Traveling with the Munschs: Choose one.

You can have incredible beauty or Cell service. Not both. At least that's what it feels like.

The endless tree lined roads, streams, and lakes make me want to relocate, but the lack of cell services make me hesitate just enough.

Two days ago we visited Mackinac Island. It is an emerald in a breathtaking sea of crystal clear turquoise. I will admit that when we first arrived we were overwhelmed with the distinct smell of chocolate fudge and horse poop, not to mention the throngs of people, but then we ate and felt better. Food for us is almost as necessary as air. Without sufficient quantities we will implode. Not a single one of us could ever compete in any reality show that requires you to eat seven beans and a slug for the day. We would go mad after the first three hours without a snack. Maybe Jason would keep it together a little longer. He's stubborn that way. The rest of us (even Marcus), we are rare delicate orchids... Not sturdy dandelions.

I digress. The island was spectacular. We rode bike around the perimeter, waded in the water, hiked, shopped, and the boys consumed too much fudge. Marcus lamented, "I want to live here. There's no school, you can do whatever you want, and nobody bugs you." (We're still not sure where this came from.) Less than a minute later we stopped at the school playground for a break. However disappointed he still had me persuaded.

I have two unbelievable drives in me (well more than two but for this we'll say two). One is the desire to be near water. Big clear water with soft sandy beaches and slight waves. I just want to hear the water, the waves, and put my feet in the liquid elixir. I want to submerse myself in cold cerulean water. I want to watch the water change day to day, hour to hour. I am meant to be by the water. I am calm and I am happy near water.

My other drive is to travel. I want to see and experience everything. I have a classic case of wanderlust. This is difficult because each new place we visit invites me to stay forever. I want to drink it all in. Stay for weeks and months and experience each season through this new lense. And yet I love my little town on the prairie, with its own quiet beauty.

Long hours in the car make me wistful.

So. Mackinac is great. Go visit.

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Yesterday we thought we were going to get nailed with some nasty storms in the morning. It lightly rained. After the sprinkles passed, we headed out to see the Taquemenon Falls (rhymes with phenomenon). What should have been an hour trip quickly turned to three when I needed to eat and we had to find someplace that knew what ingredients they were using. Easier said than done. We ended up eating lupper in a brewery (lupper is of course lunch and supper). It was delicious. I know I say that we are eating a lot of good food, but we are. It's not just because we're starving. Or maybe it's just a little because we're starving. Whatever.

After we ate we walked through the woods to see some waterfall. Once we were sufficiently sweaty and hot we headed for Lake Superior. The first beach we stopped at was not good. It had a shoreline that was lined with sharp slippery rocks and the water was full of tree lignin from a nearby river. We set out further down the road and got to the tip of the peninsula we were on. There we found the soft sandy beach we were looking for. We got in and it was COLD. Like really really cold. But it still felt amazing on our sore bodies. We swam around for as long as we could stand it meaning while we were in the water we saw half a dozen groups come and then leave after realizing that the reason we were in the water was because we were nuts.

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Today was a drive day. A very long drive day to the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, off of Wisconsin. The drive was again very lovely but when we finally arrived at the ferry station to be taken to our island campground we were thrilled.

Of course we were total dorks on the ferry ride, taking pictures of the car on the ferry and even videoing ourselves.

It was about this time that my head started to ache. Not a traditional headache but a very specific and targeted headache. Like someone had flung a metal rod directly at my forehead. That happened this morning as we were packing up. It was an accident, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Right now Jason is setting up the camper in ninety degree heat with no breeze. NO BREEZE. This is literally the stillest weather I have ever been in. The only thing moving is the mosquitos. To top things off, we do not have electricity tonight so no respite from the heat with air conditioning. But we are first on the waiting list for an electric spot for tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us because if there's one thing we deal with almost as poorly as being hungry it's being hot. I'm telling you: Delicate orchids.

I'm going to go slather myself in deet.

Until tomorrow, the Munsch bunch.