I was going over Creditors Rights' today in a coffee shop and decided I needed something new, so I bought the 'into the wild' soundtrack. I love that movie; the book was even better. The Soundtrack is perfect for this kind of trip. I'm not going to be Alexander Supertramp nor do I aspire too, nor do I think this trip is anything like that. But the music does soothe me and provides a nice afternoon pick-me-up. (The coffee doesn't hurt either.)
After leaving studying at the coffee joint for a few hours I biked to a park to listen to a lecture on Michigan Procedure. (Yep. That was fun.) At least the lecture was over-powered every 45 minutes by a Ferry bringing people back from Mackinaw Island. (People wondering why I haven't put Mac Island on this. Well, its expensive and that's about it.)
After studying I biked back home taking a long route: big mistake. As some of u know my nice Raleigh Road Bike was stolen earlier this month just days before leaving on this trip. I had planned to ride that everywhere. Instead, I brought my former road bike, which if you can believe-it-or-not is even short for me. (I guess I grew since buying it 5 years ago. Or as my friend Neil said after I bought it in 2007 'really? Do you want to get any shorter?' Hey. It got me through my first tri.) Anyway, this bike hit a flat and despite my ambition of walking 8 miles back, my mind simply said no. The odd thing was I wasn't really pissed. I punched out a 'ahh shit,' and then thought, I sure hope this doesn't screw up my study session.
I called a cab and you won't believe who it was - 'Tony.' Most of you probably don't know Tony, but you're about to. The ride went like this in 4 steps. (1) 'Flat tire? Was that a friend who called?' Tony asked. 'No. It was a woman walking down the street and I asked if there was a cab.' (2) 'Yeah, I'm going to this campground over south of US 2. Its actually an RV Park and I'm the only tenter' I said. 'You visiting?' Tony asked. 'Yeah. Backpacking through the Northern Michigan while studying for the Bar.' After a poetic pause. 'You must have some desire, kid' he said. 'You're gonna have stories you look back upon and appreciate in 10 to 15 years'. 'I hope so, I just want to see more of my own. I mean our state.' (3) It sure is beautiful up here. How long you lived here,' I asked. 'Well, about 15 years. I lived in Flint, but have only been back twice since 94,' Tony responded. 'I'm from Chesaning,' I said. And then Tony told me how he use to drive Bus 27 in Chesaning back in the 70s - he's 79 now, but doesn't look a day past 65 - he was in his first week and some students had previously broken off some panels of the bus seats. Tony contacted the bus garage and police and rigged up this plan to replace the seats with straw and ended up taking the kids down the police station for a lesson. Long story short, he said those kids ended up being the best he ever had, they even came over for a campfire at school end. (5) Tony handed me the card, saying ' if the early bird gets the worm then the second mouse gets the cheese. I've made my living doing jobs what other people didn't want to do.' Now. This was the type of post I've been waiting to write about. You Just Never Know who you're going to meet.
I then hopped down to the Lake to watch the cloud-filled sunset and the Bridge turn into something suited as the gateway to the Emerald Palace.
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