St. Ignace

September 1st through September 4th, 2006

Friday, September 1^st - 70, Mostly Sunny

    Extra vacation days have been hard to come by so far this year, so both Tara and I worked today (although I only put in four hours, leaving at 6:00pm). On her way home from work, Tara picked up a bucket chicken meal from KFC to feed everyone, including Grandma Parrott and Steve, who were home watching Samantha and Drew. After everyone finished eating, we loaded Tinkerbell into Grandma’s van (her and Steve volunteered to take care of her  -we’ll see how that goes). Once they were gone, we loaded ourselves into the Trailblazer (for it’s last camping trip, I should note) and headed north on Michigan’s most famous road, I-75, around 7:30pm.

    Around 9:00pm we arrived at the Gaylord exit, where we met up with Jerry & Gail, who had been camping with Tyler and his cousin Adam since last Sunday. Here we loaded up his clothes and bike (and boy, was it a tight fit) into the Trailblazer and continued north to the Mighty Mac.

    After crossing over the bridge, we headed to the St. Ignace KOA, arriving around midnight. We unloaded only what we needed for the night and headed inside to our beds.

Saturday, September 2^nd - 72, Mostly Sunny

    Between Dad & Mom’s noisy coffee pot and the barking dogs at a nearby campsite, Tara & I were both up pretty early today. We stayed in bed to try and get some more rest, but I don’t think either of us got as much as we really wanted. Once everyone was up, we had breakfast (which was primarily fruit or cereal, depending on your eating preferences). We then took turns getting showered for the day. For lunch we stayed at the campground and ate BLT’s with fresh garden tomatoes.

    Once everyone had eaten, we went for a ride into downtown St. Ignace to walk around the annual craft show. I didn’t see as much this year that I really liked, although there was a few items I wouldn’t have minded for the right price. We also stopped into a couple of stores on our way back to the truck, where Tara found a nice spring jacket (and the kids each picked out a small toy).

    Tyler had been complaining about his left ear hurting since we picked him up yesterday, and was complaining again today, so we decided to take him into the after-hours clinic/emergency room (small town, small hospital). It turns out he had an infection in both ears, which we are not sure how he managed to do. It isn’t like ear infections are common for him in recent years. We suspect the swimming he did last week, but who knows for sure…

    With the late start that we had to the craft show as well as the wait at the hospital, it was getting time for dinner. Since it would probably take to long to warm up a campfire to cook anything on it, we decided to eat out. Tyler had found a take-out menu for the “Mackinac Grill” that someone had discarded at the craft show, and after looking at it we decided to give it a try. Dad, Mom, Tara, & I all had perch, while Tyler & Sam shared a pizza. Drew just ate of off everyone’s plate that would let him. It turned out that the fish was really good. I was definitely full after that meal.

    We headed back to the camper after supper, then Dad, Sam, & I headed to the State Park to pick up some stuff my parents had left the night before (we have many family members and friends who camp there over Labor Day), and I wanted to take some pictures. Once we got what we needed, we swung into the grocery store for some bread and some pain reliever for Tyler. Once we got back to the camper for the final time tonight, we settled into our chairs to watch a movie. Tyler & I had been waiting to watch “RV”, and since we were in one… well, that seemed like the perfect choice tonight. Although not the critic’s favorite movie, I think we all enjoyed it and got many good laughs from it.

Sunday, September 3^rd - 72º, Mostly Sunny

    We actually got to sleep in today, with everyone getting up after 9:00am this morning. Today was another one of those whatever you can find to eat days for breakfast (and that means another day of no breakfast for me) and when we do that it tends to get dragged out. Tara gave Tyler & me a haircut before we showered, and by the time everyone else got cleaned up it was past noon.

    Sam had been bugging me to go to the part all morning, so I promised that if she would get on her bike once again that I would take her. Dad helped her get started, and she rode up and down the road in front of our campsite a few times. Once she did that, I took both her and Tyler to the park, where they spent some time on the merry-go-round and the swings before we went to the camp store so Tyler could show her the arcade.

    Upon our return to the campsite, the process of making lunch was underway. We were making the campfire pizzas today, and I enjoyed them as much as I always have. Tyler didn’t each much (he is still complaining about his ear infection and headache), but everyone else had at least two pizzas (they are pretty small, after all). After eating, Tara & I took Tyler, Samantha, & Drew to the little gift store that is located in front of the park to see the animals that they have there. We were able to feed goats (one larger mean one, and a small one that I don’t think got too many chances to eat the food that the quests give it), sitka deer (from Japan), and peacocks. They also had a couple of bobcats (at least I think that is what they were), two foxes (one silver and one tundra), and a porcupine (we thought it was a skunk from the smell when we first spotted part of it from it’s house).

