Summer Time in Northern Michigan

I'm sure you have heard the Kid Rock song about summer time in Northern Michigan. There is a reason they sing that song. Summer time in Northern Michigan is fantastic. The air is fresh clear, and clean. The water is clear and clean too. Bonus, there isn't even any ice on it this time of year. It is light until 9:00 p.m. allowing ample time to procrastinate, hang out, read a book, do whatever you want and still go for a fabulous bike ride. Oh, if you ride in Mackinac County, where my parents live, you won't have to stop a a single stop light. There aren't any. Not a single one.

Soon after arriving, we went to see our friends, Kristi and Brian. They just had a baby "Jenna Nicole." She is super cute and Kristi's mom was happy to babysit while Kristi and Brian facilitated an adventure. We wanted to swim underneath the Mackinac Bridge or to Mackinac Island but since it was a taper week, we settled for swimming to St. Helena Island. A really cool island, where nobody lives and there is nothing but a lighthouse. The island is pristine. Anywhere else in the world I'm sure there would be squatters. I got really excited about this adventure. I would have ruined my taper and swam the whole way to the island but the current turned out to be too big to swim to the island. We boated there and swam behind the boat for as long as Tim would let me. In my excitement I also managed to trip over the leg of a porch swing. It was in plain view but I managed to bung up my toe. To think Kristi's mom, Mrs. Garcia, was worried about me actually swimming. Hah I didn't have to leave dry ground to endanger myself. It turned a sick shade of purple, but luckily my orthopedic surgeon husband extraordinaire, limited my chance for any and all sympathy by declaring it NOT BROKEN. This is why residency takes so long. You have to learn to have x-ray eyes.

After we bored Kristi and Brian with our swimming they took us to a ship wreck. We got to explore around it. I wish I had an underwater camera to share it with you. I was wearing my wetsuit, neoprene cap and booties. I tried to dive down and retrieve the treasure chest full of gold coins, Jimmy Choo's, and carbon fiber bike parts. I couldn't successfully sink myself with all that neoprene. Tim dove down to the ship's remains and sliced his fingers on some zebra muscles, otherwise he would have retrieved the treasure chest for sure. (ok I am a big fat liar and there really wasn't a treasure chest but wasn't it more exciting to think there was).

After that Brian took Tim target shooting. Which I find boring, and Tim says I must really not be a true "Yooper" to not like shooting guns. I managed to buddy tape my toes and go running with "Sparky" my parents dog. This was quite fun but blew my chance to get any sympathy for a broken toe. It also denied me the opportunity for any race excuses. Darn, if had had some self restraint and skipped the run. However, with my mom's selection of homemade desserts I needed my appetite to be fully intact.