Yep. I made it back to Camp Ulvik this year after not being able to do it last year. What follows are notes as I wrote them in notepad while waiting for the WiFi to be turned on. I’ll just update this post over the next few days rather than make new posts.
6:03 AM 7/8/2018
A gorgeous morning, with a slight breeze coming into the guest cabin from the lake. I arrived in camp at around 7:30 last night after driving up from Lima via Sault St. Marie. I took that route, though it is longer, because the crossing is so much easier than it is in Detroit and because the drive is much prettier. Saw a herd of bison, and a heron, in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. Just Cy, T, and I in camp last night and we had burgers and a pasta salad for dinner. In bed by 9:30 and I got nearly 8 hours, though my watch tells me that only 3 of those were deep.
2:03 PM 7/8/2018
Took a fairly long walk this morning – down Langford Lane to the Rouse camp, then back up Thompson Road until I saw an interesting 4-wheeler track off to the right. Followed that into the woods for a while, then came back out, continued the walk up to Nippissing, and came back to the main cabin here. Got my 10K steps in, which I think is around 4.5 miles. When I got back, it was about 11:30 and Cy and T were heading into town to refill their propane tank, so I relaxed in the guest cottage. Sat on the porch in my underwear after taking a dip in the lake and listened to the wind chimes. Walked back up to the main cabin at around 1 and chatted with the two of them while they ate lunch. T is now in his cottage reading and I think Cy’s gone to the dock to try to steal WiFi from Whit and Ellen’s place (the phone lines are down here – wire snapped and T and I were unable to get the two ends close enough to splice, so the telephone guy is supposed to be here tomorrow to try to fix it). I stole T’s wireless keyboard for a while, since the “T” on my own keyboard has stopped working (along with a couple of other keys, I think). That’s on my surface pro. Guess I’ll need to get a replacement for it if I’m going to continue to take this little computer camping with me. For dinner tonight, we’re planning on going to Tanner’s British Pub. Have never been.
7/9/2018
We did indeed go to Tanner’s for dinner. Everyone else had prime rib. I opted for Shepherd’s Pie. Wasn’t all that great – generally isn’t, from what I’ve learned by ordering it in restaurants.
Dianne arrived during the early afternoon and got settled into the near side of the boathouse. There’s a new shower on that side this year, which is pretty cool. Took the boat into town for a few things (I needed ingredients for a chicken/rice thing that I made for dinner – somehow managed to lose the can of soup that I got there….). I spent much of the rest of the day trying to snooze in my cottage, but didn’t really sleep much. Rolled myself up to the main cabin to make dinner somewhere between 5 and 6. In addition to the rice chicken (which was pretty good), we roasted some beets (also pretty good). Played team cribbage until about 10:00 (Di and Cy smoked T and I), then we all crashed.
7/10/2018
I slept in this morning – didn’t wake up until after 7, then stayed in bed for another hour before going up to the main cabin for coffee and conversation. Took another long walk after that, dressed in a manner that covered every inch of exposed skin to keep the flies and mosquitos off (jeans, pullover, netting over my hat, and gloves). Worked okay, but the little bastards bit my hands through the gloves anyway. Got back to the camp and jumped in the lake a couple of times. Cleaned the windows in the boathouse, fixed the drain on the fish sink, and had a bologna sandwich for lunch.
7/11/2018
Dianne made dinner on Tuesday night – hot dogs and some sort of macaroni salad (good stuff) – and the four of us played Oh Hell until about 10 o’clock. I held a lead for most of the game, but fell apart late and Dianne kicked everyone’s butt. Chris and Jamie still hadn’t arrived by the time it was dark, so we all went to bed.
7/12/2018
Chris and Jamie got here shortly after we had all retired on Tuesday, so it was great to see them first thing in the morning. It was a beautiful day all day – lowest temps of the weeks (high 70s) – and we got some chores done before Cy and I went to Huntsville for groceries and to look for souvenirs. That latter part was a complete bust for me. Huntsville is no longer the nice little downtown area with cool mom and pop shops, but a built up tourist trap with very little other than restaurants.
Once we got back to the camp, I did a bit of reading and took a nap before heading back out to go to the Cornball Store for croissants and to the bait store for gasoline. Cy made stuff peppers with leftover rice from Monday and some sausage that she brought from Vermont – fantastic!
The 6 of us played a variant of Pitch until it was dark. Didn’t really keep score because we weren’t completely sure how to play, but it was fun.
7/13/2018
I slept until almost 7:30 this morning! This is my last day in camp, so I’m planning to clean out the guest cabin today and get ready to hit the road as soon as I wake up tomorrow. Plans for today are nebulous, but it’s supposed to be very hot and overcast (bugs will be bad!), so I see a lot of reading, swimming, and sleeping in my immediate future.
The croissants are amazing, by the way.