Da U.P.

We went up north this past weekend. It was VERY fun. We went to visit Tim and Belinda, some CG friends from Astoria that are now living the retired life. We hadn't seen them in about 11 years! It took about 6 hours to get there, but it was so worth it. We went exploring, visited Belinda's very cute parents and their chickens, dogs, and turkey, we shopped a little and even visited a haunted school.

They live on a river in Upper Michigan and it was beautiful! The water up there is so nice and clear and all different colors of blues and greens. Here are some highlights of our trip....

This is the Mackinac Bridge. It's the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world and THE longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. It's total length is 26,372 feet which is about 5 miles. On one side is St. Ignace, MI and on the other is Mackinaw City. The Straights of Mackinac run under it and connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It also connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.





This is Mackinac Island. The only way over is by ferry/boat. Unless it's winter. Then IF conditions are right, they use an "ice highway" to get on and off the island. There are no cars on the island other than the fire truck, ambulance and a tractor used at the landfill. Horses and bikes are used to get around. You can see the Grand Hotel. In the summer, we plan to make another trip and go over to the island. The weather wasn't all that cooperative this trip.




Here is the Old Mackinaw. Tim was stationed aboard this big red beast 2 times. His first and last stations. This ship is now decommissioned and there is a New Mackinaw. They are Ice Breakers/Bouy Tenders, and they are beautiful.









So, I'm thinking this might be where Madonna goes shopping. Have you ever heard of pasties? I was thinking, "WHAT??!!". That isn't an appropriate sign for the children to see! But these pasties aren't the kind Madonna likes to wear. These are actually little meat pocket thingies. They have meat, potatoes and onions inside. We didn't try them on this trip, but plan to someday.





Now that I'm on the subject of food, did you know there are still Big Boy Restraunts? Well, here's proof. Here's the Big Boy himself! Larger than life. :)










This is one of the beaches on Lake Michigan up north. There are sandy beaches and they are really pretty. I'm still going back to the ocean eventually, but these were nice to look at! :)










The trucks that normally drive up north have big ol' HONKIN' grills. We figured it was because of all the elk, deer and moose they hit on the roads.











Here are the chicks goofing off while we were playing and shopping in Mackinaw City. We were being Fudgies. That's the name they give tourists who visit there because the fudge is very popular there.









And this final picture is us dreaming. :) I keep saying that we need to buy a teardrop trailer for Anisa to tow with Foxy and we won't all be crammed in Traily. I'm not complaining, mind you. I don't mind being squished into my little trailer, but it would be nice for Travis and me to have privacy. :) Doesn't Foxy look cute??



I hope you enjoyed looking at our trip pictures. It was very fun and we are looking forward to our trip in the summer. :)