Wrapping Up

The past two weeks or so since we have returned from Alaska have been full. I can’t think of a better word to describe them. There were lots of things that we did, errands that needed to be run, special American goods to acquire, messes to clean up, and even a bit of relaxation. All in all, a very nice time.

Last weekend we had a little mountain biking adventure at the nearby Days River trail. Finally, we would get to use the bikes for what they were designed! Naomi, of course, had no idea what was coming. She did not know that people used bikes on anything other than a hard, flat surface. Needless to say, she had a little trouble.

I had a blast and the bikes preformed admirably. The two of us needed to part ways though, because I was covering twice as much ground as she did. Her overly cautious nature took over, but after a few times out, I am confident that she will get the hang of it. My parents hiked while we biked, and afterwards we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Jack’s EAT. Friday night fish fry…with amazing pie for dessert.

After a garden and canning oriented weekend, Naomi and I drove off to the cabin at Pike Lake – our supposed honeymoon spot. Naomi was so looking forward to spending some time there that we did it anyway. We even got some good results at the mall in Green Bay on our way down.

Dinners with Family were enjoyable, but mostly we did nothing but relax at the cabin. I read a whole book and we made some nice food. The Thank You’s from the wedding were even written there, at the table, overlooking the lake. The only annoying thing was the five new dogs that the neighbors just got. Stupid.

After returning, we knocked out some errands and such along with some extra relaxation time. Saturday was a great day. The four of us ventured up to Munising with high hopes of boarding a ferry heading out to Grand Island. Upon our arrival to the visitor’s center, we discovered a boat had left just 10 minutes before, and the next ride wasn’t scheduled for another three hours!

We were pretty bummed, but decided to head down to the ferry dock anyway just to see if we might get lucky. And get lucky we did. The Capitan had to run over someone’s lunch, so we were able to grab our biked out of the van and hop on just in time.

After a nice lunch on the Island, Mom and Dad started walking and we set off on bikes. We were both feeling sick but determined to enjoy the island anyway. Enjoy we did. It was a lot of hard work – we biked 23 miles – but had a blast doing it. The views were incredible and it didn’t rain until the very end.

Dinner at the Dog Patch was, of course, most enjoyable and Claire was able to meet us there. She was in the middle of a big crisis and work so it was great that she could still come up to see us. The break was also very good for her. We were able to offer some advice and she got some much overdue rest. After listening to her problems, we no longer felt tired and our originally worrisome job outlook began to appear quite positive after all!

Tonight, Sunday, will be a delicious dinner with filet mignon wrapped in bacon, twice baked potatoes, salad, and Singapore Sling’s out of ice goblets. We are looking forward to it! Tomorrow we will finish up some odds and ends, pack up, and enjoy dinner at the Jacobs. Then Naomi leaves early in the morning. I leave the next day. School starts before I get there – staff meetings any way. This is coming just a bit too soon! This vacation, as similar to the year in general, has been very good, but packed way too full. We are looking forward to a bit more structure and balance in the coming school year…

Writing "Thank You's" at the Cabin.

Edge of the Cliff.

Our old campsite.

North(?) Beach.