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!
After about an hour we turned into the Blue Ridge Music Center to check out their museum. We all learned a lot about the history of the banjo as well as appalachian and bluegrass music. The kids loved hearing the mountain music from the 30s and 40s as well as the minstrel traveling shows.
