Cheboygan, MI 2004 Vacation Notes

We just completed our second annual family vacation with Peter, Jane, Rose and Walter. Last year we went to the Dells, this year we stayed in Cheboygan, at the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. It’s great to go on vacation this time of year, especially in a northern latitude. We timed it perfectly, with the summer solstice coming in the middle of our trip.

It’s chilly up there! It’s only a bit farther north than Minneapolis, but it is decidedly cooler. The average June high is 72, but even though we were hitting late June, our forecast was for nothing above 69. Haven’t seen a forecast since Thursday, but I’m pretty sure we surpassed that mark our first full day. It was brilliantly sunny, and must have been around 73.

Driving from St. Paul to Cheboygan was the longest non-interstate drive I can remember making. Only the first 30 miles were interstate, the next 150 was non-interstate divided highway, and the remaining 350 was back roads. It took 12 hours total, about 10 hours driving time, to get here. Unfortunately, we hadn’t gotten a particularly early start, and the time change was against us, so we didn’t arrive till after 11:00 local time. Our friends Peter and Jane were up to greet us, though their children, Rose and Walter, were fast asleep. We got unpacked, and after some histrionics, got ourselves all to sleep.

The next day was 100% hang out, enjoy the fine weather, adult chat, and let the kids play. The kids played vigorously by the shore of Lake Huron—a stone’s throw from our cabins—even venturing waist-high into the water. They spent the entire day cooperatively building an extensive structure of sand, stones, and driftwood they foraged from the shore and the shallow water.

The day after that was only slightly more ambitious. We took the kids to see a Coast Guard ice-breaker, and to a local park. Add seeing an ice-breaker in action to the list of things I want to do/see someday. They say it is very LOUD.

The mosquitoes are brutal, of course. About what we expected. They are worse at night, but out all hours of the day. Thank goodness mosquitoes don’t have the reflexes of flies!

Tuesday, our third full day, was the most ambitious by far. We got up before 8:00 to prepare to leave for Mackinac Island. On the road by mid-morning, we drove 15 minutes north to catch the ferry. Our family brought our bikes over on the ferry, which was another quick 15 minute ride. It was cool and a bit windy—more so on the ferry—and I was doubting my wisdom in opting for shorts and short sleeves and eschewing the emergency sweatshirt (everybody else had them). But the day became sunnier by the hour, and I was quite comfortable.

By the time we got our bearings on Mackinac, it was lunchtime (like an army, a family marches on its stomach). We had a delightful, relaxed picnic lunch on the grounds beneath the old fort, on a slight hill overlooking the marina.

The weather was steadily improving, turning the day from mostly cloudy to brilliantly sunny, with a few, puffy clouds on the horizon. A splendid day to see Mackinac.

At first I thought Mackinac was going to be a high-class, car-free version of tourist trap. Which wouldn’t have been entirely bad. But once we rode our bikes ¼ mile beyond the main strip, we had the place to ourselves. The eight mile ride around the perimeter of the island may have been the most scenic bike ride of my career (1). It was all the more pleasurable for having no worries about cars. What a difference that makes, particularly with family in tow.

I see why Mackinac is so popular. In addition to the car-free factor—which confers benefits and a whole experience worthwhile for much more than mere novelty—it is quite beautiful. There is a strong surf on the windward side, while the leeward side seems tranquil. And the water was very clear and nicely-colored, mostly blue, not quite Cozumel, but it could have been the Caribbean or South Pacific.

The kids were grumbling by the end of the ride, no surprise, at eight miles, I think it was twice as long as anything they had done before. Not that it was excessive, for 7-10 year olds. The day was over before we knew it.

I would love to ride around the island at different times of day, as well as cross through the interior (very hilly, as opposed to the flat outer circuit). And there are a number of historical sites to see. On the way home, Beth and I discussed our desire to return and see and do more. It wasn’t cheap to get there, but hey, they are 100% tourist-driven. All in all, it was a singular place, and a well-run one at that.

We had a pretty lazy day Wednesday, after Mackinac. Late in the day we decided to go hiking at the nearby Mill Creek state park. Turned out there wasn’t much hiking, and it closed at 5:00, notwithstanding the fact that you have daylight till almost 10:00 pm this time of year.

Although we didn’t have time for much hiking, the park contained a restored, water-driven working sawmill, and we got a demonstration. That was extraordinary. First, they showed how boards were cut by hand, an agonizing process. Then, they contrasted it to the sawmill, which used state-of-the-art technology for the late 1700s. The mill was at least an order of magnitude faster. The engineer in me was quite taken by the mechanical brilliance and resourcefulness required to make it all work—both on the part of the original designers, and the restorers.

