Traveling Together - Spring Break in Vernal, Utah

Sorry to mess you up with the timeline of my life, but I didn't want to completely skip over spring break. So as we traveled home from the last baseball tournament in St. George, Curly was going on and on about the Dinosaur Tracks Museum we had visited on our first day. That's when my sweetie started hatching a plan. He has been wanting to visit as many of the national parks as we can while Baby Doll is in 4th grade because of the free pass. Vernal, UT is home to the Dinosaur National Monument and surely we could squeeze out a couple of days for a quick family vacation. I jumped on Hotwire and got some awesome suites for $46/night. Then my sweetie suggested that we invite a few friends...

He really meant family members and although not everyone could join our spontaneous trip, we managed to convince Princess and The Frog to bring their family as well as Dog Walker and Puppy Lover. We also brought along Grandpa and the 4 kids still living at home. Beauty and the Beast were not able to arrange for work that quickly, but they were willing to let Little Warrior come along with us.

We ended up in 4 rooms on the 4th floor with Princess's family on the main level when we finally checked in on Sunday afternoon. While we waited for our rooms, we enjoyed their outdoor grill area where my sweetie cooked steaks for everyone while we made side dishes in our available rooms. Princess and I split up the cooking chores before we left home and all of our meals were shared and super easy. 

We ended the evening in the swimming pool and hot tub. Having all the little ones made it so much fun!

It was difficult to convince the little ones to sleep, so I went in with them and watched a little quiet TV in Princess's room while the others played games in the boys' room. 

Such an exciting day, but it was necessary for them to sleep, so we could adventure again in the morning.

Traveling as Two - Heading for Home

The time had finally come for us to leave the Great Lakes and this beautiful state of Minnesota. I never really thought of it as beautiful before, but I have definitely changed my mind. Silver Bay, Duluth; I had no idea.

We gathered up early since we had way too many bags to take to the airport. Minneapolis has a little subway that takes you right from the rental cars to the terminals. That helped some.

After we got all 4 bags checked, we breathed a sigh of relief and still had a little time to wander before boarding.

Isn't it amazing what you can find in a vending machine? This one has all kinds of makeup and personal items. 

After an uneventful flight, we are finally home for a minute. We had a little time to catch up with the grandkids before heading out again tomorrow. Stay tuned for our next adventure. 

Traveling as Two - Silver Bay

The drive from Duluth to Silver Bay was an opportunity for us to see more of Lake Superior. It looked like this out of my window. 

My sweetie wanted to be sure that we got a lake view BEFORE we got to our next stopping place. I had already booked our stay at the AmericInn on Hotwire, so I made the call. The young man I spoke with first was not very accommodating and he was convinced that the only room he could offer me was a parking lot view. Even telling him that the good folks at the AmericInn in Ontanogan were able to upgrade for $20 did not sway him in his decision. So what could I do?

I asked for the manager. 

When the manager come on, he kindly offered us his best rooms with a deck overlooking the lake and a jetted tub for two. No upgrade fee.

We arrived just before sunset although Superior was on the wrong side of the hotel for it to be spectacular like it was in Ontanogon, but that didn't stop it from being amazingly beautiful. At Silver Bay, it all appeared to be open water beyond the trees.

After we watched the sunset, we decided to take advantage of the facilities. The hotel had a large pool with a separate children's pool, a hot tub, and a waterslide. 

We lounged in the hot tub for half an hour before I just had to try that waterslide. My sweetie made a video, but I looked ridiculous. Suffice to say that I survived without too much damage.

The sunrise at Silver Bay was stunning! As we packed up, I kept slipping back out on the deck just to watch it change. 

Thank goodness for a great camera in my phone, otherwise it would have been too bright to see anything.

After saying goodbye to our new manager friend, we wandered off the main road. Lake Superior is too cold for swimming, but Black Beach is one of the few places where people venture in during the heat of the summer.

It was a breath-takingly beautiful spot with stones dyed black from the iron tailings of the Model-T era. In some places, the stones were tiny like sand, while others were larger and slippery to walk on. 

In the summer, I'm sure thrill-seekers would swim out the twenty feet or so to the tiny rock island. In all of our journeying, this was the first time I wanted to touch the icy waters of the lake. 

I waited for the tide to come up almost to my shoes and then I bent down and scooped up a handful. It was not as cold as I had expected and as it drained between my fingers, I let it slip into my sweetie's open palm. 

It was time to go. Our adventure was almost over.

