Typical Mackinac

Scenes like this are very common just inside the doors of many Mackinac Island homes. 

Did you know many locals consider it rude not to offer to remove your shoes when entering their home? (Take a minute to think about what's all over the roads here...) I had two students come over for homework help tonight and both of them took off their shoes without a second thought.  

Not everyone requires guests to remove their shoes, but on Mackinac, it's always polite to ask. 

Picture Perfect

There was just something about the plume of steam rising up from the smokestack of this freighter that caught my attention. I see freighters traveling through the Round Island Passage all the time, but I'll never get tired of this view.

First Day

I was lucky enough to be up for the sunrise today - the first day of school on Mackinac. Some folks would have been grouchy to have to be up that early to work a second job, but it's that job that gifts me moments like these. 

Today I begin my thirty-fourth year of teaching. Sometimes I just can't believe just how wonderful my life is. Lots of teachers are leaving the profession, but I love my job and I can't imagine not being at school every day. 

Thirty-four years doesn't look too bad, if I do say so myself.

 

One of my goals this year is to really focus on gratitude with my students. I'm hoping to help them to find joy in the small (nondigital) moments and to be thankful for the little things in life. So, we're going to make origami as often as we can. Before we begin folding each design, we're all going to write something good that happened on the sheet of paper. In that way, each creation will become a visible reminder of all the things we're grateful for.

 (The bulletin board outside my classroom.)

Oy Vey

My daughter ended up in the ER last week. We didn't know it then, but we now know it was due to complications from Mono. Thankfully, with a lot of rest and some time off work, she's going to be fine. I thought you could only get Mono once in your lifetime; according to our doctor, it's rare but you can get it more than once, especially if you have a weakened immune system. Thankfully, her employer on the island is very understanding and she has as much time off as she needs to recuperate.

In case you're curious, this is the ER on the mainland. She was taken to the Mackinac Island ER first, but patients are often sent to the mainland if they require an MRI or CT scan - two machines we do not have in the island's ER.

Nothing to See Here

Yep, nothing to see here; it's just a guy enjoying Mackinac with his trusty canine companion. I just love how the pup has his paws up on his owner's shoulders - almost like he's whispering directions into his owner's ear. I've seen little dogs in backpacks before, but never one this big!

Glorious

While I'm sure hollyhocks grow all over the place, they are quite common in the gardens on Mackinac. I love them, but I don't have any at my house because they need six (or more) hours of sunlight to blossom, which I don't have. So, instead of growing them myself, I admire them in other people's gardens.

Street Legal

If you were on the island this week, you may have gotten the rare opportunity to see a motorized vehicle.  Lots of people visiting the island get frustrated when they see something like this because they think cars are completely banned on Mackinac. They aren't. During the summer they only come out only when absolutely necessary - fire, EMS, the electric company's bucket truck, etc. 

This house had a blocked sewer so there was no choice than to call in the big guns to dig up and replace the sewer line. You see, the law on Mackinac Island is clear: everything that can be done by horsepower, must be done by horsepower. Generally, the work requiring vehicles happens after the tourist season during the winter months, but some things, such as a clogged sewer, can't wait until the season ends. The law is also clear about the "health, safety, and welfare" of the island's residents; if a motorized vehicle is needed for an emergency, it is going to be allowed.  

Non-emergency vehicles, other than those used by public utilities, must be granted a Vehicle Permit by the City Council. They are easy to get as long as what you need it for can't be done by horses. A moving truck, for example, is not going to get a permit. You can move your household to the dock with a dray and then load the truck on the mainland. Is it more work? Sure, but it's one of the things we accept as part of living on Mackinac. The only time Allen and I have needed vehicle permits was when we built our house. We needed one for both the truck and the crane; two jobs that definitely couldn't be done by horsepower!

One Guess

I'll give you one guess about where I went this week. The photo above is your first clue. Not enough? OK, here's another one:

Still not enough? 

Any thoughts yet?

How about now?

