The Final Stats On Our Trip

Well We Are Finaly Home Now And I Guess You Could Say The Conner Is Quite The World Travler He Had Quite The Trip. Here Are Out Final Stats We Visited: 1-U.S. National Park 3-State Parks 10-Cities 4-States 2-Countries Drove Through 7 Major Cities On Top Of The 10 We Visited Drove 2,000 Miles Went Throuhg 143 Gallons Of Gas Went Throuhg 220Lbs Of Ice In The Cooler Was Gone For 11 Days Stayed At My Cousin's House Stayed At 1 Condominium Stayed At 1 Hotel IT WAS FUN BUT WE ARE GLAD TO BE HOME!!!! STEVE

Henry Ford Museum

On Saturday, we spent 8 hours at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. It was a site to see. They have everything you can imagine in their museum. Steve was in Heaven. They had cars, airplanes, trains, furniture, and everything else that made history.

This is the actual bus that Rosa Parks sat on and refused to give up her seat for a white person.

Before the bus was bought by the museum, it was being used by an old man as a tool shed. He knew the significance of the bus, but didn't care. When he died, his children sold it at an auction and received $492,000 for their dad's "tool shed." It was then restored to mint condition.

Rosa Parks Bus The Chair Abraham Lincoln was killed in. The Chair The Chair had the blood stains on it.

Conner taking it all in

The Weiner Mobile

The Weiner Mobile Cafe

Conner as a hot dog

Hot dog Conner

Steve as a Weiner

An old Camper

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Car

Canada

On Thursday, we went around town visiting family and saying goodbye to a week in Muskegon. Friday morning, we headed east 3 hours to Dearborn, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit). We got there early, checked into a hotel, and went to dinner. At dinner, Steve asked the waitress how close we were to the Windsor Tunnel that connects The United States and Canada. She said we were only 10 minutes away. So, we loaded up and headed to Canada. It was Conner's 7 week birthday. What a way to celebrate. A trip to Canada. We didn't stay long, but we can say Conner has been to Canada. As Steve said, "Conner has a lot of miles under his 'diaper'."

The Windsor Tunnel is a partially submerged tunnel that connects Detroit, MI and Windsor, Canada. The Tunnel is 75 feet below the river surface. It is 2oo feet shy of 1 mile long. This is the dividing point in the tunnel.

Sitting in Canada by the tunnel to the USA Duty free shop in Canada

Saugatuck, MI

On Wednesday, we went to Saugatuck, MI. It is my favorite town that we visited last time we came to Michigan, so I was excited to get back there. It is a town on the lake, with shops, delis, wineries, and restaurants up and down these little streets. The atmosphere is awesome and the view is beautiful. It has a great happiness about it.

Steve and Conner playing in the park. Chainlink Ferry

Enjoying the sites of Saugatuck

Little Pirate. Check out his hook.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park

Tuesday Morning we headed to downtown Traverse City to look around and shop. They have a lot of great shops and restaurants all on a few adjoining streets. We then headed to Traverse City Commons. This used to be the Michigan State Insane Asylum. Now, it is being remodeled and has some shops, delis, bars, spas, and apartments. It is still in progress and will be worth seeing the next time we visit Michigan. It is kinda boring right now.

After we left Traverse City, we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. It is on the Lake Michigan and full of Sand Dunes and Lakes. It is beautiful scenery.

This is the view from the top of the sand dune. It is straight down to the water.

Sleeping Bear Dunes has this steep sand dune seen in these photos. It is the steepest thing I have ever seen. You can see it in the photos behind us. We saw some people trying to climb back up. They weren't getting very far very fast.

Straight down

Traverse City, MI

On Monday evening, after we left Ludington State Park, we headed even further North to Traverse City, Michigan. We stayed at the Tamarack Lodge on Lake Michigan. It was a very nice condo with it's own private beach. The view was beautiful.

Traverse City

Sunset from our balcony. This is our park Ranger at rest. This has got to be my favorite picture of Conner to date. He was resting on his daddy's chest while we were walking through a museum. The look on his face is so adorable.

Traverse City on Lake Michigan

Ludington State Park Michigan

We are still in Michigan enjoying a much needed vacation. Conner is doing very well traveling. He is not a big fan of the long car seat rides, but is handling it well. Here are some highlights of our trip so far.

We headed to Michigan on Thursday. The weather was wet and stormy. We made it here in 11 hours. It should only take 8, but we stopped for some long stops to get out and let Conner stretch outside of the car seat. We got to Michigan about 6pm and went to Paul and Elaine's for dinner. This is Steve's aunt and uncle (Shirley's sister). Then we went to Mike's House (Steve's Cousin) to unpack and hit the sack. We were tired from the long drive. Friday, we spent the day unpacking, resting, and letting Conner relax without the car seat. That night, we went to Paul and Elaine's for dinner. Thanks guys for all the great food. We ended up playing Wii Bowling until late.

Saturday was Brett's (Steve's Cousin) high school graduation party at Mike's house. It was a lot of fun. Great weather, great food, and really great company. That night we went to the lake to watch the sunset. (Pictures in the previous post). The sun does not set here until 9:30 pm. That is strange to us.

Sunday we celebrated Steve's first Father's day by going to mass with Stanton and Shirley. We went to an all concrete church, St. Francis De Salle, where Shirley was a member when she lived here. We then went to lunch at Alaskan Broiler, a new restaurant here. The food was awesome. Shirley and I then went to Meijer and sent the boys home to nap. Later, that evening, we celebrated Father's day with the Rousell family at Mike's for Dinner.

Monday, Steve, Conner and I started our sight seeing by heading to Ludington State Park. There is a Lake on one side, and Lake Michigan on the other side of the park. The park was beautiful. We hiked to the Big Sable Light House on Lake Michigan inside the State Park. It was a 2 mile hike each way through the sand dunes. The lighthouse was worth the walk and the view was beautiful. Conner slept the whole way to the lighthouse and then played all the way back. He was very good.

The view from atop the lighthouse.

Conner catching some z's on the hike to the Lighthouse.

Me and Conner at the bottom of a sand dune in Ludington State Park.

Big Sable Lighthouse in the background. He is naked because it got really hot and he was warm in his stroller. He is wearing a diaper.

Big Sable Lighthouse. You don't see anything like this in the State Parks in Indiana.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there, especially our own fathers, Dad and Stanton. A very special Happy first Father's day to Steve. He is a great daddy to Conner and has well exceeded my expectations.

Michigan

Steve, Conner, and I are in Michigan visiting Family and vacationing. We are having a great time. Here are just a few pictures. We will post more when I have time.

Lake Michigan Sunset Saturday

Lake Michigan

Sunset on Lake Michigan