Slow Week

Well, it's been a slow week here at Camp Soldner, far out in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Early in the week we had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the solitude. Tuesday night Dar's Mom and  Dad came up to spend a few days and we enjoyed that too. Looks like the weekend will be even busier as Dennis and Laura have a small party planned.

I've been getting in daily sessions with the kayak. Warm days with very little wind have made for perfect paddling conditions. Even though this lake isn't very big, any brisk wind can make the middle of the lake a tough place to be for a light kayak. Fighting both the wind and rough water isn't fun... at least for me. So I've tried to take advantage of the ideal weather during the past few days.

The sauna has been getting a pretty good workout too. In this part of the world saunas are common. They come in handy during the winter as a device that can warm a body all the way to the core. But even during the summer they're good for soothing aching muscles ( especially useful for me these days), deep cleaning the pores, and to just hang out with sweaty friends. It's a very social environment.

My hamstrings are healing nicely... I'm probably back to something like 70% or more. I've been stretching and taking walks, and that all seems like it's doing the job. It could also be that time is the biggest factor in getting back to normal. Either way, I'm resolving to warm up a little before trying anything so crazy the next time.

The way it looks now, we'll be leaving Camp Soldner on Monday or Tuesday... depending on the weather. The planned route is US Highway 2... all the way to Everett, WA, where the highway ends. We're thinking it might be a month or perhaps a little longer for this leg as we'd like to take some time in Glacier National Park and other spots of note along the way.

Waiting for the promised rain...
Thom