Thursday, October 31st

Drove the rest of NY through part of the Adriondack Mountains in up-state NY.  Very pretty with lots of little lakes.  Crossed over Lake Champlain into Vermont.  The lake is 125 miles long between NY and VT, so we had to figure out where to cross so we didn't have to take a ferry.  Once in Vermont, we headed straight to the famous Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory, where it all started.  Took a short tour and then had a sample.  Dang that stuff is good!  Lucky for us, we travel with a freezer on board!  Need I say more!?!?  :)  Stopped for the night in Concord, VT.  On to the East Coast tomorrow.  **Sara

Wednesday, October 30th

Heading east today across New York.  Took some back roads which ended up having a million turns, that don't show up on a map of course.  Lots of rolling hills and farms.  We think there are more corn fields in NY than Iowa!  It was beautiful.  We ended up on the NY Amish Trail on these back roads.  Saw a horse and buggy. And then the craziest thing---the largest, longest, tallest clothes line ever!!!!   It was strung from the corner of the porch to the TOP of the barn, yes barn, all the way across the yard.  Would have to use a pulley system to operate it!  CRAZY!  Obviously it was full of clothes to have noticed it!  Wonder if they use a washboard too?!  :)  Saw a lot of black and white cows. That always makes Audree smile!   Went through the town of Auburn, which has a lot of history because of Harriett Tubman, the woman who freed many slaves with the Underground Railroad in the 1800s.        **Sara 

Tuesday, October 29th

We had a great day with our friends here.  We went to the Maritime Museum and the Flagship Niagara.  We learned about The War of 1812.  We saw one of the ships (restored of course), The US Brig Niagara that was used in the war in the Battle at Lake Erie during that war.  It was very interesting and educational!  Social Studies! :)  Then off to see some trout running up stream, or trying to anyway.  Spawning season.  Science!  There is a large peninsula here at Erie that is a state park.  Very recreational place.  Audree and I rode our bikes along the bike path.  PE!!  We took a drive further out and looked at a lighthouse, and took our picture in front of our 5th Great Lake we've seen, Lake Erie. Geography!  We'll hit math tomorrow!  :)   **Sara

Monday, October 28th Happy Birthday to Jeff!

State #7.....Pennsylvania!  We left Niagara Falls and entered back into the US into New York state.  Southwest to Erie, Pennsylvania, to some friends' house that frequent our RV Park.  Haven't seen them for awhile though, so nice to see where they live.  She had even made a cake, so we put some candles on it for Jeff and sang to the ole' guy!  At a campground here that meets all requirements:  full hookups, WiFi, and of course a playground!  :)

**Sara

Sunday, October 27th Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is awesome.  The water moves so incredibly FAST!  Jeff says Powerful.  Garrett says Dangerous.  Audree says Very Misty.  And I say Amazing!  We went down under the falls where we got soaked!!  Luckily they gave us raincoats.  Rode the bus to the butterfly conservatory.  Millions of butterflies in there.  It was part of the package deal we got.  The deal included the bus system which worked out great because the bus went all the way to our campground.  The kids and I went on this thing called a Sky Wheel.  It was a fantastic view of both falls.  The Canadian Falls are the most spectacular but the American Falls are beautiful too.  What a wonderful place to be a tourist!!!

Saturday, October 26th

Well we did not go to the falls today because it was terribly horribly windy and rainy!  We decided it would be a good day to stay inside and do school.  I didn't get any complaints about it being Saturday or anything!  "After school" we went grocery shopping in Canada!  It was a little bit of an experience.  Then Garrett got the idea about seeing the falls at night with the lights.  We checked the bus schedule and it worked out.  It was still rainy but the wind had at least subsided. So the kids and I went down there just in time to see in the daylight and waited around until dark when they turn the lights on.  The whole thing is totally awesome.  Lots more tomorrow!!  **Sara

Friday, October 25th

Ok, so we didn't need to eat all our apples......getting through customs was super easy, but that's not what we'd always heard from people!  So we drove about 250 miles today and are here to go listen to the big roar tomorrow.  We're all excited!  I was here as a kid, but that was just a couple years ago!  Big report tomorrow!!

