The last month and half has been a time of transition for
us. Jamie was offered a postdoctoral position at Michigan Tech University in
Houghton, MI so we decided he should accept the position and that we would move
this summer. While I am excited about the new adventure, I have lived in
Flagstaff for over a decade and have many wonderful friends there and that part
makes me sad (that, however, will be for another post someday). One complication was that Jamie moved
out a month before we did (end of May) with a moving truck and all of our
stuff, and then I drove Aspen, the two kitties, and a car full of crap
important things to Houghton at the end of June.
It was a 5 day drive, and
actually wasn't horrific (not that I really want to do it again anytime soon). Finn meowed the first 3 hours of every day, but since he was
way in the back I could mostly ignore him (sorry Finn). Freyja added some
sporadic meowing, but few cats are up able to keep up with Finn when he really
gets going (thankfully!). Finally,
Aspen was a trooper! She definitely was sick of the car, but she did an awesome
job. Two highlights of the trip
were getting to visit friends in both Durango and Chicago.
This picture is actually from Houghton, but it accurately
depicts what Aspen looked like for most of the drive. Let me just say, that car seat is DISGUSTING (but I haven't washed it yet, of course, because life is busy...and because it feels somewhat futile as I know it is just going to get gross again).
Houghton is on the Keweenaw peninsula, sticking out into Lake Superior.
Not only is there lake on either side, but a mostly natural canal that runs directly between Houghton and Hancock (the city on the other side of the canal). Basically, there is a LOT of water everywhere and a LOT of places to go swimming!
The two weeks we have now been here (we arrived on July 4th), we have been swimming at least 6 times. There is a small swimming beach on the canal a 15 minute walk from our house, but we have also ventured out to swim in Lake Superior itself. To swim in the lake we went to the Great Sand Bay, on the Northwest side of the Keweenaw peninsula. Although the water was cold (much colder than in the canal) it was still a lot of fun!
Looking down either side of Great Sand Bay.
Playing in the water, brrrr!
Playing on the beach!
This girl loves both, quite a bit!
At this time of year, Houghton reminds me a lot of the Pacific Northwest. There are sunny hot days, followed by cloudy rainy days. There is water everywhere and the trees come right up to the beach. Like many waterfront towns in Washington, Houghton itself is on a giant hill that slopes down to the water. The only thing that is missing is that it doesn't smell right. It is freshwater so there is no "ocean" smell, which somehow confuses my brain because it keeps expecting it. It really is a beautiful place though!
1 comment:
THANK YOU dear daughter. I have been looking forward to the "we are here" post and you have sent grand pictures. I can hardly wait to see the area in person (in a few months, of course) and to have a bit of a tour. I especially liked the mapquest-google "we are here" map because my brain keeps trying to put to a few miles to the east. I know, silly, silly, but that's how maps-my-brain go sometimes. Miss you.
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