Day 25

We decided to do something a little different on the day of our departure this time. I picked up Grammie and Laney and we all headed to see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. At first I was concerned that we were arriving 40 minutes early for the museum but the gate ranger informed us the tide was out so we headed to Quarry Cove to see what we could find.












We climbed around the outside of the cove looking for things hiding in the crevices where we found lots of crabs and California mussels. There weren't many actual pools on this side so we headed to the cove next.

Grammie was already investigating and poking squishy things! Ryan and Laney played with a few hermit crabs and sea snails first. I spotted this heron looking for breakfast - probably for many of the same things we were looking for!

I spotted this guy in a deeper pool because the middle looked like a jalapeno slice. A program at one of Grammie's campgrounds talked about the tidepools so she told us this guy is green because he eats all the green kelp.  The tide line for high tide was probably 40-50 feet past us and it seemed to still be going out. I was interested to watch this guy to see how he changed. When I looked at the outer part of his body with all the shell pieces attached I noticed a few more around him that must have been just a little bit higher up in the water because they were closed. See the guy at the right? I dismissed him earlier because I thought he was a rock.

Grammie told us they suck in a lot of water and close up or flip upside down to survive the 6-12 hours they might be out of the water and in the sun. She confirmed this was true when she poked one and he spit water out at her!

We wanted to play around more in the tide pools but it was time for the museum to open so we made the trek back up the trail. Much like driving the coast I get in trouble for not looking where I'm going and checking out the view. We stopped here for a rest and to watch a few surfers braving the early morning cold.

Our first stop at the museum was the movie where we learned all about the history and difficult construction of the lighthouse back in the 1870s. Most of the supplies were delivered from San Francisco on ships that often met horrible weather or ship-breaking rocks. This was exactly the reason the lighthouse was being constructed. 

The interpretive center was one of the best we'd seen. There was so much information about the history of the area, the lighthouse keepers, and the lighthouse. Laney and I are still fascinated by the life the keepers and their families led while tirelessly maintaining the lights for the safety of the ships. Some families had to plan 6 months in advance for the supplies and tools they would need. I can barely handle planning a week in advance!

There was a life-size replica of the lens in the museum that flashed the pattern for this lighthouse - 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off. I had no idea each lighthouse has a specific pattern but that completely makes sense for navigation! This fresnel lens was made in Paris and shipped over in the 250 pieces that made it up. It cost $11,000 back then - Wow!

The part of the museum my kids used to race to is now left untouched. I'm glad I took them when they were young because my tweens and teen scoffed at the idea of dress up and playing games the kids played back then. There was a dad dressing up with his kid though and I did catch Brayden using the stereoscope! Ryan did challenge me to a game of checkers but I'm guessing she wished she hadn't because I cremated her. She did really well at first so she knows she is getting better. 

All this and we hadn't even seen the lighthouse yet! All the tours were full but I wasn't as interested in climbing it as I was just seeing it. They'd torn down the lighthouse keeper's quarters back in the 80s and that's what interests us the most. And as fearless as she is, Ryan isn't too keen on climbing too high.  The lighthouse and the grounds were lovely.

We even were able to take some time and identify some of the birds in the area that we don't have at home. This rock was one of about seven that were completely covered in birds.  We saw cormorant, murre, pigeon guillemot, and of course gull. We tried to find an oyster catcher but no luck.

This lovely morning put us on the road late to Portland but after navigating some wicked downtown traffic we finally made it to a bookstore I've wanted to visit since college. The kids had been looking forward to visiting since the beginning of the trip and mean old mom only gave them about an hour to look around. That's perfectly okay though because we still ended up walking out with a bag full of books!

Our stop at the bookstore put us right on time to leave the city of Portland with the rest of the rush hour traffic. After inching along for about 45 minutes Google notified me of a quicker route. Yes please! I'm not sure if it was quicker necessarily but we were moving so it was definitely better. And it just so happened to be Oregon's historic scenic highway 30 that hugged the Columbia River Gorge. We had plans to stop all along this road the next day but we couldn't resist a waterfall called Horsetail Falls located right on the road!

We arrived at our site to a sign saying there was no water so once we were set up we headed straight to Grammie's spot to cook dinner.  We made plans for the next day and said our goodnights. Both our sites were situated next to train tracks and the interstate (Grammie's a little closer than mine) so we decided we weren't going to get much sleep this night.

Day 32

I was up early to write before the kids started moving.  I wanted to get several days posted as I wasn't sure what our facilites would be like at the next stop.  Before 8am, most of the campgrounds we've been to have been very quiet with only the earliest of risers up along with me.

Once the kids finally dragged themselves out of bed, I made some french toast with lots of our raspberries and peaches.  I packed everything up while the kids spent the morning with their new friends.  All of them were pretty bummed we were leaving already.

After a quick stop at the lighthouse at the point, we hopped on the road to make it to our next place with some daylight hours to play.  Three hours later we were greeted with the spectacular view of the Mackinaw Bridge.  Unfortunately there was some construction going on at the beginning of the bridge so we didn't get to experience the full window-down effect of a crazy tall bridge, but we did still enjoy it very much.  

After a quick stop at the welcome center to get some tips on things to do during our stay, we headed to our campsite to set up.  I'd made our reservations so long ago at all these stops that I forget which sites I'd picked.  Once we backed into our site I was a little disappointed I didn't reserve the site across the way with power.  Until I noticed our view.

I would like to apologize in advance for the pictures forthcoming of this same bridge over and over at different times during the day.  Ever since Brayden built one of these suspension bridges, I've just been fascinated by them!

Once we were set up we headed to do some of the touristy things around the small city that wouldn't take very long.  Our first stop was the very cheesy Castle Rock!  The kids get a kick out of seeing Paul Bunyan and Babe so once Ryan spotted them on the brochure, we had to go.  And who can beat climbing a gagillion steps for $1?!  The view was nice if you looked past the interstate below!

