Where I Was

I was away for a bit as you may have noticed.  Where had I been, pray-tell?  Well, it is a rather long story.... but I assure you I will try to give an ABBREVIATED version below:

My wife became very interested in having an impromptu vacation.  Unfortunately, "impromptu" is challenging for a variety of reasons, mostly non-human.  

First was our dog.  She is elderly now, and even IF a boarder was available, I would worry greatly about her being there.  But, being "impromptu" eliminated even the possibility of a boarding facility, for in my region they fill MONTHS in advance.  So, that would not work even if I was comfortable with it. 

Second were my rodents and my nematodes.  Though they do not require A LOT of care, they do need a LITTLE BIT of care quite regularly, and unfortunately at this time of the Summer, student researchers tend to be quite scant, and in this instance were NOT available at all.  And, unfortunately, the student WORKER who is tasked with taking care of broad rodent duties across the Department is unfortunately a poor and unreliable worker this Summer.  He is not someone who I have a supervisory role over as he does broad rodent work across the whole of the Department.  The person who does supervise this person is herself in a state of mind where she too is not the most reliable at the moment.  This supervisor happens to also be one of the folks I mentioned before that has been a challenge for me, and is the one who was a former friend.  For my nematodes, I can stretch out care needs with very careful planning to 5-7 days, so that limitation shaped our plans as well.  

So.... with the above issues, here is what transpired:

1.  My wife took the initiative to find a budget friendly "AirBnB" for us.  We have NEVER done an "AirBnB" sort of accommodation before so it was a completely new experience for us.   

2.  Ultimately, we decided to take a long road trip to travel to Northern Michigan.  And, we brought our dog.... and two of our kids decided to also accompany us.

3.  Our dog has never traveled well with us except very occasionally when kept in a "crate" to limit her movement while traveling.  But with the four human travelers and the dog, we ended up using my wife's rather small car as it was one we could all fit into because there were enough human seats.  Normally, when we "crate" the dog during travel she sits in the crate in the hatchback area.  But, with the full group we had, the hatchback had to be used for luggage, etc.  The crate itself actually takes up the ENTIRETY of the hatchback area when it is used so it was not an option to be there.  

4.  As I am deemed the "dog whisperer" (aka, she is very attentive to me, and minds and listens to me much more so than others in the family), the ultimate decision was that I would sit in the back seat with the dog (mostly sitting on my lap or between my feet) and one of our kids in the other back seat, and my wife and the other one of the kids traveling with us would be in the front seats.  Basically, my role was to keep our dog calm and happy if possible during the hours and hours of driving.

5.  Happily, I was able to keep our dog calm and happy and she actually did quite well.  When we arrived at the AirBnB, we were surprised at how cute and quaint it actually was.  It was in the middle of nowhere, but it served us well.  It was an old, small, two bedroom "farm house" style home.  It was, from appearances, built sometime in the early 1920s and was what would be quaintly described as "shabby chic" (more emphasis on "shabby" perhaps than "chic" but it was fun, comfortable, and nice).  We were all able to relax, and our dog was able to relax well there as well, and we were all comfortable.  With the four of us, we played many, many games of euchre in the evenings.  

Highlights of what we did:

A.  Spent a large part of a day in Mackinaw City, and saw the Mackinaw City fort as well (Lower Peninsula).

B.  Spent a large part of a day on Mackinaw Island, (here is a view of the island's shape), and saw the fort on the island as well and bought some really great fudge (chocolate peanut butter, chocolate cherry, butter pecan, and blueberry).  As an island, this is (of course) BETWEEN the Lower and Upper Peninsula.  

C. Spent a day at Tahquamenon Falls State Park (Upper Peninsula).

D.  Went to the Horton's Bay General Store (near Charlevoix) which is still a store, but also very much an "Ernest Hemingway" historical site (and gift shop too) to see some of his stomping grounds in the Summers as a kid and young adult (Lower Peninsula).

E.  Spent a day looking around in St. Ignace (Upper Peninsula) and we ate Pasties which are a very traditional, Upper Peninsula food.  Traditionally they are beef, but I tend to not like scrambled beef much.   I ate a bite of one of the chicken ones we had, and also ate a vegetable one.    

So, that was what we did.  When we returned home last Wednesday evening, we were tired but had a great time.  However, I had to spend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the U working on rodent, nematode, (and also fruit fly) things that all needed attention by the time of our return.  So, that is why I was unable to post until Tuesday.  Well, also... on MONDAY, I was having to attend a day-long U "planning" meeting all day for a discussion about "learning communities".  

Sincerely,

PipeTobacco