Day 13

The majority of the night was filled with sprinkling rain so I wasn't quite sure when we'd be able to make it out without getting muddy and soaked. When I first woke up the air was still so I checked the weather only to find out the rain would be returning in 40 minutes. I quickly got everyone up and we raced the 300 yards (I didin't do to well with this reservation!) to the bathroom and back to start packing. We had an assembly line of packing going with everyone pitching in to try to keep everything somewhat dry, especially us! The kids have gotten used to the routine of packing by now and knew exactly when to step in and take on a job that needed to be done. As I was putting the key into the roof cargo box, the sprinkles started - such perfect timing.

The kids were starving so I dug through the laundry bag for clothes and we headed out. We were trying to find a quick breakfast place, preferably local, but once Ryan saw the Cracker Barrel they all *had* to eat there. At least it would be filling for our busy day ahead and I could beat the kids in checkers.

We were finally on the road to meet Grammie! We'd agreed to meet at the station around 9:30 in hopes to grab a train in and explore. We arrived at the station around 9:35 with only 2 other cars in the parking lot. I'd talked to Grammie so we knew she was on the way so I got my backpack ready and we headed to the platform. Brayden noticed the train was coming in 8 minutes so we were timing this perfectly again. I checked the Sunday schedule and it looked like the next train wasn't coming until almost noon.

We waited and waited for Grammie rooting for her to make it. Brayden was stressing us all by loudly announcing the countdown as each minutes ticked off the board. 4 minutes. 3 minutes. C'mon Grammie. The kids squealed as a truck pulled into the parking lot. Not Grammie. I started to figure out what we could do to fill the 2 hours before the next train. 2 minutes. C'mon Grammie. 1 minute. Brayden screams he can see the light of the train coming. Racing through the parking lot, of course, in her little Jeep rental here she comes.

We are all violently waving her over trying to explain we need to go. I see her shake her head and say there's no way she can get ready fast enough. Ryan is jumping up and down and the other two are trying to grab her to go. As the train pulls up to the platform I turn around and see her half in the car pulling out things she'll need for the day. The ticket guy comes out calling for those who want to go to Boston. He sees me and I motion back for Grammie to hurry. He's getting impatient trying to keep the train on schedule. Finally, we all climb on board and collapse in our seats. Grammie looks at me with the "what just happened?" face and we explain the craziness of the last 10 very stressful minutes.

Once we recover and realize we're good, we give hugs all around and sigh relaxing that we're together. We figure out parking and the ticket guy ends up helping us so much explaining tickets, giving advice, and offering stories of the city. We silently hope that at least most of the people we come in contact with will be that kind.

Once we get to the main station, we start walking to find the main attraction of the day, the hop on/hop off tour of the city. We figured this would be a good, quick exposure to the things we wanted to see and would also hopefully help us get our bearings. The tour guide we ended up with was great keep us all laughing and filling us with great stories of history and culture.

Once we reached the end of the tour, we ended up at The Chart House on Boston Wharf for lunch, once John Hancock's Counting House. While we savored the delicious food, we decided to try the subway to give Brayden an opportunity to see Fenway Park while we were there. After much confusion about tickets, we finally made it to our platform to take us there!

Unfortunately there was some construction so the Fenway stop was closed. We were completely confused about what to do so we just followed the masses and got on the bus. Within 2 blocks, Brayden and I looked up and saw the huge stadium right outside our window. Had we known we could have just walked! We figured out the bus was taking us to the next station so once we got off we walked the five blocks back to Fenway and walked around a little bit. Brayden batted his eyes at me when he saw a $200 jersey, but quickly figured out that wasn't going to happen.

              

Earlier we had decided to try to catch the early 5:00 train back to our cars as the next one wasn't until after 8:00 which would have us setting up in the dark. We navigated the subway back to the main station and made it there with plenty of time for an ice cream snack. It was regular soft serve that the kids enjoyed, but they have definitely been spoiled by all the flavor choices on our trips!

We checked in at the campground and set up quickly. The park was beautiful, nestled in a state forest in the middle of a small suburb of Boston. We usually spend quite a bit of time at the park with rangers and exploring the trails and visitor centers, but with our time focused in Boston I didn't think we'd be able to see much at this park.

After we grabbed a quick dinner for the kids and wifi for me, Laney, Brayden, and I made a quick stop at Whole Foods for some fruit. Ryan would be spending the next 4 nights with Grammie and we were all jealous of her soft bed and dry roof! I was pretty thrilled to have a tent to myself, though, as I spread out my sleeping mat - diagonally across the tent!

Day 18

Ok so I do realize we are in Michigan.  The Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  On Lake Superior.  But 41 degrees on June 27th?  That was the temperature we woke to and I just buried myself back into my sleeping bag for 30 more minutes.  I told the kids we would wake up early and head to the trails to see the rocks from the night before but my 5 layers just weren't enough for this morning!

I reluctantly got up once I saw a curly-headed girl peeking at me.  This is the one that must go to the bathroom within a few minutes of waking up.  It's usually the very first thing she says to me every morning.  So we headed to the bathroom then she got back in her sleeping bag while I started packing up.

The mosquitos are relentless here.  I must have killed 20 this morning while I was getting everything ready.  They are everywhere!  And not just dawn and dusk, all day long! I was definitely going to have to buy more bug spray if this is how Canada is too.

