Hawks, MI
Last weekend Frank and I headed up to the great wilderness of upper lower Michigan to join a part of my family on their property. Fun was had by all - on the drive up, during our stay and on the way down. We took the temporary truck (don't ask...) and it's a 81 Chevy LUV diesel. It goes at a top speed of 70. If you're going downhill. Down a steep hill.*
Anyways, we left Friday afternoon and snail trailed our way up to Hawks. Getting "lost" thanks to faulty directions (there IS no F109 (road signs), just to let you know) but thanks to kindhearted locals, found our way into the wilderness. I got ice cream.
We arrived before anyone else, so we broke out our hammocks and built a fire. I promptly fell asleep only to awaken to find my sister leaning over me, staring at me. It's not a thing you want to wake up to from a deep sleep (I was really really tired after driving almost the entire way and getting a good sunburn to boot) and it didn't help that it was combined with my mother peering over HER shoulder. It took me a while to calm down my heartbeat.
The next day, instead of relaxing, we headed out to some art fair/carnival monstrosity in a nearby town. I say monstrosity, but in all fairness (ha, get it? it's a pun!! okay, I'm lame.) it was pretty cool. Better than the local horror of an art fair - pretty much because this had some fun rides. We strolled around the art fair part, losing bits and pieces of the family as we walked but rejoining in the breaks. Most of the time was spent riding the rides.
I had a blast. Screaming on The Loop. Laughing as my family made crude jokes on the Merry-Go-Round. Freaking out on the Tilt-O-Whirl because the certain car my mom and I occupied seemed to be possessed and was whirling with the intensity of a thousand jet rockets. Even her stomach flipped on that one. Possessed I tell you.
The best part of the day though (at least, in the fair hours) was on the Ferris Wheel when I was paired with my ex-step-father (again, if you have to ask, don't). There's been a few issues there and it was really nice to "reconnect" over good memories of the past. If nothing else, the trip was worth that.
But then we all went back to the property and built a huge frakkin' bonfire (in one of those portable firepit/grill things - I never knew they could handle a fire like that - I saw blue flames). Frank was his normal charming self during dinner and had the table in stitches over the word "fuck". We topped off the night by toasting s'mores in the dwindling fire and watching the stars pop out in the sky. We pointed out satellites to each other, commented on the wild ducks in the area (and the fowl stench), argued over who saw the Milky Way first and where (I won) and even saw a few shooting stars. It was a truly amazing night.
We found out the windshield wipers didn't work. Thankfully before we hit the road on Sunday and were able to fix them, at least to the point of some usability. And drove home in the misty rain. Yay home.
OH! I almost forgot the absolute best part of the entire trip. Our truck, we admit, looked a bit like Jeepers Creepers truck (there's a meat hook on the back end...) but it was nothing compared to what we ran across when we got off the main highway. We're driving along, minding our business when a sign catches our eye. Mind you, we saw all of this in the space of only a few seconds. The sign said "The Adult Store" but the building was an old gas station. The building had a shack to one side with the real Jeepers Creepers truck half in and half out of the shack, with a blue tarp hiding part of it as well. It was very disturbing and a bit funny at the same time.
It feels good to be home.
*we think. the speedometer is "broken" because of tires that are a couple of sizes too large for the vehicle. The speedometer topped off at a paltry 57 - but we were passing a few vehicles. Maybe three. And they passed us the next time we went up a hill.
