Niagara Falls, Slowly I turn...

Today is Monday, August 25th. We are at Vantage Point in Port Huron. One of my favorite places because I have free wi-fi and it is a very pretty place to watch the ships come in on the St. Clair river. We have really enjoyed Port Huron, Michigan. It isn't a "touristy" town and it has a lot of things geared towards its residents. We highly recommend a trip here. The weather is great and even if you are not a water person (fishing, boating) the water sights are amazing. Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Black River, are all very pretty sites. International Bridge Park borders Lake Huron and you can see the Blue Water Bridge there, Thomas Edison museum, watch the ships and sailboats on Lake Huron, and walk along a beautiful boardwalk. We have also really enjoyed the Fort Gratiot bike and walking trail. It is located across the street from Fort Gratiot Middle School. The paths are 8 feet wide and paved. It has been turned back into a wetland and the Nature Conservancy is in charge of maintaining the area. It has some of the native flowers to the area, 2 ponds, trees lined the path, secluded yet it is minutes from a huge shopping center. We saw swans and ducks on the ponds. They have installed bird houses along the paths. It's just a real gem. The taxpayers money has been well spent on this project. The air in Michigan has a constant "Christmas Tree scent" to me. I would guess it is because everywhere you go, there a tons of pine trees in a lot of varieties. Our campsite has been so convenient to area sights and with full hook ups it has been great. Tonight we will get as much ready as we can to be ready to leave on Tuesday morning. We will be crossing the Blue Water Bridge into Canada. We have our passports ready and Miles' papers also. Hopefully, we won't be detained. We will be heading to Niagara Falls, New York for a week's stay. As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Updating!

Today, Friday, August 22nd, Bob and I are at Vantage Point Maritme Center in Port Huron. There is free wi-fi for as long as you want. And you have the added advantage of watching the ships come through on the St. Clair River. It is a very pretty site. Again, we can't believe how blue the waters are in the lakes and rivers in the places in Michigan that we have been. I have added 2 slide shows to the blog. If you click directly on the picture of the slide show, it show enlarge and you will be able to view it better. We picked up our mail from the post office and we had quite a bit. So while I update the blog, Bob is going through the mail. As always we miss our family and friends and appreciate them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Poll Results

The results from the Great Lakes poll are in. Here are the results:
9 feet-5 people answered
12 feet high and rising-1 person answered.
The correct answer is: 9 feet.
Thanks to all who responded to the poll. Check out the new poll!

Port Huron, Michigan

Today, Wednesday, August 20th, Bob and I are at the St. Clair County library. I am updating the blog and he is checking the Cardinals' scores. We have been in Port Huron since Saturday, August 16th. On Sunday my cousins, Vicki and Helen came to the campground for a visit. We talked, went to lunch, talked and talked, and laughed and laughed. We had a great time. I was so glad to see them. We even called Mom and Billy and Vicki and Helen talked to them. The campground is very nice. We have full hookups and great hot showers. We will leave here on Tuesday, August 26th and head to New York and Niagara Falls. The weather here once again has been great. In fact, last night the low was 51 degrees. Yesterday evening we went to the Maritime Boardwalk and watched the sailboats on the St. Clair River. We also saw the lights on the Canadian side of the river. Very pretty! I will post pictures when I have them uploaded to my computer. As always we miss our family and friends and appreciate them very much. We have been gone two months! Doesn't seem that long.
Mary, bob, and Miles, too!

Wellkommen!

Today, Friday, August 15th, Bob and I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan.It is "Little Bavaria" in Michigan. We ate lunch at the famous Zehnder's Chicken restaurant. It was very good. We are now at the public library so we can update the blog and check on campgrounds for a few of our next stops. We are staying at a campground four miles from Frankenmuth. The campground is very nice, clean, and quiet. After we leave the library, we will go to some of the shops in town. Well, I will and Bob will probably wait outside.Shopping...not his thing! We will leave tomorrow to head to Port Huron. It is about an hour's drive from here. My cousins will be coming up for a visit on Sunday. The weather has been beautiful! Good luck to all of the faculty and staff at the Junior High. Have a great school year! Ha-Ha , Joe (the favorite child-he likes to think) you have to go back to work! As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Poll Results

Well, the votes are in...12 people voting and here are the results:
Mary and Bob will finish their year of travel and stay out longer-10 votes
Only one will return-2 votes
Heading home any day now-2 votes
No, because they never really left-0 votes

Thanks to everyone who voted. check out the new poll!

