Shipshewana & Kimpel

Well it is down to the last day of vacation. We spent the morning driving from Grand Rapids to Shipshewana, Indiana. We are on our way home. Bummer. It was goodbye Michigan today. We spent several hours looking at the shops in Shipshewana before meeting up with Troy's friend Nathan Kimpel. I really love that town. It is very Amish. Most of the stores are really run by non-amish and the stuff is from China but there are a couple of places that there is authentic stuff and it is worth the trip for that. I really did love the cloth and quilt stores. I got some nice stuff there. We picked up some other "much needed" souvenirs as well while we were there. I didn't take any cool pictures today. I just enjoyed myself and enjoyed the sights.
When we met up with Nathan, we went to the Auburn Cord Duesenburg Museum and NATMUS, which is an acronym for lots of different kinds of restored vehicles and some that haven't been restored yet. No really, National Automotive and Truck Museum - see the resemblance to what I just said. It was fun.
We finally got to our hotel around 9:00 pm and we will have to get up pretty early in the morning to get home at a reasonable hour tomorrow.  That will be the end of the vacation for us, a long drive from Auburn, Indiana to Silver Creek, GA. So, thanks to everyone that has followed along with us and I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog.

Goodbye U.P.

Today we crossed over the Mighty Mac for the last time on our trip, leaving the U.P. behind. It was very sad for us as we have had a lot of fun there. It was the slowest trip we took across the bridge. We crossed at about 15 mph today because it was so windy. It looked pretty much like these two pictures all day along our trip.

We drove most of the day today making our way to Grand Rapids. This was a big trip from Escanaba. This evening we met up with Troy's college room mate, Tony, for dinner. That was very nice. I had not met him before. Afterward we rode around some and bought some more Faygo, and for those of you that don't know, this is an important staple that we can only get in Michigan and our car is getting loaded up as we progress homeward. We are spending the night in Grand Rapids, which is not that exciting, and moving on to Indiana in the morning. That will be more exciting. There is the Auburn Cord Museum and Troy's friend Nathan to visit. Plus, I am hoping to snooker Troy in to going over to Shipshewana (Amish Territory) for a peek too!

THEMES & Things

There are themes to the things we do. As time passes on this trip, we progress through themes of things we are going to. For a bit there was shipwrecks, then it was forts, always there has been museums but lately it has been mines. Today, it was an iron mine and a museum. Today's museum was a really neat one. It was the IXL Museum Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company. It was about this fellow that invented a machine to automate the tongue and grove board for hardwood floors. The mine was very neat too. We were at a depth of awful deep in a very cool damp and sometimes slippery iron mine that was hosted by Big John himself. We rode a very narrow train through a very narrow tunnel and got off and walked some distance into a very large cave where the iron had been mined out. Now the creepy thing about this mine to me was when the guide described this one particular drill that was used for overhead drilling which was very deadly and men were on the wait list to use it for an extra 3 pennies per day. They were actually waiting in line to have rocks fall on their heads. We came into the city of ESCANABA today. If you will look through old posts you will find in one of my very first posts a reference to a movie, Escanaba in da Moonlight. It is not quite like that here, but close. Troy says that everything about coming to the UP is like going back to at least 1950 mostly earlier. I really do see the resemblance to an earlier time here. There are some very, shall we say, slow to accept progress types here.

Escanaba, MI

Found this cute water tower along the way!

At the lumber museum

Anyway, it is absolutely fascinating to take a tour of this part of the country that I have not ever seen before. Tomorrow we head down a road I have been on before in lower Michigan on the way to Grand Rapids, but it will be at a later time of year than my last visit and I am looking forward to seeing the change of season.

 We went to the greatest old mining community in Rockland, MI today. It is called Old Victoria. It was just a few old buildings but they were full of authentic items from the time of the people that actually lived there and the buildings were in amazing condition. We were given a personal tour and allowed to touch things. The tour guide was just amazing because you could really tell how she loved her work. Troy said it was only a shame that she was interested in the things that still stood and not interested in talking about what had gone by the way as well. There was a lot that could be said about the history of the community as a whole and what happened with the mine that was the purpose of the community's existence to begin with.

I got to visit another new state today. I visited the city of Land O' Lakes Wisconsin. It was ok but I wouldn't want to live there. At least I can mark that one off my list, eh?

