To dah U.P., eh!

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FRIDAY

The boyfriend and I decided to go camping for a week of my two week break from school and to take my former co-worker, John, with us. Johnny is known to complain about not getting time off of work and that everyone gets to take vacations except for him because Lord knows Anderson Printing would implode without him. So. We left him no choice but to take a vacation with us. After debating where to go and what to do, the three of us finally, finally, finally settled on camping in dah U.P., eh!

We picked up John about two hours late, but aside from that small glitch, it all worked out really well. We drove up to Munising with plenty of time to set up camp and make dinner. The camp ground we stayed at had two options.

1. Designated tent only area, lake front, few trees here and there.
2. RV/Camper area, with ONE spot, on the corner for tent camping. Trees between tent location and rv/camper area, excess water stream to the right, lake superior to the front - it was pretty much perfect.

We, maybe it's obvious, went with option 2.

Alex ran to get ice while John and I started dinner - grilled chicken on the campfire with summer squash, mushrooms, onion, redskin potatoes, & pepper w/ some seasoning....MMmmmmmMMMMmmm. While I was getting everything around, it felt like my eye was watering, which is typical since I'm allergic to......everything....so I wiped the corner of my eye. This is where I kind of freak out because then my hand is covered in blood.

"John! Is my eye bleeding?!"
He looks at my eye. He looks at my hand.
"I think it's your hand."
I look at my hand. There is a clear gash. *Relief*

I went to the bathroom to wash my hands since I had just got done handling raw chicken. As I walked to the bathroom I kind of laughed at myself that I thought my eye was bleeding. It just surprised me because my hand didn't hurt and I didn't remember cutting it on anything.

After I scrubbed my hands clean, I'm just staring at my hand.
There's no gash. There's no cut. My eye is bleeding!
It was bizarre. I cleaned up the blood on my face and there was a swollen purple vein next to my eye.

We went on to enjoy a good dinner, complete with s'mores, and hit the hay.

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SATURDAY

(pictures of cruise on next post)

Hellooooo Piranha Flys! We're not sure what they're technically called, but due to the eating of flesh and random bleeding from all areas of our bodies, we have lovingly dubbed them Piranha Flys. This is the explanation to my randomly bleeding eye. This is the explanation to the boys randomly bleeding legs, arms, necks, stomachs, etc. Strangely enough, you didn't know your flesh was being gnawed on until you saw the blood because it didn't hurt. The bite would turn into a solid, ugly, mass a day later.

Aside from my eye, I got out of the U.P. with only two bites on my forehead, one on my ear, and one behind my ear. Once we figured out what was happening, I wore Off from the time I got out of the tent until the time I got back in for bed. The boys tried some all natural stuff that was oily. I'm thinking it might work if the bugs slide off your body, but it didn't stop them from being ate alive.

We decided to go on a pictured rocks cruise. It was a nice time. We got rained on a bit, but all in all, it was a good trip. The rocks were pretty, it was nice to see them, but I wasn't exactly wow'd. I had been told, "It's like nothing you've ever seen before", so I was guessing I had my hopes a little to high or maybe I was just a little to tired. I thought it was going to be a quick 20-30 minute trip, but it turned out to be three hours + the hour we had to kill waiting for the next boat to board. By the time we were done, we were all tuckered out and ready for bed.

Bed, however, would not be coming any time soon. I layed in the tent watching the storm brewing on land across the harbor. The lightening meant that we needed to pack up and leave our humble domain to seek shelter. Shelter, that is, in the form of a casino in the land of Christmas.

As the rain made it's way across the lake, I worked up the energy to seal up our tent and get in the car just in time for it to start pouring. Just down the road was Christmas, Michigan. We played slots for a bit. John played something like $20.00 and when he was down to .35 cents he decided to take his money and run. Only, something went wrong and the machine wouldn't give him his money, he had to wait for an attendant to come and present him with his whopping .35 cents. I had parted with the boys and put $20.00 in a penny slot. After losing $4.00 it went into some kind of bonus round where I won $91.35 above and beyond the $20 I put into the machine. That's when I decided to call it quits.

When we walked out, the sun was shining and things were already drying up. Our tents held up well and nothing was wet inside.

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Photos

Froggy Friend
I didn't see this little guy until I almost stepped on him coming back from the bathroom.

Munising Campsite
John soaking up some sun on the beach

View from our tent
Doesn't get much better than this.

Suzanne Alex & John
First night in Munising

Suzanne eating a s'more
Lake Superior in the background.

Suzanne & Alex
At Munising Falls.

Comments

[anonymous]

WOW! What a view!!!!!! Glad the tent held up and the trip was a good one!! mommsie

[Liz]

Looks like fun so far! My parents and I went on the Pictured Rocks tour YEARS ago, I mean when I was a kid, and to this day it's still one of the most boring 3 hours of my life. I think I'd have more appreciation for it now, but for a kid that can't sit still, it totally sucked. LOVE the pictures though, they look great! :)

[Marcia]

Being ONE with mother nature... Gorgeous views and surroundings, nasty bugs that bite. Looks/sounds like great fun. Good planning! Love