It was a pleasant 65-degrees this morning for my 3.1 mile run on Mackinac Island. After days shortened by long drives, time changes, poor health, and places to be early, I finally got some time to myself. I explored the entire downtown area, actually moving faster than those poor horses that took us by carriage to the ferry terminal after we checked out of the Grand Hotel. I was confused when my wife sent our luggage to St. Ignace when I thought we came through Mackinaw City. This explains why we unnecessarily crossed the Mackinac Bridge. Shepler’s has two departure sites and my GPS sent me to the wrong location. It was costly time-wise but paid off with a pleasant, unexpected encounter.

My wife and I are standing in a drizzle, as I’m finally understand why we’re waiting in the St. Ignace departure line when a young woman comes up and asks me, “are you Mike Johnston?” It was Annie, my ex-wife’s half-sister, who was younger than her three kids when we last talked. I was stunned to see her, but honestly was half-expecting to run into someone from my past on this excursion. It was a very short conversation as the line started moving, but I can hopefully follow up with a text or e-mail.

Traffic has been horrible, as Michiganders head home on Sunday afternoon with schools opening as soon as tomorrow. We stopped at the Bay City Cracker Barrel for lunch to let the cars thin out a bit as we Rock n’ Roll into Cleveland.