Weekly Update for June 21, 2026

Welcome to my weekly update for June 21, 2026!

My husband had a long weekend off work last weekend so we decided to visit Isle Royale National Park (Pronounced like plain old royal; nothing fancy here). It’s one of the least visited national parks in the lower 48 states because it’s so darn difficult to get to. It’s an island about 60 miles from the closest mainland. There are several ferries to get back and forth and the main island has a lodge where you can spend the night. Most people who visit take tents and spend a night or two backpack camping though, and the ferries and lodge book a year in advance. This was going to be a tough one for us to visit. It should be scheduled about a year in advance but due to my husband’s work, we don’t know our schedule that far ahead of time. We decided to take a day trip.

A day trip involves a 3.5-hour ferry ride out, 2-3 hours on the island, and a 3.5-hour ferry ride back. I thought I would get a lot of reading done but, even though the skies were a beautiful blue, a steady wind and 3- to 5-foot (1 to 1.5 m) waves kept our boat rocking. There was nothing to do but gaze out the window at the horizon and hope the Dramamine kept working to prevent seasickness. Several of our fellow passengers succumbed. It was not pleasant and I would not recommend a day trip if you have any other choices at all.

By the time we got there, disembarked, and attended a mandatory Ranger program about Leave No Trace and Don’t Feed the Wildlife, we only had about 2 hours to spend on the island and we had planned to hike almost 5 miles (8 km). We were booking it. I am not someone whose default speed even remotely approaches “booking it.” I am more of a mosey-er. And my husband will attest that there is no shaking me out of my one speed. But I did my best and found an extra gear! We were practically taking pictures on the fly as we trotted (my word)/walked a little faster than usual (my husband’s description). But it was a gorgeous hike. It reminded us a little bit of the Maine coast with the dark rocks on the shoreline and the evergreens behind us.

We saw several people turning back before the end of the trail and we assumed it was because of the time. But we checked our watches and decided we could make it. We kept on trotting and eventually got to the end and the glorious payoff views. I’m glad we didn’t miss it. We hurried back to the dock through the woods on the return loop and our captain even left 30 minutes early since we were all aboard. We made it!

Unfortunately, the ferry ride back was even rougher. There were even more seasick people but we had taken an extra dose of Dramamine (the instructions said 1-2 tablets daily and this was our second) so we were in good shape as long as we kept looking at the horizon. When either of us looked away for a minute, we noticed a woman near us who appeared to read the entire way. Neither of us ever saw her look up. She could have though because we were not looking around much. When we docked back at the mainland, I was finally able to see what she was reading. Ada Blackjack by Jennifer Niven, a nonfiction book that I really liked, about a woman who was the sole survivor of an Arctic shipwreck. That would not be my first choice for reading while enduring a long ferry ride. I salute my fellow passenger and her iron constitution!

We spent the rest of the weekend touring around the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. It’s beautiful but it was very windy and cool with occasional showers all weekend. We ate a lot of good food though, did a few easy hikes, went to a very interesting mineral museum (there used to be a lot of copper mines there), and saw several lighthouses and waterfalls.

Slideshow:

All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2026

1. The view from Scoville Point at Isle Royale National Park–our turnaround point
2. Eagle Harbor Light Station in Eagle Harbor, Michigan
3. These stairs were near the public library parking lot in Houghton, Michigan
4. The little town of Houghton has made the effort to have interesting pedestrian crosswalks. Some have boats instead of stripes, others have fish, etc. I loved that this one near the library had shelves of books!

Posted:

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby–4 Stars–Book Review

Read:

All links go to my reviews on GoodReads.

Nightshade & Oak by Molly O’Neill–4 Stars

Chef’s Choice (Chef’s Kiss #2) by T. J. Alexander–4 Stars

The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes by Scott Wallace–4 Stars

Ginseng Roots: A Memoir by Craig Thompson–4 Stars

Wolves (Fables Volume 8) by Bill Willingham–4 Stars

Currently Reading:

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) by Matt Dinniman

The Terror of the Southlands (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #2) by Caroline Carlson, read by Katherine Kellgren

That’s it for me. What did your week look like?

Hosts:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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