        Hey, to you guys who are commenting on this blog, (thank you) and what's the trick for it to show up?  I've had a few people say they've commented but it never shows up?  Help?  Thanks!  ** Sara

Thursday, October 24th

Travel day across Michigan.  At Port Huron tonight at another campground that closes tomorrow!  Getting lucky with these places.  Will cross into Canada tomorrow and drive to Niagara Falls and spend a couple nights there.  Pretty uneventful day which is the way you want it if you're driving!  Oh, we did drive in snow this morning, so we didn't escape it entirely this year!  **Sara

PS. I think we ate at least 7 apples today!!!  :)

Wednesday, October 23

A non-travel day so that is much better in the school department.  Kids got to go swimming again today so that always makes them happy.  We went to Jeff's classmate's house tonight for dinner here in Manistee, MI.  They in fact even share the exact same birthday (which is Monday) so we had Jeff's favorite bday cake with them.  Suppose I better mention that he even made his own cake (this year ONLY) as it was a last minute decision and I was taking the kids swimming.  It's not like I watched him make it!!!  :) 

On to the east side of Michigan and we'll cross into Canada on Friday.  We have to eat all our good meat we brought and honey crisp apples we bought because we hear they won't let us take that stuff into Canada!   Anybody hungry?!?!     **Sara

Tuesday, October 22

We went to Manistee Campground and it is cool because it has a pool.  On the way we went to some sand dunes and climbed almost 1 mile to the top.  We could see Lake Michigan.          <> Audree

Monday, October 21

Woke up to drizzle and wind but knew Tuesday was going to be worse so we bundled up and headed to the ferry to Mackinac Island. The ride over there was ROUGH, VERY ROUGH as Audree put it!  Garrett thought it was GREAT!  The island is very cool. Full of Victorian style homes. Cars are not allowed on the island so there are bikes everywhere.  Funny to see them lined up "parked" along the streets that are full of shops and restaurants.  We toured around a fort that was built by the British for the Revolutionary War.  Garrett got to clean the cannon they shot off as demonstration.  They also shot the old rifles.  We looked in an old schoolhouse at the fort.  They only went to school for one hour a day----Garrett and Audree liked that idea a lot!  We walked to the Arch Rock and to the Sugar Loaf. Both neat rock formations. Then of course on to the Grand Hotel. They wanted $10 each just to walk around in it.  We decided it looked just fine from the outside!  A lot of walking this day so we were all pooped.    **Sara

Sunday, October 20th

Sault Saint Marie is the oldest city in Michigan, located on the far east side of the U.P.  Across the river is Canada. Seemed strange to see a sign "Canada" with an arrow pointing right!  The Soo Locks are in between Lake Superior and Lake. Huron. A very busy shipping location.  It was interesting to watch the ships come in the locks with inches to spare on the sides, move up or down and then very slowly out.  We luckily just caught the end of one going down before leaving the lock this morning.  The next one wasn't to come in for a few hours. Nobody really seems to have a schedule so we just walked around and waited.  We finally got to see the largest freighter show up.  It moves slower than a turtle!  Audree said she could crawl faster than it was moving. It's true!!!!

On to Mackinaw City by crossing the Mackinac Bridge which connects the Upper Peninsula (the U.P.) and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is 5 miles long. It is the nation's 3rd longest suspended bridge.

Found a nice campground to stay at for 2 nights. They close for the season in 2 days!!!  Got lucky.  :). The first campground was closed.           **Sara

Saturday, October 19th

My first blog, Sara says I have to do one.  Left ole stomping grounds this morning. Stopped at my favorite tourist trap, "Da Yooper Store."  Decided to buy a '57 Chevy snowplow (we want our camphosts plowing in style the Yooper way) and they threw in this 'riding' lawn mower for free!  That will be for Sara next summer.  She can exercise AND mow the grass!!  Oh we got an awesome deal on the pontoon so we're gonna start doing fishing charters at Wolford.  

Looking for a skipper.  Salary:  free beer.   --- Ok ok, enough of this Yooper talk. 

