Friday, July 20, 2012

The Upper Penisula

First off, my apologies for not keeping everyone updated.  We have been out and about in places where there is no internet.  A little inconvenient but exactly what we needed in a lot of ways. We left off in Wisconsin.  We have been through 4 states since (moving on to our 5th) so we have a lot of catching up to do.  For now I will just write about our time in Marquette, MI.

We left Green Bay and headed North.  Way North.  I had never seen Lake Superior before so I was really excited! Some of you may remember the story of when Trevs and I took the Amtrak to and from Chicago a couple of years ago.  We had met a father and a son who were from the Upper Peninsula and they were headed to Corpus Christi where he was doing work with the Nature Conservancy.  The kid, Finn, wowed us with his talks of loving carrots more than candy and then starting to knit himself a hat.  Remember that story?  Well, we have kept in touch with the Swaty family ever since and now they have become great friends of ours.

The Swaty Homestead
We called the Swaty's on our way up and they immediately opened up their home to us.  We had every intention of staying one night and then making our way West.  We ended up staying 3 days.  The Upper Peninsula proved to be even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.   The tiny little towns were sweet and simple.  We pulled down the street where their house was and were told to look for the basketball goal on the street side.  When we pulled in I immediately felt like we were pulling into a little piece of heaven.  There was a pretty little white farm house, a garden, a beautiful old barn and a donkey named Rosie.  Randy, Finn and Ry and their sweet little dog Hazel came to greet us outside.  We were so happy to see them.  Randy made dinner for all of us - brown rice and veggies with a black bean sauce.  It was the perfect meal after being in the land of meat and cheese for so long.  Our three days were magical there.  Ry takes cello lessons and Finn does violin lessons.  They both played for us their pieces that they have been learning.  Trevor shared with them some of what he has written lately plus a few other songs.  They also all played together!  I wish that I had some video of that.  It was an incredibly special moment seeing him playing with those two little boys.

Finn and Ry showing off the Red Bellies.
Finn and Ry were both so excited to show us around.  Finn was real quick to show us where all the red belly snakes live.  He grabbed them to show us.  I have to admit that before this moment snakes petrified me.  I have had this fear my entire life.  Actually Finn and I talked a lot about it and how in several stories when you are growing up that the snake is representative of evil and that that must be where the fear started.  He helped me get over that fear and for that I am forever thankful...and impressed.  All I needed was a nine year old to teach me that there was nothing to worry about.  Thanks Finn.

The day after we arrived, Trevor and I followed the Swaty's into Marquette.  I loved this town.  Breweries, little coffee roasters that felt like someone's living room, bakeries, food co-ops.  We were so happy to be there.  I found myself saying several times to Trevor that I could live there.  It was pretty perfect.  I have to keep reminding myself that yes, it is perfect now but what about in the Winter time when everything in covered in ice and frigid?  It seemed that everyone we talked to about that said that their Winter is their favorite time of year.  I would kinda like to try it out.  We started out our day at Dead River Coffee Roasters.  Imagine one room, one roaster inside, coffee in glass jars on a counter, an old snarky man running the place and everyone walking in knowing each other.  That is Dead River Coffee.  It was incredibly charming.  People were walking behind the counter to grab a pastry for themselves.  Kinda bizarre but I loved it.  We ended up walking around town all day and then in the end grabbing a couple of brews and some Lake Superior whitefish.  So good!

Mulching the Garden
Randy knows how it is when you are traveling and you could use some extra cash so he offered us a job working in the garden at their house.  One of their gardens had pretty much grown over.  It was full of weeds and needed to be mulched.   We ended up extending our stay there so we could work for them.  It was one of the best experiences of this trip.  Trevor and I got up at sunrise, stretched our legs for a bit, drank some coffee and headed out to do some work.  Nothing is more rewarding than working in a garden.  Especially for people you like.  It took us all day but in the end it was beautiful again.  The potatoes where visible again without all of the weeds.  The garlic too.  Our reward was our pay that we had agreed on and a bonus of a carton of farm fresh eggs and a half gallon of apple cider that they had harvested and made themselves.   Might I add that this was the best apple cider I have ever had in my life.

After working all day the boys were ready to show us the Laughing Whitefish State Park.  They lived right down the road from it so it is basically in their backyard.  You could tell by the way the boys were running around the park, heading off the trails to show us little hidden gems.  Ry was so excited to show us the bog.  I guess I had never seen a naturally occurring bog.  It was so awesome.  The boys showed us how you can walk of them if you are careful.  Finally they showed us the falls.  It was breathtaking.  I can't believe they live so close to it!  What a great place to grow up.  

 The last night that we were with the Swaty fam, they had their neighbors over to grill and then the kids, Randy and Trevor provided some after dinner musical entertainment.  Staying with Swaty family was one of the best experiences I have ever had.  We learned so much from each of them and I will forever be thankful for that experience. 

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