Last day...some good and some not so...

So, we woke up with Vince looking forward to the Soo Locks.  The hour drive there was uneventful and sad to say so were the locks.  The visitor center had some nice displays but the movie was poorly produced and the sound was worse than a cellphone speaker.  The locks themselves were very static today as there were no ships due to pass through.  Well, in about 3 hours ONE was due upstream.  For someone interested in history and engineering this is a good stop.  For three teens not so much.  Even the town didn't seem welcome as a huge chunk of downtown was being repaired and every street we tried to go down was being worked on. 

We tried to improve upon the sad situation but heading over to Antlers.  A local restaurant that came recommended.  It was only 1PM but we were only 1 of 2 tables in the whole place.  The service was good and friendly and the kids ate what they ordered but it wasn't that special.  Oh well...

So back toward the LP we went.  We took a side trip to Colonial Michilimackinac.  We arrived just as the canon went off then toured the grounds.  It was a more primitive fort than the one on the island.  We talked to some folks working an active archaeological dig as well as the local inhabitants.  We even tried some pumpkin corn bread.

From there we walked the strip of the City of Mackinaw window shopping, getting some ice cream, souvenirs, and fudge. 

Back at the cabin the kids played cards for a bit then everyone who brought a bike went out for a ride.  Vince stayed and worked on removing a virus (malware) from the laptop as well as updating the trip blog.

Leftovers tonight, burn the rest of the wood, then a good night sleep before the long non-stop trip back to St Louis.

The wheels on the bike go round and round

Today we head to Mackinaw Island.  After eating breakfast, and loading the bikes we head out. Our cabin is less than a mile from the ferry dock.  We will be taking the Star Line Ferry to/from.  It will be a short trip, 18 minutes, and MUCH smoother than if we had taken it  the day before.

Once on the insland, Vince heads over to rent a bike.  The girls get their bikes ready and soon we are off.  We decide to do the loop around the insland before hitting any of the stores.  It is a great day to ride.   A slight breeze and a little cool. The trail around the island is paved.  You are always within a few yards of the shore. The water is very blue.  There is little to no traffic on the trail again making for  a great ride.

We stopped at The British Landing for a quick water and snack break.  There is a nice view of the bridge.

We headed then to the Grand Hotel but could not get in. Apparently there was a convention going on.  So we headed over to Fort Mackinac.  We toured the fort and watched the rifle and cannon demos. It also provided a beautiful view of the city below. 

We finish the 8 mile loop and park our bikes near the library.  There are more folks but still not enough to declare what I would call 'crowded'.  There are huge kites in the sky, folks walking and biking, and you can hear the clop clop of the horse drawn carts.

Now it is time for the real reason to visit: Fudge.  It seems every other store sells fudge. We decide on Ryba's and Joann's since both have won awards and both come recommended.  Both are excellent.  I think it took longer to decide what flavors to buy vs riding around the  island.

We also did a lot of window shopping picking up a few hoodies, post-cards, and other things, It was near 6PM now and time to head back.  The ride back was a bit cooler as the sun was starting to go down and the wind was picking up.  When we got to the dock we loaded the bikes back onto the van and headed to the cabin.

Note to future visitors: If you ever want to do dinner in Mackinaw City you must do it before 8PM.  All the resurants and stores close at 8PM.  If we didn't wind down at the cabin we might have made it.  We decided to hit and IGA for a loaf of bread and eat down our supplies which was probably the wise choice anyway.

Yesterday was a very full day

First, I have to mention that is was VERY windy no matter where we were on the UP.  Made for a slightly chilly day as the high was only 58F. 

We woke up and had egg bagels, cereal, and coffee.  Vince undid the bikes from the rack as we didn't need them today.  Theresa packed the coolers  for lunch and travels and the kids, well, they just enjoyed the morning (as did Vince and Theresa).

Our first mini adventure was crossing the Mackinaw Bridge.  Since there were high gusts all large vehicles, vehicles with trailers, and panel trucks had to be escorted across and speeds were kept to 25 MPH or less.  It wasn't too bad in the van. Once over the bridge we were on our way to Oswalds Bear Ranch.

