> From: Kristen Hassmiller > Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 11:23:07 -0400 > Subject: Our camping trip... > > Hi y'all! > > Please forgive the mass email, but we wanted to share a little story with > you all. > > So it looked to be a cold weekend ahead. I couldn't believe that we were > going to actually go through with it. Camping in the UP with highs no > warmer than the mid 50's. Freezing rain, pretty much every day. I don't > even have a truly rain-proof coat! > > Ever ready for an adventure, I mustered up some excitement for the trip. We > packed the car with every single blanket we own. I even insisted on > bringing the air mattress to get us off the cold, damp ground. I borrowed a > tent from Alyssa, a sleeping bag from Darby. I even (secretly) printed out > info on nearby cabins and b&b's in the hope of landing us someplace warm. > > Swift Lightning (my car) carried us away early Friday morning. We were on > our way to meet Elizabeth and Tim (Stephen's sister and brother-in-law) in > the little town of Eckerton (sp?) in "da U.P." to head west together in the > hope of staking out a superb campsite on the beach of Lake Superior. > > Or so I thought. > > Just as we were about to cross the Mackinac Bridge, we received a phone > call. It seemed that Elizabeth's poor car (on its last legs, and honestly > down to three cylinders) had died while they were en route. Stephen > repeated bits of the story... "where are you?" ... "Sudbury" ... (which I > translated, "Sunberry") ... "and the car had to be towed" ... "it is > completely dead?" ... "you are at Tim's high school friend's house...that's > good." > > And despite my repeated attempts to have him get her phone number, the poor > cell phone connection cut out before it was obtained. > > So what do we do now? Do we take the road north to Sault Ste. Marie, to > cross into Canada? Surely it must be a pretty drive to Sudbury (which I'd > found on the map). Look at all of those islands! And Tim and Elizabeth > must be upset. Wouldn't it be nice to at least make a bit of a fun vacation > out of their nightmare? We could risk crossing the border with only > drivers' licenses as ID in Sault Ste. Marie, right? > > Or do we continue west toward Pictured Rocks and just book one of my b&b's. > Perhaps Tim and Elizabeth would just rent -- or even buy -- a new car. They > are stubborn fun-chasers, and had to do that anyway, right? Perhaps they'd > be able to meet us by Saturday. And I found a LIGHTHOUSE to stay in. Does > it get any better? > > So as soon as we crossed the bridge, I insisted that we pull off the highway > in St. Ignace to sort all of this out. Stephen just happened to pull into a > parking lot for a ferry to Mackinac Island. So that became "door 3". We > could ferry over to Mackinac and "waste" time until we figured out what Tim > and Elizabeth were going to do. Or we could even stay on the island, and > persuade them to join us there. It would be an easier drive for them... > Perhaps even the Grand Hotel (a special spot for Stephen and me) might > happen to have a room free for the night. > > What do we do? > > I pushed for Sudbury. Stephen vetoed. I pushed for the lighthouse. "But > you have NEVER seen Lake Superior, and it's the most beautiful of the Great > Lakes." And, "...but it's a LIGHTHOUSE." Stephen responded (with the look > of a kid in a candy store): "Let's go to Mackinac." The place has history > for us, particularly in the fall. He was just too excited to refuse. So I > gave in, and off we were on the 2:30 ferry. > > We reached the island, and proceeded to the Grand Hotel, to try our luck. > There was a long line, and I feared the worst. But as Stephen approached > the front desk, he whipped out a piece of paper and said "I think you have a > reservation for us?." I knew that he was up to something. Oh my goodness! > > Check out the link for the details... > > http://www.econ.lsa.umich.edu/~swlt/pictures/Mack2003 > > He had reserved an amazing room, with a fabulous balcony. He'd been > planning this for months! He secretly packed everything I'd need for a > fancy weekend (rather than a camping weekend), and even bought me a new > outfit to match the ring (the blue dress)! Oh, yeah.... did I mention that > he bought me a new ring for the occasion? > > We are engaged, and absolutely ecstatic. (Although it took me a little while > to figure out which parts of the "camping trip" story were real and which > were lies. While I'd been worried about Tim and Elizabeth being broken down > in Middle-of-Nowhere, Ontario, they were back at home in Toronto hosting a > dinner party.) We are thinking that a Texas wedding is the way to go, > complete with spring wild flowers. So keep mid/late April open, and learn > how to two-step (Note: Brandon, we'll need you to come down and give > lessons!)... we've got a party!!!! > > I'd love to talk with you all, and will be in touch more. I am working > fromm home today, so feel free to ring if you have a chance. > Forgive the mass email again, I just wanted to share all of the details > immediately!!! > > With much love, > Kristen and Stephen > >