I hit the road with my coffee so I could cover the 50 miles to Marquette and get there in time to visit the Saturday morning farmers market. It was an excellent market.
Next I went to Trenary Toast Cafe for some smorrebrod (Scandinavian open faced sandwich). I checked if any of the Warmshowers hosts I had messaged had responded to me. None had. Then I remembered that one host’s profile said that if they were slow to respond, just show up. The host was listed as “The Marquette Climbing Co-op”. A couple of the members of the co-op welcomed me and let me take a shower and do laundry.
I was impressed with the Marquette Climbing Co-op. This is their code of living:
“Leave no trace, respect the space. Seven generation perspective. Live sustainably and intentionally.
This is a safe space to fail, challenge yourself! Give more than you take. Teamwork makes the dream work. Value family time.
Concern for community. Promote growth. Give and accept feedback. Safety is sexy. Foster a spirit of play.
Communication is key. Everyone is a V.I.P”
It made me feel good to see these young folks living their ideals.
The co-op has a bouldering cave that they welcome the local community to use, a system to track water use, a garden and a greenhouse.
I wanted to ride around Presque Isle, a park just North of town on Lake Superior. I found a thrift store on the way to see if I could pick up a wool blanket to keep warm at night. When I walked in the thrift store a worker told me they were closing. Briefly explaining my need, I asked if they had any wool blankets. The woman who said they were closing walked me over to where they would be and there weren’t any but she said she had three wool blankets in her car that she uses to put out fires and if I waited out back while she closed up, she would give me one. The whole time I waited I wondered who has three wool blankets in there car to put out fires? Was this woman a fire fighter?
When she came out back, I had to ask. Her answer was “No, I’m not a fire fighter, I’m a fire dancer.”That is how I came into possession of my fire dancer blanket.
Presque Isle was a beautiful place. It had a paved road close to the cliffs that went down to the water, hiking/ biking paths even closer, there were stone beaches, cliffs folks were jumping off of and large stretches of exposed bedrock sloping down to the water. It was what I imagine it will look like when I get to Acadia National park in Maine at the end of my tour (except it will have tide pools and maybe seals!).
When I got back to the Marquette Climber’s Co-op, Annika, a resident, asked if I would like to join her for dinner tonight. She made homemade pierogi and a beautiful salad from the organic farm she works on. Dinner was dynamite and it was great to get to visit with Annika and get to know more about her and the co-op. Thanks Annika and Marquette Climber’s Co-op.
Slow and Steady 
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