Our Last Day in Michigan

Thursday was to be our last day in Charlevoix. We went to lunch at a place overlooking the drawbridge.

Afterward we went to the beach to look for Petoskey stones one last time. On our way back to the cabin, there was something in the road. From a distance we couldn't tell what it was. I stopped my car and got out to get a better look.

I'd say it's a turtle, but you could probably talk me out of that. If you'd asked me a day ago if turtles ever have tails that long with big spikes on them, I'd have said NO.

Here's a photo with my kids, showing the scale of this turtle-like thing.  They're keeping their distance.

Relaxing on the Island

After biking all over the island we were ready for a change of pace. We walked through some of the parts of the town that we hadn't seen yet.

It really is a very beautiful place and the absence of cars means that it is quite peaceful.

The kids really wanted to take a ride on one of the horse-drawn buses, but we didn't need to go anywhere.  In fact, at that hour, we needed to stay roughly where we were so that we could meet up with everyone else in our group.

Aunt Terra was the first person we found. My oldest was delighted to wear her hat - the biggest hat I have ever seen ever.

We found a bit of shade and settled in to wait for the group to come together. The kids gathered around the mini-DVD player that I brought along. Terra read a book, and I stared at a crescent moon, watching as it progressed across the late afternoon sky.

Biking on Mackinac Island

Early on Wednesday, we set our sights even further north and left Charlevoix for Mackinaw City. There, we caught a ferry to Mackinac Island. Don't let the spelling confuse you. They're both pronounced with the "w" ending.

Here we all are at the dock.

There aren't any cars on the island, which is accessible by private boat or chartered plane, ferries, or you can wait for winter temperatures to freeze the lake and then you can drive over on a snowmobile. We opted for the ferry.

The ride took about 20 minutes. The boats move pretty fast, creating that jet of water off the back as they go.

Once on land, we rented some bikes and took off on a tour of the island. The two older girls had two wheelers, and my youngest rode on a trail-behind attached to my bike.

I was unprepared for the difficulty of this arrangement. I could barely keep balanced in the beginning and thankfully other riders chose to cut a wide berth around us. After the first mile (it was 8 miles to go all the way around) it got easier, and I decided to try taking a photo of the older girls while I rode behind them . . .

That wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, and though I didn't crash while trying I decided it was best not to try it again.

Shortly after taking the picture of the kids we had a few really near misses, brief moments of terror followed by frank amazement that nobody broke and arm or got mangled by oncoming bikers. Every few minutes I'd shout ahead to remind the girls to slow down, stay to the right, get away from the center, use their brakes (rather than their feet on the pavement).  Nerve wracking.

We biked around the eastern side of the island and returned down the center, a path the British took during the war of 1812.

This route took us past the airport, a golf course, a battled field and two cemeteries, and the old fort. The whole trip took us three hours.  In the end, I was proud of how well the kids did and delighted to have avoided serious injury.

We celebrated with ice cream. I decided to have some too, settling on the cherry moose tracks which did not disappoint.

Travers City National Cherry Festival

Festivals. They're mixed bag aren't they? They're crowded and hot and everything costs more than it should. And yet it's an experience and it's fun and it's about being there at a limited-time-only event.

The Travers City Cherry Festival had two sections; a cherry half and a carnival half. The kids couldn't resist the carnival.

Here's my youngest, just before her first ever attempt to pop a balloon with a dart. She got three tries and popped a balloon on her last try. She won a small stuffed whale and could not have been happier about it.

Her sister and cousin had a blast on the rides:

But they decided against the Starship 3000 once they saw how fast it went and how long it would keep them spinning.

Our endurance and our money seemed to run out at about the same time, so we returned to the cherry part of the festival where the kids each chose a cherry treat.

We tried the chocolate covered cherries, cherry jelly beans, and here, the kids are sharing a cherry slushy.  There was so much there--cherry flavored beef jerky, salsas and BBQ sauces, pastries, pies, tarts, licorice ropes and cotton candy.  Cherry everything.

Just to the north of downtown, there's a channel that connects lake Michigan with Lake Charlevoix and Charlevoix harbor. It's an Army Corp of Engineers project.

There's a draw bridge over the channel. The blue sign in the background states that it opens on the hour and half hour from 6 AM to 10 PM.

During the day sailboats with tall masts cue up, waiting for the bridge to open.

