Friday, July 14, 2006

Update from the UP

Update: This isn’t going to be a very polished post, just a bit about the trip so far. I got up here Sunday evening and Monday morning we started building the house (the foundation had been completed prior to our arrival). By quit’en time Monday, we’d build the box on the foundation and set the walls. On Tuesday, we set trusses and sheeted the roof (I got out of sheeting the roof having volunteered to do a Dutch-oven dinner for folks on Tuesday night. Later Tuesday night, we saw the most wonderful sunset over Lake Superior. Wednesday morning, one group did roofing while the rest of us completed things inside and put on foam insulation board. That afternoon we started putting on siding while a group, working with the electrician on our team, ran wires. While this was happening, another group inside insulated the walls. Yesterday, we pretty much finished up the siding and everything except for the ends (we ran out of siding and had to wait till this morning to finish). We then spent much of the afternoon swimming in Lake Superior which was surprisingly warm! This morning, we finished up and cleaned up things. Tomorrow, everyone heads home but me—I’ll meet up with some friends and be on the Fox River by 10:30 AM (if all goes well).

Fishing Update: I got a chance to fish for about 45 minutes on Wednesday. I went over to the Au Train River (really, it’s just a good side creek) and fished just below the falls, where the river tumbles over cliffs. The river is about 6 miles from where we’re building the house. I caught a small brown trout and missed another, using a flyrod and cheating (using a small hook and worm instead of a fly). Hopefully, I'll eat my fill of trout for the next four or five days.

Computer Update: Boy, it was easier to get an internet connection in Honduras than up here in the UP. In the area where we are at, the only connections are dial-up and I didn’t have a phone connection. I came into Munising this afternoon, where there’s a coffee shop with wireless. I hope everyone is doing okay. I’ll be back around next Wednesday or Thursday and will catch up with folks after then. I may even have a few pictures I can bum from folks with digital cameras and upload so that you can at least see the house.

11 comments:

  1. Good to hear things are going well up there. I miss checking your website every morning for some new words of wisdom. I've instead caught up on some of your archives that I hadn't yet read.

    Glad that you got some fishing in and hope you get some more done. Fishing isn't measured by the number of fish caught but the number of minutes spent doing something you love and not worrying about anything else. It's still nice to get a belly full of fresh fish now and then.

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  2. Great to see your update!

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  3. I was wondering where you had disappeared. I have diserted my blog too for a couple of weeks, but for more mundane reasons, like working in torrid London. If you ever want to rebuild a flat in London (mine!) I can provide free accomodation and (frozen) fish and chips...

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  4. well done you! thanks for the update ... i'll look forward to the pics. eat a pastie for me :)

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  5. great report! i love the UP!!

    btw, couldn't even get on the internets in Houghton Lake. :-)

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  6. Great post! Glad to hear things are well in the UP. Pictures of the house would be great as well as some of the trip after if you could manage it. If not, how big is the house if you could roughly describe it. Seems yall produced a house in no time flat, way to go. Glad to hear the fishing is also going well. Looking forward to the next update; have a great trip Sage!

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  7. I'm back--safe and sound and with with lots of stories to tell. I'm not sure I'll get up a post tomorrow, if not then I'll try before the weekend to get one up.

    btw, I caught plenty of fish and we had a couple great trout dinners in camp.


    Ed, even if I hadn't caught any fish, I would have enjoyed just being out on the rivers... This was the second trip down the Two-hearted which is my favorite river (the Waccamaw in NC would be a close second). The river is more beautiful than the poetic name.

    Murf, what town?

    Seawyf, glad to see you back-don't work so hard (I'll be telling myself that tomorrow)!

    Kontan, more to follow...

    Keda, that's right, being from Cornwall, you'd know about pasties... do you know about the Cornish in the UP?

    Kenju, it was great.

    Karen, I've only driven by Houghton Lake--I've been in Michigan 2.5 years and this is my 4th trip to the UP. It's almost like being back west! And after the storms on Sunday, not only did a lot of areas not have internet, they didn't have power, but that didn't stop us.

    V, I'll try to get some pictures developed--the house was about 1100 square feet.

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  8. Hey you did cheat!

    I bet the sunsets are truly beautiful up there over the lake.

    Best of luck with your generous project!

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  9. What an amazing adventure. I wish I had your skills. As it is, my abilities seem to start and end with words and images. Tools? Not so much.

    Thankfully, I can read you - and cross your path on Michele's - and live vicariously through your experiences. How lucky I am!

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  10. Wow, 1100 sq ft --- and it seemed to take yall days to finish it? That's pretty impressive.

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