Swamps, Sanddunes, Sable Falls and Stu!
Yesterday we drove through several swamplands and sand dunes to reach Muskallonge Lake Park, one of the only reservations we made for the whole trip - supposedly for Memorial Day weekend. As we had sidetrip after sidetrip, I would go online and postpone the reservation, with a $10 charge each time. In order to save $50 for a two-night stay, I spent an extra $20 for the changes, and then when we arrived found out we were one of five campers in a park that had at least 245 other free spaces.
It didn’t take us long to figure out why so few campers. Once we parked the RV, almost immediately we were caged animals in a very crowded zoo. At every window, swarms of mosquitoes and back flies buzzed at the cracks, determined to reach their prey - us. You couldn’t walk outside and breathe without inhaling bugs.
It reminded both of us of our wedding night, as we sat there in the RV, laughing as we reminisced. Thirty six years ago, on June 26th, we were headed to Canada with our bright red Volkswagen camper van. We decided to splurge the first night and stay in a romantic rustic cabin on Beaver Lake and had made reservations for the cabin nestled in the woods with a beautiful view of the lake.
When we arrived, we paid the owner and she said,"We have a little gift for you!"
We were so surprised and touched that they would be so thoughtful. She reached behind the counter and handed us a huge can of OFF insect repellent, with a pink bow on top. We were a little disappointed because we were thinking bottle of wine, but it didn’t take us long to appreciate and see why they gave it to us. There was a record hatch of mosquitoes, and the little cabin felt quiet the same as the RV except the cabin had large cracks under the doors and open spaces at the bottoms of the old wood windows. We ended up spending our wedding night slathered in OFF (not a romantic taste or smell), with just our noses sticking out from under the covers. That night was the harbinger for our month in Canada, where OFF and mosquitoes were an everyday occurrence.
For that reason, we left Muskallonge Lake early this morning, caring less that we lost money on the reservation, and headed back down along the Pictured Rocks lakeshore.
Amazing what a little change of scenery does! We found amazing views, a great walk to Sable Falls, and far fewer mosquitoes.
About ten miles down the road, we noticed a brightly colored sign for "Big Bear Fresh Pasties" in one mile. We pulled into the parking lot of this out of the way bar and noticed the two motorcycles parked by the front door.
When we walked in the door and grabbed one of three booths, a large tattooed man, dressed all in black leathers, turned around from the adjoining booth and addressed Gary. Stu, as he later introduced himself, sported a nicely trimmed silver grey beard and mustache, and had sparkly green eyes surrounded by laugh wrinkles. He said, "Thanks for pulling over - we would have been fine following you, but appreciate that you were thoughtful enough to pull over."
We ended up moving over to he and his friend’s booth so Stu could show us pictures of his three kids - two in college and one in high school, snowmobiling pictures from the area, and pictures of places he recommended we see while we are still in Michigan. He talked about how many Memorial Day rides he has done, honoring veterans along the way, and about their plan to stop at Selby, MI tonight to honor a retired AirForce couple by staying at their hotel for the night, and raising the flags for them tomorrow morning with a short ceremony.
All along this trip, we continue to be humbled by the wonderful friendly people we meet. We knew we made the right decision to leave Muskallonge Lake this morning as we smiled getting back into the RV after lunch.
We found an out of the way campground to dry camp with far less mosquitoes for this evening. Another great day!
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