Day 34

So every day on a giant road trip can't be all fun and festive.  There comes a day when you just can't find any more clothes for your little people and you have to do laundry!  Today was the day.  After a late breakfast of delicious fruit and flat potatoes (Ontario's very of hasbrowns), we head to the local laundromat.  I have a stash of games and activities set aside just for days like this when my little people have to deal with all the waiting that takes place during big people activities.

While Brayden finishes his 327th book of the trip, the girls get to work on making some bracelets.  I'm happy to see the commercial size washers, but as I shove all the clothes in there I think maybe I am overloading this thing.  I put my money in and hope for the best though!  I'll gladly pay a couple extra bucks to not be hanging out doing laundry all day.

After about $8 in quarters the clothes were just about dry but all I had left was a 20 dollar bill.  I apologized to the owner as I handed it to her for change and she handed it back to me with an extra quarter to get them dry.  It is wonderful for my kids to see such kind people exist in the world!  I quickly folded all the clothes and we stuffed them into my car.  I looked out over the harbor and noticed how dark the sky was so we made the executive decision to head to the library.  We talked about our good luck picking the day before to explore the island!

The kids all grabbed a stack of books and magazines and hunkered down for the storm.  I hopped on the wifi to update the blog and monitor our weather conditions.  There was a giant band of rain coming and I was just happy to be inside something other than our tent!  I must have read 15 books by the time the rain stopped!  Brayden is getting to the age where he's too old for picture books but I keep catching him looking as I turn the page and smiling at all the funny parts even though he's reading another book.  That just went by way to fast.  Before I know he's not even going to talk to me about what he's reading anymore!







Once the rain stopped we discussed our options for the afternoon.  The kids decided to go feed some deer at Deer Ranch.  Of course the fawn elicited the most "awwws" and "so cutes" of the day.







We bought a package of crackers and cup of carrots to feed the older deer.  They were following us around so it must have been the good stuff!

We walked around the enclosure a couple times to make sure to see everyone.  There were a few other enclosures housing a bunch more deer, but we couldn't see too many as it was more of a forest habitat.  We did spot a white deer which I didn't even know existed!  Or perhaps it was an albino deer?

After much debate in the gift shop over souvenirs, we left empty-handed to discover another park. This one reminded me so much of my childhood with a see saw, merry go round, and monkey bars.

Oh, and I can't forget the metal slide!  I remember slight burns in the summer time on the backs of my legs in Florida!












The sky started to darken again so I checked my phone and it looked as though we had another band of rain coming within a couple hours.  We headed back to the campsite for some pizza on the grill. The girls met some new friends to play with while Brayden had some guy time in the tent with his coveted Legos and I could sort through the laundry.




 









Once the wind started picking up we headed to the tent to read and wait out the storm.  I peeked out the window once it to check the sky and remembered I wanted to take a last picture of the bridge all lit up before we left in the morning.  Without my tripod or monopod I knew it wouldn't be spectacular other than a great reminder of our time here.

We fell asleep to the light pitter patter of rain on the tent with our fingers crossed for no crazy storms.

Day 33

With us being up close to 11, we all slept in and had a quiet late breakfast.  I would have loved to have been up early to try to get a sunrise photo, but I had to settle for this.

We were hoping to make it over to Mackinac Island on the 9am ferry, but we ended up just making the 11:05 boat.  The day was beautiful and perfect for a boat ride!

The ticket lady last night made the mistake of mentioning the word Lego in front of my children, so of course that was to be our first stop.  Brayden was so excited to be going into this place that he claimed we would be spending about 2 hours there.  We probably did end up spending more than an hour!  I really enjoyed just walking around the city they had built as there were tons of funny things to spot.  Most of them were pop culture inside jokes that I ended up having to explain to Brayden.  Of course their favorite part was the area where they could build and temporarily display their creations. The guy manning the store was super nice and I could tell he just enjoyed building all day - what a job!

