U.P., U.P., U.P. and Away...Day Two...

We were at the Tyler home a few minutes after 8 this morning. We loaded our luggage and stuff in their van, gave Katelyn hugs and instructions, and we were off on our UP adventure.

We would drive from Muskegon to a rest stop for our first break. Here is the picture I eMailed my family about our first tourist stop of this vacation assuring them we did know how to have a great time.

After this stop we headed on to Mackinaw City. While discussing the fact that Todd got a Bear Tag to be used in the western part of the UP, Claude said, "You just have to be sure, if you shoot a bear, it is no more than you can bear." Think about it. We all got a chuckle.

I was amazed at the marshland in Michigan. We've been here before but I just don't remember noticing so many marshlands. They are beautiful. Again, Claude was the quick witted one, "Whenever I'm near a marsh...I fell mellow."  Think about it. Again, we all got a chuckle.

The goal here was to get a good picture of Claude and me in front of the Mackinaw Bridge.
We found the rocks we wanted to use in the picture and got our pictures, Claude and me and then Nissa and Todd.

Pictures taken, we were ready for a lunch break. That would happen across the Mackinaw Bridge in the town of St. Ignace.

As we were crossing the bridge, a car in front of us had a licence plate with 3 letters on it "GTC". Nissa wondered what the letters meant. I stated they might just be initials. Todd pointed out they may have reference to the car. It had the letters GT on a metal circle on the trunk. Todd said maybe it was GT Cobra. Then he paused a moment and said, "Or it could mean Get The Chicks." Again, the chuckle could be heard in the car.

We ate at the Mackinaw Grille. It was just wonderful. They have a big deck on the back side of the restaurant and we ate there. Every one of us ordered well and totally enjoyed our lunch. The view is of Moran Bay and Mackinac Island across the water. There is a splash park on the jetty with a lighthouse at the end. The jetty next to it has railroad cars and a track from the days before the Mackinaw Bridge was there. Todd told us they shipped everything by train and these tracks date from those days. You can see Mackinac Island behind this jetty.

I learned something this trip. As we journeyed from St. Ignace to Tahquamenon Falls we passed an ice cream shop with the name 'Troll Trap'. It was named that because everyone who lives 'below' the 'Mackinaw Bridge' would be trolls (not a UPer). Cute and clever I say.

We missed Tahquamenon Falls on a trip we made of the UP with Bonnie (Claude's mom) years ago. Todd and Nissa were kind enough to include it on this trip for us. Tahquamenon Falls is made up of two sets of falls, the Upper and the Lower Falls. We visited the Lower Tahquamenon Falls first. These lower falls have an island in the middle. You can rent canoes and paddle across to the island and walk around. The first picture is the island with falls on the left and right side. The second picture is the left side of the lower falls. The third picture is the right side of the lower falls.

We opted to drive to the upper falls and not take the 4 mile hike there. The upper falls are the taller of the falls.

These falls are beautiful and well worth the stop and the walk back to them.

We drove to the Bear Farm but it was closed. Nissa LOVES bears.

Then Todd found our hotel for the evening in Newberry, Michigan. Nissa gave a nice big yawn while we were driving. I said to her, "Vacationing is hard work." Nissa replied, "Yeah." Then I told her that it was good practice for when they retired.

There was a Pizza Hut next door so we could even walk to dinner. I'm not sure what the conversation was about but at one point Claude made this clever statement, "I have reasons for what I don't know." You can think about that one all you want and it will still give you further pause for thought.

We are safely tucked in our respective hotel rooms for the night. My Blogging for this trip is caught up. Today was a wonderful day with good food at every meal and tons of wonderful scenery. Bring on tomorrow.