Detroit

We left Traverse City on Friday July 20th heading to Pontiac Lake State Park near Detroit.  We and Diana & Brian visited with our friend Lynn and her boys Michael and Matthew. We went to a Detroit Tigers game Friday - they lost to Boston 0-1 and they had some good fireworks (not related to game results!) after the game.
We all went to the Ford factory, museum and Greenfield Village on Saturday.  The factory was very interesting and the museum is awesome.  By the time we got to the village some of the shops were getting ready to close but had a good time walking around there.

 It was time to head home Sunday.  We made overnight stops in Walton, KY, Chattanooga, TN and Tifton, GA arriving home on Wednesday afternoon.

Traverse City part 2

On Wednesday July 18th we rented a pontoon boat and cruised around the west side of Traverse Bay.  The weather was beautiful - sunny and not too warm and the water was calm.  We brought plenty of snacks and enjoyed the ride.

Thursday we went to the Leelanau peninsula between Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan. The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located the northern point of the peninsula.  We enjoyed dinner back in Kingsley.

Mackinac Island

Before going to Mackinac Island we spent some time on Sunday July 15th at the Village which is several unique shops in a building which was a hospital.  On Monday July16th we visited the town of Kingsley, MI which was founded by our great great grandfather Judson Kingsley who was the first postmaster.

On Tuesday July 17th we all drove from Traverse City to Mackinaw City for the ferry to Mackinac Island.  We started with the carriage ride from town seeing many of the interesting sights on the island.  We stopped at the fort had a nice lunch overlooking Lake Huron.  We also sampled their famous fudge before we took the ferry back to Mackinaw City.  We had dinner at the Depot restaurant which used to be the train depot where our grandfather delivered and picked up mail on the train.

Traverse City

After crossing the Mackinac Bridge and a 2 hour drive we arrived at the KOA campground in Traverse City on Friday July 13th along with Diana & Brian. We picked up Jenna at the airport and drove up to the Old Mission Bay Lighthouse where we climbed up 37 steps to the lighthouse tower. We also dipped our toes in Lake Michigan (it was about 55 degrees!). We stopped at a winery to taste (and buy some) and a roadside stand to buy some cherrries.  We ate dinner at a restaurant named the Cottage.  The rest of the family came in late Friday night and went to the house they had rented.
On Saturday morning we ventured into town and checked out some of the shops especially the Cherry Republic.  We also went down by the bay which is very pretty.  In the afternoon we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore.  We did most of the scenic routes stopping for pictures.
 

Later we went to the large dune area where they were doing a "Starry Night" show with rangers and astronomers.  Of course the sun doesn't set until about 9:30 there so it was a bit of a wait but the rest of the family joined us there.  Some actually climbed to the top of the dune.  We had a prime parking spot at the end of a row with plenty of room for all our chairs and coolers.  A visitor from Chicago set up his telescope near us and we had the pleasure of having our own astronomer!

St Ignace part 2

We are still in St Ignace, MI just north of the Mackinac bridge.  We went to Castle Rock where we climbed up stairs and inclines for a view about 200 feet up from Lake Huron.  We could see Mackinac Island but it is pretty small in the picture.
We also stopped at a viewing bridge on Lake Michigan where we could see the Mackinac bridge very well. 
We are chilling out a bit today - a trip to a local grocery store for some supplies and topped off the gas tank, did a little cleaning up in the camper.  Off to Traverse City tomorrow.  We have enjoyed cool mornings and mild days but it looks like it will be a warmer weekend (may be about 90 degrees for a high temperature).

St Ignace, MI

Before leaving Marquette, MI we tried some Lake Superior whitefish at a local restaurant which was very good.
We are in St Ignace (on the north side of the Makinac bridge) for a few days before we meet up with family in Traverse City.  Today we took the ferry across to Makinac Island. The ferry went by way of the bridge and shared the history of it. No vehicles are allowed on the island so there were hundreds of bikes!  We did not rent one.  We went on the carriage tour around the island.  One of the sites along the way was Wings of Makinac butterfly garden and we saw some beautiful butterflies.  We also saw the Arch Rock and the fort. We saw the Grand Hotel but could not get a good picture of it.  The weather was beautiful in the low 80s. We will be going back there with family next week.

Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore runs along Lake Superior from Munising east to Grand Marais in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  We took the spray cruise tour from Munising which goes out into Lake Superior where they point out various rock formations and there is a waterfall where they turn around and head back to the dock.  There are 3 decks on the boat and the temperature was in the 70s; with the breeze it felt really cool to us but it was great.  The guy in the welcome center showed us where to find 3 different waterfalls and we did but there was no parking available at any of them. We then went to the Mines Castle overlook of Pictured Rocks where there was plenty of parking and enjoyed the view from there.
Today we started at Laughing Whitefish Falls south of Marquette, MI which was very pretty. Then we went back into town and visited the Michigan welcome center and picked up some maps and information.  We went to the Marquette Maritime Museum and Lighthouse which was enjoyable.  We climbed 45 steps up to the lighthouse and toured one floor but the tower is operational so we could not go up there.