Copper Harbor, Michigan trip

We're just back from a long day's trip to Copper Harbor, Michigan.

Copper Harbor is on the Keweenaw Peninsula which juts way out into Lake Superior. It is the northernmost town in Michigan. Isle Royale, one of the national parks, is out across the waters.  My mother told me that Copper Harbor was one of the prettiest places she ever went to.  I would like to go when she did some day, when the fall colors were at their peak.  On this trip we saw only a touch of red, a promise of more to come.

I grew up knowing that U.S. Highway 41 went past Green Bay and Appleton and on to the world.  I didn't know it started at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and went all the way to Miami Beach. It makes me want to hit the road and follow it all the way down this February.

From Copper Rock we took the Brockway Mountain Road up to the ridge and looked down on Lake Superior.

Back in Copper Harbor I had seen some signs about the Raptor Watch, so when we got to the visitors center and gift shop at the highest point on the road, I asked the clerk about that.  She laughed and told me it was in March.  Birders came on snowmobiles to watch the big raptors fly through the valley.  She said it was called the "Oops Migration" because the birds think they are going to Canada as they fly up the Peninsula and don't realize they've made a mistake until they reach Copper Harbor.  Then they have to turn around and somehow find Duluth before they can go north again.

At Eagle Harbor we stopped to see the lighthouse.

And took a quick snapshot of Jacob's Falls off Highway 26.

Then to Houghton where Gary could have his heart's desire...another trip to Walmart.

We're back at Lake Ottawa and I am so, so tired.  Tomorrow a lieu day with naps.  

Rain, Rummage and Blood Report

It's  rainy day in the Ottawa National Forest.  We make brief sorties around the campground between showers, but I've never made it as far as the boat landing.  When the sun shines, we go to the lake at the edge of our site fourteen campsite to see what's happening. Usually, not much.

With the weather such as it is, this morning we went to Iron River a few miles away.  We stopped at the post office to get post card stamps  but since I misplaced them soon after, the post cards will not be mailed for another day.  I did manage to get one off to Evan before that.  He does like his postcards.

We went to the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store and lo and behold! there was a $2 a bag sale.  We proceeded to stuff a bag with two fleece jackets, one extra long fleece shirt, a diaphanous night shirt, and two sleeveless shirts.   The fleece is necessary as the nights cool down to the 30s here in the national forest.  The diaphanous shirt is appropriate for ladies of a certain age, Gary says. The sleeveless shirts come in handy on warm days. One was needed to replace the bloody one I threw out a week ago.

We told camper Linda about St. Vinnie's and sure enough she was there with her nephew Brandon.  She showed me two shirts he will wear when school starts down in Illinois.

I am feeling less like a hypochondriac today because Theda Care sent me the results of my blood work.  By comparing tests I had done at my yearly physical in May to those done a week ago in the ER and two days later at the doctor's office, I can see how my platelet count dropped dramatically but started to climb again two days later. I love the technology that allows me to keep track of my health.

We bought steaks at Angeli's supermarket in Iron River.  Tonight we will grill them with onion, bake a potato, and cook corn.  That should help the platelet count.

Tomorrow, we plan to travel to Copper Harbor, the northernmost point of Michigan.  By Wednesday, I hope to be strong enough to do the two mile round trip hike to Bennan Lake part of the Ge Che Trail system.

So our days go.

Recuperation

After we were last camping together, Gary packed up everything and moved to Lake Ottawa in the Ottawa National Forest, leaving the Lost Lake mice behind.  It is one way of solving a rodent problem. I picture them leaping from the camper as he pulled away from site 23.  Here in the UP we have only "bumble birds", his name for hummingbirds, to contend with.  He is cheerfully moving things around the new cook tent as I type this.

As for me, my blood loss and subsequent cold have left me wandering in a mental haze.  Back in Seymour, anything I tried to accomplish took hours longer than necessary. I am moving my finances from a bank that is too big to fail (so I'm giving them a hand) to an account at a local bank.  I wanted to set up bill payments on line from my account. After two days, I gave up and sent checks out to my creditors. When was the last time I used a check for anything? I can't remember but it was easier than trying to get through the electronic system.

Our friend Marty, a "troll" from lower Michigan camping here with Linda and their nephew Brandon, has the same affliction. He says it takes him over a week to recover from a nose bleed.  He has his cauterized every six years.  

Gary pointed out that when I lost blood from my nose some of it came from my brain which explains my befuddlement. I told him I now understood what men feel like when their brains cease to function when they are aroused. 

