On My Way

So I was thinking back today and I found myself remembering a road trip that me and my family took when I was REALLY little. A few of them actually that REALLY stuck in my mind. This is all about road trips up to my late grandfather's cabin.

I guess we'll start with the trip from the longest while back. I was 2 years old on this trip, and mainly what I remember was after we had arrived, not much of the trip itself. So, I was 2 years old, and the whole family had taken a trip up to Gaylord, right outside of Sault Saint Maire in the U.P. My grandpa had owned a cabin up there for as long as I had known he was apart of my life. The cabin sat RIGHT ON Lake Superior, on a beautiful lot coated in trees of pine, birch, oak and so on. The backyard opened up into the lake, our own private beach, and right near the lot was basically just open woods where you could get lost for hours but not be worried about anything. It was just GORGEOUS every which way you turned. Now that you've got a good visual, as we pulled into the driveway, all loaded up in an old blue conversion van, everyone piled out and was greeted by the welcome wagon. My grandpa Gilbert, grandma Joan, their daughters Sarah and Katie. We had a dog Named Rex at the time, he was my best friend for life. Anyway, so while everyone stepped off and were getting the "Hellos, How are you's, and Where have you been's" out of the way... I managed to sneak off with Rex. Just climbed up on his back, and we strolled away. What I heard later in life was that about 10 minutes had passed before anyone realized that I was gone, and as soon as they did, frantic searches broke out and everyone looked everywhere up and down the lot, drive, and anywhere else that a small baby could possibly fit into. Meanwhile, I was just walking along down the road, riding on my buddies back, enjoying life and its simple pleasures. I was found about 3 miles down the road by my grandpa's closest neighbor, he loaded me and Rex into the truck and carted us back to the cabin. Immediately rushed by everyone, the neighbor calmly said: "Uhm, I think these belong to you." Me and Rex just strolled on down the drive together, smiles on our faces and all.

Rex was like my soul mate. My protector. The best thing that I ever had in my life was the relationship I had with that dog. He was more than my dog, he was my best friend. He was my real family. He went with us everywhere, and he will forever be in our hearts. Rest In Peace buddy.

Alright, little emotional there, let's get back on this run though. So years later, there was another trip that I will never forget. This one is more on the ride there of things I recall.

So were all loaded up into the same big blue conversion van and off we were on the 6-hour drive. It was a long and boring ride, with little rest stops, and a lot of need for bathroom breaks. Having this HUGE van that had massive amounts of space in it, made for a good time when it came to messing around. I didn't much like sitting still, and it irritated my dad, who was driving. I wouldn't sit down and keep my seat belt buckled up, no, I wanted to stand in the isle and goof off so; On the road we were on, dad got sick of my not listening and pulled a quick break check. You never seen someone fly 8 feet from front to back so fast. One second I was facing the back window of the van, next thing I knew I was knocking my forehead off the center console in the front seat. It was a head rush for sure, but no tears, just laughs. I sat down and stayed sitting. In the same trip, this was at least another hour into the ride. We had all stopped for Taco Bell about 50 miles back and were back on the freeway. I had to go, BAD. Brothers were sleeping, and Dad wasn't going to pull over to let me go to the bathroom. SOO, he gave me a Taco Bell cup and I did my business, put the cup lid back on, and set it back in the cup holder towards the front. My brother wakes up a little bit down the road and without hesitation says, "SWEET! Mountain Dew!" Gulps down the cup full of pee and then turns green. Throws his hands over his mouth and yells for us to pull over. Dad see's what happened and rushes off to the side of the road. Colin JUMPED out of the side of the van and hurls EVERYTHING up all over the place. Everyone stepped out to get some air and let out all of their grossed out whines and so on. Colin cried it out and was severely pissed off for the next hundred or so miles. YEARS later we still go on about that moment as it was the most HILARIOUS thing that happened on our collective trips up north.

Crossing the bridge up to the U.P was one of my favorite parts of making that drive. The Mackinaw bridge in all it's glory was and is, absolutely gorgeous in outstanding measures. I lost my gut when we stopped off at the gift shop on the other side one year. My brothers and I were walking through admiring all the little trinkets and toys when I spotted from across the room, the biggest, gnarliest looking Northern Pike. It was mounted right up on the wall in full figure. TERRIFYING piece of nature. It was bigger than I was tall, and had massive teeth that could easily kill an adult human. It's possible I was just seeing it that way as a child, but I have seen some crazy looking Northern Pikes out there. I froze in my tracks and both brothers noted it. Because my grandpa's cabin was on the lake, they would tease me for long after about the Pike coming to get me if I got in the water with them.

Now, I can't recall if this was in the same trip, but I wanna go into the first time I went knee boarding. I wanted to Wake board, but I didn't fit into the boots on the board. So I settled for the knee board and went on with the day.

