No Black Friday for us. It was time to hit the road. Not quite the butt crack of dawn, but close enough.
It is downright cold out and we head off on what we hope to be an uneventful ride up to the U.P. and the Sault (pronounced Soo), when we encounter a blinding snowstorm. Not rain, nor sleet nor snow or hail shall keep us from our casino trip, so we forged on. Along the way we saw more than one unfortunate car that had found its way onto the side of the road. At those points we all echoed thank goodness for the age of cell phones.
The most harrowing part of the trip (for me of course) was another damn bridge. Why does it seem like everywhere I go there is a damn bridge involved? I really need to find a new travel agent. The crossing of the Mackinac (the last c is pronounced as a W for those non-Michiganders) bridge was hard, I don’t like the outside lane and the inside lane is grated, so the tires, don’t give you a smooth ride. At the end of the bridge as you enter the U.P. there is the deer count on the toll booth (this is the tail end of the rifle season for deer). They keep a count of how many deer have crossed the bridge so far throughout the entire bow, rifle and musket season as compared to last. When we went up the count was down 2% from last year. On our way back down on Sunday it was now up 6%. I have an opinion on deer hunting and hunting in general but will save that for another post.
We arrive at our first stop inside the UP, St. Ignace, which is the Southern affiliate of the Kewadin casinos. Fun is had by all and small deposits are made, and the on the road again to head to the hotel in the Sault. Check in, gamble, gamble, relax, find dinner, yep that’s pretty much how the rest of the day went. However, when going to find dinner we (I) had my first encounter with a car covered in snow in a long time. Thick wet big snowflakes, beautiful to see falling but heavy to sweep off the car.
The best part of travelling with family is that you all pretty much have the same needs and wants. And those that are different are taken in stride. Some like the butt crack of dawn, some like to sleep in, a compromise is usually had. This Thanksgiving trip is one that Erika and Gretchen have taken with mom for many many years. I more recently joined in a few years ago, and think I have passed my probationary status to a permanent fixture. I still don’t get to join in all old the memories but every year we make and remember more.
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