Check out the neat church. It may not seem that unique but it is nearly identical to the one on our train layout at home and we found it in Rockland today when we were driving around looking for ideas for how our little town should look since we are patterning it after this area of the country.

TODAY WE WERE MINERS!

Me and Troy in our miner gear at the Delaware Mine in Delaware, MI. This was a very cool place. Now I mean this in a couple of ways. The mine shaft that we ventured into was only in the 40's and it was also only occupied by us at the time of our visit. We had arrived late in the day, we were in the middle of practically nowhere, and we were walking down into the ground too. Extremely cool and cold at the same time.

It was dark in the Delaware mine. They had left the place as is there from how the miners left it in the 1800's. It was only in use for 40 years and has been abandoned since. There is still some visible copper there in the walls of the mine.

This is the Quincy mine. We went down into this mine too. It was a much more populated tour. There was a train down to the shaft then a wagon that carried us through the mine. This one was pretty neat when we got into the mine because they turned out all the lights and you have never really known dark until you are in a mine with absolutely no light. 

We also visited some ghost towns in several places. This is just one of the very neat places we saw that was a surviving place from history. There were many of the homes, schools, or old businesses that have been either preserved or marked that we were able to see and even tell what they were. It was fascinating. Troy even got a couple of books about two of the towns that were bigger that we saw.

I know this has nothing to do with mines but I had to throw it in. This is the library in Houghton. I thought it was very nice that it had a view of sailboats docked behind it.

Day 10

A really great place to stay at Keewenaw Bay
Carla's Motel,
Baraga, MI

Imagine a vase with flowers.
Pictured Rocks,
Munising, MI

The smallest post office I have ever seen.
Deerton, MI

We are in the UP now, you betcha!

We are moving farther into the UP and the trip is going great. I don't need an interpreter yet but they sure do talk funny here.

Today we started off with a visit back to the Soo Locks for a while. Seeing the ships go through the locks is really great fun and better this morning than last night because there was so few people there this morning to block the view. It was pretty chilly though. I had to go across the street and buy a sweatshirt to stand the chill in the air. Yes, I know it is August, but it is different this far north.

This is a 1000 foot iron ore ship leaving the locks while another one waits its turn to go through just off in the distance.

Before leaving for our vacation, Troy had me watch the Chevy Chase movie "Vacation" where he and his family go to Wally World and find it closed for repairs. He holds them at gunpoint and makes them let his family ride the theme park rides after a horrible trip across the country to get there. This morning after leaving the locks at Sault Ste. Marie we drove to Whitefish Point to visit the lighthouse and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. When we arrived we found the parking lot packed with oodles of people milling around looking lost and not knowing what to do. We soon found that the entire place was closed. Even the restrooms were closed. So this was our only big glitch in our holiday road so far!

After that plan fell through we moved on to plan B. We looked for a route to the coast of Superior. Couldn't find that and went to plan C. Plan C was Oswald's Bear Ranch! Great! The bears were so well cared for. This place had huge fenced areas that the bears could roam in and never be seen if they didn't want to, but of course they were all front and center for the apples that the kids were feeding them.

This guy was my favorite. You could really tell he was the boss the way he interacted with the other bears.

After the bear ranch it was on to Munising. We decided that it was a good evening to take a boat tour in a glass bottom boat despite the high winds and cool weather. The weather was great but they had to 

cut the tour little short because they could not go out into the open water with high winds. We were able to see a really cool shipwreck and some very neat houses on Grand Isle. A house that was for sale there was over $200,000 and it had no electricity or running water. Talk about ruffing it. Not for me.

Last but not least, my favorite picture of the day!

Tahquamenon Falls

Today was an award winning day! I saw things I have never seen before and had the greatest adventure! Troy and I went on a 3-part journey that took the better part of the day to complete. We started with a train ride through the wilds of the upper peninsula. Our first real find was this fellow.


After traveling along and getting a lot of blurry pictures of his buddies and the backs of a lot of my fellow travellers heads we arrived at the second leg of the trip.


The captain/tour guide was one of the best ever. He pointed out everything and slowed the boat for pictures, like this one:

We took our time touring on the boat and saw so much along the way. When we got to the end of that trip it was off to a short hike and some stairs. No, I did not have enough stairs at Castle Rock yesterday.  It didn't seem nearly so bad going down to the falls after all those up to the rock yesterday.  

The falls were really beautiful and well worth the trip.

