“Better than Disney World”

When I asked my daughter how her spring break vacation was she said, “Better than Disney World.” At that moment we were flying off Bois Blanc Island after spending a pleasant and adventure-filled week at Insel Haus (www.inselhausbandb.com) with Christa and Shelby. Pleasant because the island is pretty much deserted at this time of year and all there is is peace and quiet. Adventure-filled because we had some great “weather.” First a pretty hefty wind storm, followed shortly by a day of every kind of precipitation possible plus wind, then a day of snow-snow-and-more-snow. Oh, yes and no electricity either! Thankfully, Insel Haus has a big generator (it cooled a rail car in its previous life) so during the day we had electricity and we just slept in the dark. Here’s our time there in pictures, more or less.

This photo gets you started. When we first flew in there was ice on the mainland side (west of Cheboygan), the next day we woke up to our bay full, and then by afternoon it had migrated to Cheboygan. Fun to watch and doesn’t it make an interesting picture? What looks like sky is really a cluster of ice chunks. I LOVE watching the ice in the spring. Once upon a time when Mariah was in Kindergarten we lived on an island in Lake Orion that had no bridge. We got real good at gauging the ice (okay, I fell through a few times) and haven’t lost our fascination with it.

Insel Haus as viewed from the lake shore. Pretty even in spring.

Our being at the island gave Christa an excuse to sit and knit . . . alot. That’s “my” chair and yarn in the foreground. I sat there more than usual this visit. I did lots of sampling for a shawl I’m working on with Kathy, my super-wonderful knitter friend. I sample, I scribble, I calculate, then she knits and start working on the next project. I’m not sure who has more fun!

Mariah is a wildlife lover. I always love to see the photos she’s left on my camera after vacation. We watched this pair the entire time we were there.

And the turkeys. Look at that plumage. I wonder if it is mating season? We don’t usually see such a display.

And then the storm came.

Snow stuck to everything, even the sides of the deck. It didn’t last long as it rained by the end of the day and the trees lost their “frosting,” but it sure was beautiful while it lasted.

Sunday was the proverbial day after the storm. It was simply brilliant out. This is a shot of the driveway. Everything was so pristine.

Our goodbye. Christa and Mariah preparing to break through the pristine snow!

The island airport was improved last year and in addition to a paved runway it has a terminal with telephone. This was Mariah’s first visit to the terminal.

The truck is typical island transportation. A real classic. Many of the residents have “island cars” that live at the township parking lot near the dock when their owners are off the island. I have been going to the island for over 20 years with Bill and Maggie and they carry their (car or truck) battery back and forth. Island living at its best! Oh yes, that’s our plane in the background over the bed of the pick up.

Goodbye to the island. If you look closely you can almost make out the Mackinaw Bridge in the background.

All in all, a great getaway. I am thrilled that a 15-year-old had a great time. Of course, she did have TWO computers with her and Insel Haus has wireless Internet. We also squeezed in Monopoly and many episodes of the Gilmore Girls. A good mother-daughter time.