I woke up shortly after 8 and began a study session. Caleb offered some coffee his wife had picked up in the Galapogos Islands and I was reminded of how my body was missing this caffeinated poison that I had come accustomed to drinking 7 times a day during law school.
He left for work and I just out of his large glass windows before retreating to lakeside to continue with this day of studying with a bountiful of beauty. Click, clack, ting tang I heard, followed by heavy breathing. Somehow two dogs, one the size of a golden lamb and another smaller than a pug (You can probably guess that I am not good with dog kind.s) came down those steep steps. They gave a few sniffs asked for a few pats and walked down the stoney shores. I went back up hill to finish a quiz on domestic relations and then went off to my second post of the day. This was appearing to be a day I'd never forget.
Not bad, 5 hours in and its only 1:30 I thought as I got to the Jampot. 70 minutes later I had finished my carrot cake muffin made by the monks and decided today was the time I'd make the car push up ole Brockway Drive. Here about 1300 feet above sea level I stood for more than on hour armed with my ipad and just looked out - one side surrounded by lush forests and the other by the calmest Lake I'd ever seen. This look from atop sure makes Conflict of Laws seem a bit better. The look reminded me of when I went to the Scottish Highlands: Nothing but green forests and the Andy Dufresne blue sea. Its great to feel 19 again.
Next stop: Copper Harbor, the most northern place of US-41. The weather was calling for 60 mph winds and Thunderstorm warnings down state - in this case that meant south of Houghton. It ended up being a bit wet as I visited Lake Fanny Hoe and Fort Wilkins State Park. Thank God my mom gave me a Carhartt Rain Jacket the day before I left. Yesterday was her birthday: 57 and not a day older than 25. Nothing gets through it. I toured and then decided to wait out the storm at the Brickside Brewery. The count is getting up there for beer places, but I think my friends at the Livery would be happy. (The story on that one involves two summers ago when I was doing a half ironman in Benton Harbor with my law school friend Darek. I had no place to stay and basically empty coffers to pay $200 a night. I randomly found this couple who owned the Brewery who let me crash at their pad for two nights. I make a point to stop there everytime I am en route to Chicago.)
As I left Copper Harbor for Houghton, the clouds were low, the rain was light and I kept thinking these roads are made for driving. (What the hell does that mean?) Well, most roads are made to get to places. I'd like to think we have some that are simply so scenic that being in the car is the destination
After dinner with Caleb and Andy we went and had a drink at a Chicago-like club in Houghton. Who would have thought of that? And then Andy and I joined his brothers and a few others for a trek back to Eagle Harbor. I was advised to buy a bright head lamp. After that all I can say is I crawled under/into a waterfall and may or may have not spent two hours at about 900 feet below the earth's service looking for the substance that gave this region its Copper Country name.
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