On the plus side, my dreams have been interesting. In last night's episode, my sisters whom I seldom see these days arrived at my house to celebrate my mother's birthday, my mother who has been dead since the end of the last century. I had nothing to say to them so kept escaping to my basement, my musty old basement, the end of which, in my dream, was in a golden glow facing a beach and a setting sun. But no, I had to celebrate my mother's birthday so up the creaking old steps I would go again to the living room where we all sat in a circle of chairs and stared at each other until down the stairs I would go again to get something from the freezer or find presents or some other excuse but really to breath in the sea air and soak up the sun.

Make of all that as you will. I am too exhausted to care! I will spend the next few days soaking up the real sun at the edge of Lake Ottawa and resting.

(Upers call those who live in lower Michigan trolls because they live under the Mackinac Bridge.)  

Plain Tired

In all the times I've driven up to the national forests to join Gary at some campground, it's been a smooth ride. I  stop at Bonduel to buy fruit and bread at the Kwik Trip, at the Lakewood Super Valu for their sandwich spreads, at the Townsend Shell station for ice cream, and at the thrift shop in Wabeno for whatever clothes I remember I might need.  Then it's on to the campground.

Since my trip to the emergency room, I haven't come back to full peppiness.  Today exhaustion kept coming on and finally, just south of Laona, I had to pull off at a historic site to take a brief nap.  I never miss an historic site, so I knew what this one was all about.  The Laona schools were the first in the United States to purchased land to plant trees.  The eighty acre plot had been denuded of all trees at the end of the nineteenth century. The students planted and today their forest is grown and thriving.

What I didn't know was that the Laona train went through the area.  It's an historic steam train that once hauled lumber through the north wood and now hauls tourists. A steam engine has an amazing and thunderous whistle, so after only ten minutes of napping, I was up and driving again.

I reached Lake Ottawa in time to be greeted by a rainstorm, which suited me.  Gary had the bed prepared and I tumbled in for a long, long nap.

Tonight, it's ice cream followed by hot chocolate as we listen to the rain on the camper.  In another hour, it's  back to bed.

Tomorrow, a proper forecast and time on the lake in August sunshine.

I will recover.

A Good Walk

Today, I was working with a cold and a nose I can't blow for the next ten days. With a foggy mind, I tried to  finish changing my finances from one bank to another.  It is not going well. I want to go to the Upper Peninsula tomorrow to join Gary and everything has to be completed before I can go.  I managed to clear out the safe deposit box and get my automatic insurance payment done.  I still have utilities to get through.

Last night, I told Gary I would be making soup, using tomatoes, okra, beans, zucchini and onions from the garden.  Today, he called me with instructions on additions.  He wanted cabbage and hamburger added in with paprika, not part of my recipe.  I fully realize that if the soup doesn't turn out, he will refuse to eat it but this cheapskate will eat it anyway.  We are talking about a gallon of soup here.   

I gave a talk at the Seymour library for which I was rewarded with one dark chocolate candy bar.  There were only four in the audience and two were senior citizens who thought I should give the talk at the senior center...which would be another freebie.

This is why I go on tour.  The farther I go from home, the better the pay.  

I came home to a phone call from the Pro Life Association who wanted a donation.  I told the woman to do certain things that could result in a pregnancy.   My mood was not improved.   

Finally I decided a walk was in order.  I walked back to the library to drop a book off in the drop box.  Next I stopped to talk to Dan, our city's wonderful handyman, to compare our latest bird findings.  At the BP, I kvetched with the cashier, talking about men, money and flowers.

At a neighbors' house, I heard about her trip with her husband and three active boys and the cost of motels.  We talked about taking a tent on next summer's trip.  I think she should take two tents, one for the boys and the other for the parents. 

By the time I came home, I had vented and gotten some exercise.  

There are few things as rewarding as a good walk. 

Why I Live Here

Gary talks about moving us to a place on a lake near the Michigan border.  I say fine, but there are some conditions that have to be met....and I know they can't be.

First, I want an awesome library and I've never seen any up north to compare to the Muehl Public Library here in Seymour.  (I'll be there giving a talk about my travels tomorrow at noon.) The Seymour library is part of the Outagamie Waupaca Library System so I can get books from dozens of libraries as well as hook into the digital library.  

Second, I want places to walk or hike. Gary's lake place will probably be one of dozens of homes and that means one can't walk around the lake, only on a country road that can be dangerous for walkers like me.

Third, I like to swim.  Gary's lake will be too cold until mid-June and after mid-September.  Here in Seymour we have a year round aquatic center.

