Deer Ranch, MI · Castle Rock, MI · St. Ignace, MI Downtown · Straits State Park, MI · Mackinac Bridge, MI

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We started the day out at Deer Ranch. Upon entering the ranch, we entered a fawn enclosure. The fawn was only 3 weeks old, still very soft, tiny, and wobbly. After this we walked the property and feed the deer apples and carrots. Apples are their favorite, but they are not too picky. I think that we enjoyed it more than others because we stayed much longer. Plus, we had to return to the fawn before leaving. Pulling Nate away from the fawn was a bit difficult. He stayed behind and ran out with his jacket pulled out saying come on let’s go I got the fawn, but he was just kidding around. Oh, we got our first picture of small red squirrel, so very cute, just chillin’ with the deer.

After this we visited Castle Rock. We climbed 171 steps to the top of a limestone stack. The views from above were truly breathtaking, allow for an uninterrupted view of 20 miles of the surrounding area: Mackinac Island, Lake Huron, and downtown St. Ignace.

We went into the town of St Ignace to shop in our first gift shops of the trip, have lunch, and acquire some fudge. The fudge was not what we had hoped for but was still good. The pizza from BC Pizza, however, was amazing.

In the late afternoon we hiked in the state park to view the Mackinac Bridge. This is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. This bridge spans 8,614’ whereas the Golden Gate Bridge only spans 6,450’. After dark we drove down to see the bridge one more time it was lit up like a Christmas tree, I wish I had a better camera for you to view this multicolor lighting.

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