August 16, 2013
I took breakfast, which was a success — the egg bake turned out great, which defied all odds. First, I realized that Dave’s mom’s recipe called for flour, which I did not bring. In my defense: never in all my cooking years have I made an egg bake that uses flour. I also apparently needed baking soda. Nope. So I, master of all substitutions, used some of Jan’s pancake mix. Which worked awesomely. Cooked it in the cast iron pot over the fire. Now THAT’S camping, people. We also had fried potatoes and bacon.
We packed up around noon after a short hike around the campground (which I had failed to investigate at all, but which was quite pretty. Wes found an intimidating mushroom, which I am fairly certain graced the cover of my dad’s mushroom book that I used to look at when I was a kid. And if I am right, is quite poisonous. Dad? Can you elucidate?
We stopped for Michigan’s famous pasties at Muldans as we headed out of town. We “sampled” the chicken and ground beef offerings. The ground beef was the unanimous favorite even though the chicken sounded way better on paper. Go figure.
Another stop for gas and bread (I no longer try to make our bread stretch 10 days, much to the relief of everyone, including me) and we were off, seeking our next stop at Lake Superior Provincial Park.
…And also seeking cell service. AT & T? Not so good when compared to Verizon on this lonely and long stretch of road. We go hours with nothing but blips, while Dave talks away merrily, solving the midwest’s real estate problems… [Those tables will turn eventually in our favor, but I am getting ahead of the story. ] Sit back and I will spin a yarn of family togetherness, love and peace.
Kidding. It’s always hard to get going on this damn journal again.
Dave has driven this whole trip, just about. It is AMAZING!! I love it! I grew up taking long family road trips and literally my dad drove fricken 26 hours straight. Oh, yeah, yeah. My mom will probably chime in here and try to say she drove too, but if she did, I do not remember it. And if so, it was an hour here, an hour there. Imagine my disillusionment with my new husband 24 years ago when he could make it barely three hours before having to turn the wheel over to his blushing bride, lest he kill us both by falling asleep at the wheel.
I mostly hate driving. I basically want to sit and read and read and read. –For when else do I ever have the ability to do that without guilt?
NEVER. NEVER. never never never never NEVER!
So anyway. I love this. I love it i love it i love it i love it!
We crossed into Canada in Sault St. Marie. Wow. What an ugly city — at least what we saw of it.
All the phones got turned to airplane mode with many tears of regret and sadness. Dave, of course, did not intend to either buy an international plan OR turn his phone off. [This is just some weird attribute of Dave that I am done trying to change. Inevitably it bites him in the butt and I just try to be there to pick up the pieces.]
–Like the time we were on the train going from Barcelona to Madrid and he was happily pecking away on his iPad. I assumed he was on the free wireless when I received a text (on the free wireless) saying someone on my plan had consumed copious amounts of international data (copious=more than $200). WTH? I had forgotten that his iPad was on MY plan. His phone, being Verizon, is not on my plan. So I don’t really care how much international overages he wracks up.
Ironically, Dave’s service was cut off shortly after crossing the border and took days to straighten out. Ahhhh. Peace and quiet in the car!
Dave? Dave? YES… It’s US: your FAMILY. Welcome to CANADA. We are on VACATION. You don’t remember getting here? Well RELAX. Have a DRINK. ENJOY yourself.
(and he did.)
Immediately, upon leaving the city of Sault St. Marie, the scenery became unbelievably majestic. It felt like we were in the mountains — the Suburban changing gears as we climbed steep inclines surrounded by jagged rock. Crazy!
I don’t think I’ve mentioned how blue-green the water is [though you probably have seen the pictures from kayaking]. It is so clear! It feels like the ocean. Honestly, it’s really hard to believe we are just north of Minnesota.
It was a spectacularly beautiful drive to our destination of Agawa Bay Campground, where we had reservations. We pulled in — I can’t remember exactly. 3:00? 4:00? No, I remember now. It was after 5, because before we could start unpacking, Jan and Wes came over very sour-faced and sad “ISH! This place is like the Ghetto! We can’t stay here!” [and yes. i really do need all those exclamation marks.] And so, a contingent trooped back up to the check-in building to try to get more private sites and determine our options. I remember it was after 5 because I was on for dinner and I remember thinking if we moved, we wouldn’t be eating until well after dark. [and yes. i really AM writing this entry days later and hence the fuzzy memory. this journal-writing blows.]
Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because we ended up staying put. There really weren’t any other options unless we wanted sites that backed right up to the highway, which was very noisy and busy.
And even then we didn’t eat until after dark!
We had rib eye steaks cooked over the campfire with big bakers (potatoes), and eggplant and zucchini from the garden. soooo good! And worth the wait.
The ghetto campground? Well, you will just have to wait until day five!