Up North

So for our Easter weekend we decided to go up to Torch Lake. I must be a glutton for punishment - cold weather and a non-winterized cottage. That means no insulation which in turn means no water when there are freezing temperatures - which is 9 months out of the year in Northern Michigan! As we pull up to the cottage and hop out of the car, I tell Zac to put his coat on. To which he responds, "What coat? Did you pack my coat?" Are you kidding me, we come up here to play in the snow and you didn't bring your coat?!! Lucky for him Joe brought 2 coats, so at least he had something to wear! We spent a while attempting to bring the cottage's temperature to above freezing and setting up the port-a-potty. Let me tell you, I have never experienced a colder toilet seat in my life!
Then we took a walk out on the lake. It was frozen all the way across - the first time in 5 years. It was an amazing sight and sound. Because it was continuing to freeze there was the eeriest sound travelling on the wind. I can only compare it to the sounds they have recorded from whales under water, a kind of moaning. It was incredible. Then we went sledding. There was about a foot of snow that had melted and refroze so there was a sheet of ice on top. As you can imagine that made for some entertaining sledding. We shot down the hill at hyper speed and then bailed off the sled so as to not run into the trees at the bottom.

Then we ate dinner and went out to Lake Michigan. There were some large chunks of ice out there as well. We didn't get far before Zac slipped and smacked his face on a hill of ice (why he was trying to walk up a hill of ice is beyond me). So then we went back and headed for bed.

The next day was gorgeous, it wasn't too cold and the skies were a brilliant blue and the sun was shining. Joe and Anthony walked out and chatted with someone at an ice shanty on the lake. We went sledding some more. Anthony and Joe tried snowboarding down the hill a few times - if you thought sledding down a sheet of ice was hard try standing up and doing it. Crazy! We went for another walk on the lake and then drove up to Charlevoix to see Lake Michigan up there. It was gorgeous! The lighthouse pier was crazy, covered with big walls of ice from the spray of the waves. There was a lot of ice on the lake there. Then we headed home. It was a memorable weekend. I hope you all had a blessed holiday weekend!