Vacation 2009: Day 4, Part 2

After we exhausted the available activities and exhibitions at Fort Michilimackinac, we crossed the bridge again back to the UP. We stopped in St. Ignace to stroll along the boardwalk, do a little window- and fudge-shopping, and have a dinner of delicious pizza.

One great thing about the UP is you can go in to a pizza place, slightly below the dining experience level of a Pizza Hut (but much more delicious), and sit on the patio, which happens to have a very pleasant view of Lake Huron:

After dinner, we began the long drive back to Manistique, stopping at a beach off the side of the road for some after-dinner frolicking.

She does NOT do sand.

Baseball!

The sun started to set.

I could've sworn I was sucking in!

That's better. :)

After at least an hour of driving, we got home close to 10pm. And this is what the sky looked like:

And this concludes my series on Vacation 2009. Friday was a very low-key day and very windy and dreary, so I took zero pictures. But it's nice to end on pretty sunset pictures, right?

Vacation 2009: Day 4, Part 1

Thursday took us over the Mackinac Bridge to the Lower Peninsula! Destination: Colonial Fort Michilimackinac.

First, we saw a cannon demonstration.

There were lots of activities and things to see at the fort. The pristine weather and beautiful setting made for a fun day!

As you can see, we didn't get far into the LP at all.

There was an Odawa tribesman there, and he was very taken with Lexi and her Cherokee heritage.

Here are some random photos that I like:

Archeologists are still finding artifacts every day.

Vacation 2009: Day 3

Don't worry: we were all way more excited than Emily was in this picture to be at Seul Choix Pointe. Actually, she was okay with being the lighthouse, but I guess she doesn't really see herself as a sea captain.

On Wednesday, we headed to Seul Choix. In French, that's pronounced "sull shwah," but the Yoopers (people from the UP) pronounce it "sih-shwah." As I almost got a minor in French in college, I decided to pronounce it the French way and just drop the L-sound. Compromise.

Wednesday's weather was extremely refreshing after Monday and Tuesday's chills. Mid-70s and bright, sunny skies. A perfect day to go up in a lighthouse!

Here we are! The whole Keller Klan.

Another view of the building. It's been beautifully restored in the last 20 years. The house is really nice and fancy on the inside, which is rare for lighthouses. That's as expert as I'm going to pretend to be. My MIL is the true lighthouse expert!

The stairs that made my knees hurt "from here to here."

We're in the top of the lighthouse here.

See?

After touring the lighthouse, we walked along the rocky lakeshore. Of the entire vacation, there were several highlights, but I think this walk was my favorite.

I mean, for starters, look how clear and still and beautiful this water is! Just look!

Gorgeous!

And these are my feet in the water! You can't even tell except for the line around my ankles!

That water was SOOOO COLD but absolutely lovely and delightful.

Brother Rock. This was the first Keller UP trip in a long time that someone didn't have to pretend to put his arm around the brother who couldn't be there.


(I got this shot by hanging the camera from my neck and pressing the button. Otherwise I would have had to lay, stomach-down, on the the gravel.)

"Rock-jumping," a Keller-boy favorite activity.

King of the World!

Lexi the mermaid. With legs.

I learned something about Michael that week. That boy sure loves to wear sweatshirts in all but the hottest weather! I think that's what happens when you're roughly the width of a telephone pole, with no fat to keep you warm on a 78-degree day.

There was a toad on the picnic table!

Vacation 2009: Day 2, Part 2

After the first part of our day at Tahquamenon Falls, we trekked across the peninsula, stopping briefly to pick up some delicious smoked fish for dinner, and arrived at my favorite place: Kitchitikipi. Or, depending on what sign you read, Kitch-iti-kipi. Or Kitchi-ti-kipi.

But what IS this remarkable place? you may ask. Well, it's a big spring. It's about 40-feet deep and clear as glass. And it's really, really awesome. We got there late in the day, which was a cool time to see the trees' reflections on the water. I can't do it justice with any more words, so I'll just post a small sampling of the approximately 43,000 photos I took.

This is from the raft on the spring. It feeds into this river. The raft moves along a cable, propelled by a big, kid-friendly wheel.

The view straight down.

Unshaven Uncle Erich being daddy-ish with Emily, looking down into the spring.

This is where the water bubbles up.

And THIS is the spring in action. What's that sound in the background? That's Emily providing narration for what she saw, which was this:

It's a lot more fun than it looks.

All the BILs, and a glimpse of FIL, looking at this:

That's the best picture I could get of the gigantic trout swimming around. I hear there are usually a lot more (maybe earlier in the day?), but we just saw a handful.

I liked the way the light came through the trees.

Back at the house, this was a typical evening activity. Without TV or radio, the Cubs fans were reduced to "watching" the games via phone updates. At least Erich got good enough cell service up there for MLB Gameday!

This was Emily's favorite activity. She says "Boo!"; everyone else acts startled. In this particular game, the little princess learned how little she has to do to captivate an entire room of big people. Who needs TV when you have a toddler?