Two miles in the freezing cold, uphill both ways...

Part of the charm of Mackinac Island is that there are no cars. You get around on foot, bike, horse or if you're  my friend Daniel, you Jiminy Cricket your way home from the bars at night:) It can be an adjustment to get used to, for sure!

You can imagine how hard it was for me to change my thought process from one that used to go "Oh, I think I'm going to run to the mall and buy boots!" to "Well, if I am going downtown for a gallon of milk, how many other errands can I squeeze into this one, and will it all fit into my bike basket?"  And also, is it smart to order boots online? I learned too, that it is:)

For years I drove Grace to school. School in Midland wasn't half as far away as we live from the school here, and yet she rarely had to walk. She would walk home sometimes, like if I got caught up at work or something... but NEVER without complaint. Really, it was less than a mile.

So when we committed to going to school up here, Grace and I had the long, long discussion... she was going to have to ride her bike. Rain or shine. And sometimes, she would have to walk. And sometimes, it would be cold, and sometimes thunderstormy, and sometimes dark. She agreed that the benefits of going to such a small school on an Island she loves would be worth the transportation hassle, and promised not to complain. And I'm proud to announce to you that not once... zero times, has she ever complained about whatever the situation was. She gets up, gets herself ready, and off she goes.

Now that the winter season is upon us, we are allowed to ride snow mobiles. I am lucky to work for a company who provides a couple for us to get around on. I've never ridden on a snow mobile until early 2013 when I first started coming up here for work. My maintenance guy took me outside on the beautiful back yard at Stonecliffe and showed me how to drive it. He also taught me how to gas up, check oil, and a few other necessities. I was mobile! Talk about feeling empowered!

So now that it has snowed, I drive Grace to school every day on the snow mobile. If you know me at all, you know I'm not a morning person, so getting up, getting geared up (which seems to take longer than the drive itself) and going outside into the cold did not sound very appealing to me. However, it has to be done, and so it is. What I didn't expect, however, was to enjoy the ride. It is never ever not been pretty. This island is like 360 degrees of pretty. I hope I never get so used to the way it looks that I stop appreciating it.

For months I heard Islanders wish for snow... I didn't get it. But now.... now that I see this, I get it. Yay for snow!

A few snapshots from a typical drive to town:






Lake Huron, looking towards the Mackinac Bridge. The water wasn't completely frozen, but it was getting there! This is taken in front of the school.

The Christmas Tree in the center of town... so pretty!

Remember, if you're downtown, always stop at Doud's! Otherwise, you'll get home, figure out you need something, and wish you had! 

Fort Mackinac and Marquette Park

I love our little post office!

One of our first snowy days, I was mesmerized with the colors of The Grand Hotel. Nobody else had ridden down the street that runs long the front of it, so I decided to be that pioneer. Little did I know, there was a crane at the far end of the hotel, blocking the road! I had to figure out how to turn a big snow mobile around in a very small space, on top of a cliff/hill. I'm sure a few people working inside the Grand Hotel were amused:)

Panoramic taken from the front of The Grand Hotel.



The Stone Gates outside of Stonecliffe. 



It's a Michigan kinda day...

And here I was worried that I’d have a hard time coming up with things to write about…. 

Michigan is having a…. Michigan kinda day. It does feel right for a Sunday, to have wind and rain and fog. One of the things I have had the hardest time adjusting to is the foghorn. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard! And relentless. It seems like with today’s technology, someone would have invented some sort of GPS device that would deem a foghorn unnecessary. Anyway, not much to do on a day like this but curl up on the sofa with a good book and wait it out.

 

 

Grace is actually off-island. Get this; middle school kids got to go to a play in Cheboygan today. They took the 12:30 ferry off the island and since the last ferry back is at 4, they are going to fly home sometime tonight around 6. That said, if this weather continues, they might end up stranded, which means they’ll stay in a hotel. Either way, not a bad field trip! She lives for adventures like this! But really, let me tell you about the logistics of leaving on a ferry but returning on an airplane:  She had to ride her bike to the airport, then walk downtown to the ferry (probably about 2 miles). When she comes home, her bike will be waiting for her. If they end up staying the night in Saint Ignace, they will take the ferry home in the morning, and her bike is at the airport. I may have to ride a tandem bike downtown to get her, or she will have to just walk. I'll keep you posted!

