This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Vacation Recap 2019, Part 4
Oct
9
2019
Continued from last week
Day 8
This was a travel day. A few hours through the UP and then the upper LP. A lot of 2-lane highways and not much of the freeways, which made for some scenery. I was doing most of the driving, so I didn’t get to take many photos of the scenery.
Except for this one: our rest stop before the Mackinac Bridge:
Followed closely by this one:
We ended up at our destination, which we actually managed to keep a surprise from the kids until the moment we pulled into the parking lot.
It was a Great Wolf Lodge. When I was planning the vacation, I was trying not to book the GWL because it has more stuff than I was looking for. I was just trying to get a decent hotel with a pool, and preferably one that serves breakfast. But no hotels in the Traverse City area are friendly to families with more than 2 kids, except for GWL. Sometimes hotels have suites that will fit the 6 of us, but nothing reasonable here, especially during peak tourist season (i.e. summer). I could have booked 2 rooms at a run-of-the-mill hotel and hoped they were adjoining, but GWL had more than one option for putting the 6 of us in one room. And they were cheaper. And each boy had his own bed, thanks to the bunk bed arrangement.
The downside was no free breakfast, but the suite had a fridge and a microwave so we just brought our own breakfast food. The upside was that not only did we get a pool, we got waterslides and splash pads and a lazy river.
Then it was evening, then morning the next day.
Day 9
This was our touristy day of the Traverse City area. First stop: Sleeping Bear Dunes. In keeping with the theme of what makes Michigan great: we have the world’s largest freshwater dune system. Sleeping Bear Dunes is the most famous area of that.
Important note: the lush growth along the sidewalks at the parking lots in SBD is mostly poison ivy. So don’t get too close, since you should be wearing sandals due to all the sand.
That’s my warning. Here’s their warning:
Yes, it is a tall dune. Yes, people get stuck every year. Not physically stuck like quicksand, but exhausted. And medical emergencies like heat stroke. For this overlook, the path from the parking lot leads to the top of the dune, which is where that sign is. A little bit past the sign is the overlook platform:
where you can enjoy the view of the dune that you’re supposed to avoid going down:
That might not seem so bad, you think to yourself.
But do you see the people at the bottom of the dune? The people who have to walk thousands of feet up sand that slides back down easily? No?
I’ll help.
Lest you think I’m making that up, here’s a closer look:
After gazing out the overlook, we took another path to a smaller overlook:
The younger boys enjoyed climbing up mini dunes then jumping off them.
Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and a break.
That afternoon was downtown TC. We parked in a lot (no free parking anywhere in TC, it seems) and meandered through the stores along the main blocks. The kids’ favorites were the cherry store (they sold everything related to or made of cherries, but I don’t remember seeing any actual cherries there) and the hobby/toy store. Those were the two places we bought things (that’s where the kids wanted to spent their souvenir money).
Then we had some time to kill before dinner. I didn’t want to go back to the hotel then back out again later, so we went up the peninsula to Mission Point. There’s a lighthouse there and some old building, but I go to Mission Point just for the shallow water. You can walk out about a quarter mile and the water is only to your waist (unless you’re really short).
The two things that look like people are people, and the blurry blob at the horizon is a tree. It marks the sandbar – that’s how far you can walk out without having to swim at all. Last time I was there you could walk out to that tree without getting your shorts wet because the lake levels were low. This year the lake levels were well above average.
Then back to the hotel for more swimming and splashing.
Then it was evening, then morning the next day.
Day 10
This was the travel home day. But there was a stop on the way: the Dow Gardens in Midland.
This was a quality place. Everything was well done, and it was not expensive either.
They have a playground with standard items plus rope nets and a water feature and more.
I think the playground is free.
But the reason we stopped is for the canopy walk. Ok, last advertisement for Michigan: it is home to the world’s longest canopy walk.
Here’s what one end of it looks like from the ground:
Here’s what it looks like when you’re on it:
And here’s what that end you saw earlier is like when you get there:
Rope nets for the kids to play on, about 20-30 feet up in the air.
There are other attractions along the way, up in the canopy.
The kids spent a surprising amount of time in that contraption.
Then we left the canopy walk and walked around the grounds. We made our way over to the garden section and enjoyed the children’s garden.
Lots of stuff to do there – we didn’t see most of the gardens. But we had already spent hours there and we still had to drive home. Which we did, on the 10th day since we left home (and after about 2000 more miles on the van).
The End
They will call peoples to the mountain; There they will offer righteous sacrifices; For they will draw out the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand.
Deuteronomy 33:19
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:14 am and has been carefully placed in the Travel category.