The welcome center lady also mentioned a splash pad and park down by the marina so we headed there next.  These kids have monkey bar competitions on every playground back home, but they just couldn't get across this spinning version without a little help from me!  Laney just wanted to crawl on top of the slide the whole time causing much frustration from other parents there.

We searched for a few minutes for the splash pad finally finding it on the actual dock of the lighthouse.  It was a little difficult to spot since it wasn't running continuously.  All three kids had been bouncing-up-and-down-excited about going there until they actually felt the temperature of the water.  Even Brayden who can sweat just waking up in the morning didn't want to stay for more than 2 minutes.  

Instead they made their towels into capes and ran around the grass!  

I took the opportunity to learn about the reason the dock is called the "Chief Dock".  Before the Mackinaw bridge there was a huge boat that would transport railroad cars from a train at Mackinaw City through the Straits of Mackinac to St Ignace where we were standing instead of making the loop around through the Upper Peninsula. It was so interesting to learn about the ingenuity and the precise way this boat needed to operate.  It also was designed to break up ice in the straits during the winter.  

Laney wanted us to all walk down to the lighthouse at the point. She is fascinated with lighthouses and especially with the lives of the keepers.  It might just be the life in general of families in the early 20th century that she enjoys so much, but she is definitely interested in the solitude of the keeper families as well. So we headed that way with capes on. The Amish families at the end weren't sure what to make of this strange crew of children!

After getting back dressed, we went in search of some ice cream of course.  I believe Ryan might be getting a little tired of ice cream as she decided on raspberry sorbet for her cone. Laney's ice cream was a bit soft so her mess today was monumental!  I was too busy trying to help catch and clean it all to get a picture, but trust me it was bad.  

We were walking back down the street to our car when we noticed two guys setting up for a show in the parking lot.  My kids can always spot these things from a miole away so we just had to stop. These guys definitely didn't disappoint with fun for the kids and jokes for the adults.  

Laney and Ryan even got in on the fun!  In this picture he's giving them instructions on what NOT to do when the pins are being tossed around them.

Ryan refused to look at what was happening!

By the time the show finished the sun was getting low so we all changed into pants and put on our sweatshirts.  The welcome center staff let us know there would be fireworks tonight!  The kids were thrilled to have a chance to see more, I was less then thrilled with the 10pm start time.  We are on our summer trip though, so flexibility is essential to a relaxed mom and happy kids.  Imagine how happy I was when the announcement came over the speakers that the show was delayed 20 minutes!  Just be flexible.

The wait was worth it as fireworks burst out all around us at the end of the National Anthem. The show was wonderful and long and colorful.  I had two girls leaning up against me gently clapping at their favorites and another big kid smiling through it all.  

After the big finale, we all yawned and hopped in the car to get back to the campground.  We were welcomed home by a beautiful view of the bridge covered in lights.  By the time we made it to the bathroom and into pajamas, I was too exhausted to get a picture.  Another night.

Day 21

When Grammie had checked in the night before, they'd told her about a quick hike to the lighthouse on the point so of course Laney wanted to go there.  In our experience with lighthouse visits it seems less than half are open for people to walk in or up but I knew we would all enjoy the hike.  The girls and I headed to Grammie's lodge to meet the others and set out to our hike.

The desk attendant showed us an alternate dirt road way in case the bugs or water would be too much so we decided on that path for the way there.  I just couldn't believe the amount of wildflowers all along the road.  These grow wild and I can barely keep any alive in our yard without sprinklers!

As soon as we got within view, the kids were drawn to the rocks so we sat and enjoyed the view with our snacks.  Practically before I could take a bite of my apple, they were gone in search of pools and beaches and more rocks.

Next we headed over to the lighthouse to see it and the beautiful view at the point.  There just happened to be a sailboat coming into the channel as we sat and soaked it all in.

And these two were off way down below deep in conversation hatching plans to change the world.

While Laney basked in the sun.

Until this guy showed up.  She thoroughly enjoyed throwing a few peanuts and raisins to him for his mid-morning snack.  He was keeping quiet about the whole thing in order to have the whole snack buffet to himself!

With our rock jumping experts we headed to explore the rocks and head back along the water to the lodge.  At one point Ryan fell and scraped her knee though so after Grammie made everything better she decided we should go back the way we came.

Once at the lodge we checked out the dock then headed to the game room for a few minutes as Ryan had been itching to play ever since she saw it!  We couldn't play all that long though because there was a naturalist program down at the beach.  We learned a lot about loons and wood frogs.  Laney and I had seen a black squirrel at our campground, but apparently they are as common and as much nuisance as brown squirrels at home.  Once they mentioned that I seemed to remember a lot of black squirrels the year before at Niagra Falls.


At first I thought the kids were crazy to want to swim, but once I stuck my toe in it was quite nice.  I started to head to our campsite to grab bathing suits but quickly realized my car was back at the lodge. Grammie offered to let the kids swim in the pool and that was all it took for us to leave!  While I hopped on the wifi to update the blog, the kids swam and played for an hour.  Sometimes a pool is just what they need!

After another visit to the game room, we headed to a place the naturalists had suggested as well as several signs as we drove in.  It was supposed to have the "World's Best Fish and Chips".  I'm not sure it was the best in the world, but it was very, very good.  Especially with a Canadian beer after a long day!

After the kids had some ice cream, we headed back to our campsite to get organized for the travel day ahead and start packing up.  The wind was picking up so I knew rain was on the way. We'd had a bunch of days without rain, so it wasn't too terrible depressing!

Quote of the Day: Laney - "There is a pee spot over there in the rocks!" letting the other children know where to go if they needed to.

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!