We had just recently met the neighbors on the other side of my grandpa's cabin, I don't think we were related in any way, but it's possible we were cousins or something. Anyway, so Matt and Kassie (neighbors) got out the Sea Do and got it in the water, pulled out the knee board and wake board and we all dipped into the lake. I was extremely jealous watching Colin and Alec on the wake board, and it took me a minute to calm myself into going ahead with the knee board, but I caved into myself and just went for it. It started slow, I was nervous. I leaned back into the wake and Colin picked up the pace on the Sea Do. It felt pretty great, the wind in my hair, the mist at my back and the adrenaline rush was so intense my hairs didn't know which way to go. It was awesome, right up until the wave rolled in, it met the wake, I shot up easily 5 feet, and the board did a nose dive right into the water. I spazzed and didn't know what to do. I let the rope go after being drug for a good 10 feet, and couldn't manage to roll over. I tried leaning back and flipping myself but ended up making it worse. My knees were strapped so tightly into the board that I couldn't get them free to get myself out of the water. Colin came back around the Sea Do and rolled me over. I didn't go back out that day, I had swallowed at least 3 bottles of water and got scraped by a few fish. I was freaked out over this all together and decided to go back inside and play video games with our cousin Sarah. I'm sure to a lot of people this story isn't all that intense and/or really a reason to have reacted the way I did, but in my position, I was almost drowned by a Styrofoam board trying to have some fun. I look back and kind of laugh at it, but if I were in that position again, my reaction would probably be just as ridiculous.

A few years later, I spent a week up north at the cabin. It was me and my dad, I'm not sure what it was all for but it was very calm this time around. My brothers and sisters had the house to themselves, that's a whole nother side of the story, probably to follow this one. Anyway, some amazing things happened while I was up there in the week. One of which, and this might seem kind of silly to some, but I was a small child mind you. My grandpa let me drive the riding lawnmower for the first time by myself. I got to mow the lawn, weaving in and out of the tree lines, full speed down open stretches, high gear, nothing could kill my buzz. I slept in this little room with a cot in it. The entire wall facing out the back way was just a giant window. Every morning I would wake up to the sunrise shining through the window BEAUTIFULLY glistening off the lake behind the cabin. It was nothing short from magical. One morning I got up and grandpa was sitting at the kitchen table snacking on a fried bologna sandwich. (His favorite right next to peanut butter on crackers). I made one for myself and we both sat out and watched the view. He asked me if I had seen the fox yet, I looked at him puzzled and said "Fox?" He excitedly shouted, "WHAT! Oh, you gotta see this then. EVERY morning between 6:45 and 7 am, a Silver Fox comes strolling through the yard with her pups. Take a moment to catch this thing of beauty. I promise you won't be disappointed." It was about 6 am when we had this conversation, so naturally I couldn't wait to put this to the test. Sure as shit, 6:45 am came rolling around, and this GORGEOUS creature just strolled into view from the windowed wall in the room I slept in. It slowly crept across the lawn with its 3 little pups, just sniffing the ground and enjoying the sunrise. They slid on over to the beach, took a few drinks of water, and just as graciously as they appeared... they were gone. The rest of the time I was up there, I walked long trails and found a few cool spots to explore. Including a very old, kind of run down fishing dock, some really creepy train tracks, a and a butt-load of maze like trail systems that sometimes lead into some very...morbid looking places. It was awesome! Every moment I had spent up at that cabin was heaven at it's finest. Nothing could take those moments away from me.

Now for the flip side. On our way back home, Dad wanted me to call the house to let them know how the trip went. I did, but nobody was happy to hear about how soon we were going to be back. Turns out, my brothers and sister Dani threw a massive party while me and my dad were gone. Now, to place the right imagery, let me give you the layout of the house. It was a 4 bed, 1 bath Ranch style home sitting on about a half acre of land. Fenced in with that old school wire fencing, a decent 2 car garage stuffed full of dads work shop related things, also, in the back yard, we had my dads 1967 Pontiac Firebird. I loved that car, it wasn't finished but it was true beauty at its rawest. An unfinished basement where 2 of the bedrooms were at, and the laundry room to bat. Now, upstairs, we had the kitchen on the main entrance and right behind the kitchen wall was the living room. 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and an office down the hall upstairs. ALRIGHT. Now imagine this WHOLE HOUSE, PACKED with a ton of high school kids, tons of booze, sluts from wall to wall (one of which turned out to be my sister). I found out some horrible things and being as ignorantly swindled into covering for them with the promise that me and my brothers would hang out more, and they would teach me things like real older brothers are supposed to do... I did it; I covered, stalled dad, and we got home with just enough time for them all to clean up the house. They all got busted anyway, but I held my word on not saying anything about it until the word didn't make a difference. Then I got dug into for not saying anything about it when I found out. I was super pissed at my sister though, turns out she used MY BED to have sex with, I think it was 4 or 5 of my brother's friends. GROSS. Colin and Alec were basically drunk banging sluts all night, smoking weed, and being stupid. It was what they did though. They are some ignorant wild ones who really have no kind of sense in direction. That's ok though, as much as I hate them... I love them just the same.

I have to round this one out with, I think some of the most relaxing times that I've had in my life have been spent in some kind of solitude. Whether it be in walking through nature, vibing out with my headphones and a notepad, or just enjoying the serenity of the fresh air, a cool breeze, and a long get away from the hustle and bustle of the dramatic lives of my surrounding people. Sometimes we all need a getaway, but never forget this, just because you've gotten away from the chaos for the moment; Doesn't mean that you aren't going to come back and it's all gone. Sometimes, you'll come back, and the chaos will have left you some new surprises. Kind of like my sister and brothers did for me. Some might even say that it's best to just embrace the chaos and make it work for you. It doesn't have to be that way, but there does need to be a balance between the 2. So take those moments to breathe, let go, relax, and in that time, put together a plan to deal with the chaos that you know you'll be coming back to.

Thank you for reading, and please continue to do so. Fair warning, I do intend on doing whatever I can to make something out of these stories on a professional level. I hope that these words you read in my articles not only make you laugh and cry but also opens your eyes and heart.

Written and lived by: Zachery Lee