Wet Wednesday

Wednesday didn't quite go like I had hoped and planned. We woke up to cloudy, cool weather with a good chance of rain. So after breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up and headed for the bike trail  I had read about. We felt a little rushed with the hopes of staying dry.

We found a good starting point and began our bike ride. We rode about eight miles where we came to a pretty view of the bay. We spent time here resting, skipping rocks and enjoying the scenery.

 You can't tell from this picture, but I have about 4 layers on trying to stay warm.

By the time we rode our eight miles back to the van, we got rained on. Not a hard rain, but it was enough to get us damp. I was ready to sit in my dry van.

We drove to downtown Petoskey where we went to restaurant number one. Neither of us could find something that our palate was craving, so I quickly looked on Trip Advisor for another place. We ended up at American Spoon, a cute sit down restaurant. We could only laugh though when the waitress brought us our menus; the choices were even less appealing than the first stop.  But we were committed. And I was proud of myself for being a little more daring in my selection. Turns out that my fish sandwich and potato salad were quite tasty, and Brandon wished  he had gotten the same thing. 

I wasn't quite sure what to do from here. I had wanted to go the beach and relax with a book, but the weather was not conducive to that. I came across a little hike/bike path right in the middle of town, so we ventured on that. We had a very enjoyable walk together. The only "oops" in the walk was Brandon stepping into a big mud puddle. Poor guy had wet, muddy shoes and socks rest of the walk.

After our walk it was dinner time so we found another local place to eat. We both left there stuffed.

By the time we got back to our room, we were tired. I just relaxed and watched Duck Dynasty. Brandon spent 45 minutes cleaning his shoes and jeans from the mud, and then he joined me.

I enjoyed my day biking and walking with my favorite man despite the poor weather conditions.

Oh Mackinac Island

How I love thee.

Brandon and I got up early Thursday morning to make the 50 minute drive to Mackinac City to catch the ferry to the island. It was a cool, dreary morning and ride over on the ferry. I was almost in tears since I had envisioned a beautiful day on the island.
We got off the ferry, and I tried to focus on the good - the smell of horses ad fudge.
We rode our bikes over to our B and B to drop off our luggage. While we were there, the hostess gave us free passes to the Butterfly House and to the Grand Hotel. Things were already looking up. We decided to go to the Butterfly House first since it was indoors and warm.
We had not been here before, and I knew Maisie was going to study butterflies at school,  so I took lots of pictures. Here is a sampling:

 

When we left the Butterfly House, the sun was trying to come out from behind the clouds. I was in awe on my bike ride to the Grand. The sun was coming out, and I was right where I wanted to be. I was almost in tears for the gift God had given me.
See that smile? It was genuine; I was standing next to a lilac bush since it was lilac festival on the island.

 We ate lunch inside at the Grand sitting next to a window where we could see the pretty view and people watch. Here is a common sight.

 We spent a little time on the porch but not very long since we  had other things we wanted to do.

 We unloaded our bikes and headed for some riding adventures.

After lunch we rode the eight miles around the island. It's always a pretty ride. Even though we had been here before and stopped at the same scenic views, I never tire of them.

 Arch Rock. We climbed a couple hundred stairs to get to the top.

 Another pretty view along the route.

 

 After our pretty flat ride around the island, we decided to venture into the inner trails which are anything but flat. We rode up the big hill next to the hotel and I just made it up. A Jamaican said to me. "You go girl," as I slowly peddled by. Made my trip up the hill worth it just to hear him say that with his accent.

We rode around on some back streets and came across some horses, so I had to stop and pet them.

 This horse nibbled Brandon and his things like he was a goat.

 

This picture makes me laugh, just like it looks like the horse is doing. :)

 We rode several more miles up and down and all around. It was so peaceful and quiet. By the end of the 20 miles, my legs were tired, and my bum was really sore.
I must have pictures of this journey on my phone...

These pictures are as we came back into town.

 A glimpse of downtown.

 We love to see the different (and large) homes around the island.

We went back to the B and B to clean up a little and decide where to eat dinner. We chose a good place and enjoyed our meal. We then walked around downtown looking for souvenirs and fudge.  We then went back to our room where to relaxed for while by reading books or checking emails. 

We went out around 9:45 with the hopes of seeing a good sunset. There was no sunset, but we did discover a beautiful, full moon!

Good night Mackinac.

Weds pictures part two

Pardon me while I figure I how to use the blogger app from my iPad. I was hoping to upload these pictures to my original post, but it created a new one.  These pictures are from our walk through town. It never really felt like we were in town; it was quiet and peaceful walking along this river. In fact, we came across this young deer.  The last picture was taken at the boat docks on the bay.  We got quite a kick out of that door.  

Tuesday on our Own

I am so thankful for parents who love to be grandparents and invest in their grand daughters. I am thankful my girls love to spend time with their Grandmom and Pops. And I am really thankful to get away with Brandon for three days knowing everyone was happy.  My mom and I kept calling it a Win-Win.

Brandon and I went to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast with dad and the girls. Again, mom had meetings.  From there we drove north about 5 hours to Sleeping Bears Dunes in Michigan. I had planned this vacation many months ago, and as much as I had dreamed about going someplace a little more "glamorous," this is what worked for us, and we loved it.

 We started at the park with the seven mile scenic drive.

 Sight number one was this covered bridge.

 Stop two was Bear Lake

 Our favorite stop on the drive was an overlook of Lake Michigan at the top of a really tall sand dune. The picture doesn't show justice on high up we are or how steep the hill was.

 It was a bit cloudy and hazy, but I loved the different shades of blue in the water. Brandon asked me if this gave me my Caribbean fix. :)

 Brandon must always take a picture of our vehicle on our trip.

 After the drive, we went to the dune climb. We climbed up, up, up on really soft, fine sand. We'd never done anything like this before, and we loved it. 

 This picture looks like a puzzle to me.

 From our dune climb, we drove a bit to a trail head that took us to another beautiful overlook. I could have spent a lot of time here; it was so peaceful and quiet. Again, we were way above the water with sand dunes going down.

After the beach view, we walked among the trees and mosquitoes.

See how happy we are? :)

 After we left the park, we drove to Traverse City for dinner. We found (thanks to Trip Advisor) a local restaurant that we loved. The setting was beautiful, and the food was delicious.

From our view we could see this sailboat.

 We left Traverse City at dusk and drove an hour north to Petoskey. Along the way, we pulled over for an amazing sunset.

Day one was fun and fast. We thoroughly enjoyed being together in God's beautiful creation!