Brian's Log Cabin

A Crazy Weekend...

So we begin by driving up there on a Friday night...there was 3 of us...myself, my buddy Randy and my buddy Gary...now, in case you hadn't heard the horror stories, Gary snores louder than a dozen bears hibernating for the winter. Normally, whenever I go anywhere with Gary, I bring earplugs that muffle, but cannot possibly hope to eliminate, the noise. So, we decided to book him his own room. Before we left, we received report of a 60 car pile-up on the highway 1 mile after the exit we were getting off at. Perhaps we should have taken this as a sign and stayed home.....but we pressed on... So we get to the hotel, and the accident had been cleaned up. So Randy and I go to our room and Gary to his. Little did I realize that the spirit of Gary was going to haunt me as Randy, who has never snored on any of our past trips, starts snoring like a friggin BEAR too...ugh.... So we get up the next morning and head out to my cabin. Everything looks fine, but the path in (which was not plowed) is a little slippery...and yes, you will hear more about this later... Here are some great photos of the cabin from the "partially-frozen" lake...yes, I said "partially"...
A Great View of the Cabin from the "almost" frozen lake	Close Up of the house from the lake	From the back of the house	The Side View
A Different Angle	One more Angle	One more Angle	We were pretty far out in the middle of the lake before Gary's foot fell in...
View of the Lake	View of the Lake	Randy climbs where the stairs are gonna be
So we decide to walk out onto the frozen lake for a view of the cabin from the lake. We're hearing a little crackling, but figure that is normal. Suddenly, near the center of the lake, Gary's foot breaks through the ice and sinks about 6 inches. Well we decide that is enough and head towards the safer shoreline area. It seems safe enough there, so we start hiking around the perimeter of the lake. Suddenly Randy breaks through the ice and is diving for shore. Luckily, the water was only up to his knees, or we'd have been in real trouble. So, after that, we decide that we've had enough of walking on the ice and head for shore.
Here's where Randy punched thru the ice	Luckily it was only up to his knees	He didn't seem to find it as funny as we did	And here's all three pictures together...
We get back to the truck, and Randy changes into a new pair of socks and borrows Gary's extra pair of boots. So, we proceed backing out of the driveway since there is no place to turn around. Well, when we do find a place to turn around, there is a solid sheet of ice underneath it, and my truck gets stuck. So we spend about a half hour getting the truck unstuck to get near the gate leading out of my property (which is closed). But when we stop to open the gate, we're on ANOTHER sheet of ice and trying to go up a small hill. Well, we get about halfway up the hill and start sliding sideways.....towards a pretty steep ditch...... So a bunch of pushing and tires spinning later, the truck is leaning precariously TOWARDS the ditch and we decide to call my motor club. Luckily enough, at this point, a guy in another big pickup truck sees our predicament and stops to lend a hand. One pull later, and we are back on the road again. People in Michigan are all usually pretty nice, so thanks to that man for the assist.
You can see how deep the snow was	And underneath the snow was a solid sheet of ice...	Luckily, Michigan people are nice....
So, now we head into town and stop at WalMart to buy new pants, shoes and boots which were all pretty thoroughly soaked all the way through. The people at WalMart found it pretty funny too, cause we changed into the new stuff in the dressing rooms and just brought our dirty wet clothes up to the checkout lane with the tags from the clean stuff we were wearing. They even gave us bags for the dirty clothes we were purchasing... So, then we head into town for the chili cook-off, which was a good time. No real crazy events to note there.
Randy pets the ice doggie...	Brian poses with the headless ice sculpture	Randy & Gary watch the ice carving
Then, as we always do, we headed down to the beach to check out the lighthouse. Well, of course, Randy is on the lookout for weak areas of ice (can't imagine why), and decides that we should throw some chunk of ice out from the pier to see how thick the ice is. So he gathers up some blocks of ice to throw and distributes them. Well, here we are throwing ice, when suddenly I realize that the last block of ice I just threw out into Lake Michigan was NOT a chunk of ice, but was, instead, my camera! Luckily, I had just put a new roll of film in it, so I did not lose any critical pictures, but will have to buy a new camera now. Then, I sneak around the backside of the lighthouse to take a pee.....well, on the way down, I start to slide on the ice, and my hat blows off my head. So I need to make a quick decision, do I save myself or my hat? Needless to say, I chose myself. So there goes my hat over the edge and into the drink.
We think Lake Michigan is frozen...	Everyone's favorite The South Haven Lighthouse	If you look real close, you can see the string of my camera floating in the water...
So, of course that meant another trip to WalMart to replace my hat.....which I then wore thru WalMart with the tags still on it.....another good laugh for the WalMart staff I am sure. So, at that point we decided that it was time to go get some Broasted Chicken and head back to Illinois. Of course, Gary did spill his drink all over Randy's coat. But we made it home alive...