Now let me note to all that these stops and descriptions are somewhat unique as there was almost always no other family or person at the venue we went to all day!

The Bear ranch had three main viewing areas, one with cubs, one with males, and another with females.  You could feed the bears (ie toss them apple slices) but we didn't really know that until we ran into another family that was doing it.  You can read all about the mission of the ranch off of their web site.  What we enjoyed best was feeding/holding/being a climbing tower for a cub.  Each of us took turns getting a photo with the cub (even a short movie).  The cub was very friendly and would munch on the treat then sniff you and climb you and look all over you (mostly your face since he was up on a stump) for any other treats/smells.  The place was very clean and all the employees were more than friendly.  I'd recommend it as a stop with or without kids.

Our next stop was Whitefish Point and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  The wind was strong here too.  So strong the buildings were losing power on and off.  We checked out the Museum, the Keepers House, the Launch building and climbed up the light tower.  The displays were interesting as they had artifacts from the various wrecks in the area.  They are the home to the bell from the Edmond Fitzgerald.  They had short movie about the sinking of her as well as the task of retrieving the bell.  The Lighthouse gave an awesome 360 view of area.  We wandered out to the shoreline to go play in our third great lake of the day!

On our way to our next stop we took a break at the Berry Patch for a slice of homemade Blue Berry and Apple Pies.  It was recommended and it was also worth it.  Sherry is a great hostess and makes a mean pie.

From there it was off to our last stop(s).  The upper and lower falls in Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We decided just to do the short hikes to each of the falls as it was getting late.  The fall area was beautiful and the views wonderful.  If we had more time we would have like to hike the park.

We ended up back at the cabin about 8:45PM.  Vince started a fire (in the wind!) for the garlic bread while Theresa made spaghetti.  The girls cleaned up and played cards until dinner.  There wasn't much energy left by the time dinner was done.  All in all a great day. 

Very Blustery Day

We awoke to strong winds.  We have decided to do Mackinac Island tomorrow.  Not 100% sure where we will end up today.  Still having issues with blogspot and photos too. Frustrating

The vacation begins

We woke up to a good breakfast at the hotel. There was no rush though there was a storm due to hit where we were going. Oh well. We stopped for gas ($4/gal) near Claire, MI. then headed up to our campground at Mill Creek Campground.

We got our cabin and unpacked. From there we headed over to Historic Mill Creek for some adventure. We got a family pass which gets us into many places around here but more importantly, it got the kids on the zip line, rope bridge, and climbing wall. It was still too toasty to sit through the displays so we refreshed ourselves in the gift shop then headed to the grocery store to get dinner/food stuff.

Once back at the cabin Amanda and Savannah went bike riding. Kasey grabbed her book and headed to the shore to read. Theresa read and I got the laptop set up. The may flys are out but not as bad as it was at Cedar Point. The storm never hit but it did cool down. We ended the day with soup and card games.

The weather looks good for Mackinac Island tomorrow. I am having trouble with the internet connection... I'll do my best to post photos tomorrow.

Not a lot of photo ops today

The drive up to Coldwater, MI was uneventful. The trailer is working well. The van got 24 mpg on the first tank. The kids have been great reading, watching a DVD (mostly background noise), playing games, and chatting. We stopped at Subway for lunch about 1ish.

We dined at Coldwater Garden Resturant. The food was good. It was definitely a local place. We walked there from the hotel. The Big Boy next door happened to be holding a classic car cruise and none of us thought of taking our camera to dinner!

Theresa and Kasey have decided to stay in the room while Amanda, Savannah, and I hit the pool. It was toasty. Now after drying off and showering down for the complimentary ice cream. Breakfast at the hotel then 4.5 hrs up to the camp. Here's hoping the rain stays away.

I wasn't the only one getting ready

When I got home there were a few things on the counter. Tommorrow we start the serious packing - lists and all!
I am beginning to wonder if the van will be big enough.

First part of getting ready

Got the first part of the equipment together for our trip to Michigan. We bought a 4 bike rack and a hitch for the van. It went together rather well. I need to get some locking pins instead of just straight ones. It would really suck to wake up some morning to see all the bikes AND the rack gone!