So Thursday we set out on our wide circle journey to the land of packers and cheese curds. I worked the night before so Rick got the driver's seat while I passed out as soon as we were settled on I-696 and Rick was confident he and the GPS could handle the road. I woke up just as we were driving through Chicago but quickly went under again until we were somewhere in Wisconsin. We stopped in Racine at a mall for some Chick-fil-A deliciousness and to stretch our legs. When we arrived, Jocie was so excited to see Uncle Rickie and I was quickly deemed Aunt Nay. Even though I slept most of the 6-7 hour drive, I was still just as exhausted and glazed over as Rick was from driving. Sleeping in the car with a buff bandanna over your eyes and a seat-belt strap around your neck is not the most conducive to restful sleep. So it was early to bed for us the first night.
On Friday, Robert and Jackie took us to a wildlife preserve just down the road from them. It was the best day ever. There were ducks everywhere. I mean, everywhere. If you know me, you know how crazy in love I am for ducks. A dollar bought me a bag of corn kernels and I got to hand fed Canadian geese and mallard ducks! We also got to pet and hand feed a dear. Obviously not as exciting as the ducks (for me at least). Jocie was a brave little girl feeding all the animals.
This expression is worth a thousand words!
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On Sunday, we continued our journey traveling from Green Bay north up to the UP. That was when we turned into complete tourist. We stopped at nearly every scenic stop taking cheesy pictures of ourselves, propping the camera on railings, tables, wells, rocks, driftwood, anything level enough to sit a camera on and set the timer before running to pose in front of it. We took a lot of pictures. We stopped in Escanaba and walked the pier by the lighthouse and drove through the quaint little town. Later that night Rick introduced me to the movie, "Escanaba in da Moonlight" with Jeff Daniels and we laughed as we saw buildings and intersections we drove through earlier that day. Most I can say about that flick is that it was quite an interesting movie...
This was the view from a rest stop in the upper peninsula. How many rest stops have this view?
We arrived at the Mackinaw Bridge around 5, paid the toll, and drove across to the Mitten. First time driving across the bridge, it was less exciting that I was making it out to be. We had dinner at a local Mom n' Pop restaurant and decided to pick up some popcorn for that night in the hotel room since we had a microwave (I never remember to pack that stuff). But the nearest Walmart was 30 minutes away in Cheboygan. The city my grandparents lived in, my "up North" growing up. I can't even remember how long it's been since I was in Cheboygan. It was depressing yet comical to discover our microwave was less than powerful enough to pop even half of the bag of popcorn (and burn the half that it did pop) as we watched Escanaba in da Moonlight (seriously, it's call "in da Moonlight").
Monday we got up to one of the best continental breakfasts I've ever had. This was no "muffin and cereal" spread. There were scrambled eggs, sausage gravy, biscuits, sausage links, cinnamon rolls, cereals, muffins, and even hot sauce packets. Frank's hot sauce! So good! We then headed out to the little downtown to shop all the tourist trap shops. It was so quite, almost "ghost-town" as you could tell the prime season was over. We were one of a handful of groups of people in town so we had great parking and no crowds. We quickly decided we want to return when the weather is nice and visit Mackinaw Island. We bought 6 different flavors of fudge, did a wine tasting, bought 4 bottles of wine, I found a pair of moccasins, and fell in love with a cute winter hat. That evening we wanted to walk the shoreline of the lake. The freezing rain wasn't stopping us! At one point, Rick was determined to get to the end of the pier, we were soaked and frozen running back to the car! I packed gloves and a scarf but I don't think either one of us was really adequately prepared for winter on Lake Michigan!
Tuesday, after our amazing continental breakfast, we hit up Starbucks (can't miss a Starbucks opportunity) and then one more look over the lake. We set off for the little beach area overlooking the bridge. It was clearer that morning but certainly not warmer! Poor Rick's fingers were bright red as I scoped for level props to pin up the camera on. He is so patient with me.
Like all time off, we didn't want to see the weekend end but now being on this side of the trip, I can clearly see it was so much needed. I really enjoyed the time with Rick's siblings and then our two days together in Mackinaw. Just being goofy together, running around in the freezing rain, making spontaneous trips to Walmarts, stopping every 15 minutes for another photo opportunity (that looks the same as the stop before). I even feel better at work. Like a reset button was pushed. Like I said, the trip was so much needed.
As we closed our eyes to sleep Tuesday night we both noted that we could see the lake from earlier that morning. Some things get in your blood. Mackinaw may have gotten in ours.
