These are jut a few things we noticed...
- Those were some slow speed limits in Ontario around Blue Mtn!
- Milk can be purchased in plastic bags that are rather thin. I wonder how often they rip and spill milk all over on the way home from the store...
- They say washrooms, not restrooms.
- Portage with a French accent
- Butter pies
- A confection with a chocolate-like graham cracker crust, custard layer, chocolate and coconut
Passport Caper for Frank
Within the first hour of our trip, I called
Frank to make sure we had the correct passports. He pulled out his passport and
noted that it expired 31 July 2024. The day he was supposed to fly to Toronto.
We were shocked as we’d checked our passports when we were thinking of going to
Canada in the winter. How had we missed this?! He got online and checked for an
emergency appointment in DC. We thought through all kinds of scenarios and
contingencies, but in the end, he got an appointment at 8am on Monday morning
in DC. By early afternoon, he had his new passport and flew on Wednesday, 31
July! Whew!
Blue Mountain Highlights
- Scenic Caves (though no caves…) and the suspension bridge; a beautiful view for our lunch; mini-golf and rode the train four times
- Activities at Blue Mountain - trikes, gondola, ropes course, mini-golf, and alpine slide-type ride
- He loved beachside camp and made friends with Brody. He paddle boarded, swam, canoed, and kayaked. He enjoyed games, especially Colours
Zach’s Curiosity
- Chatting with people and just taking on conversations
- Zach is an extrovert. I mean, I knew it but…
- Asking good questions about words he’s reading, things he’s overhearing
- Zach’s fun socks: cats and Canadian socks 🙂
- Loving Odin and chatting up our hosts Lynn and Sam :)
Funny things people said…
- Mentioned that I drove up 9 hours 45 minutes from Reston to Blue Mountain and the train operated looked at me and Zach and said, “Wow, so you shared the driving.”
- I told the woman at the gallery on Manitoulin that we were “from Virginia, near DC” and she said: “They teach us geography here.”
- And then in Northern Michigan, our tubing van driver was from Latvia, and three women from Saulte Ste. Marie had never heard of Latvia. Do they teach geography in Canada?
- Stopped for a fun dinner in Stayner at Honey Monster Fried Chicken & Ramen
- Lunch at Coffin Ridge Winery - beautiful views and delicious wood-fired pizza
- Chi-Cheeman ferry from Tobermory to South Baymouth
- North Channel cruise to Baie Fine and hike to Lake Topaz and swimming at the lake
- Lunch at Gore Bay and ice cream
- Paddle board (sitting down because too windy) around Providence Bay
- Grilling out and s’mores
- The drive from Manitoulin to Saulte St. Marie was beautiful. My memory that it was “not that nice,” was so wrong!
- Played the final year of the Harry Potter game on Manitioulin!
- Listening to Crossover and Ghost
- Lots of Uno
- Tubing on the Sturgeon River - a beautiful day and so fun
- Mackinac Island (Z and I took a carriage ride, and we all wheeled around the island.)
- Dark Sky Park and the talk/presentation about "How cold is space!"
- Hanging with family in Charlevoix (Sara Gay, Charlie the puppy, Nancy, and Leo)
- Dolce Family Ristorante and lavender lemonade
- Indian food in Blue Mtn
- Pasta with red sauce, eggplant dip, and olives
- Grilling out for F&Z and grilled zucchini + s’mores on Manitoulin
- El Cilantro in Petoskey
- Kouign-amann pastry from That French Place
- Kale salad at Pond Hill Farm
- Playing at the tiny pool at Blue Mtn
- Picking Frank up in Barrie and rocking out to Kidz Bop on the drive there
- Trip to Wal-Mart - milk sold in plastic bags…
- Drive out to Gypsy Farms for veggies
- Trip to coffee shop in Providence Bay, store and gallery browsing, and a stop in at the Providence Bay Discovery Centre
- Hike at the Cup and the Saucer
- Exploring the library in Petoskey and the Bear River trail
- Crepes and the farmer’s market in Charlevoix
Zach and Frank
- Biking
- Water Park on Lake Mindemoya
- Playing in the water at Providence Bay and in Northern Michigan
- Uno Dare edition for F&Z
- Mini-golf in Petoskey
Frank and Susan
Fun Friday excursion: we walked around Thornbury and found good books in a Little Library; walked along the water; and ended up at a wonderful winery for a lunch of spinach artichoke dip and grilled cheese + a wonderful rose flight with ciders and wine
Crying on vacation
Big emotions are okay and they should be acknowledged! Zach acknowledged them!
Manitoulin House
- Soft water – danger, danger!
- Falling on the rocks and in the bath tub
- Running into and tilting glass table tops
- Flies
Northern Michigan House
- Lots of people! In addition to Sam and Lynn, there was the family who was camping.
- There was lots of old stuff, including a huge Little Caesar from Little Caesar's Pizza and old boats, snowmobiles, etc.
- Zach loved the dog, Odin, and taking him for walks
The Mystery of the beeping EZ Pass
It started beeping when we came back into the U.S. across the bridge at Saulte St. Marie and again every time we crossed the Mighty Mac. We removed it until we began encountering toll systems that took the EZ Pass.
Photos here!
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| Chilling on the way to Baie Fine |
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