Alyce's Bachelor Party in Houghton, MI

The Mosquito Inn - Bruce shows us how to get down! It's all in the knees!

Luckily, we chose the date for this fiesta a few months before the shindig went down.  All of my bridesmaids have crazy busy schedules, and finding a weekend where we could all get together and celebrate was difficult, but totally worth it!  We called it, the Bachelor PARTY.  This was probably the part of wedding planning that I was looking forward to the most. No crazy bar crawl, but some good times in the Northwoods was all I wanted.  Let's just say that Lyssa delivered!

We all made it!  Let's celebrate!

Saturday Morning = Deb's Buttermilk Pancakes & Mimosas!

After flying in, we quickly went to my house to gather all of the party supplies and apparel.  Me, Lyssa, and Lizzo loaded our stuff into the Marsh Van and started the long journey up to Lake Eva.  It was awesome to catch up with the ladies on the journey north.  We of course stopped for subs at the Trackside and enjoyed the fresh lettuce and bread that makes them so delicious. 

Captain Curt and the 'Merican Ladies!

Classic Curty Selfie...

The voyage north was made much more interesting by the van's lack of breaks in general.  Deb had to keep pumping the breaks so they would actually work - it was an art really - and with the power steering almost gone, it felt like we were taking our lives in our own hands around every turn.  The finest example of the quality breaks came from when we had to "tread the needle" between a mailbox and another car turning left - haha - a moment we'll never forget I'm sure.

Winsand Marsh Agency Reunited!

The Pontoon Embarks on its day long journey!

Lizzo navigating the waters for us...

 We stopped at Joel's camp to grab a few things and say hello to Uncle Tom, who was celebrating his Birthday that same weekend.  We toasted to the occasion and headed further north, next stop... The Mosquito Inn!  Turns out the crew from Chicago and Madison were not too far behind us, so we thought the Skeeto was the perfect place to meet before making the blind drive through the woods to the cabin!  Once those crazies walked in the door, I knew it was going to be a great weekend.  They had a long drive from Madison, and Alyssa had to bus up from Chicago to meet them, only after getting her wallet stolen at work!  She was a champ and some how got a temporary ID and some cash so she could go out with us!  Cripes, that's dedication, and I loved it! We of course had to fill the jukebox full of dollar bills and got the place rockin'!  There were only a few people in the place, but Bruce was one of them and turns out he has moves!  We formed a dancing circle and Bruce stole the show with his wicked fast knees! 

College Music Mix Tape = DANCE PARTY.

My Name is Todd, and I'm an American Citizen.

After the Skeeto, it was back to the cabin for gift opening and settling in for the night.  We hadn't seen each other all together in so long that it was nice to catch up and chat the night away... but the sunrise came too soon!  We got up for pancakes and immediately put on our swimsuits to enjoy one of the warmest days that Lake Eva had seen all summer.  Leave it to Joel to schedule some perfect weather for our Bachelor Party.  It had been rainy and cold most of the summer and only a few days were warm enough were you could acutally swim!  We lucked out and had a perfect day for running around and causing trouble on the pontoon. 

Ohh yeah, I'll bait 'dat 'der hook.

Got'em.

Fish kisses.  Nice catch Lyss!

All in our 'Merican gear, we hit the waters with Lizzo in the driver's seat.  The pontoon didn't have the horse power that she was used to, and we could tell that it was killing her to be on the water but unable to barefoot ski haha!  

Roomie hugs = venom.

CANNONBALL!

Fish dive... one of my favorite party tricks...

Lyssa and Alyssa wanted to do some fishing and catch some Eagle bait, so we threw out a few lines and snagged a bunch of logs in the process.  They were able to land a few big mamas and we had to get the net out to get the job done.  With only a short break for lunch we were back on the water and met up with George's pontoon!  Curt and George were awarded matching Captains' hats for putting up with us all weekend. We had a long day and mowed down dinner as one would expect.

Toss the anchor over, we're going swimming!

The Lake Eva Boat Crew!

Captains Curty and George!

  We let Lyssa nap a bit, but we needed to get to the Skeeto one last time before the festivities were over, so I woke her up by jumping on the bed and begging her to get a second wind, ahah.  I wasn't certain she was going to move after a few attempts to convince her, but after leaving the room, twenty minutes later she was upstairs in American flag suspenders and shorts.  I was such a proud roomie!

Bachelor Party Second Wind!

The Skeeto Inn CREW!

Awkward family photo.

No explanation needed, shuffleboard is intense.

We all put on as much Red, White and Blue as possible and headed out the door for one last dance party at the Skeeto Inn!  Curty was a trooper and put up with us all night after we kept him up chatting the night before.  We took some awkward family photos, played shuffle board like crazy, and danced the night away.  We were all pretty tired from the day in the sun, but somewhere found the energy to continue.

Emm and Sarah whipping up egg sandwiches in the "egg pan"!!

