Adventures in the U.P.: Day 3--Macinac Island

One thing that I wanted to do last time we were in the U.P. was to visit Macinac Island.  It's a little town on an island out in the middle of Lake Huron and the only way that you can get there is to take a ferry.  We weren't able to make it work last time so I really pushed for it to happen this time even though it meant driving over an hour back the way we had come and even though I knew it was going to be the activity with the biggest price tag.  Luckily one of the ferry lines was running an anniversary special for the summer.  They had brought back one of their original ferries and the price was half what the higher speed boats were going for.  We did not mind a slower pace at all.  In fact the ride over was probably what the kids enjoyed most!

The other interesting thing about the island is that there are no cars allowed.  You either ride in a carriage or ride a bike or walk.  The place was definitely a tourist trap but so charming and so pretty that I'm already wanting to go back again.

They had tons of beautiful old victorian style houses surrounded by lovely gardens and landscaping.

We did a lot of looking around in various shops and sampled lots of delicious fudge before finally buying a bunch of it at one of the shops.  Then we visited a fun little butterfly house.  It was so much fun to see so many, (literally thousands) of varieties of butterflies.  The kids kept trying so hard to have one land on them even though we weren't supposed to catch them.  The one who wasn't even trying was Taylor--who had one land on his nose!

His eyes were totally watering because the butterfly was tickling so much!

After the butterfly house, we decided to hike a ways to see this cool arch that we had heard about.  The girl in the butterfly gift shop told us it was only about a half a mile away.  My mom decided to find a place to sit down to wait for us.  I debated whether to go or stay since technically I was still recovering from surgery, but not knowing when or if we would be coming back anytime soon, I decided to make the hike with everyone else.

Well.  That may have been a mistake.  The half mile walk turned into one... and then two.  After we passed the 2 mile marker all I could think about was that if it was over two miles to the arch, that meant it was over two miles back!  We finally got there and realized that the steps to go up for a better look were closed off because a tree had fallen and broken a bunch of the stairs so not only did we walk WAY further than we thought we'd have to, but we had to settle for looking at it from the bottom!

It was pretty cool, but I think I was so exhausted and in such despair about having to hike back that I didn't appreciate it as much as all the people who were riding bikes around the island who looked like they were having so much fun.

I'm pretty sure I was contemplating stealing that bike from someone at this point.

The kids recovered their energy quickly though and had a great time playing on the rocky beach of Lake Huron.

Once we dragged ourselves back to town, we were all pretty exhausted after a long day and decided to catch the next ferry back.  This time we were able to take one of the higher speed ferries and made it back to the mainland in a fraction of the time it took to get to the island.  The kids thought it was fun but I think they enjoyed that longer ride on the smaller ferry even more. 

This was the Grand Hotel as viewed from the ferry.  I imagine the view from the hotel would have been pretty awesome too!

One of the homes on the side of the island.

It was such a fun day--even with the exhausting hike.  Next time I think it would be fun to take a couples-only trip like for an anniversary or something and actually stay in the hotel or one of the B&B's for a day or two and then actually rent bikes and ride around the island or go on one of the carriage tours.  Maybe someday...                           

Nowhere to go but U.P.:Adventures in the Upper Peninsula (Day 1 & 2)

Originally, we had planned to make a summertime trip out to New Jersey to meet our new nephew Barrett.  And then we learned that the week we were able to go out was also the week that the Bramhall's would be out in Utah for a wedding.  So we ended up scrapping those plans and coming up with a new one.

Ten years ago, when we were moving from Ripon, Wisconsin to Albion, Michigan, upon finding out that the moving van with all of our things wouldn't make it to our new home for quite a few days, we decided that instead of traveling down through Milwaukee and Chicago and then across the lower part of Michigan, we would instead pack camping gear and head up through Green Bay and across to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where we would camp for a few days before heading down through the rest of the state to our new home.  We LOVED it!  We camped next to the Tahquamenon River near Tahquamenon Falls.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We have wanted to go back ever since, but just haven't been able to make it work.  Until this summer. 

