We stopped for lunch in Grand Marais at The Dunes Saloon Lake Superior Brewing. That's the Michigan one. Not the one in Minnesota. Love the old bar vibes. We started with these massive bacon and cheese stuffed tater tots. They were so good. 

After a few days we started to have a daily routine. Meadow would set up our beds while I hung up all our always damp clothing and Scott would cook. Today was the breaking point of our trip when Scott questioned if we made this trip too long.  My response was to the children's behavior the entire day. The drive down from Canada was full of whining. And then Theo suddenly had to pee on the bridge from Canada to the US, which upped the stress. There always has to be a bad day on a long road trip. It's inevitable. Theo had been super grumpy since he woke up, the kids kept fighting and everyone complained. 

The last time we were in Sault Ste. Marie we didn't have our passports. This time we came prepared.   But first a stop to see the Soo Locks.  We loved watching the boats come through last time. We just knew the kids would love it. Oh, wait. Theo even wore his vintage shirt for the occasion. 

Day 7 We woke up early to catch the ferry in St Ignace.  Before we knew we it, we could see the Mackinac Bridge. This time we took the Shepler's Ferry.  We just made it onto the ferry that was departing. We were the last ones to board.  Theo insisted I bring his survival tool along. He put it to good use peering out at the Mackinac Bridge. The ferry took us under the bridge this time!

Day 6 This day would see us exploring the south shore of the Upper Peninsula, which is oddly the North Shore of Lake Michigan. We luckily had a break in the rain when we headed to Fayette Historic State Park . We were surprised to see an almost empty parking lot when we arrived. This was one of our favorite stops 10 years back. Theo found something stinky in the old furnaces.

Once back on the mainland Meadow got to pick up her Junior Ranger badge.   This one was made of wood! Before heading to our next destination we went in search of lunch in Bayfield. We got a simple lunch from a tiny little bakery, the Starlit Kitchen . Meadow says this was the best sandwich she ever had.  The bread was very good.

Day 1 Exactly 10 years ago Scott and I took a 10 day trip to Upper Michigan. While we were on this trip I said we should do this again with our kids in 10 years. Flash forward 10 years and here we are. We are following our same route and visiting the same places with a few additions. Thankfully we had these two kids in the preceding 10 years and they're road trip pros at this point. The start of the trip takes us to Duluth. We had planned to leave in the morning and arrive around noon. While packing up the car Scott noticed our car battery was dead.  I asked our neighbor for a jump and we were soon back on track. We never left our dome light on in 4 years at the condo, but somehow have managed to do this twice since moving. I guess a dark garage will do that.  Once that was fixed we had to figure out the puzzle of fitting 3 bikes onto our bike rack. By the time we were off we were getting hungry. Scott has always wanted to try Tobie's to see what the hype was all ab...

  After 10 years we are planning another Upper Michigan road trip. I was looking at a photo of the stuff we brought the first time and it was 1/8th of the amount stuff we are bringing this time. Our bedding alone takes up this much. But we have also evolved tremendously in the last 10 years. We used to sleep on a yoga mat and our sleeping bags were double the size.  The kids thought it was fun to play restaurant through the window to the porch.   We got just a few days worth of produce from the farmers market this time.  We also got the kids some popsicles and I had a hand pie (with carrot cake inside). We spent most of the day running errands. Picking up paint and other house stuff from Menards, picked up travel tablets for a our fish and got a new backpack from Sierra. Theo and I made pizza together and made some goofy faces apparently. Theo asked to play on the Nintendo Switch, I told him he could if he cleaned up the living room first he could.  Br...

Meadow had spent the last week in the Fox Valley with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We then met up with them at Bay Beach. My parents were in Duluth last weekend and picked her up on their way home.    First ride: Theo and I on the helicopters. Scott isn't into this place as much he used to be, but c'mon where else can you have hours of fun for only $10?  It's still great, but some of the trees had been cut down, which made me sad. Also Theo isn't into the rides as much as Meadow was. Still great overall and looking forward to when they rebuild the actual beach . Grandpa and our nephew, Harvey, were getting brave on the classic ferris wheel.