On the way back, the boat slowed nearly to a stop for a view of this fellow. We were told this was the male because he was a smaller eagle. He is absolutely beautiful and the first I have ever seen. The bear was the first I had ever seen as well. It really was such a wonderful trip. Makes me want to vacation all the time!!!

If this was not enough to really make a day of it, when we got done, we went to Sault St. Marie and found our hotel room, left straight away for the Locks and watched ships going through for a while. We saw the last one go through when it was nearly dark. We did manage to stop long enough for dinner in there somewhere.

The Cabin

Tonight is the last night we will spend at Mackinaw City in our lovely cabin by the lake. I will miss it terribly. We just came in from watching the setting sun as the lights of the Mackinac Bridge slowly become bright against the darkening sky while the moon rose on the opposite horizon. It truly is a beautiful place with the breeze blowing and a bonfire burning nearby.
We spent our day going to places like Michilimackinac Fort


just under the Mackinac Bridge, the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, Castle Rock, Mystery Spot, and St. Ignace. The fort was very nice. It was a reproduction built since the 1960's and it is still under construction. Excavation of artifacts is still happening on location and we were able to watch that happening while we visited. Pretty cool.
The lighthouse,


like most today, is no longer in use but was a wonderfully kept place to visit. We picnicked there afterward by the lake. Troy took a picture of his feet in the lakes under the bridge and I say lakes because that is where Huron and Michigan join so he had one foot in each lake.
Castle rock was the big, or rather tall event of the day. It was like climbing 20 flights of stairs,


literally. I was not going to be beat. I did have to stop for a small rest in the middle but I made it all the way to the top and took pictures to prove it. Maybe I will actually get them to load here. :)
Tomorrow we leave this wonderful place and off to other grand adventures like Tahquamenon Falls and Sault St. Marie.

Hello All,
It has been another wonderful day of vacationing. I wish there was a way to take everyone along with me on this spectacular trip. I think that my words are not enough to do justice to how grateful I am to be along for this trip.

Today we made the wonderful trip to Mackinac Island. The day started with a ferry ride to the island which was on its own magnificent. We were taken on a tour of the Mackinac bridge from beneath it. There is simply nothing like that bridge. It is like a thrill ride for me every time I cross it and it is a magnificent beauty to look at.

After we got off at the island we toured the Fort. That was a real treat when we got to it. Troy said the only people that really like going up to the fort is little kids because it is a steep climb. I was huffing and puffing when we got to the top of the incline and then there were some stairs after that. :) The fort was great though. They fired the cannon to get things started. We were in the bath house when I saw a sign that said pull this rope. I decided to go for it and just at that very moment, the soldiers outside fired their guns in demonstration. Troy of course thought it was the funniest thing ever. Needless to say I didn't pull the rope.

When we finished at the fort it was only a little while until lunch. This is where it gets really good. We went for lunch at the famous Grand Hotel. It was so beautiful. The hotel has the largest porch in the world. It faces the most wonderful view of the lake and after we sat in rocking chairs and enjoyed the view for a little while we went into the fine dining room for our lunch. It was magnificent. We were waited on for precisely every need and nothing was missed. We never waited a moment for anything and our meals were delicious.

Touring the island city afterward was both fun and very tiring. We had a lot of fun but really wore ourselves out walking around. There are so many shops and you just would not believe how much fudge there is to be had on that island, really, there is a fudge shop about every 20 feet. When we left then, we got on the top of a large ferry and rode back to Mackinaw City. Our day was nearly over. We crossed the bridge, went to St. Ignace for some supplies and a short stop and the Indian Village Shop and Museum and then came back to our cabin. What a long wonderful day. Now we are going out to sit and look at the bridge and hope to see some northern lights, and of course, eat fudge.

Today we set out for the north. We went around by the long route of U.S. 23 along Lake Huron side for a more scenic view that took us to some very interesting places. First stop was Pinconning for  cheese and smoked fish. We got those for a picnic that we had later at a stop along the way at Mich-E-Ke-Wis-Park. We also visited the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary which added to our ever growing list of sunken ship historical stopping points we have seen. I have placed my feet in Lake Huron today, which was a first. It was cold. We also visited the decommissioned cutter ship Mackinaw. I would post several pictures of that too but unfortunately we have gone to our cute cottage in the north and are no longer in the land of free wi-fi so I will be adding only a few pictures today. More tomorrow from beautiful Mackinaw Island!!!