    When we got back to the campsite we had to lay Drew down for a nap. Tara got the honors today. While they were sleeping, Dad & I took Tyler & Sam for a bike ride outside the park to a gift shop with a lighthouse style tower you can climb to see the Mackinac Bridge from. We spent some time wandering around look at the gifts they had (too overpriced – I saw one item for $3 that was $.50 downtown yesterday) before we headed up the tower. We took a few pictures, looked through the telescope, and then headed back down the stairs to ride back to the KOA.

    Drew was already back awake when we returned (about an hour after he fell asleep). While we were waiting around the camper, Sammy & I went for another ride around the park. This time we rode into the back section of the campground, and she really enjoyed being able to ride her bike without others helping her. For the past few years we have taken pictures on the rocks in the park near the foot of the bridge, so Tara & I loaded up the kids and headed there while Dad & Mom got supper started. We took several pictures, both on the rocks and on the sidewalk. After we finished photographing ourselves, we made a quick stop at the grocery store and then headed back to the KOA once again.

    Dinner was well underway when we returned, so Tyler, Sam, & I took another bike ride while everyone else worked on getting everything else ready for dinner. We made the garbage-can turkey along with mashed potatoes, corn, and muffins. I must admit, I think that we were all really happy with the way the turkey turned out. Tyler especially enjoyed it, as he had three helpings of potatoes and five decent size slices of turkey. We decided that we would definitely do this meal again while camping.

    After cleaning up from dinner, everyone hung around outside for the rest of the evening. We had a fire going, and eventually even made s’mores. Once it was time to get Drew into bed, we all pretty much decided to get ourselves ready for that ourselves, because we knew that we had an early morning tomorrow with the Bridge Walk tomorrow.

Monday, September 4^th - 76º, Mostly Sunny

    We managed to wake up around 7:30am this morning, but Tyler wasn’t feeling well this morning. He had a fever and a headache, so he reluctantly decided not to walk the bridge today. Since Tyler wasn’t going, Sam decided that she didn’t want to go either. Neither Tara nor Mom were walking anyway, so that left just Dad, Drew, & I. We decided that it would be easier if he stayed behind while Dad & I walked.

    Mom dropped us off at the parking area just before 9:00am, and began our long walk. We reached the starting point at 9:00am and began hustling across the bridge. The military presence seemed to be heavier this year, as well as the Coast Guard & police boat presence in the water – probably due to the supposed threat earlier in the summer over the cell phone purchase (A couple of Arabic people from Texas got caught buying thousands of pre-paid cell phones, and they had photos of the Mackinac Bridge with them. It was initially thought it may be a terrorist threat, but later it was determined to be just normal tourist pictures – probably no different than many of my pictures.) The walk itself was pretty uneventful. We did see a lady who was celebrating her 80^th birthday today. The only other thing that caused any excitement (in me anyway) was an instance when there was zero traffic headed north over the bridge. In the few years we have been doing the walk, I have never seen one lane of traffic empty, so I was a little nervous. It wasn’t long before traffic was flowing again, and we never did learn why it stopped for a brief period of time.

    It was 10:15am when we reached the finish line, and from there we headed to the donut shop to meet up with Tara, Mom, and the kids. We have met at this donut shop every year we have walked so far. Once they arrived, we went to a local fish store to order some perch and whitefish, and then headed out to do some window-shopping in Mackinaw City. Tyler had felt better for most of our shopping experience, but once his headache began to return we decided to go back to the campground for lunch.

    Back at the fifth-wheel we started to make tacos for lunch, and Tara and I began the process of loading the truck. Drew fell asleep on our way back, so he slept in his car seat while we did our work, and Tyler passed out on the couch for a much needed nap. We ate our food, and then helped clean up a few dishes before we had to head out at around 4:00pm.

    On our way out we made a quick stop at a gift shop/bridge view spot before we headed south across the Mighty Mac. Our drive home was pretty smooth with not too much traffic. We stopped at Wendy’s for dinner, and our only other stops were for gas and restroom breaks. We finally arrived home around 8:30pm, where we got the kids ready for bed (school tomorrow!) and did a quick job unloading the truck before heading to bed ourselves.

Trip Summary

    We had another enjoyable camping trip. With the exception of Tyler’s earaches, of course. The weather was nice enough for shorts during the day, and it really wasn’t too cold at night.

    Our new campsite (#34) was nice, although some people in the tent area had dogs barking constantly (usually while nobody was there). Although we weren’t as close to the tents as last year, we could still see some and hear them through the bushes behind our site. Our side of the full hookup section had been upgraded to 50-amp this year, and they also had cable TV. I liked this because it allowed me to watch the University of Michigan football game on Saturday! My complaint regarding the playground being a little old still applies, as the merry-go-round was broken, but everything else about the park was very enjoyable, and we look forward to returning next year (our reservations are already made!).