Headed to Sault Saint Marie to the Soo Locks.   Will watch the freight ships tomorrow.
                         ^  Jeff

Friday, October 18th

Well the real part of the trip starts tomorrow.  Camper is ready to roll......heading East, that's the weird part.  So far we've only been at our relatives' houses, so it's just been like a long fall break.
Here we go..............                                                  **Sara

Thursday, October 17th

The biggest fisherman of the family did really well today catching walleye.....so that means we're sticking around for another day of it.  Tonight we went to Jeff's favorite pizza place in the whole wide world---The Bell Chalet.  The Yoopers call it the "Bell."  The pizza is yummy!       ** Sara

Wednesday, October 16th

Nothing too exciting to report today.  Just enjoying the fall here in the U.P.
So I'll close it off for tonight.  ** Sara
PS  Stay tuned and check back often, exciting days ahead!  Headed out on Friday to Soo Locks at the Michigan/Canada border and then on to Mackinac Island! 

Tuesday, October 15th

Well, not much happened today. Today starts Week 3.  Already gone 2 weeks.  Will leave the U.P. on Friday.....that's when the real trip will begin.  Until next time....       **Sara

Monday (continued)

Happy Boy!

Monday October 14th

Today was really fun! I woke up with dad saying, "Let's go hunting, hurry up." So I scarfed down my waffle and off we were. We drove around for a couple hours and I got one chance, missed it. He said we will go on one more road. We saw one and I missed it. Not even 100 yards down the road we see another one. I loaded my gun, my dad pointed at it and I saw it, BOOM! I got it. It twitched for a couple seconds. Dead. I had shot my first partridge.
                                                                                 -Garrett% 

Sunday ,October 13th

We went to church and I did crafts with Ms. Ruth. Then we went ATVing at John's house and it was fun.  <> Audree

Saturday, October 12th

We all four went to this place today called Copper Peak.  It is the World's Largest Ski Flying structure.  It was shut down in the 1990s due to dangerous conditions, but is set to reopen this coming winter for competitions.  The jump itself is 26 stories in height.  These ski-flyers reach speeds up to 70 mph and launch themselves off the ramp.  Crazy I say!  We had to ride a chair lift up 800 feet first.  Then we (well 3 of us did.....you might be able to tell from the picture who opted out!) rode the 18 story elevator up.  We then walked another few flights up of the 8 flights remaining.  It was really windy so we decided to not make it all the way to the top.  It was an amazing view from up there.  You can see Lake Superior, and 3 states:  Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.  You can also see Canada on a clear day.  I'd say maybe we saw it!  :)  It was incredible. 

We took a drive to dip our feet in one of the Great Lakes.  Lake Superior is actually very close to where Jeff grew up here in Marenisco.  It sure looks like the ocean!  Also, saw some nice falls on the Black River that runs into Lake Superior.

This evening we got the pleasure of a little 'culture' here in this tiny little town.  The township was hosting a German Orchestra of young people ages 11 to 25.  These people put on a phenomenal concert.  Strings, woodwinds, and brass.  It was so enjoyable!!!  They held it in the old school in the auditorium (more like a multi-purpose room.)  (Jeff says study hall used to be in there---the one he skipped all the time and finally got caught his senior year! )  Anyway, for the concert, it was standing room only. 

Oh, almost forgot.....lunch was Pasties......famous to the U.P.  Pasties are a crust filled with diced potatoes, onions & seasoned ground beef baked to perfection.  Come on over after we get home and Jeff will whip you up a batch of them!  :)                                                **Sara
   

Friday, October 11

Today Grandma, Garrett, Audree and I went to the cranberry marsh.  It was awesome! The cranberries grow on a vine about a foot high.  They flood the fields during harvest time because the berries float.  They use a machine that goes through the bed to knock off the cranberries off the vine and then the flooding and floating makes it easier to gather them into the machine that sorts out the water, debris, and berries into the semi trucks.  Did you know: there are only 3 fruits native to North America;  blueberries, Concorde Grapes, and of course cranberries.  Wisconsin is the Number One producer of cranberries in the world!  And we just thought they were famous for their cheese!  :)

**Sara

Thursday October 10th

Today we hung around and didn't do a whole lot. We went with Grandma to Ironwood and we got deposits on bottles and cans. We came home and did a little school. I went bird hunting with Dad.  We walked 100 miles it seemed like and then Dad ended up shooting a bird right by the truck!!!!!!!  Wir aßen mit den Deutschen bei Tante Mimi und Onkel John Haus. Wir aßen Rippen und die Deutschen hatten nie Rippen hatte. This is this sentence in German:   We ate dinner with the 4 Germans at Aunt Mimi and Uncle John's house. We ate ribs and the Germans had never had ribs.  The Germans were here because they are part of a orchestra from Germany. In Marenisco they don't have a hotel, so they ask the ask the citizens if they will take in a few kids. For dessert we had apple crisp that Audree and Grandma made yum.
                                            -Garrett

