Ocqueoc Falls

A couple of days ago, the weather was too perfect not to go for a hike. Temps in the mid 60s with a nice cool breeze. I headed to the only falls in the lower peninsula: Ocqueoc Falls, over near Onaway. I went for a nice 7 mile hike, with rolling terrain. My knee started giving me problems again after a couple of miles. What is the deal with this thing? A doctor friend of mine thinks I may have torn something in there. How wonderful would that be? So I spent the past two days just resting it. Today though, I did opt to cut the grass, go swimming, and for a short little bike ride. After all that, it feels pretty good. So keep your fingers crossed!!

I have attached a couple of pictures of the falls. The last section of the trail (or the first, depending on where you start) follows the river for a little bit, than comes out to the falls. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people there walking around in them, so I didn't get the greatest pictures. I hope to return there in the fall, for better photo ops.

Back to work tomorrow for my exciting 6 day stretch!!

Enjoying summer!

Where have I been? Today I'm trying to rest my body from all the extensive activities I've been doing. Last Wednesday, I figured what the hell, I want to go for a bike ride. Since Gaylord finished their Rails to Trails section last year, I've been wanting to get out there. So I biked the 30 miles from Gaylord to Indian River. It was beautiful, the trail is awesome, not to mention mostly flat, so it is easy going. I plan on biking there tomorrow to visit a friend, than I'll pedal my ass back. Sounds like a good time, huh?

I finally made it to the river to do some kayaking. We've got a new nurse at work who just so happens to live on the Manistee River, so yes, most of us are taking advantage of that! A friend and I kayaked for a couple hours out there before the weather turned bad. I forgot how freezing cold that river can get. But it is a beautiful river, and most tourists stay off of it because it is a bit more challenging than the slower and shallower Ausable River. To each his own.

And yesterday, after it rained hard most of the day, I spent the evening with friends around a bonfire. Telling stories, playing with all the neighborhood kids and just taking it easy.

Today, I'm barely motivated enough to clean the house and the garage (oh my, it has never been that messy), and find some food to eat. Only a couple more days and it will be back to work. Sigh...

My Bucket List

Last night, I was able to cross off an activity from my list of things I want to do before I die. I went ghost hunting. A friend of mine and her significant other have been doing this as a hobby for several years now and have accumulated a ton of equipment. So last night they finally agreed to take me along. We went to a place near Grayling, an old ghost town called Pere Cheney. The town had burnt to the ground twice and there is an old cemetery there with over 500 people buried there. Unfortunately it is quite the party place for young kids, and a lot of the headstones have been broken and stolen. Anyways, they have had a lot of stuff happen to them out there, so that is where we headed. Now I believe in ghosts and hauntings 100%. When I was a kid I had a friend who lived in a haunted house that was an old jail than an old hotel. I've had strange things happen to me at work, and most people that work at the hospital have stories of the one haunted room there. So I was optimistic when we went out there. But, we spent 3 hours wandering around this place, and I didn't see, hear or feel anything. I understand that something isn't going to happen every night, so I would be willing to try again. They brought a couple of their friends along who are big into ghost hunting, and I would definitely wright them off as crazy. Any sound in the woods (and there were a lot of them, since we were in the middle of the woods), they would come up with some story about how that is probably a ghost. But in my mind, and in reality, I'm sure it was just an animal. They were able to fabricate a story and twist everything enough so that they would believe it was something. But, whatever, its not my hobby, so go for it! Once we got home at 3am, they did show me some of the pictures and voice recordings of things they've captured out there. So, maybe next time..........

My Hike "Gone Wrong"

After wasting away most of the day doing much of nothing, I opted to head out at 430 for a "quick" 11 mile hike on one of my favorite trails in the Pigeon River. It is an easy trail, so I figured I shouldn't have any problems getting back before dark. All was going well for the first several miles, I was making great time. Than I noticed a little bit of pain in my right knee. Thats odd, I didn't remember hurting it somehow. I did stub my toe on a root, but didn't notice any pain right away. Unfortunately, the pain in that knee got continuously worse. As long as I kept moving, it was tolerable. But to stop, for even a couple of seconds and try to go again, the pain would be more severe. Of course I was alone, way out in the middle of the woods, and had no other choice but to continue hiking. Slowly. Fortunately I made it out before it got too dark. It is always much darker deep in the woods since the little daylight that there was, was not coming down on the trail. I felt tired, sore, vulnerable and helpless. Now that I'm home, I've popped 800mg of Motrin, iced the knee, took a hot bath, but still it hurts like a b***h to stand on that leg. Imagine my dilemma. Two more perfect days before I go back to work and I'll be unable to hike, bike or swim. All my favorite past times. Whats a person to do?

City Life

Having some extra time off, and no good plans, I opted to go visit my kid sister in her new apartment in Grand Rapids. It is such a drastic change from my daily life up here. Of course I love taking advantage of things I can't do up here. Ordering pizza at 1030 at night and actually have it delivered to the house, quickly, and eat it while it was still warm. Being able to talk on the cell phone, and know it is the other person to blame losing reception on. People watching, oh what a good time that is. Plus all the different events going on in places close by. We spent the afternoon at a celtic festival watching people try to dance to bagpipes. Funny. But on the other hand, I was quickly reminded what it is I hate about city life. Traffic. Pollution and trash everywhere. And the noise. My dear sister lives on one of the busier streets in the city, only two blocks away from the railroad tracks where a train goes by almost every hour.....at all hours of the day and night. Lets just say I slept much better deep in the woods along the Appalachian Trail knowing that I could get attacked and killed by a bear than I did on the second floor of her apartment. Weird. So after wandering around all day, I opted out of spending another sleepless night in the city and headed home early to fall asleep to the sound of a moth trapped between my screen and the window. It will find its way out once I shut the lights off....... Home sweet home.