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Published: September 24th 2008
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Amsoil
This is for Cody's dad, who is an Amsoil dealer. First of all, for anybody who was wondering about how my recent (09/23) job interview went, it was great! They said that I will hear back in 3 or 4 days. Yay!
We headed east on Thursday, September 11, from Duluth across the top of Wisconsin and into the Upper Peninsula (UP) on Highway 2 to the 28. The one thing that we wanted to make sure to do while we were in Wisconsin was get some nice, fresh cheese curds. The one thing we didn't do while we were in Wisconsin was to get some nice, fresh cheese curds. So much for that. We did enjoy the drive, getting a few glimpses of some pretty red leaves and also of Lake Superior. On Thursday afternoon we finally reached Munising, Michigan, immediately outside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Cody's friend from CSU, Rachael, whom he worked with in the lab, is from Michigan and the Pictured Rocks are one thing that she said we definitely had to do. We are glad we did (and we also got a stamp!). The first place we stopped was a nice overlook called Miners Castle. It was a nice long drive through the trees up
Pictured Rocks
Red leaves! One of our first views of the red leaves of the maples. to the walk, where we got out and got a beautiful panoramic view of the lake. The sun finally came out and we got to see the really pretty sandstone cliffs of the Pictured Rocks. While we were standing there, a great big Bald Eagle flew right in front of us and landed in a tree close by, where it sat for the rest of the time we were there.
Next thing we were doing was driving down the road through the park, looking for another good place to stop. Of course, just as the rest of our trip has gone, not ten miles into the park, the road was closed. So after going as far as we could, we turned off and went up towards the lakeshore, heading towards Chapel Falls. We found, when we got there, that it was just over a mile hike to get to the falls. Since we didn't have any plans for the day, and it was very nice outside, we decided to hike it. It was a really nice hike through a thick grove of trees. We even saw a little chipmunk! The falls were really pretty!
After leaving, we headed
Pictured Rocks
Mini visitor center at Miners Castle. down across the middle of the UP, crossing over to the Lake Michigan side, then following the coast to the town of St. Ignace, where we stayed for the night at another KOA. Everything was going great, until it started raining. Then the car battery died because we were using it to charge the laptop. It rained all night long. Between fighting off leaky windows and soaking floors and worrying about whether the car would start, Nickey didn't get much sleep. By the next morning, it still hadn't cleared up very much, so we put the tent away in a nice little drizzle, and we decided to take a chance on the weather and visit Mackinac Island despite the not-so-pleasant conditions.
Mackinac Island does not allow cars, and the only way to get there is by ferry boat, which we caught at 11:30. After a 15 minute boat ride, we arrived on the island with a view of the main street, as well as of Fort Mackinac. First things first, we needed some chow. So we went to a small burger joint right there on main street. The burgers weren't great, but the view of main street and all
Pictured Rocks
The overlook for the Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior. its horse-drawn everything was worth it. Their main mode of transport is by horses or bikes, no skateboards or rollerblades allowed. While sitting in the burger joint, we saw all kinds of horse carts. There were trash carts, handicap carts, taxi carts, flatbed carts, eight-rows-of-seating carts, even propane carts. Who knew there were so many ways to utilize horse power (ha ha, get it?). I guess maybe the Amish knew. Fully reloaded with energy, we set off on our walk around the island. Lucky for us, the weather was wonderful. The sun came out, blue skies appeared, Cody even had to take off his sweatshirt. If we wanted to walk the entire island, it's 8 miles around. Only the front of it is a state park, however, the rest is just personal residences, so we stayed where we were for the most part. It was within the first few minutes of our walk that Nickey got her grand idea of photographing the Round Rooms of Mackinac Island. In between all of these, we got to visit the front of the Grand Hotel (outside only). They had splendiferous flowers, so we spent a good amount of time taking pictures of these
Pictured Rocks
Looking out over the water, back towards the land. Look at how blue and beautiful it is. very pretty flowers. We then hiked down the hill towards Fort Mackinac. Since it was a state park, we had to pay to get inside, but it was worth it. Fort Mackinac is nearly 250 years old, being built by the British as a military and fur trading post in the 1700s. After changing hands back and forth between the Americans and British in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, it eventually became American held and stayed that way. After a civil war gun shooting demonstration and touring many original buildings, including the bath house, the general's home and the hospital, we continued on our tour of the rest of the island. 19 round rooms later, it was nearly time to go. We stood in a fudge shop and watched them make fudge from start to finish. The locals call tourists "fudgies," for their interest in the chocolate confection. Thus, we decided it was only proper that we not miss out. For our own enjoyment, we got three slices of fudge: rocky road, chocolate peanut butter, and chocolate walnut. We ran from the fudge shop in order to catch the ferry back at 5:00. On the dock we
Pictured Rocks
A small section of the coast. This is called the Miners Castle. saw a hazmat transport pulled by, you guessed it, horses. After getting back to our car, we crossed the Mackinac Bridge en route to Traverse City, where the rain would continue to plague us. Until next time...
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cristina Cranson
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stained glass
Awesome pictures of the stained glass in the churches. I've been wanting to learn stained glass. Also, I love flower pictures and am constantly taking them on any trip i'm on!