Recap of the Weekend

So, it's been a fun/tiring weekend, here's a little recap of what the "Guy's" weekend was like.

Thursday:
Started off at around 7:20PM went to go pick up Sergiy, and then off to pick up Mike, I couldn't go the quickest way because someone decided to blow up an Oil Tanker the night before so 75 was still closed. On the way from picking up Mike, getting on the highway, I almost get us killed getting on the on-ramp (great way to start a trip). The joys of driving for hours on 75 are awesome, especially when they GPS keeps telling you to turn around and drive through Chicago. First unexpected stop at a rest area due to Mac and Cheese, and boy oh boy you know it's gonna be a great stop when you open the door and everything smells like cow manure. Back on the highway, need to find food about 10:30ish we stop in at Gaylord, why does everything close so early? Ended up eating at Big Boy, then back on the road for a long time.

Friday
Fast forward to maybe 3:30am or 4, I don't remember Mike and Sergiy asleep in the car, me running on adrenaline and red bull, misjudged how quickly one can wear off, so I maybe nodded off for a second somewhere west of Marquette, then the caffeine kicked in again, and I was fine. Roll into the Porcupine Mountains at about 6am, oh did I forget to mention it was foggy and raining all the way from Gaylord to the State park, made for some fun times on the road. So 6am still foggy, can see maybe 20 feet in front of you, I get 20 minutes of sleep in the car, I'm ecstatic about this. We decide to see the Lake of the Clouds, and boy did it earn its name that day, you can't see a damn thing other than the Guard wall, so back to the car, and head into town for breakfast, which is about 20 miles away, a great sign that my reaction time is lacking was when Mike kept yelling DEER and about 15 seconds later I reacted. There's a bar called Stubbs here, I will need to visit later. After breakfast we go to the "grocery" store, they have lawnmowers in front of the refrigerators here, I think this is hilarious and took a picture. Why did Sergiy and Mike decide that raman was a good idea? Back to the camp with a detour at some river along the way, now to walk some trails, because the fog is gone.
Beautiful waterfalls, and awesome trails, except that apparently I walk too fast for the two guys, and am told to slow down, absolutely not. We keep going, it is seriously just amazing up there. After the trails we go to set up camp, and yes we did have to read the instructions on how to put the tent up. We attempt Lake of the clouds again, this time we can see the lake and like everything else it is just amazing. Back to camp we go, and boy did we look like College kids with our Raman and Hot Dogs, oh and to top it off we had a hard time starting the fire. We decide to hit up the city one more time, make a few phone calls, and try to catch the Tigers score. We walk in and right out of Stubbs, holy crap is it the locals only bar. We then drive down to a bar called Porkys, and someone please explain to me why at both bars they watch the weather channel? Back to the park to get some sleep.

Saturday

Leaving the park, there are ravens on the road, at least I thought they were ravens, almost all of them get out of the way except for the hawk(?) which decides turning towards my car and windshield was a good idea. I am sorry little bird I had no intention of killing you, and of course bird man is sitting next to me and I feel horrible. Well enough of that back to driving to the Keweenaw. On the way there Houghton/Hancock has an awesome river view we decide to stop and take pictures. I end up rolling my ankle on a sidewalk, great and 2 more days of hiking. On the first hike nothing says Nature Conservancy trail like shit stained underwear on the side, pics to come later, awesome view of Lake Superior. Second hike according to the hiking book is a moderate hike, F*CK YOU STUPID BOOK. The hike involved rock climbing, six inch paths on the side of the bluffs, rock slides, and a lot of holy shit is that seriously where the trail goes? After a bit of climbing/hiking we ascend to the top of the bluffs, and yes like everything else it was just beautiful. Only problem was I rolled my ankle a few more times on this hike, good times there. I should have taken some pics of the trail, but I was more worried about not falling off the bluff, so I kept walking. After the trail we met a couple going to attempt the hike, we told them to go the old easy way, because she would have killed the guy if they did the real trail. We also found out that they met the trail designer, he told them this was the most difficult trail he's ever designed. A warning or a sign explaining this to people might have been helpful.

Down to Calumet to visit on old bar that sounds cool, but is now closed for business...off to Houghton. The Keweenaw Brewing Company has great beer, the Library brew pub has ok beer but great food, and yes I'm drinking again. I was buzzing by the time I left the library and decided to give up my keys at the restaurant. Holy Crap what did I do, I asked for help, NOOOOO!!!!! Ended up in Marquette and spent the night in a suite in a Hotel, good job Mike, only problem was there were only two beds, so I ended up bunking with Sergiy. Note to everyone Sergiy apparently searches for heat sources at night and tried to spoon with me, I almost ended up falling off the bed trying to get away, I thought this was nicer than just punching a sleeping guy. He turned away and I went back to sleep, I was over the covers he was under them.

Sunday
We wake up, and head to the beach take some more pics, and head east in the UP, another waterfall with a snapping turtle that Mike rescued. Off to Lunch at the Lake Superior Brewing Company, again great beer, and the Blueberry Wheat is awesome. More hiking, Sable falls and Log Slide travel, note to DNR when mentioning shipwrecks visible, please add only wooden board on shore left, and you can't really tell it was from a boat. And after this trail we call it a weekend and start the drive home. On the drive Mike tells me that he was secretly pleased that I rolled my ankle because I slowed down on the trails...thanks! We get home just after 1am, and I'm exhausted, I have to be at work by 9am Monday morning.

I make it in time to work, but feel like I might pass out any minute...where did I put those disgusting 5 hour energy shots again??? More pics to come sometime, not sure when.