The Island

On Monday, August 11th, Bob and I went to Mackinac Island. We took the Shepler Ferry ride to the island. We arrived around 10:00 AM. We had to check in with the carriage ride person to get a tour time. After doing that, we had about 20 minutes, so we looked in some of the nearby shops. The island was CROWDED! People, bikes, and horses everywhere! At 10: 40 we boarded the carriage ride along with 20 other people. Our guide was Theresa from Romania. She is a student working on the island for the summer. Most of the workers on the island are students. Our tour with Theresa consisted of sites on the Historic Main Street. We saw the oldest house on Mackinac Island as well as the home of William Astor (the son of John Jacob Astor-the first self made millionaire). Fur trading was once the livelihood of Mackinac Island. Mr. Astor never set foot on the island himself (sending his son William), but regardless he made millions! It was a beautiful day and the temperature was in the mid seventies. After the first part of the carriage ride, we walked to Fort Mackinac. We saw a rifle firing reenactment and then toured the buildings of the fort. The French had originally built the fort, then the British took over and then the Americans. We then toured several historic buildings around the fort. Then we started our second part of the carriage tour. This time our guide was Radu from Romania. The tour took us through Mackinac State Park. We stopped at Arch Rock, an amazing sight. It was formed millions of years ago by the glaciers. The Anishinaabe-Ojibwa Indians believe it is where the Great Creator blew the breath of life into the newly created earth. We saw native trees to the island and found out that the French brought lilacs to the island to remind them of home. There are 17 varieties of lilacs on the island. After this tour, we ate lunch about 2:00 PM at Mary’s Bistro. It was quite tasty. Bob had a fish sandwich and I had a hamburger. We then went shopping and bought a few items. Stopping for an ice cream, we people watched for awhile. It was 4:20 PM so we decided to call it a day and headed to the boat dock. As we waited, we saw kites in the air and several parasailers. We caught the 4:45 PM ferry back to the mainland. End of a busy day! As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

The Poll

Thanks to everyone who has voted in the poll. There are only two days left. And for those that voted that only one of us would return, I wonder who they thought it would be? Hmmm!
I will let you know the final tally.
Thanks,
Mary

St. Ignace, Michigan

Today, Saturday, August 9, we are at the St. Ignace public library. We arrived at the Tiki campground in St. Ignace yesterday, driving 75 miles from Newberry, Michigan. The town of St. Ignace is located on Lake Huron. There is a boardwalk in town and it takes you along the side of Lake Huron. It is quite a beautiful view. We are so amazed at the blue color of the waters of the Great Lakes and this one is no exception. Nothing like the "Muddy Mississippi"! Today we will catch up on some routine things...grocery shopping, blog updating, laundry, and phone calls home to our parents. It is always fun to see the comments from everyone. Thanks, Megan and Logan! Miles says "Hi". Also, the comments from the Favorite Child are appreciated. The weather has been beautiful. Actually, today it is a little cool and breezy. But no complaints from us. We know what it has been back home. Before we left Newberry, Michigan, we went to Sault Ste. Marie to see the Soo Locks. These locks were built in the mid 1850's to allow ships portage from Lake Superior to Lake Huron and vice versa. The ships have to be raised (or lowered) depending on their destination a height of 21 feet. Without the locks, travel from these two lakes would be impossible. We saw a freighter (The Joseph L. Block) get raised in the locks and exit onto Lake Superior. We also toured the information center at the locks. We walked on the main street, enjoying all the quaint shops and then ate lunch at the public park. We saw more freighters heading for the locks and quite a few sailboats on Lake Huron. After lunch, we went to a museum of sorts. It was a refurbished home of an early fur trapper, John Johnston. We met "John" and listened to his life story. The actor was dressed in period costume and gave a very interesting 20 minute talk. He had married an Indian maiden and raised 8 children. The family became very influential in the community. From there we visited the Tower in the center of town. It stands 221 feet above the town. we took the elevator to the top and had a panoramic view of Sault Ste. Marie. It was a great sightseeing day. We headed back home to get ready to leave for St. Ignace. As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Moose Capitol of Michigan

Today, Monday, August 4th, Bob and I are staying home. We have some routine cleaning and maintenace to do and will just take it easy today. We are told that Newberry, Michigan is the moose capitol of Michigan, but this is the only one that we have seen. We are going to take a walk around the campground. We spoke with Kim today Although this is not her designated call day. But all is well with them. It is a beautiful day today, low 70's and no humidity. As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Falls

On Sunday, August 3rd, Bob and I went to Whitefish Point in Paradise, Michigan-located in the Upper Peninsula. It is located on the shore of Lake Superior. Lake Superior has the reputation of being the most treacherous of the Great Lakes. Just looking at the lake with its beautiful clear waters, you wouldn't think it would be so dangerous. Looks can be deceiving! Whitefish Point is the oldest active light on Lake Superior. It was established in 1849. We toured the museum, seeing a lot of the artifacts from some of the ships that went down in Lake Superior. Over 550 ships were lost around Whitefish Point over the years. One of the most famous is the Edmund Fitzgerald. It lies twisted and broken 17 miles from Whitefish Point, at a depth of 535 feet. We then toured the restored Keepers Quarters and then checked out the beach and waters of Lake Superior. Bob decided that he had to step in the lake waters, so he did! It was a beautiful and cool day for our visit. The drive was about 60 miles from where we are staying. We are at a KOA in Newberry, Michigan. And we have internet access. Yay! After the museum, we went to Tahquanenon Falls (rhymes with phenomenon). It is one of the largest waterfalls west of Niagara. There are two sets of falls-the upper and the lower falls. Both are located in Tahquanemon Falls State Park. The park encompasses over 46,000 acres stretching over 13 miles. The upper Falls has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across. A maxium flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water per second has been recorded. Four miles downstream is the Lower Falls, a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island. In the pictures, you will see that the waters are a root beer color. It is not mud or rust. The unusual color comes from tannin leached from the Cedar, Spruce, and Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. The extremely soft water churned by the action of the falls causes large amounts of foam, which has been the trademark of the Tahquanenom since the days of the voyagers. It was an impressive site! After walking around the falls and park ( 4 1/2 miles-I had my pedometer on), we headed for home. We had a late supper and then played a game of scrabble. I was winning until Bob spelled quit and quay and won by 30 points. But there will be a rematch. As always, we think of family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!