Road Trip - Day 3

Today's Itinerary:

Breakfast with my friend
Drive East through the Upper Penninsula = Lots of driving!
Stops - TBD along the way

Left Marquette about 10am. Drove east toward Munising (yes, again!) passing through Christmas (yes, again!) and decided to skip Pictured Rock National Lakeshore park. The weather was overcast and gloomy and I didn't think I would get the best pictures and I didn't want to take the time since I got some awesome pictures yesterday on the boat tour.

Driving through the Upper Penninsula of Michigan is basically the same scenery. Mostly a two-lane highway with a lot of trees on either side. I'm not complaining, the roads are in good condition and the drive was very pleasant. As I got closer to THE bridge (Mackinaw Bridge that is!), I stopped in a small town at a roadside Pasty shop and tried another; this time it had beef and the seasoning was just right - it was amazing! I'm sad that I didn't make note of the name of the shop and they didn't provide their name on a business card and/or stamp on their bag so I could post where I got this delicious pasty.

View of Mackinaw Bridge from a lookout point in the UP

Getting ready to cross the bridge; the nerves really started here....













Clock in Petosky, MI

Close up of the Mackinaw bridge from the same lookout point in the U.P. It was really hazy this day.

Driving east in the U.P.

Road Trip - Day 2

Today's itinerary:
Breakfast with my friend at Big Boy's
Marquette Maritime Museum
Pictured Rocks National Shoreline - boat tour


The Marquette Maritime Museum was so much fun. I must admit, I wasn't 'thrilled' to go see it, but I thought, what the heck - I'm here and I may as well. I'm so glad that my friend recommended that I go to it - it was well worth it! They have old lights from a few lighthouses, information on the Edmund Fitzgerald as well as other shipwrecks and so much more information. I would recommend visiting if your in the area.

After leaving the museum, I drove 40 miles east to Munising, MI to the Pictured Rocks National Shoreline and signed up for the 1pm boat tour. It was amazing. Sitting on the deck of the boat, I got some great pictures and a small sunburn as my sunscreen let me down. Oh well - it was worth it!

After the boat tour, I grabbed a blizzard from Dairy Queen to get cooled down and a pasty. For those who haven't had a pasty, it's a puff pastry with either meat & potato or veggie stuffing, or they also have them with fruit filling (think of a dessert). I chose a Chicken Pasty and it was good; I wasn't a fan of the seasoning, but the chicken, potatoes, carrots and onion were good and the outside was a flakey pastry that was to die for!

Here are just a few of the many pictures I took today:

Stanard Light, on display at the Maritime Museum




















Superior Dome, Marquette, MI
















Pictured Rocks National Shoreline

This cave-in of rock happened in the last 24 hours! You can see where the rock broke away from the wall if you look closely at the edges.
















Indian Head (Do you see it?)















Bridal Veil falls; a trickle now, but it gushes in the spring after the spring rains!

Road Trip - Day 1

Woke up in the morning feeling like (sory....did you expect a Ke$ha song!?) I needed to get out of town. I left town about 10:15 headed to Michigan. Sunday evening's plan was to drive East on I-74 and go up through Indiana and Michigan, through New Buffalo, Warren Dunes, Grand Haven, and all my other favorite towns on the east side of Lake Michigan. At 7am however, change of plans! I was going to travel through Illinios and Wisconsin to get to the Upper Penninsula to visit a friend. So, off I went.

Another last minute change of plans was to swing over to Zion, Illinois and visit (briefly) with my brother, Colin, at Kiefer and Associates (where they sell everything but the water!) and do some shopping. He was surprised when I called him from the parking lot and asked him, "So, where are you in this building that I'm looking at?"

Second plan was to stop in Green Bay, WI overnight and then continue north on Tuesday morning. However, I hit Green Bay relatively early and felt great - so I kept going...and going....and going and ended up in Marquette, Michigan at 10:30 local time; still feeling great, which is probably why I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 am! (Hey - that's still only 12:30 Central Time!)

Overall the trip was uneventful and it was very easy getting here; I will definately return and take this route. I did however, have to go over three bridges/elevated highways that really freaked me out. I totally believe I had 'panic attacks' as I went over them. Luckily I maintained my cool long enough not to crash my car!

Along the way, I found Waldo!

and this sign had me completely perplexed....undies? How do you know if they don't have on undies!?

Road Trip

Speech class is over! I cannot put into words just how happy I am to be out of that class. I am not a public speaker, nor will I ever aspire to holding a position where public speaking is a regular duty of mine. I want an A, but if I must....a B grade will do.

To celebrate my end to speech (and living through it), as well as becoming a Bachelor seeking student this fall..... I have decided to take a quick trip north. Michigan has always been a favorite spot of mine, and I have been torchering myself lately by reading the Pure Michigan site on Facebook. So, with the blessing of my friends and my family, I'm going to jump in my car tomorrow and start driving. Not sure where Lola (the GPS) and I will end up, but it's likely to be a good time!

I'll try to post from the road. If not, then I'll provide a looooooong post when I return to reality next weekend.

Happy travels!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! This is going to be my fun blog, where I post pictures, and tell stories and just have a good time. For a little more serious 'blogging' see my other blog "Swimming Through Life".

I was recently admitted to a bachelors program through Eastern Illinois University and as a jump-start to my Fall 2010 coursework, I enrolled in an 8-week speech class this summer at Parkland Community College; apparently my manual communications (sign language) wouldn't transfer. I am terrified of public speaking and it is obvious.

So, last nights speech was horrible. My topic was one I knew very well and I had (If I do say so myself!) an awesome visual aid. I made a 24 x 36 poster of The Freedom Trail in Boston. I made a copy of a black and white map, then used a red marker to trace the route, and printed pictures of the 16 historic sites along the trail and pasted them around the red trail, drawing blue lines to where each of them were located along the trail. The best thing on my poster was the red brick trail at the top with one of the golden "The Freedom Trail Boston" medalions in the middle; very classy looking!

Even with all this, I started poorly and never recovered. I think at one point I actually forgot the English language as I studdered and stammered and kept saying "umm". The more I said "umm", the more I tried to stop, but it backfired. My face felt like it was 150 degrees as my voice waivered like a teenage boy going through puberty, and I could feel the red spreading; I'm sure my classmates could feel my pain. I forgot the points I wanted to make in the order I had laid them out on paper. I had this awesome tag line of 'bringing the past into the present.' Do you think I said it once? Nope. Not once.

Two more speeches are left and then I am done, and I can return to the shadows where I am happy. I just hope I make it that far.