R and J in the USA

July 7, 2024

We met Beth and Wayne at a trailhead parking lot in Mackinaw City, Michigan, at the northern tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. They were loading up their bikes after a 40-mile ride along the North Central State Trail, part of an extensive bike path network operated by the Top of Michigan Trails Council. Originally from the greater Detroit area, they now live in Northern Michigan in a town where we recently spent a few days.

They were interested in our van and our trip, as they recently bought a Thor camper van. The van is a gift to themselves for the upcoming 50^th anniversary of a marriage that began when Beth proposed to Wayne long-distance from a phone booth.

As mentioned in our post detailing Julie’s 45th Birthday, Beth became the source of a mystery solved about what invisible creatures had covered Julie’s entire body in red itchy bumps. Julie, at this point, was no longer suffering from nightly bouts of inflamed itching, but still had dark colored marks over her body. “Oh, you’ve got swimmer’s itch.” Beth proclaimed, pointing at Julie’s marks. Julie’s eyes widened as answers were finally abounding. Beth pointed to her own marks and assured Julie that the marks would eventually disappear (which they did) after a few weeks and finally filled in some answers. It turns out, swimmer’s itch, is a condition known to the area as something one gets ONLY in the Torch Lake waters. Apparently it is from a parasite in the duck and goose poop surrounding the lake that, for whatever reason, only afflicts swimmers in this particular lake and, at that, only the select few. Not everyone gets it and Ryan had come out unscathed. Beth informed them that all you needed to do was scrub the area where you felt the itches forming and the invisible parasites would fall right off. Good note for next invisible firestorm.

Both Beth and Wayne were both enthusiastic talking about the Upper Peninsula, where we would be heading the next day, especially Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. They talked about how different Pictured Rocks was years ago, before it was a national park. There were no guardrails and no restrictions. Beth told us she took a group of girls there and pitched tents right on the beach when she was a camp counselor 50 years ago. Wayne told us the two of them camped right on what is now one of the more popular rock formations.

Here in the present day, Beth and Wayne are parents, grandparents, and business owners who make time to enjoy the beautiful area in which they live.