A heavenly couple of days

FINALLY!

My family finally arrived to the hotel at about 2330 and I was thrilled!  I was so excited to be back with them, I barely slept, though they were exhausted from their day of travel.  Sometimes I can have a bit too much energy.  Through some strange twist of fate, though we were there for Becky’s sister’s memorial, Glenn’s brother and sister were both vacationing separately very near where we were staying.  We got up, I made everyone coffee on my JetBoil at the hotel and we met Glenn’s sister, Heidi and her husband for breakfast.

Finally we’re all together!  BFG, me, and BFB outside the restaurant.

Becky’s family

Though I’ve been a part of the family for years, both Glenn and Becky are from Michigan, and most of their families still live there.  When they go back to visit family, I usually stay home and take care of the animals.  As a result, I’ve never met most of their families.  Glenn’s parents come out to visit every year and I met his brother once.  Becky’s sister Sally, who died of COVID in December, and who’s memorial we were gathered for, came to stay with us for a couple of weeks, so I knew her.  One of Becky’s brothers and his wife, came for a visit, so I had met them.  The rest of the family was completely unknown to me.  This trip was my chance to meet them all.

After breakfast with Heidi and her husband, we went to Sally’s husband Jim’s house.  It was wonderful to meet the man that Sally had spent her life with.  She was such a great person and he turned out to be as well.  Personally, my heart was breaking for him, as she was no longer at his side.  He was a wonderful guy and I’m so happy to have met him.

After hanging out with Jim for a bit, Glenn and I left to meet up with Glenn’s brother, Steve and his SO, Emily.  We spent some time with them at a cool beach called Otter Creek.  This was a really pretty spot that is part of Sleeping Bear Dunes.  I liked the beach and it was good to reconnect with Steve.  It was also good for Glenn to be able to see both his siblings while in Michigan.  Unfortunately for him, I’m the only one that got to visit his parents!

We then went to the campground where Becky’s sisters and their families were camped for the week.  I got to meet the whole family and check out their super nice RVs!  Everyone was kind and I was thrilled to meet these extensions to my own family.  We then went back to Jim’s house to get ready for the potluck the families would have that evening.

Gathering

We all joined up at Jim’s sister’s house and enjoyed each other’s company and some great food.  For my part, I was glad to get to be sharing some time with these marvelous people.  There was great conversations, enjoyable people, and, as I said, good food.  I got to know a lot of new people, all of whom I liked and it made me feel much closer to my own family, as these were their people.

Breakfast on the beach

I do find being around strangers draining, and large groups can be overwhelming, so I was exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.  There was no problem for me sleeping that night!  I was up early though, as is my habit, and we got ready to go to Frankfort to get some vegan breakfast.  We were excited to try this place.  Before we got our breakfast, we indulged in a huge vegan peanut butter cookie that we split 3 ways.

Becky and I enjoying our pre-breakfast cookie!

We drove to Frankfort and ordered our breakfast as takeaway and took it to the beach.  The breakfast was fantastic and the beach view was really good too.  Lake Michigan really is beautiful, at least the parts I saw.

 

The lighthouses at Frankfort.

A view of the lighthouse.  Photo by Becky.

It was windy, but we were glad to be together.

Alpacas!

After breakfast, we headed back to the campground to hang out with the family.  Becky and Glenn got to catch up and I really enjoyed getting to know everyone.  There were lots of questions asked about the motorcycle trip, which I was happy to answer.  They all might think I’m crazy, (I mean, I DO!), but it was still great they were interested.

They told us about an alpaca farm just up the road, and since we raise alpacas, we went to check it out.  They had 3 adorable babies, one that looked just like our Django when he was a baby!  We had a good time looking at their animals, but it really made me miss mine all that much more.  There is a lot to be said for going on a trip like this, but home definitely has it’s advantages too.

Memorial

We went back to Jim’s to help set up for the service.  While it was a sad reason to get together, the service was beautiful and there was a lot of love there.  After the service, we had a great potluck, complete with vegan food and pies.  I talked to even more members of the family, which was nice.  I got to know a lot of extended family members, and for that I was grateful.

While the family was planning for a family breakfast the next morning at 1030, I was leaving before that.  I said my goodbyes and the three of us headed back to the hotel.  It had been a perfect couple of days surrounded by love and family and no travelling.

A place to stay

I told Becky and Glenn of my dilemma of where to stay over the next few days.  The Bunk a Biker in Ishpeming didn’t return my messages, so I had nowhere to stay tomorrow night.  Glenn found a great Michigan State Park, Van Riper.  I booked a spot online and was set for that night.  Becky found a Corps of Engineers campground in Minnesota and booked that online as well.  We looked around and I found a Bunk a Biker in Grand Forks, ND that agreed to allow me to stay with her, and a North Dakota State Park, Lewis and Clark.  I would still need to figure out my stays in Montana, Idaho, and Nevada, but those were a few days down the road, so I had time to find something.

The second best thing about the last couple of days, after being with my family, was it didn’t rain!  Not even a drop after the first day!  Tomorrow would be a sad day for me, as I would be leaving my family again.  I would not think about that today.  Today was for enjoying today.