Introduction

We had originally planned to take this trip at the same time of year as our 2004 trip - end of May and beginning of June. But logistics caused us to postpone the trip until September. I was disappointed, but on the other hand, we had all summer to look forward to the trip. See Up North, May - June 2004 for a trip log of last year's trip.

We spent virtually no time planning or preparing before the trip. We were both very busy, we would be re-visiting the same vacation spots, and I had files full of shopping and packing lists which I could use and modify for this trip, so I hadn't felt the need to get started early.

Yet my stress level began to mount as the trip approached and we still had done nothing. Ian had booked us a cottage in the Bruce Peninsula (we were going to stay there instead of camp for the second week), but I'd done nothing. I traveled to Pittsburgh to visit with my family from August 27th through 30th, which placed even greater constraints on the time left to prepare for the trip. But the Pittsburgh trip was an important one and I was not about to miss it just because of a little stress.

However, I began preparing on Wednesday the first of September. There were still Thursday and Friday nights, and Saturday morning. But I wanted to be on the road early enough on Saturday to be able to find a campsite in the U.P. well before nightfall.

Wednesday September 1st

I gathered all of our camping gear together in one place and packed a lot of the other items on my lengthy packing last. By 10 p.m. I was sick of packing. Yet, when I hopped in bed to read, I did all of our food planning instead. By the end of the evening, I had complete lists of what we needed from each store.

Thursday September 2nd

Tonight was food night. After we'd both made trips to several stores, I packed all of the non-perishable food into two milk crates and two boxes. The dinner and breakfast items wound up in one milk crate while the lunch and trail snacks ended up in another. The boxes held duplicates of what was in the crates -- the overflow pantry.

Friday September 3rd

I hadn't felt well all day, and when I got home Ian said he felt wiped out. But we'd been invited to a barbecue for a friend's birthday, and Ian went despite not feeling well. I stayed home, feeling that I had energy to devote to the trip or the party, but not both.

I'd planned to bake a "Chile Rellenos Casserole" to take with us. It was a tasty dish and I needed to use up many home-grown chilies despite having given a large batch to neighbors. I'd had a bumper crop this year, party because I'd built a fence around the garden and partly because the neighbor receiving the chilies had cut some large branches which had been shading the garden.

However, this task just added to the large volume of work I had ahead of me. I had to make matters just a little more complicated by copying the casserole recipe for two sets of neighbors. Cooking and copying took several hours.

I had wanted to see Nano Osbourne, a friend who has been afflicted with cancer for many years, and who had finally gone into hospice. But I doubted that my impending sickness, even if it were only a cold, would be good for her. Ian confirmed this with Nano's husband. Her immune system was compromised, so it was with disappointment that I stayed away.

I'd been wanting to see Nano for many weeks. I'd had the pleasure of spending an evening with her, wondering if it'd be the last time I'd see her. But as she has done so many times before, she surprised us all (perhaps most of all herself) and continued to survive.

It was 10 p.m. by the time I stopped my labors for the night. I felt confidant that we could get on the road in time to camp the next day.