Sunday, June 7th
We leave Grand Rapids and head north towards Mackinaw City. Waze, our GPS, can't determine how long the drive should take. It keeps adding 60 minutes and then giving 60 minutes back and then adding 50 minutes. We approach the Mackinac Bridge, the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the US, which will take us to the upper peninsula of Michigan where we are staying for the next few nights. We are about half way across the bridge, when we come to a complete stop and we realize that it is for the tollbooth. It appears that Waze was right about the hour delay - at least we have a nice view while we wait!
 |
Crossing the Mackinac Bridge - Wow, there are a lot of dead bugs on the windshield
|
 |
Hamilton is not a fan of traffic or tolls. Are we there yet?? We've crossed the border into Canada faster than this.
|
We arrive at our KOA RV park near St. Ignace, MI and get set up. We head out for some groceries and tour around town for a bit. The one thing that we know we want to do while we are here is to take the ferry over to Mackinac Island, but tomorrow's weather looks cool so we're going to try to find something on the mainland. While driving around, a few things catch our eye - Castle Rock (climb to the top of the rock for $1), airplane tours (30 minute tour over the great lakes for $125), and pasties shops (pasties??). Ok, we've got some stuff to check out tomorrow.
 |
| Another KOA - not a bad spot... |
 |
| A couple of happy campers! |
 |
| This picture of the Mackinac Bridge was taken at 9:45 PM!!! It pays to be far West in a time zone... |
Monday, June 8th
There are a ton of islands around here and we both imagine that it's probably a pretty awesome view from the air, plus Anne's never been on a small plane before, so we decide to check out both Castle Rock and the airplane tour - We'll see how the views 2 compare.
At Castle Rock, we pay the $1 entrance fee, take our photo with Paul Bunyon and then climb 170 stairs to the top for a pretty great view of Lake Huron and Mackinac Island. This place is so kitchy. Of course you must go through the gift shop (or 'curio' for 'curiosity shop' as they call it), but we are happy to pick up a few small souvenirs.
 |
| Castle Rock |
 |
Photo op with Paul Bunyan and Babe - Paul is wearing a mask!
|
 |
Look what we saw on our climb up... Big foot! Sasquatch is real!
|
 |
Lots of stairs!
|
 |
| But what a view for $1! You can see Lake Huron and Mackinac Island in the background. |
After Castle Rock, we walk along the boardwalk in St. Ignace. They have an interesting walking tour along the lakefront with facts and history of the area. As we walk, there are large swarms of bugs that are so thick they look like clouds (we find out later that they are midge flies that hatch this time of year). We joke that at least we have our masks - keeps the bugs out of our mouths! It's pretty quiet in town today, but we imagine that this is a popular place during a "non-covid" summer. Alright, it's almost time for our flight, so time to head to the airport!
 |
| A view into the bay at St. Ignace |
 |
| Yep - Lake Huron is SUPER COLD also... |
 |
| Truer words have never been spoken. In any language. |
We wish all airport experiences were like this - we walk in 15 minutes before our flight, and 10 minutes later are boarding the plane. We can tell by looking at the interior that this plane is quite old - should we be worried?? The pilot says that it's 60 years old, but this plane is flown multiple times a day, so guess we'll be ok. We put on our face masks and buckle in and a few minutes later we are in the air! We fly over the city of St. Ignace, past the Mackinac bridge, over Mackinaw City and over several islands in Lake Huron, including Mackinac Island. We see bikers on the Island path that we plan to bike tomorrow - how cool! We took a million pictures (see the small sample below - sorry there's so many!). As we imagined, seeing the islands from the air was pretty spectacular. And the winner between the views from Castle Rock vs airplane - it's a toss up! You can't beat $1, but the view from the air was definitely better.
 |
Here we go...
|
 |
Neil thinks he could fly this thing. So different than a commercial flight...
|
 |
Is this plane safe? Is the pilot old enough to fly this thing?
|
 |
| Pasties?? |
 |
Pasties are tasty!
|
It doesn't get dark here until 10 pm! Since, we have a few more hours to "play" outside, Neil's found a frisbee golf course at a nearby ski resort. We pull in and the sign says in large, bold letters "Frequently check yourself for ticks". We spray ourselves down in bug spray and proceed down the wooded path to hole 1. This course was very narrow and heavily wooded sides on both sides. Neil will play almost any frisbee golf course, so you know it's bad when he says that he'll pass on playing. We keep walking to the open areas to see if those holes are playable. We decide to play a random hole while we're here. Anne's first throw lands in some tall grass and there is a giant spider sitting on her frisbee - EEK!! Anne is terribly afraid of spiders so she is done with this course. Neil treks through the tall grass to get his frisbee and agrees to call it as well.
 |
| Not the most welcoming disc golf course - Ticks and thick woods! |
 |
And spiders!!
|
 |
But we did see these beautiful flowers everywhere.
|
We get back to the RV - tonight, the Grift (Neil's good friends / old band) is playing a live virtual show at Higher Ground Live from VT. Neil gets it set up on the tv. How cool to get to watch them live in our RV! We finish the evening playing online Dominion with Anne's cousins, Billy and Heather.
