Michigan - Part 2

Peggy and Larry Huntington

Bunny and Bob Carlson

Blogger and I don'tseem to know what to do with a BUNCH of photos, and there will be a LOT, so let's just struggle through together, shall we?  

Diane and Tom Means

We made it to Michigan and arrived in Mt. Clemens.  My friends, Larry and Peggy Huntington, were delighted to meet Chris.  When I was in Michigan four years ago, Chris had to fly back to NM to deal with an Isis Crisis, so he didn't get to meet all my great Michigan friends.  They didn't quite believe that he actually existed, and called him the "Invisible Husband."   Peggy and Larry were our hosts for the week.  On Tuesday, they were SO sweet to host a HUGE party for us - for me to see old friends, and for my old friends to meet my Chris.  It was so wonderful to see them all and catch up a bit! I don't have photos of everyone, but I took quite a few! Some of these people were kids in the youth group that Jim LeDuc and I sponsored when he arrived in Mt. Clemens as the youth minister.  Actually, we figured out that SOME of these kids were 17 or 18, and I was only 21 at the time!  That's not much age difference for me to be PRETENDING to be an adult advisor!  Tee hee.

Karrie Glassford

Rich and Phyllis Matthew

Deanne and Fred Fox

Donna Plonkey Parkhurst

It was a CRAZY BUSY week, because Peggy was SUCH a fabulous travel agent for us.  On Wednesday, we spent the day at Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum.  The last time I was there, I think I was a girl scout - about age 10!  Chris, of course, had never been there.  Greenfield Village is an interesting attraction in Detroit, set up by Henry Ford, where there are "historical buildings" maintained with the furnishings of the times.  The employees wear period costumes, and perform the way the people of those times would - cooking on their open fires, planting their fields without machinery, blacksmithing, etc. There is SO much stuff there, it's actually hard to see it all in one day, and we couldn't.  There is one of George Washington Carver's home, Thomas Edison's workshop, The Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop, and on and on!   I'm just going to post the photos in the large size and you can scroll through them.

A "pioneer" woman planting corn the old-fashioned way.

You can hire a buggy or a Model T car to drive you around the village

Thomas Edison was a friend of Henry Ford, and there is a LOT about him - even his entire inventing workshop has been transported from Menlo Park.

Here's an example of a house in the depression where they lined the walls with newspaper for insulation.

 Peggy and I rode on the Carousel that a true calliope - though QUITE out of tune.  I WANTED to ride on the zebra, but some selfish little six-year-old go there first!   I got yelled at when I tried to put my feet up on the horse's hooves in front of me because the saddle made my back ache.

We spent SO much time in the village part, that we barely had time for the Museum part and we had to zip through before it closed!  Here's Peggy being an engineer while Chris examines the controls.

I was one tired little hot dog after all that traipsing around.  Peggy took a photo of me pretending to be an Oscar Mayer Weiner.  (NO - I was NOT a whiner!)  See the ketchup and mustard?  I closed my eyes for a minute while Chris and Larry were checking out some aspect near by, and one of the employees came by to check if I was really OK.

Peggy getting her chin seen to, but you'll see the splint on her
 hand in all the follwoing photos of her.

On Thursday, we took off for Mackinaw City.  Unfortunately, Peggy was hurrying to get ready to go, and she RAN up her own path to fetch the Garmin and she FELL!  She knocked the wind out of herself, bashed up her face, bled on her white pants, and broke her pinky finger!  Sigh.  So we were delayed a bit while she got patched up at Mt. Clemens General Hospital (where I used to work!)


She was such a trooper - and after a couple of hours at the hospital - and a few pain killers - we continued on with our travel plans!  

We toured around Mackinaw City - home of the Mackinaw Bridge - stuck our toes in the cold Lake Huron - had dinner and went to our motel.  The next day (we're on Friday, now) we took the ferry across to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) which is an exclusive resort island in Lake Huron.  It began as a resort destination in the late 19th century, and much of it has been preserved in its historical purity.  Basically no motor vehicles are allowed on the island (maybe a fire truck and stuff like that) so even the people who LIVE there get around by bicycle and horseback.  We had a great day - here are some photos.

One view of Mackinac Island life - looks quaint, doesn't it?

We were driven around in coaches like this

The old stone church

It's another one of those "period costume" kinds of places.  I love that sort of thing!

Blacksmith demonstration

The is the summer residence of the Michigan Governor - owned by the state.

Tour Guide Peggy's fabulous package deals got us into the Butterfly House as well!

I believe the FIRST battle of the war of 1812 was fought here - and lost.

This one is called - what else? - Arch Rock

Our first view of the Grand Hotel.

The Grand Hotel has the honor of having the world's longest porch - this is only half of it!

This is the lovely dining room  in the Grand Hotel where we had a FABULOUS buffet lunch - shrimp, oysters, pork, chicken, fish, and the most heavenly desserts!  YUM!  I'm sad/happy to say I pigged out!

That was a fun day.  We left on the ferry at 8:30 am and returned on the 4:00 ferry - so it was a BIG day!

Crossing the bridge
The next day we drove across the Mackinaw Bridge up north - we were what they call "Yoopers" for the day (that stands for the U.P. - get it?  But they call the lower peninsula the "trolls" because they live under the bridge.)  We went all the way to the top of the UP to Sault St. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie) and took a tour of the Soo Locks, which connect US to Canada

On the boat traveling through the locks

Each lock is named.  The first one (the open one) is the MacArthur Lock.  The one you see - the closed one- is named after the engineer, Orland Poe, so Michiganders think it's funny that it's called the "Poe Lock" (Say it out loud!)

We thought it was quite interesting that folks came to stand around and watch us go through the locks!

.  Go to the map at 
View Half Home Trip - 2012 in a larger map to see all the good spots we've been.  More to come!