Take Me Home Again to Michigan


I’ve just returned from a road trip to the Upper Peninsula, across on US-2 West, up 41 to Iron Mountain, across to Wausau, Wisconsin and back to Ann Arbor.

My Step-Son, Jimmy, in Wausau, Wisconsin
The trip along Lake Michigan, no matter how many times I’ve taken it, never ceases to remind me how vast nature is and how small I am.

The trip included seeing my family at every turn, which can be a bonus after long stretches of driving.  Much of the trip my mom was in the passenger seat, keeping me company.  We can always tell when we’re hungry because we start talking about food (in detail).

We agreed stopping at “Jack’s Restaurant”, in Rapid River, was  hard to beat for breakfast on our way west.  The coffee and food is great, the service excellent and it feels like a home-town restaurant.  It’s not far from where we were soon to head north toward Iron Mountain.

The weather can be unpredictable in May, but usually a person can take advantage of being there in advance of mosquito-hatches, black fly swarms and tourists (not unlike the last two critters I mentioned)

Not to say I didn’t get lost on my way to Wausau!  Using the iPhone for navigation I forgot to take into account it wouldn’t always have a good satellite signal. The damn thing continue to re-route me when it lost reception.  I didn’t figure it out until I think I was on every letter of the alphabet using county roads!  

I can't believe how many letters Wisconsin uses on roads!

What was suppose to take me two and a half hours took me four to five hours.  AND….the time changes somewhere out there.

It's not "Jet-Lag" but it's not something to take lightly
when meeting someone in Wisconsin.

When friends and family tell me how difficult it is living in the city I think they forget how adapted they are to rural America.  It can be difficult.  Many towns don’t have street names up.  Planning ahead is crucial to make sure you’ll arrive at a gas station or a rest stop before it’s too late.  What if the car and the bladder didn’t know they’d lost an hour of time between Michigan and Wisconsin?  

I didn’t have any of these particular dilemmas while traveling in Turkey or Germany.  It proves there’s no “sure-no-mistake-way” of traveling.  It’s an adventure.  The good and the beautiful are there.  A person just needs stain-glass eyes in order to see through the negative to the positive.  The pleasure is waiting for us to grasp and store in our memories for renewed pleasure whenever we want to open up the little door to them in the future.








And if you're traveling this summer to the beautiful state of Michigan?  Bring
bug spray, swim suits, towels and a frisbee with you.  Leave your watches and phones at home.  They aren't going to store memories for you.  They may even distract you from witnessing a myriad of wonders.


















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