The reason for this trip was devastating to me. My grandfather passed away in March and we had his funeral in Marquette. We all stayed in his sister's cabin on Lake Superior and had a really amazing time. But his death hit me extremely hard and I'm still not over it. The funeral was very hard on me.
But this post isn't about death or sadness, it's about an epic vacation with my family. My family does funerals right- we wait a long time so most people (read: not me) are feeling okay about it and then we party for a week. And even though I struggled, it really was fun.
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| Grabbed some tipsy weirdos to make me a 2017 out of sparklers on the 4th. They were chanting their numbers and giggling so I'm surprised this came out so well. |
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| Lagoon! We had to walk over a bridge to get over this to the lake |
Saturday night I mostly spent hiding from everyone after doing a little bit of exploring. After a long week of work and errands, all I wanted to do was sit by myself and read. So I did, because vacation.
Sunday was our first full day in Marquette. We started off the morning at a brewery for breakfast (er a theme, my family loves beer). I had blueberry pancakes and some eggs/bacon/hashbrowns. It was delicious. Following that, we all ran out to this amazing place where the owner had made all this junkyard art. I had a BLAST with that place. It was a half mile walk or so along a wide path (you could also drive or snowmobile) and every ten or twenty feet was a giant sculpture. They were incredible.
There was also what was called a Bog Walk, where we walked along planks in a mosquito infected swamp, FUN! But it was, I had bug spray on so no problems there.
After that, bf and I needed to go into town because there were a couple things we forgot. My aunt and cousin also wanted to go, so we jumped in the car and wandered around downtown Marquette. The first place we went was an old ice cream shop. Bf, who had slept in for the first time in eons and missed breakfast, got a sandwich, and the rest of us got root beer floats.
From there we split and bf and I predictably found ourselves in a bookshop. We managed to leave with only one book, though if I had remembered that my parents were driving back, I would have probably bought at least two or three. From there, we walked down to the lake to have a look around, then joined my aunt and cousin to go to the market to pick up food for dinner.
After dinner we spent the evening shooting off fireworks on the beach (which would become a theme).
Sunday was our first full day in Marquette. We started off the morning at a brewery for breakfast (er a theme, my family loves beer). I had blueberry pancakes and some eggs/bacon/hashbrowns. It was delicious. Following that, we all ran out to this amazing place where the owner had made all this junkyard art. I had a BLAST with that place. It was a half mile walk or so along a wide path (you could also drive or snowmobile) and every ten or twenty feet was a giant sculpture. They were incredible.
There was also what was called a Bog Walk, where we walked along planks in a mosquito infected swamp, FUN! But it was, I had bug spray on so no problems there.
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| Bog walk! |
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| Downtown Marquette on the lake |
From there we split and bf and I predictably found ourselves in a bookshop. We managed to leave with only one book, though if I had remembered that my parents were driving back, I would have probably bought at least two or three. From there, we walked down to the lake to have a look around, then joined my aunt and cousin to go to the market to pick up food for dinner.
After dinner we spent the evening shooting off fireworks on the beach (which would become a theme).
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| Walk out to Lake Superior from the cabin |
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| Sunset (at like 10pm) on Lake Superior |
Monday morning was the funeral and it was predictably a horrible experience for me (I mean it was lovely but like I said earlier...). I got through it (tyenol ftw- did you guys know that tylenol works on emotional pain too? It didn't keep me from being an absolute mess of a person, but it did stop my hyperventilating so that was good), and then we had a great lunch.
After lunch it was lake time. Bf, an aunt, and I headed over to our local relatives' house and grabbed kayaks, then kayaked down to the lake from the river! It was AMAZING. Kind of scary because it kept feeling like it was going to tip over, but amazing. There were a ton of houses that backed right up to the river, which were fun to look at and imagine living in. And then just getting to the lake, wow. It really is amazing.
Once we made it to the beach to meet the rest of the family, brother, SIL, and I went out on floating things and laid around in the water. Then I came back up to join bf for a few hours of laying on the beach. Cue a mild sunburn for me and major sunburn for him, since we were pretty well clothed in the kayak and didn't put sunscreen on. Damn.
Tuesday was the last full day there and we had a day full of fun planned. First, a hike up Sugarloaf Mountain, where we were able to see a 360 view. I hadn't hiked in about a month, a hobby that seems to be taking a back seat these days, so it was great to get a good hike in. The view was also just beautiful. I'm always amazed by greenness in the summer! Everything is dead in California in the summer.
After the hike, we went out to a place called the black rocks. You could jump off of them into the lake, leading to some epic pictures! I wanted to do it, but we forgot towels and the lake was REALLY cold. Bf isstupider braver than I am, so he jumped in.
Back to the lake we went, and after relaxing a bit on the beach reading books and chatting, my dad and I decided to take my aunt's paddle boards down to the river where bf and I had kayaked the day before and try them out. They were SUPER fun and I actually REALLY want to do it again. My dad and I stayed kneeling just because the river water is... kinda brown. But I did stand up a few times, and when we got down to the mouth of the river (shallow area), my dad stood up too!
That night was fireworks and s'mores. My uncle and cousin had maybe too much fun lighting them off, but no one was seriously maimed. I spent much of the night with sparklers playing with my camera, which was a blast. This last photograph is the best one, a self portrait (though big shout out to my cousin who watched the screen and told me if I was in focus- getting it in focus was SO HARD). And that first one of the 2017 was a little like herding cats but I still think it turned out cool despite it being a bit out of focus.
Once we made it to the beach to meet the rest of the family, brother, SIL, and I went out on floating things and laid around in the water. Then I came back up to join bf for a few hours of laying on the beach. Cue a mild sunburn for me and major sunburn for him, since we were pretty well clothed in the kayak and didn't put sunscreen on. Damn.
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| Kayaking |
Tuesday was the last full day there and we had a day full of fun planned. First, a hike up Sugarloaf Mountain, where we were able to see a 360 view. I hadn't hiked in about a month, a hobby that seems to be taking a back seat these days, so it was great to get a good hike in. The view was also just beautiful. I'm always amazed by greenness in the summer! Everything is dead in California in the summer.
After the hike, we went out to a place called the black rocks. You could jump off of them into the lake, leading to some epic pictures! I wanted to do it, but we forgot towels and the lake was REALLY cold. Bf is
Back to the lake we went, and after relaxing a bit on the beach reading books and chatting, my dad and I decided to take my aunt's paddle boards down to the river where bf and I had kayaked the day before and try them out. They were SUPER fun and I actually REALLY want to do it again. My dad and I stayed kneeling just because the river water is... kinda brown. But I did stand up a few times, and when we got down to the mouth of the river (shallow area), my dad stood up too!
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| The view from the mountain (errr... "mountain") |
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| Sparkler photographs were SUPER fun, this one is of me |
Wednesday morning, my brother and SIL, and my bf and I zipped to the airport to catch the same flight to Chicago, and then different flights as we parted ways. My brother and SIL off to New Jersey to visit friends, and bf and I heading a little south west of there for a blogger meetup and vacation of our own...
This sounds like a really amazing trip (minus the funeral of course) -- my family did the same thing when my grandpa died, but like you, I was still pretty wrecked. I'll have to remember that Tylenol trick! I love the sparkler photos, they're fantastic.
ReplyDeleteSorry for your loss :(
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like a wonderful trip tho, despite the cause.