Summer Trek, Day 14!!!

Pictures just added: Four boys walking toward Lake Huron at our hotel, B and A playing by Lake Michigan, B and A on top of a hodog, and saying goodybe to the Elmquists.


Wow, day 14! It's hard to believe we've been gone for two weeks already. Today was a long day. We said goodbye to the Elmquists this morning, then started driving across the northern part of Wisconsin. What a beautiful area. We expected dairy farms, but this section of Wisconsin has forests and rolling hills. We drove on one of the backroads, a first for us, and enjoyed the scenery immensely. Mom and Dad Weinrich love taking backroads instead of highways, and now we understand why. That being said, however, we will be back on the interstate tomorrow. It's a faster, more direct way to travel on a long mileage day.

Since we knew we had about eight hours of driving today, we did some research on the web and found two places to stop. Our first pit stop was in Rhinelander, WI, home of the "hodog." We found a great playground for the kids, and it was right next to a train, logging, schoolhouse, and OUTBOARD MOTOR museum complex. We found everything but the outboard motor section interesting.



A few hours and a new time zone later, we ate lunch in Escanaba, Michigan. We found a park right on the beach of Lake Michigan. It was at this point we realized we are going to see at least 4 of the Great Lakes on our trip. The boys had a chance to play on the playground, and dip their toes in the lake. Then we piled back in the car for another few hours.

We are now at our stopping point of St. Ignace, MI. We are just north of the Mackinac bridge and can see the island from our hotel room, which is right on Lake Huron. It is so calm and peaceful here, plus they had a warm indoor pool and free breakfast! For dinner, we tried the local specialty, "pasties," which are basically potpies you can eat with your hand. The kids are finally asleep at 10PM, mostly because the sun doesn't set here until about 9:30!! We should be able to see the sun rise tomorrow morning.

We're off tomorrow for Toronto. We won't be using our cell phones while in Canada, due to 75 cents per minute charges. We will have internet access, though, and hope to update at some point.