Frankenmuth, MI

We started off on the wrong foot this morning but ended up having a really good day despite several mishaps. We went on our way anyway and visited so many nice places in Frankenmuth that were such fun. Bronner's is like Christmas times infinity or something. It is huge. Bigger than you can imagine unless you see it. Then there is the Bavarian Inn - Chicken that cannot be matched by anyone except Zehnder's, which is directly across the street. They have the lovely chicken shaped flower arrangement you see here.

We went to a variety of gift shops as well. There was a lot to see and so many shops to visit. We hit every one that was at all interesting and some that reeled us in and weren't interesting once we got inside.

After our feet were so tired we just couldn't walk around anymore and the shops were beginning to close we decided to go to the hotel. It was a little too early to call it a night so Troy took me to the thumb, or for those not familiar with that term (see pic to the left), he took me to Marlette where his mother grew up. It is about in the center of the thumb.

Tomorrow we are riding up the Lake Huron side of MI to Mackinaw City for 3 days.

The Henry Ford/Greenfield Village/Titanic

Traffic Jam at Greenfield Village (haha)

Today was another really packed day! We started out bright and early with a trip to Hollywood Market and bought them out of all of their Faygo, which was a must for the trip. We have to bring lots of diet Rock & Rye home with us along with Chocolate cream pie and Vanilla.

Later we went over to the Henry Ford. Last trip here, two years ago, we went to Greenfield Village and got just drenched a few minutes into the trip and barely saw even a few places. Today was just the opposite. We saw so much. That man put so much into getting together the most fascinating collection of homes, workshops, cars, and other rare items into one place. I have a really hard time picking just one favorite. I would really be remiss if I didn't say I loved Noah Webster's Library though, being a librarian in the making.

Noah Webster's Library

 Then there was the ride on the train:

Riding the Train

We also took a tour of the Titanic exhibit, which my person survived by the way. As part of the tour I was given the name of a person that actually boarded the ship and at the end I was able to look on the list and see that she survived the voyage. Pretty neat.


And finally to finish up the day we spent the evening visiting with our great friends Roland and Lynn. That was such a wonderful treat. We visited for a couple of hours and had a wonderful dinner, sat around and talked and then made our way back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we will leave the Wingate Hotel and Auburn Hills and make our way to Frankenmuth, MI.

Day 2

It is not every day that I get to have great experiences like today. It really was a wonderful day. I didn't  know that when I woke up I would spend part of my time in rooms with great works of art or on the roads of Detroit looking at once vast auto empires gone to ruins. Well, that is just how I spent my time.

This morning:

We started out on an adventure with a little shopping. Then it was off to visit with Dave and Sue, Troy's long time friends and my recent friends. We were off to adventure around Detroit with them for the day. It was some adventure too. We went riding around the areas where they grew up, and their old neighborhoods were more like burned out shells than the homes they remembered. Very sad was the comment they used repeatedly.

After we rode around the area for some time we came upon the old Packard factory. It was once a great business and a real empire of a car factory. Now it is just a real shadow of what it was and it is rapidly going away. What the vandals have not destroyed, the elements will take care of soon. I suppose eventually someone may tear it down. I am glad that I got to see it before it is gone though, even in the state it is in. Detroit once boomed!

Finally with Dave and Sue I saw the DIA, Detroit Institute of Arts. OMG! Monet, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, Matisse, and Constable. What a great gift to stand in the room with such great works of art. I did not know that Detroit had all of that in their museum. It was such a treat that I barely kept from crying with excitement. I wish I had pictures. I did get some postcards and a refrigerator magnet from the gift shop though.

Last thing of the day, we met with Troy's cousin Jody and her husband Dan. We had a wonderful dinner and then went back to their house. We had a terrific visit with them. What a terrific way to end such a fantastic day. Day two has been phenomenal.

Meadowbrook Hall

Day 1:
We drove starting at exactly 1:21 am this morning with a few stops, until 1:28 pm today to Meadowbrook Hall. It was a really great trip. There was very little traffic, no really, people are not out in the middle of the night. It is a great time to go places. :) I really couldn't help myself. I got us up and out the door that early cause I was awake and ready to get started.

Oh and just as promised, a mention for my great friend Anu, HI from Michigan! I am finally here and having a great time so far!