Once I got everything outside packed up and breakfast ready for our drive, I started noisily packing my things in the tent.  As usual, this woke up Brayden and he started doing the same as we was so ready to see Grammie!  I had to wiggle and rock the other two before they got moving, but once they were we were on our way in about 15 minutes. We headed first to the trail for the Miners Castle Overlook. This was one of the rocks we saw on the boat ride last night.  This perspective really shows just how tall these rocks really are!

Within about another hour we were rolling into Oswald's Bear Ranch and the kids were bouncing in their chairs once they saw Grammie!  They cherish their time with her so much on these trips and since Ryan was first to stay with her she was especially excited!

We'd only seen bears before at zoos so that's more what I expected - a lot of pacing and ignoring us and hiding.  These guys seemed so used to people!  Grammie bought two bags of apples to feed them so that may have been the reason they were so interested in us as well.  The kids were naming them and enjoying watching them eat.  We even had one guy stand up for us as if he was begging - such a beautiful animal!

And how could we pass up the opportunity to feed and pet a bear cub.  We all just wanted to take one of these guys home with us.  Laney was feeding him Fruit Loops for our picture - this must be a very special treat!

Our next park was sitting right next to a whole bunch of waterfalls so our plan for the day was to check at least they bigger ones out today.  We went back to set up while Grammie and Ryan went to check into her cabin.  My two were getting hungry so we snacked before heading to the falls.  There was an ultra trail run this morning so we were walking among some amazing athletes just finishing a 50K, marathon, or half-marathon through the woods.  These runners are tough!  A road marathon is difficult even with training but through the trails is grueling.

We stopped by a kids area to learn about poop, sea lamprey, and animal tracks first.  It seems like every park we go to there is some invasive animal or plant that the park is having trouble controlling and the lamprey was the problem here.  We were all pretty grossed out by the description of how they live and destroy other fish.

Oh, and Grammie brought a certain boy his new glasses!

We had discussed walking on the tour of the Upper Falls with the ranger but Laney volunteered to be our tour guide so off we went.  The falls were just beautiful from all our lookout perspectives.  The kids (and Grammie too!) did great with all the steps up and down to get a closer look.

After the falls, we had to go check out the ice cream and there happened to be a great little band playing.  We rocked and listened as we slurped and licked our ice cream.  Check out what she's using for a bass!

Once we got back to the car we decided to head to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  At many of the parks we'd been to since Madeline Island we were always drawn to the displays of the shipwrecks from long ago in the area.  The kids would push buttons that would light up each shipwreck on a map of Lake Superior - there were so many!  So with that interest, we thought this museum would be a great learning experience.

Most of the wrecks detailed at this museum happened in this area of Whitefish Point, but to read about the weather that caused most of them was amazing.  Grammie and I talked about how difficult it was to wrap our minds around the fact that all these amazing 30 and 40 foot waves were happening in a lake!  We think of seas like that happening in the wide open ocean!  The wave that caused billions of dollars of damage from hurricane Ivan so long ago was 30 feet high.  I've definitely underestimated Lake Superior in more ways than one!

In addition to the museum there was also a light at the point.  The old keeper's quarters were part of the tour as well.  It was interesting to learn about the lives of the keeps, especially the children.  It seems like it was such a lonely way to live even as a family.

We watched a movie about the Fitzgerald sinking that was sad but detailed just the weather issues of the lake we'd been reading about.  Then we stopped by the part of the museum the kids were really looking forward to - the lego exhibit!  A high school science teacher had created a 12-ft verson of the Fitzgerald over 9 years with more than 18,000 pieces!  The kids stopped for about 10 seconds to admire the detail then immediately had to create their own.

Unfortunately, the kids were wearing the wrong kind of shoes to be able to climb the light for the tour, so we decided to leave and head to dinner. Grammie's cabin owner had suggested a fish place with fresh fish daily that definitely did not disappoint!  Everything was delicious !  As the kids were finishing up I checked the clock to see how much more time we would have in the day. As it was only 6pm we had plenty of time to go check out the lower falls so that's exactly what we did!

Ever since Ryan had heard we could canoe to an island to see the falls she was hooked.  Once we saw they were actually flat-bottomed boats, I agreed and we were off.

The girls talked Grammie into going in the gentle rapids before the falls!  Once Brayden saw they were still alive, he headed out there too!  We walked around the whole island checking out all the different waterfalls and Laney and Ryan found a little pool of tadpoles too!  Of course they wanted to take some home.

Once we were back to the boat I could breathe a sign of relief as no kids slipped and cracked open their skulls on the rocks.  Then as I'm getting life jackets ready, Brayden slips on the boat ramp and into the water!  Luckily, he only lost a flip flop and was spooked a little.  As we were trying to find the flip flop, curious Laney walked down and did the same thing!  Grammie found a stick and after a little poking Brayden's Croc just popped back up to the surface!  I guess they float!

We had some expert rowers at the ready for our return trip.  If Ryan was standing and Laney had coordination help from Grammie, it was just as good as me rowing.  These girls are strong!
Once we got to the shore we passed off our life jackets and headed to walk to more overlooks.  As Brayden was getting out he slipped and banged his shin up pretty good with an instant goose egg.  These kids are seriously going to give me a heart attack!

We called it a night and Grammie dropped off me and my two at our campsite.  We headed to the playground for a monkey bar battle then to the showers as I learned last year to never pass up a free hot showers in a nice building!  I took a few minutes to pack up and get organized for our drive the next day.  Brayden and I were then treated to a show in the tent by Laney and her fox before bed.  I do enjoy reading each night, but it's a wonderful break to have an animal show!