Fourth,  I like to garden. The growing season at the Michigan border is about a month shorter.  For the first time, I am growing things like okra as global warming progresses.  And I hate long winters.

Fifth, Gary and I are both 68. He has some health issues.  Overall I am healthy, but I certainly found the value of a good EMT squad when I had that bloody nose three days ago.  The ambulance was here ten minutes after I called. The EMTs treated me royally. It was only fifteen miles to a good hospital and it was only one that I could choose from.  There are four hospitals in Green Bay and two more in Appleton.  Seymour has four clinics with a fourth in nearby Black Creek. There are dentists, too.

Finally, we have friends and family here.  What price neighbors who told me they would have come running if they knew I was in trouble? I would never have agreed to bleeding all over their cars, but it was good to know they are around when we need help, especially as we reach the point of needing someone to drive us where we need to go.

And how could I leave my son, his wife and my grandson behind?

I would rather make this house our home base and travel to many lakes each summer.   

Misery Likes Readers

My, I had a lot of readers visiting this blog since I wrote about my bloody nose, twice as many as usual.  What a bunch of bloodthirsty people you are!

It was a miserable time for me these past two days.  The packing put in my nose meant chewing was difficult, especially with the sore throat that came from swallowing clots of gore. I found that all I had around the house that went down easily was oatmeal, yogurt and soup. They grow old soon. Drinking from cup or glass wasn't a piece of cake either with dribbles down my shirts with every attempt.

I was told not to blow my nose but I had come down with a cold to to add to the fun.  All I had in my medical supplies was aspirin, which is a blood thinner, the last thing I needed to take.  Last night I found a very old bottle of Tylenol PM in a cabinet.  I took two and was able to get to sleep.  The doctor told me not to blow my nose for ten days, so all I could do was dab at whatever came out of my nostrils.  My eyes were all weepy, too.

This afternoon, the nurse practitioner removed the packing and I could once more breathe. I got some loratadine tablets and the endless dripping stopped.  I felt like myself again.  I was able to work at my desk with only a couple of short naps.  I am still weak but my blood count is getting better.

The biggest relief is that I will be able to give my talk "Outrageous Older Woman Travels" at the Muehl Public Library on Friday at noon. If the packing had failed, I wouldn't have been able to make it.

I am putting off joining Gary at the Lake Ottawa campground until Saturday so I can get caught up around here.

I was able to stop at the library just in time for the arrival of Colette Bezio's book, The Witches of Castle Crabapple.  I was her second customer.  She autographed the book which she self-published.  In another week or so it will be a Kindle e-book and I suppose after that it will be available on Nook.  We'll have to have a book signing soon.

Times change and with it the book publishing world.  Wade and I will be doing a day of editing in September as we gather our Black Coffee Fiction short stories together. Like Colette, we'll publish both a paper edition along with the e-book.

Today, I got an e-mail from William Meyer, a friend of Chris's.  His book Fire on the Mound is coming out as a pod cast at http://www.fireonthemound.com  A new episode will appear every Monday.

No agents, no editors, no publishers involved.

Blood - postscript

The loss of blood left me weak.

Today I slept and visited the nurse practitioner at Theda Care in Black Creek.  She told me I couldn't remove that darn tampon until Wednesday at the earliest.  It is still leaking blood.  To pull it out early could set the whole process back.  

To add to my miseries, I seem to be coming down with a cold.  My throat is sore from coughing up blood. 

It's time to go to bed again. 

Blood

Plans change.

Yesterday, as I drove home from Oshkosh, I was working through ideas for last night's blog.  I would write about the very pleasant day I had with my long time friend Norma, who occasionally comes to Oshkosh to visit her sister and mother. It would include shopping for shoes and scrapbooks, walking and chatting, and eating a particularly good flavor at Culvers.

But about four miles from home, that all changed when my nose started to bleed.  Bleed is not the right word exactly.  Gush is more like it.  I had some napkins in the car, so held them to my nose as I drove home one handed.

Once home, I scampered into the house and proceeded to deal with the nosebleed. I had, after all, taken first aid classes years before.  I pinched the nose, just below the cartilage.  I only got my hands bloody as the blood continued to spurt out.

I laid on my back.  All that accomplished was blood running into my mouth with big clumps of gory clots. Now I had to deal with the nose plus spitting out the accumulating blood.

I applied ice both to my nose and to the back of my neck. Nothing worked. Blood was pouring onto my shirt and pants.

All the while, Rascal was howling, not out of concern for me but worrying about his supper. To quiet him, I managed to open a can of cat food and put it on the floor in the kitchen, no time for a proper dish.

