We drove north and passed the 45 degrees longitude (or is it latitude)- one of the two. From here it is closer to north pole, then it is to equator
I know this , because there was a road sign.
but the roads were in great shape, I initially thought of renting an SUV or something, but my toy car is doing its job
Our pet, is also working well, we named it wally, like the movie- wally is a GPS. But no, I still didn’t buy my own, borrowed it.
It was 1 pm and we started looking for a motel, we called a few who did not answer- then one of them did.
A creepy looking guy gave us a room, and I made one too many comments about it
But the room was nice and clean- all the motels we’ve been were the cheapest we could find- and yet they were all nice and clean
We wake up to a cold room, the clock was turned off and we quickly discover that there is no power- and worse-no water
Not even cold! No power means no water here, probably frozen in the pipes.
So we made more jokes to keep ourselves warm and moved to the main activity of the day – snowmobiling
I don’t get modern art, but this guy was fishy- a local snowmobile vendor –sometimes you get a feeling about certain people – I ripped out the document we signed, you know the one saying, we want sue if we get killed, or injured, and bla bla bla. Alla throws caution to the winds and convinces me to go, so we went along any was. I was wearing more layers then ever- 2 sweat pants and ski pants, 2 socks, shirt, sweat shirt, warm vest , ski coat, scarf, neck warmer, ski hat, ski gloves, 1 hand warmer in each shoe, shoes, 1 underpants and helmet- would you think it is enough?
Alla is wearing about the same amount of layers- so we start the thing and head out on the street- and find it impossibly hard to maneuver
We didn’t know this- cause Mr Art did not tell us- he was just- here is the light, here is the hand warmer- just stay on the trails and you’ll be fine
We barely made it to our motel, which turned out to be real nice people – I guess my creepometer does not work well at 2 pm
But the former known to be creeps told us about our Artist, which was kicked out of the chamber of commerce- shocked we were, and I was thinking, what the hek does it mean to be kicked out of this chamber?- the motel owner shared her displeasure of the guy, so
Creeped out , and barely able to turn we moved into the forest.
Soon we discovered a few things
The snow mobile moves a lot better on snow then it does on the road- it actually turns when you tell it to turn!
You don’t want to get stuck!
It is hard to unstuck yourself!
A tree is something to avoid!
It took us a while to learn to control it well, I was driving the 1st part of the woods at great speeds of about 10 miles per hour
Squirrels were making fun of me, but then the road got wider and we got a bit faster.
So my racer took over (I think she was a sleep till then) and started racing
And being in the back is a scary thing – since you have no control.
One of the worst jobs ever is the guy who sits next to the race driver (the navigator) and all he says is
Left, right, left, tree, haa, hii, shit, ha again- and when they win , the driver gets credit
So I was feeling the same way- though I didn’t say left, right- since you can’t hear with the motor noise and the helmets
All I had to say was hi, ha , iiiii, tree…- but racer controls it well- and passes 40MPH.
A few minutes later I get on again, and on the wide part- get to 40 as well, but on the straight parts, she did it on the turns….
This is a new revelation for me- I was always the wild one-and I am being out crazed by racer- love it.
We get stuck a bunch of time, but manage to unstuck in a matter of minutes – unfortunately having to remove a small tree out of the way
So we go on and the view is spectacular- the trees are icy , and each branch looks like a popsicle- fresh untouched views
We stop by a little snow field for some more snow angles and notice wolves hoof marks on the snow- I think they were wolves- looked like a big dog tracks, could have been a snow camel, but I say wolf
At some point the snow gets deep and we manage to get stuck bad, we start digging below the tracks to remove snow, ice and dirt- we manage to free it only to get stuck in a worse way- there are many riders on this road and soon a couple of guys pool over and we lift the thing and move forward. These guys own their own snowmobiles-they know how to ride here before they learn to walk.
Gas is running low and we had towards a gas station and some warm food- the road there is narrow and slushy- which is not the best of conditions
We reach a pool, about thigh deep and very icy, and manage to get stuck again. Alla gets off since the thing stands 45 degrees sideways leaned on the frosty waters- I stand on the other ledge to keep it from falling and maintaining balance, and grab to the handles and drive us out, while standing
On the ledge. Felt like a pro. Don’t ask me to do that again, not sure if I could.
We stop at a little lodge, for food and gas, there is nothing but snow outside, but this is actually a golf course- no golfers now.
The food helps, but my feet are freezing- socks are damp and the hand warmers barely help. It took us over 2 hours to get here and it is past 3 and darkness is getting closer- so we had straight back.
Unfortunately the road back takes us by the ice pool- but this time I cruise through it (moved right, actually passed it on left!)
We figured out each other strength- I am better on the tough areas and Racer is the racer on the faster parts
We get back in just after dark and still can barely maneuver on the asphalt road
We returned the thing to Art shyster who did not extra charge us(but tried to keep the security deposit slip, till racer pried it out of his cold fishy hands (did I mention I didn’t like the guy?)
We summed it up by “it was great and great that it was” a true once in a lifetime experience that we need to do once more.
Btw- the electricity running out was because a tree fell and hit a power lines- so the whole town was out- we didn’t know this in the morning..
Uppers- this is the nick name for the people of Michigan’s upper peninsula- they have very basic needs
The signs here are ‘food’, ‘gas’, ‘clean restrooms’- they don’t need much- give them a snowmobile and a gas station every 20 frozen miles and they are set to go.
We are still headed north right now, the winds are blowing snow and visibility is 0 at some points- we stop often and wait for the wind to blow over
And I am kind of enjoying a hot white chocolate caramel drink- which is the closest thing to coffee I ever had ( I dislike coffee) but it’s hot.
Yesterday we left Indian river in northern Michigan soar and damp from the snow and moved north towards mackinaw, the northern most point of the lower peninsula, and badly needing a warm shower- and struck gold
A fairly cheap hotel, with a small indoor water park and buffet breakfast- what more would you want- so we drag the suitcases on the slippery ice, get into our bathing suits, rush out side to the snow and get into the Jacuzzi, so warm, so good… we had fun on the kids water slides and the pool.
Alla wanted to swim with dolphins, and this pool had a drawing of 2 dolphins at the bottom, so I guess mission accomplished- next time ask for live dolphinsJ
Mackinaw is fudge town America- lots of small fudge makers – so we walked around this morning to the best fudge maker- and sampled- I don’t think I ever had a good fudge before- in the past, I had fudge ice cream- but it doesn’t come close- each fudge is made of 110% sugar + other sweet stuff, we walked around the frozen closed town- and shopped in all the open stores (just 1 was open) – and I got myself wool socks- which feel so good, my toes thank me. We go to the good fudge store again to get more supplies (for gifts..:) yes, for gifts)
And pass the bridge between the 2 peninsulas which part 2 great lakes, Michigan and Huron, the amazing thing is that these huge lakes are partially frozen. We are headed now for our final major attraction / destination – dog sledging –wood cabin lodge, fire place and a day trip of howling fun.
p.s if you ever want to snow mobile, I know a guy.
From Munising Michigan, this is blown with the wind reporting.
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