Road trip to the UP

Grandpa and Lainey taking a rest before the long drive.

Since James was leaving at the end of the first week we decided to take the last couple of days and go on a road trip to the UP (upper peninsula) of Michigan. I kept telling them about the great cider mills in Michigan so we visited one on along the way. There are so many cider mills here! They usually have fresh apples, cider, and warm doughnuts...yum!

We stopped off to see the capitol building in Lansing, MI and a great museum of Michigan history- did you know that Kellogg's, Post, and Jiffy corn muffin mix came from Michigan? Then we headed up north. I love this pic of the guys- "three men and a baby."

When we got to the bridge that goes up to the UP we decided to take a break from driving for the night and checked into a little hotel in Mackinaw, which is right before the Mackinac Bridge- the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the western hemisphere (5 miles long- eek!). Yet another first: Lainey's first hotel stay. She loved the spacious bed as you can see, as well as the chance to sleep with Mom and Dad.

The next day we went across the "Mighty Mac" and stopped in St. Ignace for some photos of the big lake. It is so blue! We wanted to see the island but found out that most everything in the UP closed down the day before we got there for winter since there is a lull in tourism during the cold winters. Bummer. It was a beautiful drive though.

We also stopped to see the locks at Sault (pronounced Soo) St. Marie. We thought it was pretty neat but Lainey must have been bored out of her mind because she slept through the whole boat transfer. :)

Next on the UP tour were the Tahquamenon falls. Very pretty. James got some great photos here. We drove around some more to see the area and went home for a total of over 800 miles in two days. I think James enjoyed laying concrete more than he did the road trip, but it was nice to see Michigan outside of Ann Arbor for a change.

That Sunday after church David took Uncle James to the airport. As a little kid fighting with him I never would have thought I would be so sad to see him go home after a visit but I was- I miss my brothers a lot. We still had another week with my Dad though. That Monday David had to go back to work so it was my Dad, Lainey, and I.

We decided on a few projects around the house and my Dad got started. He built my shelves- which I am thrilled about- I finally have somewhere to store my extra cooking and canning stuff and all of the canned food!

After that he fixed the garage doors so they shut and lock properly, and built David a work bench. After all of these years of watching him I finally got to use the skill saw- it is harder than he makes it look!

Grandpa and Lainey started baby-proofing the stairs for the last project. It was one of the last nice days before the cold came so I thought I would put her in one of the cute 0-3 month springy outfits she is rapidly growing out of. By the end of the day she had some sweats on under it since the evening was quite chilly but it was nice for the picture!

Around lunch time I begged my Dad to take a break and go with me to the Dexter cider mill- my favorite.

These were taken at the Huron River near our house. There is a nice walking path we like to use when the weather is nice and the fall colors have been beautiful around the river.

When we got home that evening David helped my Dad finish our baby-proofing project. It turned out so nice- now all we have to do is paint it! Thank heaven for the skills of our Dads. I had a great time watching them and learning a few new things, as always, and Lainey had fun getting to know her Grandpa.

The last day my Dad was here we decided to take it easy and make some pretzels. This is one of my Dad's favorite Stupfel family traditions and I figured he had to be here for the first batch in our new house! Lainey pulled up a chair to watch and learn the trade. In a couple of years it will be time to make her an "apprentice" pretzel roller as my Dad says. What a fun night.