Month: September 2016

We had a lovely time in Petosky, Michigan hunting stones and splashing in the cold water. It was time to say goodbye to Dad as he left for a work meeting. He will eventually catch up with is in Nappanee, Indiana at Newmar when we get the motorhome work done. On his way out of town we stopped off at Kilwin’s Chocolates for the factory tour. CANDY!

We had an excellent tour guide who really knew the entire process ins and outs. We watched a lot of the process through these glass windows but learned what goes into making their yummy treats.

Then we got to go on the actual production floor. We had to wear hair protectors and booties on our feet. Daddy even got one for his beard!

A reward after the tour and good-bye and safe travels to Dad. The ice cream is expensive but it is smooth and yummy.

We spent the next few days playing and then headed out to Nappanee. We luckily got a space in the main parking lot, set up and headed down to the Culinary Mill aka Coopers Commons. Mom and Dad have been talking about this place for a year. This is Rocket Science Ice Cream. The amazing base is flash frozen with liquid nitrogen! Fun to watch and delicious!

We enjoyed our time on the factory tour, no photos allowed! It was cool how they use air pads to float the motorhomes down the assembly line.

I spent a lot of time working on my petosky stone puzzle.

Dad got back in town just in time for the Apple Festival! We found great parking and walked the craft booths. The mexican restaurant was host to this years 7′ diameter apple pie.

We toured Amish Acres, it is within walking distance of the Newmar facility. We came over a few days to enjoy the place. We even got to take a buggy ride.

Wait, MORE Rocket Science? OF COURSE!

Our long voyage has drawn to a close. Tomorrow we pull up the jacks and get the wheels rolling south. We dive right back into life upon arrival! This has been an epic voyage but I think we are all eager to get home for a while.

 

We are at our last major stop on our grand voyage. We arrived in Petosky, Michigan just before a really big storm rolled in off of Lake Michigan. The lake went from glass to 6-7foot swells almost instantly.

After the storm we headed to the beach to hunt for Petosky stones that were washed up from the big waves. We had a lot of luck and found several as well as a lot of cool rocks with fossils in them.

I had a lot of fun using the spray bottle to squirt the rocks to make the hexagonal patterns show up. We plan to sand and polish several stones to keep. It is a lot of work. Mom already bought sandpaper for us to start.

Mom found a HUGE one! She has already started to sand her find.

We took our spray bottles down to the beach and looked all over the upper parts of the park. We found  few but the most were in the water and freshly washed onto the beach.

 

 

We safely crossed through from Canada to the USA. We headed towards Traverse City, Michigan. We had to cross the Mackinaw Bridge. The bridge can swing 20 feet and go up and down several feet as well. It is a suspension bridge held up by those thick green cables!

We set up camp and left Dad to do some work. We headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We ran up and down the dunes and rolled in the sand.

The dunes were a lot higher than we thought. We made the 110 foot climb easily and then up to the 287 feet dune. The sand was wet from the storms so it was a bit easier to climb.

Heading up to the highest point we could find.

Running back down…

We worked on our Junior Ranger books and learned how the dunes have been shifting 2.5 feet per year.

They installed a beam in 1989 to measure the movement. The winds off Lake Michigan carry the sand over the top of the dunes.

Next we headed to the blacksmiths shop but the doors were locked. The doors were also closed at several other buildings. We were confused because the ark was open until 4 and it was before 2pm. We finally found a park employee and learned that there was a bank robbery in the area and for safety reasons the entire town was shut down and there were police at every intersection closing roads. We headed the long way back to the campground and opted to try again in the morning.

In the morning we drove the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive and learned more about the dunes and the ecology of the area.

There is one scenic overlook that is where the dines meet the lake. It was wicked steep and covered in footprints. The next day we came back here with Dad and there were lots of people going down the dunes to the water and then making there way back up. There was a sign that indicated that it could take 2 hours at least to come back up! UGH!

I found my own #findyourpark sign.

We visited the blacksmiths shop again now that it was open back up. We watched the blacksmith make a dinner bell. At the end we were able to donate money in exchange for the dinner bell. We learned a lot about the tools and tricks of ironwork.

We turned in our Junior Ranger books and earned a badge, a patch and a cool book from a local artist celebrating the 100th anniversary of the parks.

On the way back to the campground we stopped at the Platte River Fish Hatchery and learned about the Soho Salmon restocking program. We saw lots of fish fry in the runways.

The weir is able to be opened and closed based on what fish are spawning or running. 

We went back to the dunes with Dad late Friday. Dad was joking and told me to tackle Mom. I took her down to the ground several times. Mom finally said, TAKE DAD DOWN! I ran full force through the sand and dove at his knees. I had no luck! Dad is strong!

 

Today we took a 8 hour train ride out through Agawa Canyon. We had terrific seats and huge windows to watch out of. We passed the miles, yes miles, by playing some cards and schoolwork. The train system uses miles and not kilometers in Canada. We all took turns swapping seats to change up the view.

I enjoyed watching the front of the train when we took turns. There was also a monitor so we could watch the view out of the front of the train. Periodically a bell would sound and videos with historical information and scenes would play on the screen. It was very educational.

I was in a mood most of the day because I fell behind in my journal again and I had to play catchup. I eventually got it done and all caught up but Mom was convinced I might get left in the canyon.

I found an amazing caterpillar! We all had fun taking photos of it.

We hiked out to the waterfalls. It was very pretty. You can only access this area via the train so it was very quiet.

Back on the train and time for a late lunch. I had packed a sandwich because I saw the menu the day before and didn’t think I’d eat anything. We had some treats from the snack car too.

When we got back from the trip we swam for a few hours. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain most of the day so we are getting out last bit of fun in now.

This morning we went to the Canadian Heritage Bushplane Museum in Sault Ste. Marie. They specialize in Bushplanes and fire fighting planes.

We learned about the different skis on the bush planes over the years.

We saw some really cool videos, checked out the amazing display of airplanes and had fun playing in the cockpits.

Feeling better today and back to my sassy self. I am still congested but eating and full of sass again.

It was a spectacular museum. We learned a lot about how the bombardier water planes were able to pick up water and then dump on the fires. The process has changed a lot but is now very efficient if near water. The big yellow plane was a fire bombardier.

After lunch we went and saw Pete’s Dragon in 3D! It was a fantastic movie and we all sniffled and cried.