Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 5: Mackinac Island

We had never been to Mackinac Island before, so Mommy and Daddy took us along with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Tom.  We spent some time shopping in the main shopping area before the boys went to the fort.

Ainsley and "Papa Tom" on the main drag.

The boys and AJ.

Everybody wanted to hold the rifle.

The view from the fort.

 Three soldiers from the late 1800s.

The highlight of the trip was Cameron being selected to assist with the firing of the cannon.  He didn't get to actually fire it, but it was pretty cool that he was asked to help.  Watch the video.

Watch the video here.

Yep, we were there too!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 4: Bridge View Park with Aunt Mee and Uncle Dale

After a while, we made it down to St. Ignace.  That's a city in Michigan that is near the Mackinac Island area but still in the upper peninsula.  We planned a few days there with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Diane.  Aunt Mee and Uncle Dale (and Rudy!) were able to come and spend an afternoon with us as well!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 4: Sault Ste Marie

We stopped briefly on the Canadian side of Sault Ste Marie before heading over to the US side to see the locks.  They were neat, but there weren't any freighters due for another several hours.  Bummer.

Love, 

Ainsley, Ben and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Batchawana Bay

We stayed at a hotel right on Batchawana Bay that night.  It was a small room, but the hotel restaurant (actually, a cookhouse) was good and it was right across the street from the bay itself.  What do you do at the end of a long day of travel?  Enjoy the view and collect rocks.

Almost done with the top part of the semi-circle.

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Wawa and the Goose

We read a lot about Wawa because we really wanted to stay there.  Unfortunately, there isn't a quality hotel in the entire town that had a vacancy the night we needed.  But, we kept reading about the famous goose, so we thought we should stop for a photo.

Moving steadily down the map that day!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: White River and Winnie the Pooh

If you are familiar with the story of how Winnie the bear cub became Winnie the Pooh, then you'll not be surprised that we stopped in White River, Ontario  ("where it all started") for these photos.

Been here, done that.

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: The Many Overlooks of Lake Superior

The folks who designed the Trans-Canadian Highway must have really loved Lake Superior, as they put a large number of scenic overlooks and turnouts along the road.  We took advantage of many of them throughout the day.

This overlook was not far from Nipigon.  This photo is looking back toward Nipigon.

The second lookout had a great view of a train that ran along the lake. 

 

Dad tried out the panoramic mode on the camera with this shot. 

 

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron

Lake Superior Circle Tour - Day 3: Paddle To The Sea Park in Nipigon

Cameron and Daddy read Paddle to the Sea earlier this year.  If you haven't read it, you should go buy a copy right now. It is a very moving book, especially if you have ever lived near the Great Lakes or simply have put your trust in strangers to help achieve your dreams. 

In the planning of this trip, we talked about stopping in Nipigon just because of the book.  We didn't know that there was a really neat park dedicated to the book there until we saw a billboard on our way to Thunder Bay.  Naturally, there weren't any signs in Nipigon about it, so we drove past the entire town and had to make the decision to turn around.

We were really glad we did.

Cameron was so excited to be there.

 The hill that Paddle sat had a waterfall on the back, just like the one he rode down as the snow started to melt.

There were a lot of stations to play on that were designed to present a chapter from the book.

One of our favorites was the Marsh.

Self timer!

There were two other parts of the park scattered throughout Nipigon. The Forest Fire was another really neat part.

At last, Paddle makes it to the sea.

The Nipigon Marina was beautiful.

We are here!

Love,
Ainsley, Ben, and Cameron