Day 3
Well I've been slacking on writing daily posts, but now it's time to catch up. On Monday I drove up from Bay City all the way to St Ignace on the Upper peninsula of Michigan. On the way I tried to visit some state parks, but you had to pay to get in, which was super gay. I decided that I wasn't going to pay just to go hiking so I did a little research and found a lake in a state forest.
This place was awesome. I had to go down this winding dirt road through the bush with grass growing down the middle. I even had to get out and move a small tree that had fallen in the middle of my path. This place was pristine. At the end of the road it opened up into this nice meadow where it looked like people had camped long ago due to old fire circles burnt into the grass. At this point I parked and walked on this little muddy trail that led all the way to the lake. It was really muddy so I decided to go back to the meadow and explore.
As I was exploring I had the idea to collect wild edibles and bulid a campfire and just chill there for the night. I was super excited. However, as I was preparing to set up camp, I realized I had lost my phone. I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched the van several times the retraced my steps in the meadow to where the last place I remember using it. It was nowhere to be found. My mind started to think of all there terrible scenarios like, what if my van got stuck in the mud on the way out, or wouldn't start altogether. I was thinking I always loved the thought of surviving in the wilderness, but now that it could be forced upon me due to my incompetence, it seemed like a daunting and scary scenario.
I decided after looking for at least an hour that I would leave my meadow paradise so that I could contact my parents by pay phone and let them know my predicament. So I left feeling sad that I might never return to this patch of heaven. Right then I vowed that if I ever have kids that I want to bring them to that spot one day, or even just a group of friends and have a REAL camping adventure.
So I drove all the way over the Mackinaw bridge (the one that separates the lower and upper peninsula of Michigan ) and after several failed attempts at finding a pay phone, went into a McDonald's and borrowed a worker's cell.
I called my mom, told her the situation and then went back out to my van to get on my laptop (using McDonald's WiFi). I then got the idea to use skype to call my cellphone to see if I could hear it ringing in my van. I had to pay like $10, but I thought if it worked then it would be a lot cheaper than buying a new phone. I set it up and then I called. I quickly ran into the back of my van to see if I could hear it. Then I heard the all to familiar song "Sail" by Awolnation. It was my ringtone. I frantically looked all around but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from my bed but I couldn't see it anywhere within the blankets. Then I pulled out my clothes container from underneath it and WA LA!!!! There it was sitting on top of one of my shirts. Relief filled my body and I quickly called my parents and told them the good news.
Day 4
Yesterday (it's actually the morning of day 5 as I'm typing this.) was kind of a crappy day. It rained pretty much all day so I was stuck inside the van most of the time. But it wasn't completely bad.
The first thing I did after I left my morning parking spot, was visit the national forest information center just outside St. Ignace.
This place was tucked backed on a little tree covered hill and was covered with big green ferns (later I found out that they were ostrich ferns, which are edible, and I picked some of the newer ones and saved them for later). It looked really green and lush especially with the rain coating everything. So I went inside the building and it was dead quiet, but still a cool place. It looked like a nature center with stuffed animals everywhere and books and brochures about the local flora and fauna. For me, this place was pretty awesome.
When I first walked in there was nobody at the front desk but after awhile the girl working there noticed I was there and I asked her if there were any good hiking spots on the way to my next destination. She was very polite and seemed eager to help me. We even struck up a conversation and she admitted to me that it was only her first day. Her personality was cute and the fact that she was so into nature and outdoor recreation was a huge turn on. I felt like we had a good conversation, but I wish I could have expressed how much I enjoyed talking to her.
After that I went hiking on a few spots along the upper coast of lake Michigan and even though it was wet and dreary I had a decent time.
Later on I made to to Manistique and visited the light house.
* I'm about to get kicked out of the breakfast area where I'm typing so I'll have to post pics and the rest later. CYA!!!!
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