But anyways. The first thing that happened while I was gone was a little weekend getaway to the lovely Leland, Michigan. It's just gosh darn adorable up there...and so many places to obtain ice cream (just one of those added bonuses). We had a bit of rain most days, but the one that counted was clear until nighttime.
Manitou Island. Slightly nightmarish. The hour and a half ferry ride out there was slightly uneventful...well except for the "Got Jesus?" girls. A whole gaggle of them wearing "Got Jesus?" apparel. Sadly I only managed to snap a halfway decent shot while making it very clear that I was being creepy and continually making awkward eye contact. Eek. Totally fine. Who knew they even made that stuff? I mean, I own a "Got TCF?" t-shirt, but that's for promotional purposes. It's almost as if they're attempting to advertise good ol' Hey-zeus.
Made it to land without sinking, ate some Cheese Shanty sandwiches (so delicious...pretzel bread, great invention), Maj tied her towel skirt around her waist, and off we went to find various cool things around the island. First stop, shipwreck number one. Otherwise known as a plaque with information and an orange stake sticking out of the water...not great. Onward to the giant cedars! Along the way we made friends with various toads, snakes, and also the Whacker Family.
The Whacker Family consisted of a father and his two sons. Each with a decent sized stick in hand, literally whacking every single tree they passed. This included but was not limited to:
- all fungus
- any living tree
- any dead tree (these were even better because the Whackers had the opportunity to fling broken tree debris in all directions)
- and more than likely, any animal
Now, it would be a little bit more understandable had Son One and Son Two been responsible for all of the nature beating, but Poppa Whacker was right there with 'em! Incredible.
After a couple more miles we found the cedars. I'd rate them good not great. I guess they're the oldest in the world? Which is cool. But there aren't very many and they're all mixed in with the other tree folk making it hard to actually see them and their scraggly branches. If that makes sense. After taking a family photo via the timer function on the Maj's camera (and attempting to set it on a giant mossy fallen tree) we found our way back to the main drag and headed for the dunes!
After a rather large and very steep upward climb, we realized that there were many more dunes to scale before we could actually see the shoreline. When we reached the edge...we discovered a sort of sand cliff. 400 feet nearly straight down...with some large rocks all embedded in there. Naturally, we went down it. If you just dug your heels in and kept moving it wasn't so bad...in the beginning I got a large load of sand stuck in my shorts, but after that it was alright. We reached the bottom and started hightailing it around the island. After all, we only had two hours to get back to the boat before it left...
We ended up having to put our tennis shoes back on because of the terrible rocky shore in spots...which was alright for awhile, until we reached the horrible lagoon of algae. This was one of those spots where the water came all the way up to the edge of the forest and was about a foot deep...complete with buckets full of algae. Needless to say we exited the swamp area with a few souvenirs otherwise known as chunks of slime threaded through our shoelaces and slapped on the back of our calves. Gross.
Eventually Brain and I split off from the group to go a little faster and hopefully be able to hold up the boat if we had to. The parentals disappeared from view after awhile and the Brain and I just kept crossing our fingers that we would be able to see the lighthouse from the next bend we rounded. It took a lot, a lot, of bends before we saw the shining white lighthouse of relief. At that point we deemed it safe to dive in the lake and cool off for a wee bit. The Brain failed to realize that lighthouse tours were under way and may have flashed a bit of a full moon to the younger children up top, but oh well!
A reunion with the parents, shoes filled with sand, very sweaty, and extremely tired...we boarded the boat and watched the rain clouds close in during our two hour ride back. Correction: Our two hour extremely rocky ride back. It only really ended up sprinkling for a little bit, but I was very pleased to be back on land after that ride! Yikes!
I'd say the next thing worth reporting is the dredger. I guess we chose the exact wrong weekend to go to Leland because the wondrous beach that should have been perfection was converted into a construction site complete with a yellow John Deere bulldozer and a giant floating (extremely loud) work site contraption with a ridiculous amount of pipes. At least the sunset was still pretty...even if it was framed by various construction equipment.
Dinner one night was had at the good ol' Leland Lodge. Our waiter...a male with longish very curly hair (held back by a headband) was instructed by the Maj to give us "a lot of time" because we "weren't in a hurry." We weren't in a hurry, but this dude's concept of "a lot of time" was truly a lot of time. We probably sat there for a good half hour or so waiting for his return. More than likely he was playing with his hair in front of the mirror in the little boys' room, but it's really anyone's guess.
The following night we dined at North. Some fancy pants place where we clearly didn't fit in a little ways down M-22. The hostess was outfitted in bright teal tights and a multicolored neon dress with flower print and very chipper. Our waiter...Mark...was a mature older man, one that we thought would have the whole waiting on people thing down pat since he more than likely had a little experience, and yeah, he was well spoken, but we only saw him a grand total of mmmm I'd say three times? Thrice, if you will. We kind of figured out that the older gentlemen waiters were probably the front men, and then all the younger people were actually in charge of doing the real work. Who knows. Super awkward for sure. Brain had his watch timer going to see how long it took him to come back to the table, we went for a whole meal without a beverage, and pretty much just talked about Mark the entire meal. Oh well. Dessert was delicious. Warm chocolate cake, more like a giant Reeses's peanut butter cup in cake form. HOLY moly. So good. We exited on a positive note for sure.
The Leland Lodge was pretty great. Brain and I got the bunks that folded out of the wall while Maj and Faj shacked up in the gigantic king sized bed that took up the rest of the room. Needless to say we were a little short on space. It blows my mind how every hotel room smells the same (well, except for the ones in China). It's as if there is some rule as to which laundry detergent hotels can use. So weird. Hopefully it's at the top of the disinfecting line. Anyhoo, we altered the industrial smell of that room right quick thanks to Faj and Brain. Ay yi yi. Out of hand a little bit...
Well. I think that about covers the highlights of the trip, but there's no saying I won't update with random tidbits if I think of them. Hahaha. :)
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