Wednesday, October 9th

Kinda slow day here in the U.P.  Started doing school in the morning and decided it was time for "P.E." so the kids and I went for a bike ride since the wind wasn't blowing.  It was a big 19 minute ride around Marenisco!  Little less than my 2 hour bike rides in the mountains! :)  So then we went to the Marenisco Town Library to do more school work and change the scenery from Grandma's kitchen table.  They had an awesome United States Map rug that we wanted to take along on our trip but they wouldn't let us!  😄 Sara

PS. The leaves here are sure pretty. For our Colorado friends that never see red leaves.....check this out.

Tuesday , October 8th

Dad, Uncle John, Garrett and I went back to the pond.  John set a bear trap on the way to the pond.  We went back and I raked leaves at Grandma's yard and then I played in them.  🐮Audree

Hudson

-Garrett😆

Monday, October 7th

Today was another LONG travel day.  We hope to not have too many of these on the trip.  We left Jamie and Dave's at O'Fallon, IL, (basically St. Louis) and headed north.  All the way to the U.P.  ---  That's Upper Peninsula for those who don't know.  "Yooper" is really what it's called.  So if any of you have thought Jeff talks funny, it's because he's from the U.P.  Eh?!?!?!  We stopped in Springfield, Illinois, to have breakfast with Connie and Larry that worked for us a couple years ago.  It was nice to see them.  Then all the way straight north.  We had to jump over and around all the thistles to get to the sign to take the state picture today.  It was worth it--great picture!  I enjoyed the scenery as it reminded me of being a farm girl growing up in Iowa.  Lots of corn and bean fields and farms along the way in Illinois and Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful day for traveling. **Sara

Sunday, October 6th

Two hot humid days followed by a cold windy one......the day to go watch Camden and Jakob play their football game.  We froze!!  The football players didn't seem to care about the cold. We came home and watched some football, including the Broncos almost get beat!!  The kids played and we just hung around.  After some Papa Murphy pizza, we had a little belated and/or early birthday and Christmas celebration for the boys.  It was a fun day being with family.   **Sara

Saturday, October 5th

So, today was the best day of the trip so far. First, we went to the City Museum in St. Louis. Really, it isn't a "museum" it is a giant play place. They have tunnels all over the place. They even had a Ferris wheel on the roof. Everything is made from old recycled materials. After that we ate lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Finally, we went to the The Gateway Arch, but we couldn't go up it because the stupid government is shut down!!!!!!! We did get to go up to it and we could touch it and take pictures. When we came home we swam for a little while, not long. Overall FUN day!!!!

                                                                            -Garrett 🌚

Friday, October 4th

We drove to O'Fallon, Illinois to see my sister and my nephews. We went swimming in their pool in the backyard.  It was hot. We went to a chili cook-off. There were many kinds of chili to taste. Lots of people!! 👽 Audree (and Mom)

Gateway Arch

Thursday, October 3rd

The first day of school happened today. The kids thought it was a bit strange. I would have to agree. It will super fun to learn about all the cool stuff we'll be seeing.  A shopping spree with Aunt Lisa topped off the afternoon.   Fun with cousins in KC!!  On to states 3 and 4 tomorrow!  ** Sara
PS Here is our departure picture. "We're on the MOVE!!"

October 2nd

So, today wasn't really the most exciting day on earth. First, we had engine problems. Then, we had a blown tire (I'm not exaggerating the tire was majorly blown.) Finally, we almost ran out of diesel!!! At least we got to see our cousins in Kansas City.

                               - Garrett

October 1st--Day 1
Well the adventure has finally begun.  However we didn't even quite make it out of Colorado.  We were more than 6 hours behind schedule leaving home.  We figured 1 hour behind for every month of being gone!  Spent the night in a truck stop; didn't even mind the semi trucks running right beside us since we were just a little on the exhausted side. **Sara