Next up, Ryan really wanted to go up into the fort.  And when I say up, it was seriously up a giant hill onto the top spot of the island.  Once we made it, we were treated with a wonderful view of the village and lake below.

We enjoyed going through all the exhibits and learning about life at the fort defending the Straits of Mackinaw.  Of course a big favorite with my kids is the reenactments, so they stood staring with mouths open as these guys demonstrated a company firing drill.

But more fun than that was the "Kid's Quarters" where they could learn and play a bunch more. I truly believe Laney was born in the wrong century!

Brayden had been looking forward to renting bikes for about a month, so that was next on the agenda. I was ok with renting bikes here because there are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Maybe I'm overprotective, but I just like a parent and the beginning and end of the group with kids this age.

Laney and I got a tandem bike since she is usually our pokey rider.  And we were off to search for Arch Rock.  It took me a few blocks to get used to steering and balancing the tandem with a wiggly kid and around horse carriages, but we finally got the hang of things.Once we left the village area we were cruising pretty fast and enjoying the beautiful view along the way.  Before we knew it we spotted arch rock, parked, and walked the 207 steps up.

This arch was much less impressive than the ones in Utah, but the view through down to the water was fabulous.  Brayden spotted some rocks through the arch in the water where someone had conveniently spelled "USA" down below.

Once we got back down (and I remembered to get a picture), we headed to the other side of the village to the Grand Hotel.  Grammie had mentioned this was a nice spot to relax on the porch with some sophisticated people and take in a view of the I should have realized the hotel was going to bridge.  Once we made it through the maze of horse carriages we started the climb up to the hotel. And when I say climb, I mean straight up with a 70lb kid on the back who is pretending to pedal with you.  I absolutely had some jello legs by the time we made it to the top!

The view was beautiful and so were the people!  We all felt extremely out of place in our shorts and backpacks walking around with ladies in cocktail dresses and men in three-piece suits.  We headed to the balcony corner and grabbed some rocking chairs while Brayden and Ryan played a giant game of chess.  The hotel was absolutely beautiful and we talked about all the things you could probably do there as we walked out.














The very best part about scaling a crazy steep hill is speeding back down!  Laney screamed just about the entire way as we raced past Ryan to the bottom.  We narrowly missed several piles of horse poo, so she may have been screaming about that as well!

After turning in the bikes, we went in search of fudge for Dad and ice cream for us.  I'm not sure this is possible, but I think I may be about ice-creamed out.  I still got some this time, but I think an ice cream break might be in order for this mom.

We had timed it just right to get back to the docks to make the boat that took a quick detour under the bridge before dropping us off at the docks in St. Ignace.  The top deck was packed so I had two hams sitting in front of me the whole time.

The bridge is pretty spectacular up close and I can't seem to fit it all with the lens I brought!  It was still pretty neat to watch the cars go up over us way up there!

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got back so we headed to the showers.  It is about time for my kids to sit in a hot tub and soak the layers of dirt that have caked on their feet.  I would like to dismiss it as "that's what happens when we camp", but gracious those things are gross.

Once we were all clean, we headed back to the tent, read a chapter or so and were fast asleep within minutes. I wanted to take a picture of the bridge at night with all the lights but I dreamt about it instead.

Quote of the Day: "This bike is AWESOME!" says Brayden after his first experience on a mountain bike.  One child converted, two to go!

Day 17

I couldn't believe it when I check my phone clock in the morning.  We'd all slept for almost 12 hours. It was bright and sunny when we woke up but we were all completely covered by our sleeping bags in darkness.  All of us squinted when we came out like when you first leave a movie theater in the middle of the day.

We had no plans today other than the boat tour so I figured we would have a slow morning then head out to explore.  I piled up the rest of our firewood in the pit to warm us all up and handed everyone a steaming cup of hot chocolate.  I made a skyscraper of french toast with scrambled eggs and fruit.  We were all very anxious to try our fresh Michigan maple syrup!  Paired with the fresh strawberries from the same farm, it was one of the best meals we've ever had camping.  Of course it might be because it was already after 10am by the time we actually ate!

