800 Miles and both coasts in three days made for an interesting weekend so far. Friday started out with making the decision to head to Little Sable Point with a very good South forecast predicted. A few friends were supposed to make the trip as well from the East side, but the morning was deterring with storms all over the place on the radar. I was pleased to find a message from another friend, Kail, saying that he would take me up on the offer and was only a few hours away. Kail drove all night (left at 10pm) from Missouri and was looking to ride. He had never been to LSP before (I had been there once prior) and I convinced him this was the place to ride on a S wind.
By noon I made my way on the road, with good but unclear intentions. I knew what I needed but not where I would go to get it..so I packed the car to be prepared for at least a few days away, along with my books to study. The books stayed pretty much fixed while the car went back and for in a mad rush across the state.
LSP proved to be worth it's merits after beating the storms through Grand Haven and along Hwy 31. As soon as I arrived, I knew this was the place to be, with about twenty "kiter types" in the parking lot arranging their gear; cars with license plates such as 'upwind', 'surf' and 'kite on' were the norm. The wind was side-offshore but certainly the best riding I have had in weeks. Kail brought along his friend Kasey who had never seen this part of Michigan. She could not get over that this was possible (the beach, the kites, the 'big airs') and was in awe that such a place existed, after a 12hrs on the road. The afternoon brought some familiar faces and some new ones as this seemed like it was the place to congregate.
Kail and Kasey made their way to Tawas and I proceeded to get myself in trouble. I slept in the car that night, on a random back street in Muskegon, with the smell of gasoline emanating from the back seat (story not to be shared). Morning found me on a pleasant street not far from the beach, neck sore and ready to get on the move. I went to the beach and saw that it was still blowing. A lone kiter, back and forth, on what was now a WSW wind rode while a few others were getting ready. There was a damp fog in the air along the whole coast and that seemed to be messing with the wind. I stayed and watched and talked to an older guy who had rigged and was making up his mind to go. He had commitments to head to the Muskegon summer festival art fair, Sugar Ray was the headliner that night, but he was looking forward to something he could drink more beer to: Theory of a Dead Man was coming Thursday. We had a good laugh, and I had to agree with him, despite the wind looking like it was picking up.
I made up my mind as well, and in a split-second the car was determinately pointed towards Tawas..there was something stronger calling me there than a marginal forecast. I took a drive I have never made before, right through the center of the state. It was long and beautiful, I worked through my thoughts and emotions in a way you can't do standing in one place. Evart. You ever heard of that? I had now, and a handful other tiny towns that I passed through along the way. I stopped to pick up my sled and snowshoes that I had left behind on a dirt road from my to cross the state in April. I wasn't sure they would still be there, or if I myself remembered how to find them: the forest was a lot more overgrown than when I left them there. To my surprise, it didn't take more than a few minutes, and I was back on the road to Tawas; all in all a good 6 hrs on the road...