The next morning we all had to hit the road early in order to get back to our respective towns and back to business.  The road trip cut into our quality time a bit, but the view at Lake Eva is worth every minute.  Every time I go up there, I'm reminded of how lucky we are to be greeted with such scenery.  Thank you to all the roomies who made this weekend so great - it was so much fun, and I'll never forget it!

Survival of the Bachelor Party - August 2014  Liz, Emm, Sarah, Alyce, Alyssa, Becca, Lyssa

You guys are the best!

Houghton Snowmobiling

The Houghton/Hancock Airport!

I tend to book my next vacation, while I'm on the previous one, and this situation was no different.  I saw an open weekend and decided to book a flight up to Houghton for snowmobiling.  It is a repeat of what I did last year during this fortunate holiday!  It falls on some of the best snowmobiling of the year!

Curty leading us out on the trails of the northwoods!

Lyssa, Me, and Mum

Trying to capture a photo of the frozen waterfalls...

You can't fall if you're already down sliding right?

 

After a long day traveling, we finally made it to the mosquito and to Lake Eva.  Lyssa had the joy of riding up with my parents and partaking in all of the Marsh pit stops (the Shell gas station for subs, Joel's cabin for a snowmobile, etc).  With her updates, I felt like I was there!  They picked me up at the airport and we stopped at the Skeeto to "jibber jabber" with a local or two for the snow report.

You have to snowmobile into the cabin this time of year!

 

Our neighbor trying to keep ahead of the white stuff so we can drive out!

On Saturday we woke up early and went around the Frieda loop, and even Lyssa got to try her hand at driving the sleds.  We took a few pit stops at different scenic overlooks and finally met up with our neighbors at the KBC.  It was the perfect day for sledding. It was snowing most of the day and then really started coming down in the evening - so much so that it was hard to see where you were driving!  Whiteouts are my favorite...  Lake effect snow is so unpredictable, but soo pretty, it's hard to even put into words.

Blinded by the snowflakes!

Sunday, we took our time getting ready and already had to make the trip back home.  The weekends always go by too fast up north - and the lengthy commute doesn't make the quality time up north any longer.  We spent quite a few hours traveling to find the fresh snow....  WORTH IT.

I kind of like this annual trip - hopefully next time I can convince Paul to come back with me!

Curty bringing back the sled, then walking the rest of the way out of camp...

My last snowmobile run of 2012-2013 season I believe... It was sure fun!

Driving hom from Eva in the Dodge!

Nice smally Lyssa - I again came up a little short...

Our final day at Lake Eva consisted of an awesome breakfast and then wishing Kate a safe ride ALL the way back to Chicago - a hefty trek to say the least.  Chris and Kate took off early in the morning and Matt's truck loaded up with four wheelers had to leave shortly after.   Lyssa and I helped with laundry and then took to the lake for some last minute fishing.  Curty was our captain and we were reeling the hogs in like crazy!  We caught a few small mouth bass and had to net them because they were so huge... (fish stories, I know - but this is serious, hah)!

Captain Curty with my big catch!

Lyssa for a portrait by the falls...

After a morning in Lake Eva we jumped in Curty's truck in the afternoon to make our way south towards Buck's Camp Fence.  I requested that we stop and walk back to the waterfall on the way - which Joel told me and Paul to go to sometime on our way up.  He knew better to let me navigate things like this, so Paul and I never made it.  We pulled over the truck and grabbed the camera for the short hike back into the woods to see the natural waterfall.   The spot is easy to miss because the turn off looks like a waste station - but if you follow the trail - the views are spectacular.

Roaring falls - a secret gem in Michigan!

Lyssa and I hiking beyond the rail to get closer to the waterfall!

Beautiful views of the river on our walk back...

Another view of the area...

We walked back and didn't think twice about the creek and water, a heaven for breeding mosquitoes, and got bit up like crazy.  The mosquitoes were quite tame up north, but back in the falls they were vicious!  We all looked like we had just contracted the chickenpox...

We itched the rest of the way to Joel's cabin, while I was looking online for wedding dresses and consulting Lyssa and Mum's opinion.  We talked about the bachelorette party, which I am looking forward to after hearing the many wild, country lovin' ideas we were throwing out on the table.


We made to Buck's, dropped off the wheeler and we showed Lyssa around a little bit to show her the progress of the place.  It was only after we were about an hour down the road getting subs at the shell station did I realize that I left my camera on Joel's "Buck Shot" fridge.  DAHHHH... of course!  Curty graciously turned the truck around and we went back up to grab it adding a few more hours of family bonding time in the Dodge!  Thanks for understanding everyone!

Me, Lyssa, Mom and Dad at the falls - learning how to do self timer on a tree!

The small creek and breeding ground for mosquitoes!

We had an excellent time up north, and details on the following week in Seymour are still to come!  There are so many things to catch up on, ohh, how I love the summer months!

Thank you all for reading and joining my journey!