated, and I started feeling better as we drove through Saxeville, Wi. 

    At Tomah Wi, we put more fuel in the car at the bargain price of $3.99. It was nice to see fuel prices almost a dollar less than where we live in Michigan. We switched drivers and I drove the last few hours crossing the Mississippi into Minnesota and then down into Iowa. We stopped for the night and a good meal with David’s best pal Laredo.  In their farm house Laredo and his wife Arles cooked us a wonderful dinner. Farm raised beef with beans and fresh steamed broccoli. We had wonderful conversation with our hosts. But eventually I was struggling to stay awake and made much much effort to be a good guest. My accommodation was in a room on the second floor. The stairs to the second floor of the farmhouse are very steep. They are located in the first floor bathroom…. I slept amazing! And I only traversed the stairs to the bathroom at the bottom once.