Encountering Friendly and Helpful People from Tawas to Harrisville, MI: October 12-13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Generous People Around Tawas, MI
I didn't leave the Econo Lodge at Au Gres until around 10 am. It was good that I had a good sleep. I also managed to phone ahead to Catherine at the Hospice of Michigan in Tawas and to Cindy Spens at the Hospice of the Sunrise Shore in Rogers City. The connections were starting to work out.
The day was overcast and windy, but not bad for walking. I had just past an area with warning signs about sink holes and hidden cliffs in the woods off to my left when a car pulled over to the side of the road. Inside the car were a couple called Nancy and Craig. They talked to me about the walk, then offered to find me a place to stay in Tawas. I took them up on the offer, and off they drove. In a few minutes they returned and told me they had booked me into the Surfside Motel. All I had to do was get there. I thanked them and off they went.
To the right of the road after a sign for the small town of Alabaster a walking and cycle trail began. It was good to get off the road. The trail wended its way between trees with red and yellow leaves and many fallen leaves covered the tarmac surface.
I listened to my CD player as I walked, but saw a car pull over. A lady with blonde hair climbed out of the car and walked through the thin cover of trees to meet me on the trail. She had seen me walking earlier, then spotted me on the trail. She, too, then offered to book me into a motel in Tawas. I explained that somebody had beat her to it, but she then gave me a $50 donation for hospice. In my coat pocket I now had around $100 in donations. I had also been given a baseball cap, with the U.S. flag and a pin of the State of Michigan on it by a man called Dennis. I was amazed at the generosity of the people in the area around Tawas.
As dusk was falling I walked into Tawas. Catherine from the Hospice of Michigan pulled up in her truck and also offered me a place to stay. I explained that I had been booked into the Surfside Motel, but we arranged for me to meet up with a hospice nurse called Darlene Weatherwax the next morning, so the two of us could walk to the hospice office in Tawas. All was well. I waved Catherine goodbye and then found my way to the Surfside Motel.
The Surfside Motel
I checked in with Don Bowman, who was the father of the owner of the motel. His son was also called Don. Room 9 was warm and dry and the temperature outside was falling fast as the sun went down. Don was in his early seventies and lived down in Detroit, but had come up to take care of the motel for a week or so. Don was also involved with the Salvation Army and ran a program to give food and shelter to homeless people down in the Warren area of Detroit. We talked for a while as I checked in and Don said he would like to walk with me to a place called Mitch's and have breakfast before I set off in the morning. I thanked Don and said I would check out what time Mitch's opened and get some dinner there, too.
With my gear left at the motel I walked on down to Mitch's. Their specialty was pizza, but I ordered a sub sandwich. It was good. As I sat eating the food I got talking to one of the waitresses there, about the walk. As I left Mitch's a man inside wished me luck. I headed back to the warmth of the Surfside Motel.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Fun Breakfast – and Another 1988 Re-connection
Breakfast with Don Bowman at Mitch's was fun. As soon as we walked in, my “hosts” Nancy and Craig also showed up with friends of theirs. I showed them the book and they read about my visit to Tawas back in 1988. It turned out that one of Nancy's friends had cut the hair of Rose Shoemaker's mother, and knew Rose; I had stayed with Rose when I passed through Tawas before.
For my breakfast I had a Western omelette and Don Bowman paid for my breakfast. I thanked Don, Nancy and Craig and left Mitch's feeling full and happy. Don shook my hand and told me he was glad he had walked part of my journey with me...even if it was only down to Mitch's!
Darlene and the Skunky Car
I hadn't walked far when I saw Darlene from the Hospice of Michigan pull over in her car. As she came up to me she apologized for the smell. All I could smell was perfume, but she said her dog had just got “skunked” and her car now also smelt of skunk. The dog she had was a stray they had adopted and when it had turned up on their door step it had just had a tussle with a porcupine and had porcupine quills stuck around its snout. I asked if her husband used the dog for hunting, but we both agreed that as it went for skunks and porcupines it probably wasn't the best hunting dog.