That's my mother-in-law, Janet, by the way. She wanted a traveling companion to go to her family reunion, I had time in my schedule, so I got to add a new state to my "traveled to" list. 

OK, here's your last clue:

You guessed it, we went to MAINE!

And a word to the wise for you: don't go to the LL Bean Flagship store on a rainy day. Everyone, and I literally mean everyone, visits when it rains. It took us at least 15 minutes just to find a parking spot!

Good Morning

The quiet before the first boat always puts a smile on my face.

This is the Way, at Least for Me

I love living on Mackinac. Sure, some things are more complicated than they would be on the mainland, but to me, it's well worth it to live on here.  

Take donations for example: When my family is done with things that have plenty of life left, I try, whenever possible, to donate them to places like the Gold Mine or the Hope Chest. My mainland friends often keep a box that they slowly fill as they find items they no longer need. When the box is full, it gets placed in the car and dropped off on their way home from the grocery store. Since I live on an island with no cars, it's not that simple for me. It's much easier for me to collect multiple boxes, store them in the basement, and then donate them en masse, once or twice a year. 

The 14 boxes above were this summer's donation. It took a little planning* so the dray could pick them up and have them to the dock by 8:00 am for the boat, but it felt good to give all those things a second life somewhere else. (Plus, I appreciate being able to help the Gold Mine and the Hope Chest with their missions; they both do important work in the community which I am happy to support.)

*The planning involved checking the weather to be sure it wasn't going to rain, calling the Service Company a day or two before to arrange pickup, and then having the boxes outside by 6:00 am.

Smoky

Mackinac Island awoke to a blanket of smoke today. It's a minor inconvenience for us - no views, stay indoors if possible, etc. - but for the folks up in Canada, where the smoke is coming from, I can't even begin to imagine what they're going through.

General Sherman

The General Sherman Tree, in Sequoia National Park, is the largest known single-stem tree alive on Earth today, by volume. (Apparently there are taller, fatter, and older trees, but since the 1930s wood volume has been the standard way tree size is determined.) 

This tree is a big tourist attraction (pun intended) at the park and there were many people waiting to get photos with it. (We waited in line between a family from India and a father and son from the Netherlands.) I was so impressed with how patiently everyone waited for their turn to gather behind the sign for photos. There was no grouching, no line cutting, nor general unpleasantness among people; everyone just happily waited their turn, and many groups took photos for each other.  It really reminded me just how lovely people can be.

GuideAlong

Two years ago when we visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, we discovered the GuideAlong app. I don't work for this company, nor am I being compensated by this company in any way - my family just really, really enjoyed using it, so I thought I'd share.

The app itself is free, then you purchase the tour, or tours, you want. The Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park Tour cost $25.00, and Yosemite was $20.00 - but they were worth every penny (or nickel, now that the penny has been discontinued.)

The app was easy; it uses your phone's GPS location to signal the app to start the audio tour when you reach a specific location. Each one of those white dots represents an audio file that opens, automatically,  when you get to that spot.

We loved the tidbits of history the narrator (we named him Adam) shared with us as we drove. The best part was, he had great information we wouldn't have known otherwise. He clued us before important turns came up and even suggested stops we didn't know about. His tone was funny and engaging and all of us, from the Baby Boomer to the Gen Zers, enjoyed the tours. The one and only downside was, when Adam started talking, all other conversations in the car stopped. If you find regular interruptions to your discussions irritating, this is not the app for you. Otherwise, I highly recommend it. If you are planning a road trip, it's worth taking the time to check out GuideAlong.

Waybound at Yosemite

Waybound Yosemite was our next stop after picking up groceries at Wal-Mart. Waybound is attached to Tenaya Lodge, but at Waybound, everyone has a private little cabin - which was perfect for us since we were a group of 11. Yep, eleven of us, three generations traveling together. (Grandma, her children and spouses, and our children, plus spouses (and a spouse to be.) We're all very lucky Grandma wants to leave her children and grandchildren with incredible memories.

The food was great, and Brett (the manager) took very good care of us. He was an absolute doll!

