U.P. Escape!

Where do I start? Obviously for those of you following the rambling Jitters life here on the blog, you know that this past year was the crumbling of life as I knew it...But just as new growth prospers through the freshly charred remains of a forest devastated by fire, MY NEW FRESH START ON LIFE BEGINS!

Have you ever walked through the remnants of a woods plagued by a wildfire? If you make a visit to the site of the inferno, you will see that green seedlings begin to pop out from the barren earth and grow toward the sky! The conditions created by the devastation are perfect to foster widespread nutrients and growth that had not existed in the very same soil prior to the fire. My life has mirrored this very same process. Although my forest grew for many years to towering heights and was torn down by life's storms, I am looking all around and see life exploding into new adventure and growth!

In true ALMOSTGUNLAKERS style, significant events call for big plans....So I decided to hop in the hot Honda, stop and buy a road Atlas, and HEAD FOR THE MACKINAW BRIDGE! I stopped at Walmart on the way and purchased this HIGH ROLLER OUTFIT complete with an ol' fashioned hat and silky super gaudy silk tropical shirt!



I then proceeded to the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge. My trip planning, although short, was a problem solving process. What is it my soul longs for and enjoys? Seconds later, the answer was screaming out.......SHIPS! SHIPWRECKS! THE MIGHTY SEA!

As I glanced over the Michigan fold out map in the parking lot of Walmart, I focused on Lake Superior and a small dot next to the connotation "Whitefish Point, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum". I put the car in drive and headed north.....



I must admit to you that as I crossed the Mackinaw Bridge, a tear filled my eyes until I felt a full drop race down my face. It was at that moment I realized that the crossing of the bridge was synonymous with what was occurring in my own life. Leaving behind one way of life and crossing into new territory.....It was INSPIRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I stopped on the opposite side and pulled into a lot. The cool winds of the lake pushing against my eyelashes and plummeting into my nose were inexplicable. New life, fresh air.....I sucked in a deep breath and felt regenerated....I then continued on my journey north....

Ever notice how when taking a vacation trip you take pictures? Why is it that when you get home and look over the photographs, you wonder, "why did I take a picture of that?" Perhaps the best part of vacation is the anticipation....It is obvious that my excitement was on full tilt when I felt the need to photograph this billboard?

Anyhow....





My arrival in Sault St Marie was very exciting as well. I watched this large vessel make her way into the Soo Locks....Followed by a lunch for 1 in a cozy restaurant....

It amazed me that each place I went on this vacation people asked, "will there be two of you sir?" "Just two people in your room sir?" "Smoking or non and are you waiting for someone?" I smiled contently and simply said, "I am by myself." As I followed the hostess back to my table, that statement rang out in my head. "I am by myself." Really? Wow...I am not used to that. To go from living with five women in the same house...The sound of constant footsteps, laughing, fighting, the flurry of commotion......and now-Silence....A Table for one.....An empty car....I have begun to listen to myself and do some deep pondering of my life.....

After taking in the sights of the busy shipping town, I ventured further north.....To my ultimate destination........Whitefish Point! The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum....Enjoy these photographs of the items recovered from the great Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk just 15 miles from Whitefish Point in Canadian Water....

To soak my feet in Lake Superior.....To pause in front of the bell which rode to the bottom with 29 souls aboard this doomed vessel......WOW!


















I spent a windswept night on Lake Superior at Freighters View Cabins.....It was so peaceful to sit in solitude on the shore, feeling the cold lake lap on my toes and watching the distant lights of vessels pass so quietly....I opened every single window in the cabin and consumed into my soul all the soft cool wind Lake Superior could offer...