I was a little worried about camping only six weeks after surgery, but I felt really good and air mattresses are an awesome invention.  My mom, dad, and brother Jonathan all joined us for the trip too.

It's quite a drive up there but the scenery is nice, so it wasn't too bad.  We were all so excited when we arrived at the Mackinac Bridge that joins the lower peninsula with the upper.  It's about five miles long and kind of scary to look out at all that deep, deep water--Lake Michigan on the west and Lake Huron on the east.  The kids loved it! 

Once we got into the U.P. it was still a good hour or so drive to the campground.  This time we opted to stay in the same campground as last time only we upgraded to the modern sites so we could have electricity and take showers.  We ended up with a beautiful campsite that had a pretty extensive forest behind it for exploring.  Mom, Dad, and Jonathan had the site right next to ours and we all shared the firepit and food.

Spencer loved camping--just as long as he could still play a game or two of Angry Birds!

It was kind of late when we pulled in so we set up camp as quickly as we could before it got dark and settled in for the night.  And what a night it was.  We woke to thunder and flashing lightning and ended up having quite a downpour for most of the night.  Kalen and Kaya and I were in one tent and Taylor, Lynnsey and Spencer were in the other (Kendall got the extra bed in Jonathan's trailer that night).  We stayed fairly dry in ours but the other tent didn't fare so well.  Not only was it older and hole-ier, but Spencer actually ended up with his head scooted right up against the wall and his pillow absorbed about a gallon of rainwater! 

By morning though, the clouds had moved out and we could tell it was going to be a gorgeous day.  And it was.  We went to nearby Tahquamenon Falls--both the lower and the upper falls.  It was just as beautiful as we remembered.

They were offering a group special on canoe rentals where we could row across to a beautiful hiking trail that followed different parts of the lower falls.  We didn't do that last time, so this was new to everyone.  I definitely would do it again!



After rowing and hiking around the lower falls, we headed a bit further to the upper falls and hiked some more!

Mom picked up a little hitchiker!

Jonathan also picked up a hitchiker!

The Upper Falls are larger and really stunning.  The orange tint in the water is caused by tannin that is leached from the plants that grow all around.

This tree stump was so interesting.  The arrows point to different ages of the tree and mention several things that were going on in history at that time.  It really made us wonder about the age of our giant maple tree by our house.

It was so much fun having Grandpa along on this trip!  I really feel like our kids got to know him so much better.

Sweet little plant growing out of an old hollow tree stump!

It was such a fun (and tiring) day!  We headed back to camp with a stop on the way at a cute craft store that Mom had seen.  She bought me the absolute softest furry skein of yarn that will make a sweet little bear hat.  And I bought an awesome fabric flower maker that I am really excited to try out if I ever get a few minutes to experiment.  

We enjoyed a relaxing evening around the campfire and the kids who have endless energy spent some time playing at the playground before turning in pretty early for a much more restful night than the one before!                                 

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Early in the summer Kendall and Lynnsey found out that a lady from our branch was directing the play Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the nearby town of Homer.  Many of the youth from church were involved in it too so Kendall and Lynnsey thought it sounded fun and they signed on.  I think they've been a bit spoiled with their Missoula Children's Theater productions because they are so fantastically organized and they work hard for a week and then get to perform.  This was different.  This was a two month deal from start to finish and they only had parts in the childrens chorus with no speaking lines.  Just singing and dancing.  They had many long practices that they had to attend and there was lots of grumbling involved.  But as the actual performance days drew closer, they got a bit more excited and began to have a great time.

There were four performances over four days so it was a long few days since call time was usually two hours before the play and the play itself was nearly two hours long!  But they did great and it was really fun to watch them and the rest of the youth from church perform in one of my favorite musicals.

Lots of square dancing!

The Virginia Reel

Lynnsey's dance with all the girls.

One of Kaya's best friends whose sisters and mom were all in the play.  She participated too and was so cute out there dancing with all the rest of the girls!

For the last couple of performances the director let Kendall be in a few more scenes with the town boys.

Taking their bows.

Most of the cast at the last performance.