So... Unfortunately, I don't know what's going on with Blogger and the picture upload, but I can only pick one picture at a time. And there's lots I wanted to put up. Even if there weren't crazy lots, I still wouldn't want to click every single image file, so... Until Blogger snaps out of it...no pictures. Sorry. But, hey, if you come to the vespers thing at Martinsburg Church in a couple weeks, you'll get more pictures than you even think are possible.
Day 36 (Saturday, July 16)
We did indeed see the World's Largest Ball of Twine. It lives in a hut with glass walls. I found a sign that my roommate from college, Sara-May, left when she went to see it last summer. It was very fun.
Then, we kept driiiivvvviiiiinnnngggg. I'm sorry, but that's really all we did for most of the next three days. We drove through the rest of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. We were planning on stopping early, but the area along the Lakes up north is prime vacation area. And it was the weekend. There was nothing all along Lake Superior through Wisconsin. Finally we found a place to stay at the very edge of the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
This was a pretty dull, long day.
Day 37 (Sunday, July 17)
Sunday was more interesting. We got into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I wanted to drive through there just to be able to say I've been there. We all kind of thought we were going back into wilderness, but this area ended up being a really hot vacation spot. Hot as in very popular. Also hot as in temperatures. Man! We were wondering where summer was the whole time we were in Alaska, but I guess it's been hiding in the Lower 48! We didn't see anything more than 70 degrees more than a couple of days while in Alaska. Then we get out of Alaska, and then back to the US, and we are just BAKING. And it's supposed to be 100+ degrees when we get home...are you kidding me?
We saw a bunch of lighthouses while we went through the UP. We saw the Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light Station, the Marquette Harbor Light Station, the Marquette Breakwater Outer Light Station, the Munising Rear Range Light Station, and the West Pier Light in Manistique. We also went to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It was pretty. The land fell away into the lake water, and there the rocks were different colors. We didn't stay too long because we were trying to, well, get more back towards home.
We stopped at this hotel called the Beachcomber. It could have been really cute, but everything was about 50 years old. Including the pillows. Mom and Dad went for a walk, and a storm came along while they were out. Ashley and I were going to go rescue them, but did either of them have their phones? Nope. Eventually it started raining, and Ashley and I were just going to go wander around, but just as we were getting to the car, they ran up to the hotel. Sillies. Wandering around with storms and no phones.
Day 38 (Monday, July 18)
We finished the Upper Peninsula. We drove over the 5-mile-long bridge to get from the Upper Peninsula to mainland Michigan. Before we left we stopped at the Seul Choix Point Light Station. It was rainy and foggy, so the view wasn't that great. This took us into Mackinac City, MI. We saw and climbed a lighthouse, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. We went on a lighthouse chase, McGulpin Point Lighthouse, and we found it and also climbed it.
Lighthouse chasing is one of my parents' favorite pastimes. Apparently it's been relatively easy on this trip compared to their adventures trying to find Floridian and other East Coast lighthouses.
We also found Little Traverse Light and Pt. Betsie Lighthouse, but we couldn't climb them.
We also stopped at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. So there's this Indian legend about this place. A momma bear and two baby bears were swimming across Lake Michigan one day. Then a storm came up, and this made it very hard to swim. For some reason, the momma bear kept swimming to the other side, and she left her babies in the water. She kept swimming. She made it. Her babies didn't. So her babies became two islands off the mainland. The momma bear became this huge sand dune among lots and lots of dunes.
We climbed up a dune (but not the Momma Bear Dune). We were trying to get to Lake Michigan through the dunes, but...that didn't happen. We went over four dunes, still didn't see the Lake. I understand now, a very little bit, what people who get lost in the desert must feel like. There's so much hope with every ridge you climb, and then it's crushed when you get to the top and see no water. And my hope was crushed every time, and I knew I could get back to water just by walking a bit back to my car.
We also went on a scenic drive. From there we got views of both the Lake and the dunes. Lake Michigan was carved out by a glacier (duh!), and we got to see how a cliff which was clearly a glacier deposit or something was being carved away by wind and wave erosion.
Then we drove and drove and drove again. We got to Muskegon, MI.
Day 39 (Tuesday, July 19)
Today was devoted to lighthouse chasing for me, Mom, and Dad and chilling with internet and TV for Ashley.
We drove up north of Muskegon to find Big Sable Lighthouse. It was about a 2 mile walk out to the lighthouse. We got to climb up, and the view wasn't too bad even though it was hazy. (Have I mentioned how HOT it is? There's a nice breeze on the beach though, so...that was redemptive.) We walked back along the beach of Lake Michigan because it was quite warm, and we wanted to have the water of the lake to cool us off. It was pretty good. There were a bunch of small, dead fish on the beach though. That was gross.
Then we went and saw (but did not climb) North Pierhead Light and Ludington Harbor Light. We ran down a bit more south and climbed Little Sable Point Lighthouse. This "tour" was nice because there was no tour. You could just climb, see the view, and keep trucking. If you had questions, there were people to ask, but they left you alone otherwise. That's nice sometimes. The last lighthouse we were trying to get to for the day was White River Light Station. We weren't sure we were going to get to climb it because we were a little late from their posted hours. But, when we got there, they were still happily open, so up we climbed.
We picked up Ashley for dinner. Then Ashley and I came back to try to use the pool. There were so many children screaming, we turned right back around. It was very unfortunate, but I can't stand screaming children. Mom and Dad went and found Muskegon S. Pier Lighthouse and South Breakwater Light while we were trying to deal with the pool. We tried again at 10 pm and there were MORE children. It was incredible. Oh well. Pool time later.
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