Thursday’s Miles: 117.5 Total Miles: 1619.6
As I rolled
out of bed on Thursday I knew that I had another “reunion” to prepare myself
for. I was to meet another OLD classmate
a few miles further north into the mitten shaped Michigan. I was to meet them in Grayling, MI which was
about 70 or 80 miles north of Clare.
They lived several miles east of Grayling so it seemed to me to be a
great place to meet up. When I asked
where the reply I got was “you choose”.
Hmmmm, I really know nothing about Grayling. So I pulled my tech savvy self to the desk
and I Google Mapped Grayling looking for a good place to eat.
At this point
you have to understand that Grayling is a little town but, at the same time, it
is busy. In the winter there is skiing,
snow machine riding, hunting, etc. In
the warm months there is tubing/kayaking/canoeing on the AuSable River, there
is the Army Reserve Camp, Camp Graying, where reservists from all over the
state come for their annual training exercises, there is hiking, camping,
mosquito swatting, and other normal summer activities for the northern half of
The Mitten. Due to that, there are
numerous little restaurants all jockeying for the tourist dollar. I decided that my tourist dollar should go to
the Paddle Hard Brewers. Why? I have no idea but that is the one I
picked…..they had nice pictures in the Yelp site. Don and Dawn agreed and we planned for noon.
Since I was
only going the 70 or 80 miles I wasn’t in much of a hurry. Even going slow I found myself on the bike by
10:00. I jumped on U.S. 10 to U.S. 127
which even though U.S. highways were limited access expressways. 127 merges into I-75 and shortly after that
is the exit for Graying.
After a couple
of missteps and wrong turns I found the restaurant and got parked. I went inside and secured us a table. Shortly afterward, Don and Dawn pulled in on
their 1985 Goldwing……a sweet ride to say the least. Dawn was a Classmate of mine at Waterford
Township High School but I had not seen her since our 1966 graduation. In fact, it has been only relatively recent
that we made contact on Social Media.
She introduced
me to Don and we proceeded to lay out the last 55 years in only an hour. We were reasonably successful. We said our goodbyes and off they went and I
headed back out to I-75 to finish up the ride to see kids and grandkids.
I got to
Wolverine, MI about 3:00 and made a quick stop for gas and some refreshment
before heading out to my middle daughter’s house. She had just purchased and moved into this
house in the last few months and I had never seen it, let alone been to
it. I had seen pictures of it and I knew
roughly where it was so this should be no problem……right?
I was riding
along and it was pleasant in the country when I say a big, yellow sign saying
“Pavement Ends”. Well, I was pretty sure
that her house was not on a dirt road so I turned around knowing that it
couldn’t be very far back. I came to a
house that MIGHT be hers but, then again, it is NOT like how I remembered the
pictures. Oh well, pictures can be deceiving
so I pulled up the driveway. There were
a couple of little tool sheds at the end of the driveway and it didn’t look
like stuff she owns. Just then I got a
text from her saying that she should be home before 6:00. So I snapped a picture of the house and said
“is this yours”. I quickly got a reply
saying “nope”. I followed up by asking
if she was beyond the end of the pavement.
She wrote back saying that she was about a mile past the end of the
pavement. Yikes! I’m glad no one came out of that house with a
shotgun or something.
Out I went and
all was well. I quickly recognized the
house when I saw it and I pulled in.
With all the FUBARs I killed some time so I only waited about an hour
and a half for her to get home. That was
just enough time to do a little catnap
and save Annette from raiding Apaches.
We ran out to a
restaurant for supper called the Thirsty Sturgeon. We ate and talked and laughed but we were
both ready to go back to the house and hit the beds……and that is exactly what
we did.
Friday’s Miles: 0.0
Total Miles: 1619.6
Originally,
the plan was for me to get up at the same time as my daughter, Monique, and
leave with her when she left for work.
She would then drop me off at my son’s house where I would lay my head
for the next couple of days. Out of the
kindness and compassion in her heart she left me in bed. She woke, got ready for work, and left the
house at 7:30 without me stirring even a little bit. I did not climb out of bed until nearly 9:00. It is very rare for me to stay in bed that
late. Normally, when I wake up I get
up. I don’t like just lying there.
Even when I
was a kid I would climb out of bed early in the morning. There were many times that I would be out in
the backyard before 7:00 playing baseball all by myself. By the way, that is a great way to play
baseball…..I always won. Of course, I
also always lost but you take the bitter with the sweet. On Saturday mornings I was in front of the TV
getting the EARLY Saturday morning cartoons.
I managed a
shower and organized my stuff. I gave
Lisa a call and exchanged texts with both of my daughters assuring them that I was
fine. I also got a text from my eldest grandchild,
David, asking if I wanted breakfast……silly question….and he said that he and
his girlfriend would be there in about a half hour and we would get something
to eat. This was indeed a grand surprise. He has a position out on Mackinac Island and
I didn’t think that he would be able to get away. By seeing him it would insure that I would
see all 12 of my grandkids by the time that I returned home.
David and
Haile arrived and we went to Indian River, MI and to Christopher’s Café for
breakfast. We had a great visit. He has a great spirit of adventure and it is
fun to listen to the stories that he will be able to continue to share for
decades to come. After filling my head
with tales of youth at its best and filling my stomach with French toast he
took me back to my daughter’s house where I had about an hour to wait before
Monique returned back home.
So far, I have
been VERY successful getting together with friends and family. In fact, there was only one GOOD friend that
appeared like I would not be able to see.
They lived north in the Mitten but above the “thumb” and I was not going
to be able to get across to that area.
Lo and behold, I got a message from them that they would be in Pontiac
on Monday and we could meet. Halleluiah! This would be a most rewarding trip.
I had turned ALL
of my entertainment over to my three kids but I let them know that I would be
very easily satisfied as long as the time was with them and the grands. The first item on their agenda was a
spaghetti gathering at Monique’s house and sitting around talking and enjoying.
Between 4:00
and 8:00 the house filled with sounds of family. Those that were there…not in the order of
their arrival or age or height or status or weight or wealth…..were Josh, Jen,
Kris, Dylan, Zeke, Kiah, Nora, Sunny, Kayla, Addie, Ivan, Nancy, Lily, along
with me and Monique.
We did serious
damage to boxes of spaghetti and jars of Prego.
The evening wore on and the “crowd” started to go down as we solidified
our plans for tomorrow. Ivan, Nancy, and
Sunny stayed with me and Monique…..although Monique and I went to bed while
they stayed up playing cards.
It was a night
that was loaded with fun and love and one that would make any grandpa feel
mighty good. Now it is time to get ready
for a FULL day tomorrow.
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