After one and a half hours with no let up in the bleeding, with two wastebaskets filled with bright red tissues, paper towels, wash cloths and rags, I had to do something.  Gary was still almost three hours away at the Lost Lake campground. My neighbor was at work.  I called 911.

In ten minutes, the ambulance was here.  They looked at the wastebasket and the decision was easy.  I was loaded into the ambulance while the police officer closed up my house and closed the windows on the car.  I was off on a ride to the Appleton Medical Center, sirens blaring.  I had a pleasant chat with the EMTs  who kept applying cold packs as we drove. Other than the profuse bleeding, I felt fine.  No dizziness.  I told them I had a good subject for this blog, so all was well.  I did apologize for messing up their ambulance, but they had seen worse.

On the way to Appleton, they called son Chris who arrived soon after I did.  It's a good thing he has a tolerance for blood or he would have been horrified.  My shirt was soaked, my pants were splotchy and the blood continued to pour out.  Lucky for me, the emergency ward was almost empty.  I was taken care of at once.

The RN took good care of me in a room that seemed to be set up especially for nose bleeds.  Soon Dr. Hunter was there.  I kept apologizing to everyone about coming in with a bloody nose.  With all they have to deal with on a regular basis, it didn't seem that big a deal.  Dr. Hunter assured me that I had done exactly the right thing.

In the end, Dr. Hunter stuffed what seemed to be a small tampon into my nose and the bleeding stopped except for a small dribble then he sent me to another room.  It seems someone else had just come in with a bad nose bleed. Chris and I sat watching Jon Stewart on the Daily Show and playing with our computers.  I tried to write the evening blog while we waited for the results of the blood tests, but couldn't concentrate.

Finally, Dr. Hunter came in and said I could go home.  He told me to call the doctor for a tampon removal the next day and gave me some nose drops to keep the tampon moist and sent home.

Since I had no supper, Chris looked for a fast food place but most were closed until we came to Hardees at 10:58.  I got a shake to fill my stomach.  The sole employee flicked the lights off as she worked.  Hardees closed at 11:00.

By the time I came home, I was too tired to write this blog.  It was the fifth time in two years I missed a posting.

I had a good excuse.

Of Mice and Meteors

The Persied Meteor Shower arrives every year around this time.  They're the debris stream of the Swift-Tuttle comet.  Tiny particles of dust enter our atmosphere as shooting stars.  Saturday night was to be the height of the celestial show.  Between midnight and 2:00 a.m. the moon would not have risen except for a sliver.  At Lost Lake there is no ambient light from surrounding cities and the forecast was for clear skies.

Our plan was to set the alarm clock to midnight and go to bed early.  We would get up to observe the height of the show, some fifty shooting stars an hour.

I got into bed, but almost immediately, we ran into trouble.  The young couple who were tenting in the next campsite got into a big shouting match, him cursing her in the most abusive way. Sleeping through that was impossible as I wondered about him physically abusing her.  I suggested calling the sheriff's department, but the matter was taken care of when we heard a car pull up.  The young lady must have used her cell phone to call for help.  She got in the car and that was the end of that.

Gary was making a lot of noise, too, opening cabinets and using his flashlight to look inside.

I tried to get to sleep but never managed.  I finally got up and discovered Gary had left the camper.  I pulled on some fleece, shoes, jacket, gloves and knit hat, grabbed a flashlight and walked the very narrow path to the lake.  Gary was there looking at the sky.

It was only 11:15 p.m. but the show had started.  Gary gave me a recliner and provided me with a blanket so I could look to the northeast.  The Milky Way made a swath across the dark sky.  There were so many stars I couldn't make out favorite formations. We saw lights moving around across the lake.  The people at the cabins had come down to the beach to watch, too.

The first shooting stars were short streaks, but then the big show began.  The meteors flew across the skies.  Some of the biggest went adjacent, or so it seemed, to the Milky Way, looking like exclamation points.  It was fireworks without the banging, but punctuated by shouts across the lake.

We grew tired finally and agreed to go back to bed....after the next big shooting star.  Then we got excited and waited for the next and the next and the next until we staggered back to our campsite.

As I turned on the light, I heard something rustling around my bed.  Surely a moth outside, I thought, never thinking that the temperature had dropped and moths were not likely.

This morning, the cabinet doors were still open and Gary was too wiped out to get up to make morning tea.  He had been up most of the night chasing that elusive mouse.  He found a new nest next to the water heater but never found the nest-builder. It could be it was bunking with me.

I left for Seymour at 10:00 this morning, leaving him to his rodent hunt.