Driving to Upper Michigan in January is, objectively, a very bad idea.
So Mom, Molly and I set out for Upper Michigan on Friday morning. Dad went up the night before to get things heated up and ready to welcome us. He’s swell like that.
The cabin in winter means a wood stove crackling away, lots of coffee, plenty of books, and maybe an adventure or two. Oh, and bacon. So what’s not to like?
On Saturday, we hit the Falling Rock Cafe for a coffee and some used books. Another “happy place” for me, the Falling Rock is – even more than the Triple Rock – the place to get snowed in (when you get, snowed in). Found some great used travel books, both on Italy, both from the late 19th/early 20th century. They’ll demand some more research.
After the Falling Rock, we hit the Rock River Cafe (local beef burger with a local duck egg on top and local bread – this is the UP?) and then the Eben Ice Caves.
Saturday evening was all about cooking for our guests – pork ramen noodle soup, and a Thai red curry with chicken.
As Saturday evening wore on, the winds coming in from Lake Superior intensified. By the time they were gusting to 40 or 50 miles an hour, Molly decided she wasn’t actually all that interested in playing outdoors after all. We nestled, snug in our bunks, waiting to see what morning would bring.
In the end, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been – plenty of fresh snow overnight, but not the “can anyone find the cars?” sort of drifts that can occur in those conditions. The drive home, interrupted only by burgers from Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q was relatively uneventful.
48 hours at the cabin, happy puppy, happy Colin, happy times.