Janet (Grandma) loved drinking her morning coffee from her porch with a view of the river and the kids* loved the cabins, the s'more fixings at the fire pits, the archery, 

and tootling around in the golf cart.

Waybound was a great spot for us to have some fun and spend time together as a family!

* I call them "kids" but they really aren't kids anymore; they're all between 20 and 26.

Independence Day

 Wishing you a beautiful Independence Day from Mackinac Island!

Giant Sequoias!

 Giant is right! These trees are huge!

Allen found the perfect hike for us. At four miles, round trip, the hike up to the Muir Glen of giant sequoias was long enough for us to feel like we did something, but not so long that we'd be dragging on the way back.

Or should I say it would have been perfect if the campground where the trail begins hadn't been closed. Well we didn't let a silly thing like a closed sign stop us, we parked across the street, ducked under the gate and walked to the trailhead instead. (We made sure to note the sign said, "Campground Closed," not "Do Not Enter," so we felt it was ok to proceed.) 

As we walked through the campground we kept seeing these gigantic pine cones, so of course we had to get pictures with them. (One guess which of us are the cutups of the family.) We later discovered they were from sugar pines. 

The hike was gorgeous.

There were numerous landscape changes, 

each one prettier than the next. 

Halfway to the grove the trees opened up and we found ourselves on a granite dome with a lovely view.

Unbeknownst to me, my nephew planned to propose to his girlfriend on the trip - and the dome ended up being the prefect place for him to get down on one knee and ask. (I didn't get any pictures because I had no idea the proposal was coming. Luckily, that was the moment when we met up with the only two other hikers we met that day, and they offered to take a group picture for us.)

Aren't they cute?

Not long after leaving the dome we found ourselves surrounded by giants. 

We were completely awestruck by the sheer size of these endangered trees.

Reading about them doesn't really prepare you for just how gigantic, giant sequoias really are. Nine of us were able to get a little more than halfway around this one - halfway!

We'd read that the oldest known giant sequoia came in at over 3,200 years old and it made us wonder,  just how old was this tree?

In October 2021, a fire came through this sequoia grove. Many of the trees were scarred by fire, but they survived, and thrived, since these trees need the heat of forest fires to open their cones. This one was burned through, yet it is still growing.

We would have spent the entire day exploring the grove, but other adventures were calling. We had to bid the trees farewell and start the trip back to the car. We all did well until we got back to the campground, because the last mile through the campground was all uphill. For a few of us, fatigue, altitude, and the incline made that last mile, by far, the hardest mile of the day. It was worth it though; seeing those majestic trees up close, was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'd rank it right up there with visiting the Pyramids of Giza and the Anne Frank House.

Wuksachi Lodge

My mother-in-law, Janet, loves to travel. She has a bucket list of sites she wants to see and places she wants to stay; and this year that list took us all to Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. 

Our first stop on this grand adventure was Wuksache Lodge, located right inside Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia National Park was breathtaking. I'm a Michigan girl through and through, and while I can't imagine not living in the midst of the Great Lakes, I can appreciate the beauty of the mountains. In this part of California, they're gorgeous. When we landed in Fresno, the air quality was so poor we couldn't see the mountains, but once we left the city, the smog disappeared.

Wuksache Lodge was a lovely spot. It was in the high nineties (about 35 C) when we left Fresno, but up in the mountains it was in the high seventies (about 25 C.)

The buildings have the feeling of a historic hotel, but they were actually built in the 1990s.

The hotel is located at 7,050 feet. Mackinac Island has an elevation of about 600 feet, so we were concerned the elevation might bother us. Thankfully, we were all OK.

The food was great (especially lunch), the rooms were clean and well maintained, and the staff was quite helpful. When my son's roll-away bed was delivered, the staff person apologized, "I'm sorry it took so long," he said, "I'm new and I don't know where everything is yet." 

"No worries," we told him, and let him know we would happily make up the bed. Later on, when we tried, we discovered he'd given us 16 pillow cases instead of sheets; too funny! Comfy beds were important - our first hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains started at 7:30 the next morning.