Never trust a man with a GPS.
Seriously. If it is mid-afternoon and you are driving on highway M72 and you want to go west and you realize that the sun is behind you, you need to turn around. If you are in this situation, do not trust the guy with the GPS. You will end up *back* at Lake Huron.
And the sunrise coast is where we started today. Tawas City, to be exact. Drove over there early, futzed around a bit, then up to Oscoda, then hung a left and headed back along the Au Sable River, of canoeing and fly-fishing fame. Beautiful areas of the state that I don’t get to very often. How could you ask for a better day? Started out around 20 degrees (F) and up to the low 40s. Brilliant sunshine all day. Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing one cloud. The mission was to try to piece together the parts of a hiking trail from Lake Huron to Houghton Lake. There was a lot of driving, a lot of backtracking, and many stops to view the scenery. To those of you who follow me on Twitter, those guys there in the pic constitute the Lumberman’s Memorial. I was wondering who would be confused by that little tweet. We stopped at the memorial/overlook for lunch. We did not go down all 260 steps to the river. The beach urchins and I did that many years ago. I remember us counting them on the way back up just to double-check the sign. Today the steps were covered with ice.
At one point, we seemed to be under observation by one o’ them thar fine men in blue or whatever color they wear. We were sitting at a stop sign at the end of a deserted road in our Ninja vee-hickle. The GG was talking to one of his brothers on the phone while checking out our position on his GPS and looking at maps on my his laptop. I was using my iPhone to “live-blog” our trip on Twitter and harass Dogmomster via email. And I was quilting. I wonder what he’d’ve busted us for. The GG’s stash of booze was in the trunk. I think that’s legal. Quilting? Hmmm. But then somebody else went by that attracted his attention and he took off after the other poor sucker who probably was doing something illegal. Speeding, I suppose.
Click here or on the pic for more. G’night, KW.
March 14th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Yes, quilters or speeders?……Sounds like the men in blue were wondering just what to do….:-)
We were at the Fireman’s Memorial just north of ya a few years back. It is very scenic there, nestled just off I-75. Very interesting reads there, well worth the trip.
March 14th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Interesting Fact. (I think). Dougs mother, (Mildred) grew up in Oscoda, living on the AuSable River. Her Farher, Art Goulet, worked for Consumers Power Co. He was in charge of 5 of the dams on the river. Consumers owned the house that they lived in. Elizabeth Goulet, (Dougs Grandma, Arts wife), was the unfortunate woman who had to cook for and clean up after up to 20 men who would come up to the house and spend the nights (for a few days) (Consumers Power Co. workers) to see how things were going on The AuSable River. This was during the the 1920’s, 1930’s depression years, and prohibition times. There wasn’t anyone around to check for moonshine stills, and Elizabeth had a “prescription” from her doctor for beer for health reasons. Great Grandma used to tell me the most interesting stories about how the men would come to the house and be loud and rude to her. (This was during a time when the women did as they were told and did not complain. They were thankful to have a roof over their head etc.. etc..) She told me that some of the men would be so drunk that they would pee their bed. She had to clean the laundry (in a tub, by hand) and remake the beds after they left. I could not believe that she put up with it! She told me that after a few incidents, she refused to cook for the men any more unless the supplied her with an electric stove instead of a wood stove. (She got it) That sweet woman was a true pioneer of the North – not quite as far north as you were Anne, but in those days you could take “the hack” and go miles before you saw another human being. Also interesting- They retired in 1949 in E. Tawas. Grandpa became the Judge there, and he never went to College. He was elected or appointed or something. Times have changed!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Photo #4 of 14 kicked off:
….I’ll bet that was on PURPOSE!
March 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am
CREDIT for above excerpt: http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/MALVINA/mr094.htm
March 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am
So is the lumberman in the middle checking his GPS?