Growing up, I was fortunate to have parents that made it a priority to get out and see our beautiful country. We spent several summers taking long road trips to see some of the most wonderful places. I know I didn't value it much as a kid, but I'm thankful it instilled an appreciation in me that I've carried into adulthood. Now that our kids are old enough to handle it, we decided it was time to start making some road trip memories of our own.
The trip began with a stop in Cleveland for two nights. We had a family reunion with Grandpa Rob's side of the family. The kids loved playing on the property that my dad's cousin lives on. They had woods to explore, a pond to fish in, and plenty of room to run and play. It was wonderful to spend time with extended family and see other family members that I haven't seen in many years. The kids all enjoyed playing with their distant cousins and all of the dogs that came along to the party (it's definitely clear that our love for dogs comes from the Lamont side of our family)!
While we were in Cleveland, we decided to do a little bit of exploring. We all went to the West Side Market, which was a really neat experience. The entire market was filled with vendors selling everything from meats and cheeses to yummy desserts. After the market, we headed to the lake shore and visited an old submarine, the U.S.S. COD. Everyone enjoyed getting the chance to see what life was like on a sub.
On Monday, the five of us left Cleveland and headed off to our first stop of the road trip, Niagara Falls. We had an amazing time seeing the falls from the American side and then the Canadian side. We took a boat tour that brought us right up to the falls and got us nice and wet! The kids had a blast and definitely considered that one of the best parts of the trip.
Day two of our road trip took us through Canada and back into the states in Michigan. We headed to Detroit and planned to visit Greenfield Village on the Ford property. By the time we made it through Canada and through the super slow customs line, we ended up with less time than we had hoped to have. So, we changed plans and visited the museum instead of the village. It was neat to see all of the old cars and other exhibits that highlighted the changes in life over the past century. We definitely hope to get back to that area soon to see Greenfield Village and do the factory tour (which was closed for the July 4th holiday). After the museum, we headed a couple hours north to our pit stop for the night in Saginaw. We were lucky enough to find a great place to watch the awesome fireworks show in town. It was a long day and a late night, but all of it was well worth the memories made.
Day three took us to a place I've visited before, Sleeping Bear Dunes. Ever since going, I couldn't wait for the day that the kids and Tyler could see it. The views of Lake Michigan are stunning. We loved getting to see it together and the kids had a great time climbing all of the massive dunes (though, we didn't tackle the largest and steepest one that takes you straight down to the water). After seeing the dunes, we headed up the the Upper Peninsula. Our drive there took us through some quaint little beach towns in northern Michigan. We also got to cross the amazing Mackinac Bridge. When we got to Sault Ste Marie, we ate at an old drive in restaurant. The kids thought it was so cool! It was another long day of driving, but we were glad to see so many neat sites.
Day four was a journey through the Upper Peninsula. We started with a visit to the Soo Locks. Everyone (besides Leah) was fascinated by it. As soon as we got there, a decent sized barge was pulling in. We got to watch the process of how a ship passes through the locks and it was quite interesting. When we left the locks, we headed west towards Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We drove through a massive storm (the only rain we had all week). Aside from that, the drive was rather uneventful. It turns out the U.P. is a very quiet and deserted area. We felt like we were in the middle of nowhere! When we got to Munising, we boarded a boat that took us on a 2+ hour tour of the beautiful Lake Superior shoreline. Tyler and I loved it, but the kids felt it was just a tad too long. I guess after a few days of road tripping, a long boat ride was just too much!
Along the way, we were thankful to have hotels that had pools. The kids did so great with all the driving....DVDs, snacks, books, music, and games helped a ton! After a day in the car, however, they had major energy to burn. Our evenings typically consisted of unloading the car, settling into our room, eating dinner, and getting our sillies out in the pool. We tended to stay up a lot later than normal (thanks to the wacky Eastern time that we just couldn't get used to). Everyone slept hard and woke each morning eager to start the day.
Though we saw a lot of neat places along the way, the most memorable part of the trip was our mission to set foot in all five Great Lakes. It wasn't always easy to find a beach, but we managed to get to each lake one way or another. We always collected a little bit of sand or pebbles and the kids took home a few rocks as well. Daddy taught them how to skip rocks and that was something they HAD to do each time.
Lake Erie
Lake Ontario
Lake Michigan
Lake Huron
Lake Superior
