I wanted to leave early in the morning, but the Slumber King had other plans.
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| Sleeping Beauty |
I drove from Sturgeon Bay up to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The iron mines and logging that once supported these areas are depleted now and the town seem to survive on the meager business provided by snowmobilers, anglers and hunters. Depressing, really. A moment of levity:
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| What we do not want to be!!! |
I arrived at Bewabic State Park early. It's a small park, but a little jewel. I had planned to camp here, but we were done running their trails and with plenty of daylight left, I figured I'd push West. I love the parks were the CCC worked in the 40's. The log buildings and stonework is always so beautiful. I saw deer, golden eye ducks and squirrels everywhere. One squirrel had the audacity to sit on a log in the middle of the trail and not budge when we came upon it. The encounter was too funny, I took out my camera and recorded Cole's statue-like point. For at least two minutes, he was motionless.
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| focused |
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| very focused |
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| intense focus |
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| Knocked off my feet |
He was tethered to me. I was so busy snapping pictures, that he took me off guard when he broke his freeze and lunged at the squirrel. The last picture was to be of his face, but I caught the back of my legs as they knocked out from under me. I eat dirt on a regular basis running with him. No big deal.
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| Bewabic 4 mile run |
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Back to the business of remaining upright and finishing our run
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Away from civilization, Route 2 is absolutely gorgeous. Pristine conifer forests with intermittent marshes (no moose seen, but I was looking). I drove a few miles down a dirt road to find Marion Lake in the Ottawa National Forest.
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| A very different Ottawa from the Ottawa, Ontario I was born in! |
Nicely isolated, I certainly felt much lower on the food chain. I may have been imagining bear and wolf eyes following me, but it didn't help that the dog acted strange. He ran faster than normal and when off leash, he didn't bolt for the woods, he stayed very close to me. We only ran 2 miles, but in a hurry.
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| In Lake Marion, yes, the picnic table was in the lake, flooding, not hooliganism, I presume. |
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| Marion Lake 2 miler |
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| yes, snow in May |
A wish come true: I saw snow, made snowballs and ate it! I miss that white stuff in Alabama.
I drove to Ironwood, MI and had a hard time finding a motel that accepted dogs. At first glance, it didn't seem bad. I've actually enjoyed discovering different facets of its seediness.
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Neon room number signs, that's pretty cool.
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The door locked, but the frame had been improperly repaired from a previous break-in. The windows opened onto a loud road, but they didn't lock. The knobs on the AC unit were missing, but I had my Swiss Army knife with pliers attachment. When I grabbed the sink faucet knob to get water it broke off in my hand. I stripped all the linens from the bed and used my camping accoutrement. The owner told me to walk Cole in the big backyard. I couldn't find it. In its place was a junkyard, complete with broken glass, car parts, a wealth of old refrigerators and a Winter's worth of dog crap that had been entombed in snow, but now covered the grass. We're getting out of here ASAP.
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| Shower curtain chic: plastic sheeting doesn't even cover the whole window! |
Westward ho!