Anyway...

So here I am, just chilling, and I hear….. a sound; like a waterfall. I open my door and find a literal river, about 6 feet from my front door!

 

See, the condo building I’m living in has dug this “fake” drainage ditch. The sewer doesn’t drain quick enough, so they needed to divert the water down to the bottom of the hill. The problem today was that it has collected way too many leaves, and the water diverted itself right down the walkway. It was probably only a few minutes away from running inside my door!

Well we can’t have that! So I put on all of my rain gear… yes, The North Face is my friend…. Up to and including my raincoat, pants and my ultra fab pink and blue rain boots. I didn’t have the foresight to buy rubber rain gloves, but in case anyone is trying to decide what to get me for Christmas, there you go.

 

 

Boy, my wish list sure has changed!

By the time I made it back from the Stonecliffe carriage house with a shovel and a pitchfork, I was already drenched. At some point, I stopped trying to stay dry. I shoveled almost all of the leaves out of the ditch and created a new dam that would keep the water flowing in the right direction.

This was flooded over, and the water was on the walkway a couple of hours ago!

The path is water-free now, however we are left with a 2-3 foot deep canyon!

 

About an hour into it, my maintenance guy came to help… whenever he comes around, I always hear superhero music inside my head. He just looked at me with my now-broken pitchfork and shook his head.

Ken... dahdahdahdahhhhhhh! (That was superhero music)

 

Hey, he earned a whole loaf of pumpkin-nut bread for helping!

 

Anyway, crisis diverted for now… I’ll have to check it out again in a little while. In the meantime, I’m drying out with a fire and a well-earned glass of chardonnay.

 

 

In the beginning...

It has been a long time since I’ve written, so excuse me if I’m rusty! I suddenly find myself with a lot of extra time on my hands, so I figured this was a good time to share with you a little bit about our new lives on beautiful Mackinac Island.

So, to bring you up to date… I took a job at a beautiful hotel on Mackinac Island, called The Inn at Stonecliffe. Beautiful doesn’t quite do it justice. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my life working in the Marriott world, but I was very bored…. I wanted something outside the box, and did I ever get it!

The Inn at Stonecliffe... isn't it gorgeous!

 

I have always been a huge Mackinac Island fan… As far as I can remember, we have come up here every single year of my life, at least once.

This photo is of my very sassy and stylish mom, my older sister Barb, me and my baby sister Krissy. I totally look like a boy. I know this was prior to 1979 because I eventually broke my arm wearing that shirt, and they ripped the sleeve to put the cast on. We are on the north end of the bridge

 

 

Then, once I had my own child, I wanted her to know and love this place as much as I do. When she was 4, I packed the car up, strapped her into her car seat and headed north. I had prepared little envelopes, each with a different photo of something Mackinac… the bridge, a ferry, a horse and carriage, the Fort, a butterfly…. And every half hour on the drive up, Grace got to open a new envelope. It made the trip go quicker and by the time we got up here, she was so excited to see all of the things that were in the pictures!

As the years progressed, we continued our yearly visits, and eventually, my nephew Connor joined us.

Here are a few photos from those trips…

I just love these kids:)

 

 

So, flash forward a few years. I can hardly believe that they call this place work.

 

 

 

 

I enrolled Grace in Mackinac Island School… she is in 8^th grade, and there are about 80 kids in K-12 at her school. She LOVES it! We will update you on the amazing things she experiences, as well as some of the stuff that is a little less than desirable (weather).

 

 

The playground, yard and amazing view at Mackinac Island School.

One of my friends ran into Grace riding her bike home from school one day, and sent me this picture. Grace has to ride her bike  in the rain or shine and fog and wind. I cannot believe that she has not complained once. I would have begged my mom to let me stay home on the colder rainy days for sure! Once it snows, I'll drive her to school every day on a snow mobile.

But mostly, I thought I'd start this blog up because I get so many questions about what life is like living here. People ask about everything from groceries to transportation to trash removal. I’ll do my best to answer your questions and I’ll also post many pictures. I'm still learning the tricks of living here. I'm still exploring different paths, and meeting new people every day.  I am not even close to being one of the lucky people who can call this place their permanent home... I am only borrowing it for now. Maybe someday:)

As of right now, we are committed to staying until December 20, the beginning of winter break. Maybe we will stay longer, maybe not. Stay tunedJ