I went up to Detroit for a visit and this time had enough time to be able to go up to my family's cabin with my dad for his 70th birthday (his dad only made it to age 60).
I haven't been up there in about 15 years, since before I moved away from Michigan in 1996. Many things have changed, but many things remain the same also.
The day we were headed up (Monday, July 25th) would have been my granny's 100th birthday. We stopped in Chesaning (Showboat City) where she used to live and then stopped at the cemetery to say hello and happy birthday.
As with anything great, the fun is in the journey AND the destination. We always stopped at a few special places on the ride up.
We didn't stop this time, as we stopped instead at the Turkey Roost in Kawkawlin where our order arrived in about 5 minutes!
Then we stopped at H&H Bakery in Pinconning to get Cinnamon Bread with frosting on top (SO good!) and Pecan Rolls.
Also in Pinconning, which is known for it's cheese, we stopped at Wilsons Cheese Shoppe for some famous Colby Cheddar. Though I tried all 5 sharpnesses, we settled on a pound of Medium Sharp.
At the A&W in Standish you can still either order from your car window and they bring your food out on roller skates, or inside you can order through a speaker in each booth. This was cutting edge technology back in the day!
Also in Standish, you pass the Standish Speedway. I don't think they race there anymore, but it used to a happening track!
Once you get out of civilization, there are still a few memorable spots.
You used to travel directly over the AuSable River Bridge. There was a dangerous hairpin curve just past it. On this curve, me and my friends Angie and Tommy were headed up in the winter and the roads were snowy and icy. The tires locked up and we skidded sideways and the car slid backwards down the embankement where the back of the car came to rest propped on a tree trunk. Fortunately for us, my father was about 15-20 minutes behind us. We called AAA and had it towed back onto the road. To this day, I still think about how we never would have been able to drive the car if we had gone down head-first, not to mention what could have happened had we not been stopped by that tree. There was easily another 30-50' downhill into the snowy woods. Anyway, everyone was fine except the trunk was smashed in. Now, a new bridge goes alongside the old bridge and that area of road no longer exists - It has been re-routed as a safer, gradual curve.
For the first time ever (for me), we stopped at one of the scenic overlooks. This is the Westgate Scenic Overlook - The waterway is Loud Dam. This is on M-65.
The sawmill usually has huge piles of sawdust, but now it has piles of logs.
Yay! We've reached Hubbard Lake Road! Not far to our cabin on the East side of Hubbard Lake now!
We've arrived! And a very large branch has fallen off a tree, blocking the path to the door. More to come...
