Pedaling, Paddling & Pints

Location: Straits State Park, MI

Ned and I went on an early morning bike ride. The Platte River was completely still. The only thing we saw was an occasional white tail deer on some dunes or taking a drink of water in the river. If you look closely at this picture you'll see a deer at the river's edge.

 

 

The river was just calling to us. When we got back to the campsite the boys wanted to go to the river too, so back we went.

 

 

Yeah, the river was calling to them too.

 

Fortunately, there was paddle shop on the river renting out canoes, kayaks, inner tubes and rafts. Marc, Sheila, Owen, & Brian were on board. Gary and Dru decided to opt out of the opportunity to get sunburned and wet. Away the gang went.

 

 

For the next 2.5 to 3 hours we floated our way down the river. There wasn't too much paddling. Most of the energy was the boys mixing it up.

 

 

Brian catching a ride with Uncle Ned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owen catching a ride with Aunt Debi.

 

Brian directing dad as he swims across Loon Lake.

 

 

 

 

Owen catching a free ride on the back of Sheila's kayak.

 

 

It was such a great hot summer day. The water was so clear and cool. Glad the river called out, and we answered.

 

 

The Santos Floatilla.

 

 

I think Brian and Ned are having a good time.

 

 

All that hard work, time for some brewskies. Marc hooked us up with a place called "Shortys" in Bellaire, Michigan.

 

 

Yep, got 2 more growlers for tonight. Thanks Marc!

 

 

I forgot how light it stays at night this far north. At 10 pm we went on a short bike ride with they boys to see the Mackinac bridge lit up. It was still light enough to ride!

We're camped near the bridge so we can catch an early ferry out to Mackinac Island tomorrow.

 

 

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Beers, Bears, and Bros.

Location: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Today was all about the journey driving up the shore of Western Michigan. Of course, what's a trip without checking out some of the local micro-breweries. We tasted several flights from Stormclouds Brewery in Frankfort. Great Stuff. We picked up a couple of growlers for tongiht's campfire.

(Love camping with my Chicago nephew. He definitely knows his brews).

 

 

 

Yesterday's tasting was from Founder's Brewery in Grand Rapids. The Redankulous and Sumatra Mountain Brown, an imperial brown ale, were delish!

 

 

Stormcloud Brewery cans their own beer. Here's Gary getting two custom cans. He got to watch it in action and was very impressed with the new crimping machine.

 

 

 

 

Owen decided to ride with us today. Love my little pre-teen and his unique style. He kept us entertained with his DJ skills.

Yes, we are still carrying the bourbon barrel with us so poor Owen had to be packed in around the luggage and pillows. Good sport.

We eventually made it to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. After catching a movie and checking out the museum at the Visitor's Center, we decided to take on the dunes. Here's Marc pointing out some of the finer details about the stuffed Badger to Brian and Ned.

 

This is before the big climb. Notice the little dot at the top of the dune. It's some people at the very top.

 

 

This is about half way up. There's Marc's RV in the parking lot.

 

 

Yeah, we made it to the top!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uncle Ned pretty happy about making it to the top.

 

Brian being "King of the Hill"

 

 

Ah, to be a kid again and run full speed ahead down hill! It took the adults a bit longer to make it all the way down.

 

 

 

Wouldn't be a camping trip without roasting marshmallows! Another super fun day.

 

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Family Time!

Location: Holland State Park, MI

 

I couldn't wait to join my big brother, Gary, sister-in-law Dru, my nephew and his family.

 

 

 

The last time I saw my great nephews they weren't this big. uh-oh, they are almost as tall as me.

The weather turned from hot to really, really cold. We made the best of it anyway and went for a bike ride, of course.

 

 

 

The winds really picked up, close to 50 mph, but it didn't stop us from exploring the shores of Lake Michigan. Thankfully, Brian wasn't swept away!

 

 

We watched these two sailboats head out to Lake Michigan and watched one actually dump into the lake. Pretty scary.

 

 

We also took a hike to the top of Mt. Pisgah. Looking good Marc & Sheila.

You can see the same lighthouse in the picture above in the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

This is what a kid looks like who has just gulped down an entire hot dog cooked over a fire. How'd you fit that in your mouth Brian?

 

 

Owen showing me how he created a video game. Yeah, he's 10 and already has over 600 people who've played this game. Kids today...

 

 

Telling yarns around the campfire.

 

 

Good times!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sauder Village in Ohio - Step back in time

Location: WJ Hayes State Park, MI

Today we decided to take a step back in time and visit the living historical village of Sauder. We've been to many of these on our travels. This one definitely rates at the top. Most of it was a replica of life in the 1800's.

What made it so great was that each of the working crafts shops had real crafts people doing their trade.

They had everything you could imagine; tinsmiths, spinners, basket makers, printer, glass makers, potter and herbalists. Here's Ned in front of the cooperage shop.

 

 

We had some questions for the cooper such as what's the best way to get the lid off and how do you tighten the stays? As luck would have it the cooper we met was so nice in sharing information and giving us a lot of history on barrels. This barrel aged chocolate making experiment we are working on is taking a lot of research.

Here he is showing Ned what kind of tools he'll need. I see Ned making some of these in the near future.

I really enjoyed visiting the water powered grist mill. Tom was making some cornmeal when we came through. We ended up buying a bag from him. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes he gave me.

You'll notice the whole grain corn kernels on top and the fine cornmeal coming out on the bottom. We learned that it takes a granite stone to grind corn kernels while most other grain is ground by sandstone.

 

 

 

The park touts this as being a Hungarian migrant family's home as they traveled from farm to farm to harvest beets. I see this as just an early version of Winnie. I'm ready for the next road trip!

It was well decked out - wood stove, table, bathtub, and pretty big double bed to boot.

 

 

 

These cute twin bros are from a working farm in Michigan. Apparently many farms today still use oxen.

We were given a demonstration on how they work together as a team.

 

Here's another oxen team. So, which team do you think is cuter?? Never mind...don't answer that.

 

Do you think the prairie look is my style? Yeah, me neither. This was taken in the general store. There were so many fun things to explore in this store. This place alone could have kept me entertained for hours.

 

 

 

One of my favorite shops was the herb shop. They grow their own herbs behind the shop. The lavender scent permeating the shop was glorious. They also had lots of teas made from different native plants.

The first picture above is the outside of the herb shop.

Here's the glass blower in action. We use marble slabs a bit differently than him. We use it to cool off and temper chocolate, he uses to cool off molten glass. I think his temperatures are a bit higher tho...

 

 

 

Tonight we are camped at the Irish Hills of MIchigan. Its name comes from the Irish immigrants who settled here between 1830 to 1850. It's known for its beautiful scenery of rolling hills and kettle lakes. We took a spin through the area on our bikes and did a hike to the top of a hill.

 

Found some swans hanging out on one of the smaller ponds.

Tomorrow we meet up with my big brother, nephew and his family. Can't wait!!

 

 

 

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