The build up begins well over a year in advance. You anxiously await the call in date and then it’s official. You’re in! You pay your deposit and wait. You get the occasional e-mail tickler from Dave and it wets your appetite for the Reunion, but it’s still months away. Christmas comes and goes and August is still in the far distance. You pay your next payment and wait. A few more tickler’s from Dave and now we know what the exclusive will be. Waugoschance Shoal. Awesome, just the one I hoped it would be! June comes and you’re busy with yard work but you’re starting to feel it. August is only a couple months away now. You’re all paid up. Nothing can stop you.

I tell my wife a week or two ahead, “We’re leaving at 9:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday the 27th so be ready to pack the car on Friday”. Finally, it’s Saturday morning. We make it out the door at 9:30 a.m., which is all I really expected anyway. Expecting the worst with a 4 year old and a six month old, things go pretty smoothly and we make it to Gaylord for the night by 7:00 p.m. Sunday off for a little lighthousing on the east coast of Michigan, starting at Alpena, all along secretly hoping we’d run onto some fellow WACKO’s. Low and behold, here they come at our second stop, the grounds of the lighthouse festival, John, Ken, Bryan, Lorie and John. Although our schedule’s a little different than theirs, (they don’t have to stop to feed a baby) we manage to meet up with them at lighthouses all the way up to Mackinaw City. Dinner with the Youngers. The fun begins.

Four days of hanging with fellow lighthouse collectors and its time to head for home. After a year of build-up, it just goes by way too fast. I’m in quite a funk as we head back on the ferry. I don’t want it to be over. Having some fellow WACKO’s on the boat helps prolong things a bit, but alas, when the ferry lands, everyone scatters. Over to Old Mac for a quick visit. Hey there’s some familiar faces, Derrith and Ruthie. We climb the tower together but an antsy 4 year old, who doesn’t like to listen to the boring old tour guide talk has had enough. Not even a chance for a formal goodbye. Back to the car for a stop for a burger, fill up the car at $3.49 a gallon, and it’s off to Holland for the night. Along the way, every car that passes gets a glance to see if I recognize them as Reunion attendees. Same with every car that enters the rest areas. I just can’t believe it’s over. I just don’t want it to be

So the beds were a little softer than I like. The food? Well, it wasn’t the Four Seasons. Those pancakes! But I doubt anybody lost weight over the week. Waking up and being able to walk a few steps and see a lighthouse? Can’t beat that. And the fellowship? Everyone you had a meal with was on the same page as you. Lighthouses, and Harbour Lights in particular. You just couldn't beat it.

All in all, worth every penny and then some.

THANKS DAVE AND COMPANY!

Mike