Little Bay de Noc

Not much to report.  Still digestively a little off, and that's all you need to know.  Here's hoping for smooth travel tomorrow.  I will be good to get home.

Conrad and I braved the lakefront mayflies today to take a bit of a walk near our hotel.  More steps than the previous two days combined!  I have nothing else to report, just a couple of views of Little Bay de Noc and the Stonington Peninsula.  Enjoy!

stuck here

The best laid plans, right?

Sigh.

I think it was food poisoning.  I can't otherwise account for yesterday's delightful day of cramps and running to the bathroom many times.  I'll leave off any other details - let's not go there, ok?

So I was supposed to head home today, back to the library tomorrow, but no.  I am mostly ok today, though I haven't pushed things with my eating.  Let's see after dinner tonight how that may change.  I'll head from Michigan on Thursday along with Conrad, who cut his trip shorter by one day.  I spent yesterday mostly in bed, a bit of napping, mostly reading.  Today I got up well after ten (the sleep was welcome!) and then spent much of the day on this laptop, catching up on far too many emails.  So that's been fun, or something.

Off to dinner here, and a storm has rolled through.  Thunder and lightning earlier, some really heavy rain.  The photo doesn't do it justice.  Here's hoping we stay dry as we head out!

Christmas morning, 2023

Another foggy morning in Escanaba, this December 25.  I slept decently and in sufficient amount, happily, but I was still up a good hour and a half before Conrad was.  Once he was up, we headed to Starbucks, which we knew would be open today (and thank you to the staff working today for being there - I tipped well!).  Alas, we were early, so we did something long overdue:  a simple walk.  In the morning fog, damp everywhere, looking to see the trees and more in the houses in the neighbourhood down by the lake. 

Not a long walk, but nice to finally get one in.

And then it was Starbucks.  A venti oat milk decaf latte?  Yay for Christmas miracles!  😉

day of the funeral

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's funeral.  We're now past that part of the trip, and on to all of the dealing with the things left behind.

The service itself was very nice.  The immediate family (nine of us in all) arrived well before others so we could have our time together.  There was a terrific slide show of photos from throughout her life.  There was some lovely flowers with the open casket.  She looked peaceful, a cliche, but it felt true.

I didn't count the attendees - I'm not keeping score on these things, after all - but there was a nice turnout, including one or two of Conrad's cousins whom I'd never met in all these years (and still haven't - Conrad didn't do introductions yesterday, nor did I ask for any).  The pastor from her Lutheran congregation did a good job in her sermon and otherwise.  Conrad's great-niece, all of 11, wrote a letter to her great grandmother that was absolutely shatteringly beautiful.  All in all, it was a good and fitting funeral for a lovely and loving woman.

We'd spent the whole morning in the hotel room, just being low key and quiet, but we needed a little movement after all that.  After the service, Conrad and I came back to the hotel and changed, then went for a short walk. 

Our hotel is outside of town, and so there wasn't much we could walk to.  The day was chilly and grey, damp-feeling.  We made it to this apple tree

and turned around to get ready to meet the family for an early dinner.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel.  We got into comfy clothing,

we sipped a little wine, but before it was even 8, I was swooning with continued fatigue.  And I do mean swooning.  I got myself into bed a few minutes before 8, and that was it for me.

Now then, onward with the day and the work we need to do.

so...

... the worst Christmas in my recollection got even worse yesterday with Conrad's decision that he wanted to stay in Escanaba for Christmas.  This came on the heels of a bunch of texts from his sister, and cost us far too much additional money for me not to be angry about this.  Home on the 26th.  Now counting down.

Sorry.  I'm jet lagged and cranky.  I have never really been fond of Conrad's hometown (there's not much going on here, we know no one outside of the very small family), and it's even worse at the holidays when so much shuts down and we're trapped in a hotel instead of our own home.  So forgive any attitude that creeps through in days ahead.