Traveling as Two - Duluth

 Back on the road, we made good time all the way to Duluth. As we got closer to the city and Lake Superior came back into view, only the smaller waterways were still frozen. We saw the first big ship just outside the harbor at Duluth.

I was still taking pics of the ship when the lifting bridge first came into view. We had heard from friends that it was amazing, but none of their descriptions matched the enormity of the bridge or the gray of the water. 

As we got nearer to the bridge, we noticed the Great Lakes Aquarium. Now if you have followed my blog, you know that I am a sucker for a good aquarium. We pulled up and paid for parking. The attendant handed me a $5 credit for the gift shop...

This aquarium was different from most of the ones we have seen. It focused mainly on the beauty and the freshwater fish found in the Great Lakes. 

My favorite was the water display that showed how the lakes were all connected.

My sweetie couldn't wait to have his picture taken with some of his new friends.

There were also stunning views of the harbor and the lifting bridge.

After we spent way too much at the gift shop, we climbed back in the car so we could drive across that bridge. On the way over, I was focused on the huge steel structure of the bridge. 

On my way back, I couldn't take my eyes off the vastness of the waters of Lake Superior as they stretched out on the right side of us as far as the eye could see.

The lake followed us all the way to our next hotel in Silver Bay.

Traveling as Two - Rounding the Bay at Ashland

Did you notice that I changed my title on yesterday's post? My sweetie pointed out that I had the wrong city listed; that we didn't actually get to see Ashland until today. The hotel we were staying in was in a little place called Ontanogon, but I didn't think you would have heard of it even though they made delicious fried Wisconsin cheddar cheese curds.

Anyway, you will not believe what it looked like outside our window when we got up in the morning. The ice was almost completely gone from the lake!! When my sweetie showed me his pictures of the sunrise, I thought he was just teasing me until I pulled back the blinds and saw it for myself.

We didn't have time to stand around though since we had so many places to see. We ate breakfast on the road and I watched Lake Superior in and out of the trees. As we traveled, the snow seemed to be deeper and the lake progressively more frozen. 

It wasn't long before it was totally frozen over again and we saw little warming shacks where people were ice fishing. That's when I saw a full-sized pickup truck with a trailer out on the ice. I just had to drive out there.

My sweetie was nervous even though all logic pointed to the fact that half a dozen vehicles and a parking lot leading out onto the ice proved that we would be safe. I finally convinced him and he hit the gas to get through the muddy tracks.

Then we were doing it! Driving across the ice! The adrenalin rush was incredible and as we skidded to a stop, I opened the door to take a picture or two... or five...

We were both laughing so hard, but my sweetie thought it was probably better not to do any "donuts" or slide around much. 

Ten minutes later and we were back on the road. Ten minutes after that, we rounded a curve and a huge area of the bay opened up to reveal dozens of cars and trucks out on the ice. 

We were confused at first, but then we realized that there were two distinct groups, the spectators, and the pit crews. All eyes were focused on the coned-off area that was the race track. Half a dozen numbered cars, all different makes and models, were racing around what would definitely be considered a short track. When they hit the curve, they would slide around, sometimes spinning out, and then punch it again on the straightaway.

We couldn't miss this! We eased carefully into the row of spectators and pulled out our sandwiches. It seemed like a great time to stop for lunch.

And this seems like a great time to stop this post. I will tell you all about Duluth tomorrow.

In the last pic, my sweetie thought it was so funny that the GPS showed us IN the lake!

 

Traveling as Two - Silver City, Michigan

We were sad to leave beautiful Door County, but also excited to get on with the next part of our adventure. It was a scenic travel day and by the time we were finished, my sweetie had logged almost seven hours behind the wheel. 

We had to drive back down the peninsula and through Green Bay first (and find another Yoder Amish fried pie. Those things are so good!!), but then we headed straight across Wisconsin until we found ourselves in frozen Michigan. 

We knew that Lake Superior was close, but Ashland had plenty of snow and only some of it had been plowed. Unfortunately, none of the public roads leading to Lake Superior looked like they had seen car tracks since October.      

We finally gave up and set the GPS to our hotel. 

When we got there, we realized that we had a view of the parking lot rather than the lake and after some sweet talking and twenty bucks, we convinced them to let us change rooms. 

We were so glad that we did!! This is the view outside of our window. The ice floating on Lake Superior was more beautiful and majestic than I could have ever imagined.        

                                                                               And a little later with this stunning sunset.