We had hoped to rent a pontoon boat the next day, Thursday, but we woke up to a cool, cloudy day. We decided to go hiking back at the park (our tickets were good for 2 days), and that was fairly successful. The weather slowly improved, as well.

Later that evening rain came, and it got much chillier. The rain passed after an hour or so, and it got fairly sunny, although still quite chilly. The heat went on in our cottage for the first time during the trip.

We awoke to decent, but still cool, weather Friday, so had to discard the idea of the pontoon boat. We decided to head back to Mackinac. This time we took a self-guided walking tour, which was very successful. The kids did quite well, in part because we rarely went as much as ½ mile without a stop at a site, and most of the sites offered climbing for the kids. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, brilliantly blue and almost warm, perfect for hiking.

After we got back, rain came again around dinner time, but again did not last long. And in the aftermath, we were treated to a spectacular rainbow display. Spectacular enough, even, to lure us out into the clouds of waiting mosquitoes. First, there were partial double-rainbows. Then, the brighter rainbow extended to a gigantic, complete figure. Probably the biggest complete rainbow I have ever seen. It lasted the best part of 10 minutes. As it slowly disappeared, the base that was over the lake turned incendiary, and cast a marvelous oranze haze over a large part of the horizon. Never quite saw anything like it before.

So, all in all, we did okay with the weather. Over the course of the week, we clearly averaged at least 5 degrees below the June norm of 72 (especially considering we were in late June). But we had minimal rain—two nights, and two dinners. Which counts for quite a bit on a rustic vacation. Also, the weather, while cool, was deliciously crisp. Imagine beautiful autumn weather, except that there is light in the sky past 10:00 in the evening.

The trip concluded with an uneventful drive home. We made better time, just over 9 hours driving time, 11 hours elapsed, and the change of time was in our favor. This has become a wonderful tradition, it is definitely the most relaxing week of the year for me.

After-Thoughts

We had no cell phone reception. Actually, no cell phone reception might have been better than what we had, which was marginal digital roaming reception. So every now and then our phones would ring, but of course caller id didn’t work, and almost every time we answered, the signal would be dropped. Probably better to have no reception at all.

This was our first trip with a bike rack. It was the Thule 591 Hitching Post. A 5-bike hitch-mounted rack—what a pain. I don’t think that is necessarily Thule’s fault, I just think 5 bikes is a lot to fit. I’m not sure how much they extend the rack versus a 4-bike rack. Getting 4 on this one was easy, but the fifth was a killer. The most frustrating part was, the very first time I loaded them, they went fairly easily. Then each subsequent time gave me increasing difficulty.

I believe a big part of the problem was all the oddball bike frames. Mine is normal, Beth’s isn’t too bad, but is a girl’s bike. It gets worse from there. We have 2 girls hybrids, and then Seth’s is a mountain bike, with unconventional, thick frame. Counter-intuitively, I think having smaller bikes makes it worse—smaller openings in the frames, and a shorter length along with to adjust their position across the two bars.

“Girl’s bike”—what an irritating anachronism. When is the last time you saw a girl biking in a skirt?! I decreed that all future bikes should be boys style (which also might allow passing down to their younger brother). I’m actually hoping the next bikes we buy for Anna-Claire and Ainslee can be full-size bikes.

I brought my laptop, and managed to keep up with the heavy digital photo burden. I spent 60-90 minutes each night processing them, except for the last night. Otherwise, that is an easy thing to fall way behind on.

There is a sign in the Mackinaw cemetery identifying Mary Biddle’s grave as the “oldest known”, dating back to 1833. I believe I discovered an older gravestone. The headstone was cracked and had been laid down on the ground, and grass had grown into some of the cracks. It was difficult to read at all, and impossible to read completely, but there was clearly a date of 1828 toward the bottom. The key question is—was that a birth date, or a death date?

I think analysis of the text that follows makes a convincing case that it is a death date. The word immediately below seems to be “aged”, not “died”. Then, in the next line down, there appears to be a “2” (not clear if that is the only numeral, or there is another one, for example “12”), followed by a capital “Y”. So it strongly appears that the bottom part of the tombstone’s inscription is something like:

                ____ 1828

                     aged

                  12 Years

___________

(1) no, scratch that, Beth and I rode through the hills near Koblenz, along the Moselle, on a spectacularly fine day in August, 1991—that is unsurpassed).