Nearby, there was this sign:

I took the picture because I'd seen other signs like this sprinkled around northern Michigan, and because I'd never heard of Zonta before. Taking a photo is one of the ways I remind myself to look into things that are unfamiliar to me.

Turns out, Zonta is just like Kiwanis, or Rotary, or Lion's Club, only it's ladies instead of gentlemen.

Charlevoix on the Forth of July

Charlevoix is a sleepy summertime town. We were there in the early afternoon looking around the old downtown. What did we find there? Mostly shops catering to tourists.

And in Charlevoix, what the tourists want is chocolate and ice cream. We did not resist.

The flavor the girls chose is called 'superman', I think. But what I know is that they liked it.

The Flights

During the summertime we fly from Beirut to the US where we rest, recreate, and visit family.

This requires three planes and four airports over about 24 consecutive hours. To get through it as comfortably as possible, we pack very light-weight carry on bags which include some fun stuff (like magazines and snacks) and some practical stuff (like a tooth brush and a change of clothes).

Change of clothes comes in handy when your luggage gets lost and you have to survive with nothing else for a few days.

And when the magazines fail, it's good to have electronic back-up plans.

This year, flying was easier than it has ever been. The kids are so big, so good at doing the airport thing. They're such great travel buddies and they seem to get better and better every year.

Still, our layover in Paris was a real low point. I got on the wrong bus and ended up on the wrong side of the airport and undoing that error was tricky. Then, during the first of several security checks I discovered that cough syrup had spilled inside my carry-on, my daughter had stashed a gooey half-eaten pear in the bag with her i-phone, and that the Beirut Airport had neglected to issue me baggage claim numbers and I had neglected to notice.

All that, and still, still this is the easiest it has ever been which is completely awesome and it makes me absolutely love my life.

Toward Detroit

I absolutely scrambled Thursday evening to pull it off (with a lot of help from my parents), but when I went to bed that night our car was ready for the first leg of our road trip: St. Louis to Detroit. We left first thing Friday morning.

The drive took 9 hours. We stopped three times, and the total time we spent NOT driving was about 30 minutes. The kids were great. Like I said, they're excellent travel buddies.

Along the way we saw a lot of farmland. The road to Detroit took us diagonally across Illinois, through the northwest corner of Indiana, and then nearly laterally across most of the state of Michigan.

We were still in Illinois when I took this picture. Apart from the windmills, most of Illinois looks just like this. The windmills are unusual, and I wonder if there will be more views like this one in the future. I'm still not clear on what our future energy production will look like.

Here's another notable sight from the drive: actual construction workers! Along the way I lost count of the number of times a lane or two was closed for roadwork, but only once or twice was there anyone actually doing anything. We didn't have any significant construction-related delays, thank goodness.

The GPS did a great job. It got us to our hotel and I had almost no trouble with it during all the highway transitions. Meanwhile, the portable DVD player kept the kids happy (or the road-trip equivalent of happy) for the entire trip.

This was waiting for us at the hotel. 

It was so thoughtful--a gift basket from the Bride's family with treats made by Matthew's Aunt Beth, toys & games for the girls, chocolates, and a cute little "wedding day necessities" kit--Kleenex, a travel size stain-stick, and breath mints, and more things I'm sure I've forgotten to list.

Up in the Air

For us, a vacation usually begins with the Beirut airport. And then another airport. And then one more airport where we catch the plane that will take us to St. Louis.

Here we are waiting in line in London, heading to Chicago.

Some people hate traveling with kids--but I'd guess what they hate is traveling with other people's kids. My kids are fantastic at flying. They know about the lines and the waiting and the beverage cart and which things on their food tray they want and they know about the on-board pillows and blankets and movies etc. They know about security and baggage claim and passport control and customs. They're pros.

Danielle was delighted to have a window seat departing from Chicago. Stella traded seats with her before we landed.

I've counted up the intercontinental flights I've done so far, and the numbers show that I haven't flown with anyone more than I've flown with them. Our jobs are pretty clear cut--I manage the paperwork and the entertainment. I make sure they're happy, and if they're ok, so am I. We take care of each other. When I think about doing the 20+ hours without them, I just feel bored by it. And at this point, (please nobody take this the wrong way) they're my favorite people to travel with. Considering that they'll be my default travel buddies for a lot of years to come, favorite status is a very good thing.