Lakes, mosquito bites, and red-eye flights

LONG STORY SHORT
We've been on lots of boats and planes lately.

Life on the road has been hectic recently. Going into this Big Trip, we knew we’d have to sacrifice a lot to make our new lifestyle work: things like easy-to-find groceries, consistent access to laundry services, reliable cell signal, and city-supplied electricity, water, and plumbing.
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But the one thing we weren’t willing to give up? Celebrating milestones with our family.

That’s why, over the past three weeks, we’ve traveled a combined total of 6,024 miles, most of them by flight. Two weeks ago, I flew home to Southern California from Grand Rapids, Mich., to join our future sister-in-law’s bachelorette party and give our nephew a big hug for his first birthday. And this weekend, Jason flew home from Newark, N.J., to raise a glass (or multiple) at his brother’s bachelor party.

That sounds pretty straightforward—until, perhaps, I tell you that each of our trips also involved eight hours of driving across SoCal, plus six hours of layovers for me. (Have you ever sprinted across two airports in one night because your layovers gave you less than an hour to switch planes? I have!)

I’m not sharing any of this to complain. On the contrary: the past two weekends have been so rewarding.

One of the toughest aspects of our 18-month, cross-country road trip has been the time we’ve spent away from friends and family. We’ve missed many special moments—and we’re lucky to have folks who’ve forgiven us for that and cheered us on anyway.

But no matter where we are, we want to cheer them on, too. We want to show up for the moments that are too special to miss.

And if that means running across an airport at 4 a.m. on little to no sleep?
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We’ll do it again and again and again.

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Where have we been?

Voyageurs National Park, Minn.

​Before hustling to any airports, we headed to the northeastern tip of Minnesota to paddle a canoe in Voyageurs National Park. If I look less than enthused in the photo above, don’t blame it on the canoe—blame it on the twelve mosquito bites covering my arms and legs. The little suckers love me so much that they made my right foot swell up for three days. Thankfully, Jason knows how to lift my spirits when I’m down, and he managed to get me outside.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wis.

​Known as the Jewels of Lake Superior, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore could soon become Wisconsin’s first full-fledged national park, and we could see why. While here, we hopped on a ferry to see the 22 wooded islands from the water. (I also had nearly 20 fresh mosquito bites on my legs, but I was determined not to let that ruin our day.) We saw lighthouses built in the 1800s, took a close look at the intricate sea caves of Devils Island, and got a taste of Lake Superior’s unique weather system as rain chased us back to shore.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Mich.

As if Lake Superior hadn’t blown our minds already. About 250 miles east of Apostle Islands, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore spans 15 miles of shoreline along Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and we climbed into yet another boat—this time, a tandem kayak—to explore it. We paddled through sea caves, drifted beneath rock arches, and were dwarfed by the sandstone cliffs towering over our tiny boat. We won’t be surprised if this place earns national-park status one day, too. (And I’m happy to report I had zero mosquito bites on this outing.)

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Where are we going next?

We’ve escaped the land of mosquitoes (for now) and made our way east. I’m sending this newsletter a week later than planned—see “our life has been hectic” above—so as of this writing, we’ve reached New York. Later this week, we’ll head up to Canada for a Blue Jays game before bouncing around the eastern U.S. for a bit.

110. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
111. New York, N.Y.
112. Buffalo, N.Y.
113. Toronto, Ontario
114. Detroit, Mich.
115. New River Gorge National Park, W. Va.
116. Louisville, Ky.