While the kids tried to make burnt stick shapes in the fire, I wrote about the day before and tried to stay warm by the fire.  We read the last chapter of our book and worked on journals for a little while, then the kids decided to play camp ball.  The Louisville Slugger museum stop was the best investment with those mini bats!

By noon, we were finally heading out to explore the town and hit some trails.  The kids had grabbed junior ranger books the day before so as we drove around they worked on finishing those activities as well.  Our first stop was the town of Munising to walk around and find Laney a heavier jacket.  I introduced the kids to thrift stores at Gramma Grumps shop.  They couldn't believe they could buy books for a dollar.  Brayden found a Red Sox jersey he wanted for three dollars. And he doesn't even like the Red Sox.  We did end up finding Laney a jacket for eight dollars that was pink and brand new!

Next we went just about a mile past town to find a couple waterfalls I'd read about.  I suppose this was a locals only kind of trail as it was barely marked.  There were two different trails for us to hike to - M Falls and O Falls.  Laney and Brayden picked M and Ryan picked both of course so we headed to see M Falls first then see if we had enough time to make it to O Falls.  The hike to the falls was absolutely beautiful.  The trees towered above as we hiked around a cliff.

Then all of a sudden the trees opened and we found the falls!  The kids ran down to be behind them as that is pretty rare for most of the waterfalls we make it to.

Pretty quickly, we turned around and headed back to the fork to find O Falls.  We made sure people knew we'd been there!

This hike was just as pretty but with much steeper drop offs so Brayden was a little nervous. We made it to falls within 10 minutes and the kids were drawn to a pile of sand at the bottom.














While they played I explored the area and took more photos.  I was putting my camera away wishing I'd brought my monopod when I thought to just use a natural monopod right next to me - a rock!  So while the kids played with the sand rocks, I played with my camera around on all the rocks.

Thanks to Miss Gracie for sharing her spot with me for these pictures!

We hiked back out then headed to the local cafe for dinner and ice cream before the cruise.  We were trying to be as warm as possible before we needed to stand in line for the good seats on the boat.  Brayden claims to have had the best portabello sandwich ever at the Falling Rock Cafe in Munising in case you're ever here!

They had some pretty delicious ice cream too!  The three girls all decided on Yooper Snowslide and Brayden picked Mackinaw Island Mint.  The girls definitely chose the best one!

We stopped by the store to grab our extra layers and blanket.  Ryan wanted to stop at the store for a slingshot she'd been eyeing, but people were already lineing up so we also headed that way.  We all bundled up and headed to wait for the coveted spots at the top right of the boat.  We would be outside unless we couldn't stand the cold anymore so I brought along some Hot Hands and a blanket.  These Floridians just can't get used to these windy 50 degree days on the lake!

The cruise was absolutely beautiful.  The rocks were towering above us with beautiful colors and shapes as we slowly powered by.  The natural caves created from the water were everywhere in all sizes.

The arches were a definite favorite!

And check out this tree!

It's only kept alive by the roots that hang across to the mainland!

The best part for all the kids was when the captain took the boat into a cove just about as far as he could go.  We were surrounded on three sides by the towering rocks and the kids were spinning their heads around in amazement.  I'd already said it many times on this trip, but a made a big point to say right then, "Don't you ever forget this!"

This was our view going in!

And this was the view behind us after we were in the cave!

After about 20 more minutes we turned around and headed back to the small city of Munising.  The kids were pretty cold by now so we opted to head downstairs for warmth without sacrificing the view of the sunset over Grand Island.  I checked my phone as the sun was setting and it said 9:44!  No wonder we'd been sleeping in!

We had a quick and quiet ride back to the campsite and we all rushed to our sleeping bags with our Hot Hands.  We talked a little bit about our favorite parts and our big next day when we finally get to see Grammie before we all fell fast asleep way down in our sleeping bags.