Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Since I've been reading some other's vacation tales, I thought I'd share our outing with everyone. This past weekend was a rare one, as the entire family was together with no plans. Sunday was designated as a day for us all to go out into the great U.P. wilderness in search of wild blueberries. They are quite plentiful in these parts, and with the rain we've experienced this summer, reports were it was a bumper crop. Now, I should start by saying I have never been blueberry picking before. I know they are blue, they are tasty, and I had been told they flourish in open areas where trees have been cut down. I had the perfect place! Our Oldies radio station transmitter and tower are in the middle of a field that has been clear cut by Mead Paper. Surely, this expanse would yield a bounty of blueness. We set out about 11AM on Sunday. Here's a picture showing Sharon and Tony's excitement at our impending outing: http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/sharonblueberry.jpg The drive west from Sault Ste. Marie took about 30 minutes. We first stopped in a town called Raco; a woman here at the radio station suggested that location as a possibility. We pulled off the main road onto a road I thought our favorite drummer, Mr. Peart would have loved; a paved 2 track that wound back into the Northern Michigan wilderness. We slowed and rolled our windows down, creeping along lookingfor signs of 'blue'. It was right then and there I thought to myself that perhaps I should have done some research on what a blueberry 'plant' looked like. I had no clue, but I wouldn't dare let on hoping to spot the fruit somewhere along that road. Once it turned into a dirt road, about a half mile off the main drag, we decided to turn around and head to the transmitter site. Before we got there, the kids in the back said they had to pee. I knew there was a small restaurant up the road before the transmitter, so we stopped. The sign on the door said "Bathrooms for paying customers only", and fortunately they had a cooler with beverages so we used the facilities and bought a round of sodas for all. I noticed this diner had a small gift shop attached so while Sharon watched the kids, I took a look around, hoping to find something that had a picture of a blue berry plant. Finally, I found a photo of a plant with three small blueberries on it. I now knew what to look for (so I thought). The transmitter is just south of a small town called Paradise (really that's the name). They claim to be the wild blueberry capital of Michigan and have an annual Blueberry Festival, which just happened to be on this weekend. I thought, if we can't find any at the transmitter, we'll go there to find someone who knows what to look for. We got to the transmitter site and all got out of the car. Here's a picture of me and Tony: http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/marktonyblueberry.jpg Brandon & Holly: http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/brandonhollyblueberry.jpg And a shot of what we did for the next hour: http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/lookinforblueberries.jpg We found nothing but a few wild raspberries. It was getting hot and I was losing the kids, so we piled in the car and headed to Paradise. We walked around the festival for a bit, and Tony was hungry so I went up to the baked goods table and bought him a blueberry muffin. A nice old lady waited on us and I said, rather flippantly, that was the first blueberry I'd seen all day. I proceeded to tell her about my plight, when she pointed over my shoulder to show that all the tables had actual blueberry plants on them as centerpieces. I called Sharon over and told her to memorize what they looked like. The lay also told me that we should be able to find them along any side road. We then drove a little way out of town, armed with our new information, found a side road, and FINALLY found blueberries. Unfortuately, they were pretty picked over so we ended up with only about an 1/8 of a cup. But, it was a perfect day. Besides a little whining from the backseat, everyone enjoyed the time together. Next year, we'll go earlier, and we'll now know what to look for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostGirl Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Great story, man! I love seeing Tony, esp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Aug 20 2008, 03:18 PM) Great story, man! I love seeing Tony, esp. Aww, thanks GG... Here's another pic of Tony out in the wilderness. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/tonyblueberry1.jpg He seemed to enjoy being out for a walk in the middle of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostGirl Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 QUOTE (Cygnus The God Of Balance @ Aug 20 2008, 03:24 PM) QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Aug 20 2008, 03:18 PM) Great story, man! I love seeing Tony, esp. Aww, thanks GG... Here's another pic of Tony out in the wilderness. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/tonyblueberry1.jpg He seemed to enjoy being out for a walk in the middle of nowhere. What a doll. Wish I could hug him! It would be so fun to get him and Stephen together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Aug 20 2008, 03:35 PM) QUOTE (Cygnus The God Of Balance @ Aug 20 2008, 03:24 PM) QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Aug 20 2008, 03:18 PM) Great story, man! I love seeing Tony, esp. Aww, thanks GG... Here's another pic of Tony out in the wilderness. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/tonyblueberry1.jpg He seemed to enjoy being out for a walk in the middle of nowhere. What a doll. Wish I could hug him! It would be so fun to get him and Stephen together. Tony likes hugs. Maybe sometime next summer our families can get together somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arleen2112 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 QUOTE (Cygnus The God Of Balance @ Aug 20 2008, 04:24 PM)QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Aug 20 2008, 03:18 PM) Great story, man! I love seeing Tony, esp. Aww, thanks GG... Here's another pic of Tony out in the wilderness. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb299/rock101dotnet/tonyblueberry1.jpg He seemed to enjoy being out for a walk in the middle of nowhere. What a Great Smile Tony has! Glad you all had a nice time. Thanks for Sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 21, 2008 Author Share Posted August 21, 2008 QUOTE (Arleen2112 @ Aug 21 2008, 09:51 AM) What a Great Smile Tony has! Glad you all had a nice time. Thanks for Sharing Thanks Arleen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daylin Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Your children are so cute! Not this year, but when I went to Michigan I would always stop at a certain, Visitors Center. Some people always handed out plastic cups of blueberrys Yummy! It sounds like a great day! Even though you didn't get that many berries Nice family time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundog Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 The family time is worth more than any bushel of blueberries could ever be. Glad you had the opportunity to go. Cherish the memories, and do a little more research next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 QUOTE (Daylin @ Aug 21 2008, 11:45 AM) Your children are so cute! Not this year, but when I went to Michigan I would always stop at a certain, Visitors Center. Some people always handed out plastic cups of blueberrys Yummy! It sounds like a great day! Even though you didn't get that many berries Nice family time Thanks lin....we think so too! It was an awesome day, despite our lack of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus The God Of Balance Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 QUOTE (sundog @ Aug 22 2008, 07:38 AM) The family time is worth more than any bushel of blueberries could ever be. Glad you had the opportunity to go. Cherish the memories, and do a little more research next time. I absolutely agree with you Jen.... It won't be long before they're "too cool" to do stuff with us. We're really trying to give them some fun family memories before that happens... This summer was doing the musical "South Pacific" together as a family...next summer is camping time (hopefully) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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