Day 18: Where Timber, Fishing Were Once King

It was time to leave Brimley and drive over Grand Marais, my next stop on this stretch of sleeping in beds. It was time to relisten to creditor rights, as dry of a topic as any, but something else to do as I drove 62 in a 55 and was getting passed by people driving 70. (Wow. they sure do drive fast up here in the middle of nowhere.)

During my drives over the past 24 hours, I've been to Michigan's blueberry, cranberry and moose capital. Its seems every enclave has something their predecessors left to them to be proud of. You probably have that in every state. The only difference is we - us Michiganders - are fortune enough to have the four seasons. As my uncle who now lives in New Jersey once said, 'by scent of the air you know when its fall. You know when its winter. You know when its spring and you know when it is summer.'

I arrived to Grand Marais was was whisked away by family, my mom's first cousin, Fred, and his wife, Elaine, of 40 plus years, to see the abundance of beauty that surrounds this small port town where timber fishing were once king. We first hiked up the large Grand Sable Dunes. Perched atop these sandy clouds, I knew these next few days would be as enjoyable as the rest, spending time with family and taking it all in over some long conversations.

We hiked over to a majestic waterfall before checking out and old log slide. If this isn't history, then I don't know what is. Here, I was bitching about having do some studying on negotiable instruments tomorrow and then I see a 300 foot drop that man made to assure lumber could get from these rich forests into our homes. The views were breathtaking though and just as I thought this couldn't get any more peaceful we hopped into their Jeep and drove about 10 miles east to the most secluded place I'd ever been. A region that I couldn't get to even if I tried. And then we arrived to Barfield Lakes and I felt like I was disturbing this pristine region. Nature had its way since the beginning of time and it wasn't my job to mess with that.

We made it back to camp, but as I went to bed that night after an amazing dinner. I kept thinking. I need to assure that each week of my life, I find a place where I can be at peace as much as I was this afternoon. If I don't then this entire trip, this entire study marathon, and the past few years of school might all be worth nothing.