When you look at a map of Wisconsin, and you look at that little northern spur that sticks out into Lake Michigan, you're looking at Door County.
A popular location for weekenders and summers-in-the-family-cabin people, it consists of small towns with populations all under a thousand people. Small shops and restaurants and plenty of resorts and bed and breakfasts. No McDonalds, no Starbucks. Lots of trees and lots of water.
Erica's family has a cabin on 28 acres, which is where I spent all of Columbus Day weekend. After ducking out of work on Friday I wound up volunteering to drive the mini-van the 5-6 hours it would take to get to northern Wisconsin. Packed to the gills, with Francine the Wonder Pit Bull squeezed into a small opening in the back, we left the big cities of Chicago and Milwaukee and watched the landscape give way to forests and fields and the fall colors at their peak.
It was about twenty minutes before we reached the cabin that Erica exclaimed, "I forgot the keys!"
It's a good thing she has family up there and could grab a spare set, otherwise I think it would have been a race to see who would throw Erica into Green Bay first.
It was those first moments of arriving and settling in to the cabin that I enjoyed the most. Bringing the bags in, turning on the lights, pouring ourselves a drink and starting a fire, while T did a little schoolwork and Zander fell asleep in his crib.
Most of the weekend was spent lounging in the cabin, hiking through the woods, and visiting some of the sights of Door County. Breakfast burritos to nurse a hangover, wine-tasting and pumpkin festivals, the Packers on the radio and card games at night.
Fairly unremarkable to describe, but a joy to experience. As you all know, I tend to travel alone, the solitary wanderer who all too often shies away from group activities. I had a lingering fear that I would want to constantly retreat into my head, pull back from the fun-with-friends, the way I often have done in the past. Hard to explain why I do it, but it's just one of those things I do too much.
It was to my great surprise that instead I found myself the One Who Got Things Done all weekend. Organized the packing, made sure people were fed properly, drove through the heavy city traffic. Everyone else did their share, don't get me wrong. But usually I just hang back in group functions, a passive observer.
Sure was different this time. Found myself stepping up when needed, and it was a good feeling. For a guy whose self-esteem has taken a real beating over the past few years, that's kind of huge.
Great to hang with T again; almost forgot what good friends we were. Thanks for laughing at all my jokes. And thanks to the Dynamic Duders for a great weekend. We gotta do that again sometime.
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