Tuesday, June 9th
We get up a little earlier than usual so that we can catch the morning ferry to Mackinac Island. We pack a lunch, the bikes and are out the door. Our KOA sells ferry tickets so we grab 2 round trip tickets ($26 each) and 2 bike tickets ($11 each). We get to the ferry and choose seats on top and buy a visitors guide. Brrr.. It's a little chilly our here on the lake. Its a nice ride, passing the bridge and a good view of the Island. 15 minute later we're pulling into the dock.
 |
| Here comes the ferry! |
 |
We're on a boat!
|
 |
Lighthouses near Mackinac Island
|
 |
| Pulling into Mackinac Island |
What a cute little town! There are no cars allowed, so on the street all you see are bikes and horse carraiges. It's like stepping back in time. We head right on highway M185... No cars on this highway! It's the only state highway in the U.S. that doesn't allow automobiles. The road is 8.2 miles and goes all the way around the island and it hugs the coast! This is probably the most beautiful bike ride we've been on to date.
 |
| Main St. on Mackinac Island... |
 |
| M-185 - a Michigan State Highway. No cars allowed. Goes around the entire island. |
 |
This road is a cyclist's paradise (or at least this cyclist's)
|
 |
View of Arch Rock from M185
|
 |
Had lunch near this spot and chased one persistent seagull away - No food for you!
|
 |
Back to Main Street - after all that biking, time for fudge!
|
 |
| The Fudge. Oh the fudge. |
 |
| Fort Mackinac |
 |
| Fort Mackinac from the bottom. |
 |
| Gotta take Anne's tablet trail! |
 |
| On Anne's tablet trail - a view of Mackinac Island village from above... |
 |
St. Anne's church - this Island likes Anne's
|
 |
| Beautiful Victorian "cottages" along the cliffs. |
 |
| Just another "cottage" on Mackinac Island |
 |
| One of the "roads" going through the island... |
 |
| Another "road" - look at the traffic up ahead! |
 |
| Arch rock - a cool stop on the "highway" |
 |
| Obligatory Arch rock selfie |
 |
The view from Arch rock
|
This is probably Neil's favorite stop on the trip so far. It is really cool that this island banned the use of automobiles in 1898, and the ban has stayed. It is really awesome to get a glimpse of what life would have been like if the automobile never happened. It is pretty amazing how quickly you realize that there is no traffic, no horns, no exhaust, etc. The thought of this makes this a bucket list item for Neil. He says he wants to spend one summer on this island... Imagine a summer at this pace? And it stays light until 10:30 pm?!?
After about 10 miles of biking, Neil mentions that he found a disc golf course on the island, and it might be a nice break for our butts. Anne is game, so we bike into the park that has the DG course. It is called Great Turtle Park, and it is a perfect course for both of us. It's not too long, and it wraps around the park with not a lot of woods. And it is a beautiful day. Go figure, it has a disc golf course also. Neil has already moved to this island in his dreams.
 |
| Didn't get a pic on the course, but snapped one as we left! |
Anne is excited for one more stop on the tour of Mackinac, so we head over to the Grand Hotel for happy hour - it apparently has the largest front porch of any hotel in the US. Unfortunately they are closed, so we find a bar with a patio nearby and enjoy a cocktail outside. We both realize that this is our FIRST TIME at a restaurant since early March. Crazy. We are both still not ready to sit inside. We enjoy the late afternoon, but the last ferry back is 6 so we head back to the ferry terminal - don't want to miss that ferry!
 |
| Happy hour at a cafe watching the bikes and cars go by. Almost forgot what this feels like. It's pretty nice. |
 |
This is all of the vehicles on Mackinac Island. So cool.
 | Delivery anyone?! That's the UPS "truck".
|
|
 |
| The entrance to the Grand Hotel |
 |
That is one looooong porch.
|
 |
| The road/parkway leading up to the Grand Hotel |
 |
| The Grand Hotel from the Ferry - it is grand. |
After an amazing day, we head back to the campground to get ready to leave in the morning. We actually start our trip West! We are headed to Green Bay in the morning, and it looks like it will be about 4.5 hours, but it looks like the drive will be amazing. We are tracking through the UP all the way along the North shore of Lake Michigan. Should be a cool driving day.
Thanks so much for following along!!! Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment