We arrived at Cedar Campus last Saturday evening just in time for supper. We had spent the night in a miscellaneous motel in the Pittsburgh Minroeville area. Lots of memories of trips to Pgh. To see Grammy. It was pretty cool/cold and overcast or rainy the first three days there. But most of the folks there are return campers for whom Cedar Campus is their "special place." So they don't seem to notice the rain and cold. The campers were faculty and families from Midwestern universities plus some Intervarsity staff folks. It was fun to be there with Kevin, Amy, and David. They were in the cabin next door to ours. The facilities, as you might remember, are simple but very adequate. They've done a lot to keep it up and develop it, so somehow they've maintained a financial base that Bear Trap was not able to. There's a swimming pool now--very nice and heated, but it was just being heated up and cleaned at the beginning of the week. Towards the end of the week it was open but only at 64 degrees, which was warmer than the lake water though by a good bit. My memory of our cabin is that it was sort of alone in a wooded spot. I couldn't pick it out there though. I think perhaps other cabins have been built around it now.
Dad spoke three times--Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. He did a wonderful job with "Vocation as scholar" and of course was busy with talking with folks all the time. The alternate program times they had faculty couples speaking about aspects of their lives. Those were really great presentations too. People were really vulnerable about their experiences in the university and personally, which was encouraging and inspiring. There were a bunch of children participating in the kids' program as well. That made me remember when we were there 22 years ago. I think some of you and Dad did the swim test in order to do the sail boats. Amazing! It must've been freezing!
In the afternoons I did several hikes none of which are very long or strenuous but pretty along the water or in the woods, including the Narnia Trail which some of you remember. Twice we went on "The Bear" which is the larger pontoon boat for the sunset cruise which didn't happen until 9:30 pm. Dad and I went kayaking one afternoon. We headed out towards the sort of point beyond which is the main body of Lake Huron. We heard a motor boat coming fast towards us when we'd almost reached the point. They pulled up alongside and yelled, "did they tell you the boundaries for Kayaking?" We said no...but we were way beyond them, so we had to head back.
On Tuesday was an afternoon and evening off so we went to Saud St. Marie (pronounced "Soo") where there are some major locks to allow ships to pass between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. We got to see two 600 foot long cargo ships pass through. It's an amazing feat of engineering. Lake H. Is 21 feet lower than Lake Superior so you see the ship come into the lock and then be lowered 21 feet before it goes out again. I don't know why we didn't take the family there in 1993. It's also a quaint town and right on the Canadian border. Whitefish is the big locally caught fish there, so we had a bowl of whitefish chowder before going back to camp where Dad was doing a book signing along with some other authors at camp.
We left there Friday morning and headed 40 minutes south to catch the ferry to Mackinac Island.
Lady slippers were everywhere!
Dad at the bottom of Arch Rock.
Goose family with Mackinac Bridge in the background.
Beginning to be sunset over the bridge.
So many lilacs here blooming that the island air is scented with them in places.
Our yesterday's B & B
More sunset
B&B backyard
Island circumference road
Looking out from the meeting house at Cedar Campus.
Narnia Trail's end--the lamp post
Sunset from our cabin window--@9:30 PM each evening
A goose family
Sunset from the swimming beach at Cedar Campus
The weather turned beautiful the last couple of days with temps around 70 in the day and lots of sunshine. There are no cars at all or motorbikes (excepting one ambulance) allowed on Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island. Everything is either by bike or horse drawn conveyance or horseback. That makes it a pretty unique place. We parked our car and most of our stuff on the main land and headed over via a breezy, chilly ferry ride. It's been gorgeous weather so far. We're staying two nights in two different Victorian bed and breakfasts. The island is a town full of gorgeous Victorian era homes and The Grand Hotel where the movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. There's also a wilderness area and a very resorty town full of fudge shops which are famous (even though fudge shops are at every resort town!)
Yesterday we rode bikes around the periphery of the whole island (only 8 miles) in the evening. It was really beautiful and pleasant except for some bugs which are definitely a factor up here in the north woods.today we hope to bike in the mid-level of the Island where we hear there are lots of nice paved trails as well as a historic fort. One of the most interesting encounters was with a summer resident whose cabin is right on the water about 3 miles from town. She and her husband let us see in their two little one-room cabins/shacks which he inherited from 4 generations back. They spend 5 months there a year with various extended family. They have to haul everything up by bike cart, do all their shopping that way. They can hire a horse drawn taxi for the heaviest stuff. The horses are all really beautiful and seem so well trained but maybe that's just being used everyday in real jobs.
Today was another beautiful day on the island. We relaxed with reading and writing in the morning. In the afternoon we rented bikes again and this time went to the interior of the island. We had to walk up a big hill to get to the level of a lot of bike paths, the carriage house, cemeteries, and a residential neighborhood for permanent residents. Three hours later brought us back down by the Grand Hotel and a bunch of amazing Victorian mansions that sit on a bluff overlooking the lake. We watched the professional for a wedding on the porch of the Grand Hotel and then saw about 4-5 other wedding parties going around the island in fancy carriages.
A view on the water from the path circumnavigating the island.
A team I thought was really pretty
Arch Rock from above looking down at the stone beach and the lake
