The Trip of a Lifetime...So Far!

When I began this blog I mentioned that I would be posting about some of our trips.  We are not world travelers but do occasionally manage to get out of town for a few days or a week.  We always have a great time on our trips, but as of now one trip stands above the rest.

In 2012, on the heels of the big wildfires in north central Nebraska, my sister in Michigan was getting married.  We had never been out to see her in Michigan since she had moved there 20 years before, so this provided a great opportunity to get out for a visit and to help her celebrate a new life.

We planned this trip for a couple months.  One thing that we decided immediately is that we would drive...and we would not drive anywhere's near Chicago!  This left either a big loop around Chicago, which was not really feasible, or to travel by way of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  

A little geography lesson is in order.  As you probably know, Michigan could easily have been two states as the Upper and Lower peninsulas are separated by the Straits of Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Geographically, as well as every other way, they are different.  In fact, the only things they seem to share are a name and a state government. 

We actually had no clue what to expect from any of this trip, but we struck off with a map and a plan and a destination.  We left home on August 1st.  Before we left Nebraska we had a stop to make in Norfolk to visit Mike's brother-in-law who was hospitalized there, and a stop in Vermillion, SD to return granddaughter Taylor to her parents' custody as she had been visiting for a few days.  The first day we only made it to Owatonna, Minnesota where we met a Fast Draw friend who was going to work on some guns for us.  

A scenic vista somewhere in Wisconsin

Day two took us the rest of the way through Minnesota, across Wisconsin and into Michigan where we got our first glimpse of Lake Michigan.  Lake Michigan is big and beautiful.  It is bluer than any lake I had seen to that point.  When you are in the notion of believing that Cub Creek is a sizable lake, this really impressed us. 

Our first view of Lake Michigan...the picture doesn't do it justice!

Our plan was to travel the southern roads of the UP (local talk for the Upper Peninsula) on our way out and the northern road on our way back.  So we struck off along the northern shore of Lake Michigan.  We spent the night in a little town close to the shore, and the next morning we got our first glimpse of a lighthouse, Manistique Lighthouse. Lighthouses are not a common sight in landlocked Nebraska so this was kind of exciting for us.  We snapped a few pictures and headed out.  

Our first lighthouse sighting...Manistique Lighthouse on Lake Michigan

Mike and I travel somewhat differently.  He is very destination oriented and had his sights on Charlevoix, Michigan where Connie lived.  I, on the other hand, rather enjoy the journey and never want to promise an arrival time in case I find something I want to stop and see.  So, we passed a sign that pointed down a road to a lighthouse.   He drove right by and I asked him why we weren't stopping.  It was like he hadn't even considered that as an option! But he indulged me.

The name of the lighthouse was Seul Choix Point Lighthouse. Since it is a French word, the pronunciation was nothing like it looked like it should be, and now I can't even remember how it was pronounced, but the meaning of this French word is "only choice". It was the last lighthouse before heading out into open waters, and if a ship needed to dock, this was the last option, thus the name.

Seul Choix Point Lighthouse

We spent an hour or so touring the lighthouse and the surrounding grounds.  Our tour guide really brought the purpose and perils of being a lighthouse keeper to life for us.  We even climbed to the top of the lighthouse and were able to look around for a long ways, taking in an awesome vista of Lake Michigan and the forested lands surrounding the lighthouse.

From the top of the lighthouse looking south out over lake Michigan

Another view from the lighthouse

We finally  were able to drag ourselves away from this wonderful experience and head on east to our planned destination.  

Not so many miles down the road, which traveled along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, we began to see off in the distance Mackinac Bridge.

The Mighty Mac in the distance

There are probably few people who hate bridges more than I do. Traveling to Platte, SD is a trial when we have to cross the mile-long Platte-Winner Bridge.  Well, the Mackinac Bridge is 5 miles long...and I have no idea how deep the water is below, but pretty sure it's deeper than I want to drop into, which is what I am always imagining when we go over any bridge longer than the Niobrara bridge south of Springview!  But the only way to travel from the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula is to drive across Mackinac Bridge.  So off we went.

Gotta pay up!

Mackinac is a toll bridge so the first order of business was to pay a $4 toll fee to travel the bridge.

Up, Up and Away!

And then we were up and over the bridge in about 5 minutes! However the view was amazing from up there (if you didn't stop to think about the several hundred feet of water below).  It was everything I knew about bridges times 100!  I have to say I breathed just a bit easier when we arrived on the south side of the bridge safely in the Lower Peninsula where we headed south to Charlevoix.

To be continued...