Walking and talking with Darlene to the hospice office made the first 4 miles of the walk pass by fast. Darlene thanked me for doing the walk for hospice. As we walked by one spot and crossed the road, Darlene told me that she had been fined there for '”jaywalking” when she was younger.
A Dead Snapping Turtle
At the Hospice of Michigan I said goodbye to Darlene and Catherine, then headed out of town. As I walked off it became windy. Red and yellow leaves from maples blew through the air and fell like psychedelic snow fall...it was a beautiful sight.
By the roadside I saw a dead snapping turtle. It was a small one, in that its shell was the size of a dinner plate. Even so it had a big old head with a sharp beak and ridged spines on its tail that would have looked at home on a Flintstone's dinosaur. It lay by the roadside with no visible damage. I guessed it had been over to Lake Huron and had tried to get back to where it came from, but must have been hit by a car. Its shell was covered in mossy weed.
Destination: Harrisville – 30 Miles Away
My destination that day was Harrisville, about 30 miles from Tawas. I knew I would reach there late at night. I didn't know where I would be staying there, or even if there was a motel.
The walk took me to the harbor at the Au Sable River. Large boats were moored up and covered for the winter. Au Sable merged into the town of Oscoda. At a park there I took a photo of a statue of Paul Bunyan
Then decided to stop off at the McDonald’s, before I walked on into the night. It was about 4 pm and I probably had another 17 miles to go to reach Harrisville.
New Friends in McDonald’s
No sooner did I walk into the McDonald’s than people inside started to ask about the walk. Four people sat at the table next to mine. There were three women, Mary, Nancy, and Ruth, and one man, John, Ruth’s husband. We fell to talking. Nancy and Mary were particularly interested in what I was up to and read parts of the book that I carried with me. I swapped e-mail addresses with Nancy and said I would stay in touch to let the four of them know what happened as I carried on the journey.
It was also lucky I had met them. They told me that the couple who owned the coffee shop across from the McDonald’s lived in Harrisville and could probably tell me about a place to stay. Thanking Nancy and Mary I headed over to the coffee shop. The place was just closing, but the owners let me in. It turned out that they owned a guest house called The Copper Inn, about 2 miles from Harrisville. They said I could stay there the night. I was much relieved.
Walking to The Copper Inn
As I walked out of Oscoda it was getting cold. The owners of the Copper Inn said it was only 14 miles away. It was 5:15 as I left Oscoda. I bought a York Peppermint Patty and 3 packets of peanut M&M's at a gas station and walked off.
By 7 pm it was dark and cold. I walked on. From time to time I would use my phone and the light it cast to check house numbers. The number of the Copper Inn was 913. I was passing houses in the 1500's, when a truck pulled over. The two guys inside had seen me walking way back earlier in the day and wanted to check to see if I was ok. I told them about the walk and they took my card with the Web site address. They were amazed that I had walked from New York and said they would buy the book about the walk back in 1988. I thanked them and waved them goodbye.
Standing talking to them had made me cold. It was probably around 30 degrees or so. I walked on and was glad as the house numbers came down to 1000 and finally I saw a lighted sign saying “Copper Inn.”
An old white house stood over a set of rail tracks. The door to the right of the building was open and I walked in. I flicked the light switch and it was good to be inside. The warmth felt heavenly. I closed the door against the cold of night and locked the door. Taking my shoes off I climbed into bed to warm up and ate two packets of peanut M&M's.
Once I'd got warm I cleaned my teeth and got back into bed, still wearing my jumper and trousers. I had been really cold until I had got into the room. In no time I was asleep. From time to time I would wake and think about what lay ahead.
Thinking Ahead, to the Upper Peninsula
I had reached Harrisville and the next step was to get to Alpena. Beyond there I would link up with the people from Rogers City and Cheboygan, then reach Mackinac City and begin the long journey across the wilds of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. With the temperatures already down in the 30's I wondered what the U.P. and beyond would hold.