We left Chicago after sunset yesterday,

later than scheduled but still in time for dinner.  A short flight, and then we made it to the hotel.  A nice hotel,

right next to Lambeau Field (for any Cheeseheads reading this).  We headed up to dinner after dropping our bags, and that was very enjoyable:  Last Words to start with, some deep fried deviled eggs,

a wedge lettuce salad to share, a steak each,

a bottle of a 2010 Rioja, a huge chunk of carrot cake to share. 

It was so good.  Up until Conrad dropped his bomb.  The evening unraveled at that point, and you can be sure I had stern words for him.  And then it was bedtime, more or less, and another truncated night (three hours again) for me.

Ugh.

We got on the road late this morning, having stopped in a couple of places.  By the time we got to Escanaba, it was lunch time, so we popped into Gram's for pasties

before we did anything else.  I left Conrad after lunch to take care of things with his sister, and I headed to buy food and Christmas decor.  I mean, if we're not going to be home with our tree or Van's, if we're going to be in a hotel room for a week, we may as well have a little touch of Christmas.  So I shopped, and then checked into the hotel.  A nice enough room with a lake view,

 

and with some Christmas touches, it feels better still.

I got Conrad back to the hotel to unpack, then sent him off for dinner with his sister.  Me, I had a cocktail (The Meredith - grapefruity, but a bit sweet)

and the bison meatloaf at the hotel bar. 

I'm now back in the room, finishing off a boulevardier.  Conrad is back from dinner.

Tomorrow is the funeral, and then it will be a couple of days of getting things done.  I've told Conrad to put some of the burden back on the rest of his family.  He heard me, but he won't do it.  Ah well.  As long as I can pin him down on Sunday for a Christmas Eve together.

Counting down here, counting down.

a short weekend in the UP

We're in Escanaba, but not for much longer.  Conrad came up on Wednesday.  Me, I took a red eye, and I made it here on Friday.  Super tired, but worth it for Karen's 70th birthday.  And in the blink of an eye, it's time to go home.  A very short trip indeed.

I love cool and even cold weather, but I don't know how to deal with it any longer.  I did bring layers with me, but the wind is so cold, and the lows in the 40s are shocking to me this time.  Brrrrr.  It's embarrassing, but there you are.  I guess fall is here!

Conrad's hometown remains as inscrutable to me as ever.  I grew up in a small town, and yet, I cannot relate.  I go to Starbucks or restaurants, and I just don't get it here.  It's small town, hunters and Trumpers, and it's so foreign to me.  Ah well.  We've eaten heartily (including on our drive down to Little Suamico),

walked a little (around the nearby community college campus),

and celebrated Karen.  It's all gone quickly, and it was a nice time.

A week ago I was in a plane

And then I was on another plane.  But yes, a week ago at this time, I was most of the way to Chicago.

It was a very early morning when I headed to LAX. 

I was out of bed shortly after 3 that morning, so you can well imagine I had a mighty good nap on the plane!  It was a smooth flight, on time, nothing remarkable.  I made it to Chicago, had a Zoom meeting while I refueled in the United Lounge, then boarded another plane.  Green Bay was the second destination, and flying in, that adjective was apt.  Wisconsin looked marvelously green down there. 

It was fully spring, mayflies and all.  Conrad (YAY!) met me at the airport

and drove us north to the land of Old Dutch dill pickle chips. 

Yep, Escanaba for two nights together. 

Not quite as deep into spring there, but definitely spring nonetheless!

More to come from the most recent Midwest jaunt!

Fireworks

Hmmmm. So as I understand it the Fourth of July is sort of like Canada Day, but celebrating the American independence instead. Fair enough. I wonder if the Yanks cribbed the idea from us.

;-)

On a sunny, warm (not hot) July 4th, we enjoyed a relaxing day in the UP. Bands were playing to the folks in the lakefront park in Escanaba as we strolled on by late in the afternoon.

We didn't join them. Instead, it was a simple, casual dinner sitting on the back stoop of Conrad's Mom's apartment block. After a lovely time chatting with neighbours, sipping wine, eating, reading, it grew dark and we went up to a balcony to watch the fireworks.













I'll say this about Americans: they kick ass on Canadians when it comes to explosions!