Henry's Closeout Report

My decision for my favorite place on the trip was a close one: Grand Teton National Park over Yellowstone National Park and Mackinac-Mackinaw Island. (The French called the island Mackinac and either the British or Americans called it Mackinaw.  On the map, it says "Mackinac" but everyone calls it Mackinaw Island.

Grand Teton National Park was beautiful and had the most wildlife: coyotes, mule deer, moose, bison, elk, bald eagles, and pronghorn antelope topped out our animal "hunt."

The downside of Mackinaw Island was the smell. It was horrendous. It just smelled like poop all over the place. You couldn't even smell any of the 18 fudge shops there. It was still very beautiful, though. 

The thing with Yellowstone was the wildlife. The sunsets were beautiful but we saw the same elk at the same time at the same place. The bighorn sheep crossing the road was amazing, and so was the bald eagle diving in the water to catch a fish. I was devastated that we didn't see wolves, but I should have known that when you go in the middle of the day there are going to be less animals. We also saw the usual pronghorn and bison. The pronghorn butting heads was nice, too. We even saw some hawks and osprey.  It wasn't awful, but it didn't cut it for me compared to what we saw four years ago.

It was great to see the prairie dogs in North Dakota stand up to the coyote twice and yell to one another.  They were literally standing up on their back legs yelling to each other when the coyote came around.  Then they went inside their holes.  What was remarkable was that after the sunset, they were all in their holes and we didn't see any outside.  That was amazing.

Another highlight of the trip was swimming in Lake Michigan.  The water was cold but I got used to it pretty quickly.  I liked it best when the waves were rough so I could body surf.

What a coincidence that I saw on Instagram that my classmate and friend Charlotte was in Michigan, and when my mom asked her mom where in Michigan they were going, it turns out they were coming to Petoskey - where we were staying!  Her family in Michigan were really nice and we had great steak and hamburgers at a barbecue at the beach.

I really liked the St. Louis Zoo.  I'm totally going back to that zoo.  We skipped a section so I have to go back to see all of it, including the bear exhibit that was closed when we were there.

I thought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was cool.  I wish there was more stuff about Queen there.  I liked watching the movie screens that showed, year by year, the induction ceremonies and the songs.  There was a wall with the signatures of the inductees.

Red Lodge was a nice town and I liked driving along the Beartooth Highway and seeing the mountain goats and walking along the streets.

I ate a lot of steak on the trip.  I really liked the prime rib at the restaurant in Medora - I think it was the best one I had.  I also liked the one at the steakhouse in Red Lodge that I shared with my dad.

I like going out West because of the scenery and the animals.  I give thanks to my Dad for driving the RV so we could have fun this summer.

A Few of My Favorite Things

With a five week long trip covering everything from mountains to beaches to cities to tiny villages, it's tough for me to make a "top ten" list like Jeff did.  I'm just going to talk about the things I liked the best.

The first thing that comes to mind are Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.  I think one of the reasons I liked them so much, aside from how beautiful they both are, is that it marked the spot in the trip where we started to relax a bit.  There's just something about a beach to make you stop and take it all in.  The sunsets on the lakes were spectacular, and I enjoyed every walk I took on the beaches in the area.  It was amazing to take in the scenery along Lake Superior - first on the way to Two Harbors and then at the campground in Munising.

Harbor Springs and Petoskey were beautiful towns on Lake Michigan and I look forward to going back there again sometime.  It's a nice mix of Rockwell-esque small town charm, cute shops, the lake, and the delicious meals we ate there.  We had never heard of these places before and were thrilled to have found them.

I also enjoyed our time in Grand Teton National Park.  It's a gorgeous area and a manageable size, and once you get past getting up at the crack of dawn, it's hard to top watching a moose graze along a winding river or getting stuck in a bison jam.  One of my favorite memories of the Tetons was watching the sunset behind the Tetons and how the golden last rays of the sun warmed the swaying fields in front of them.  Soon after, we watched the sky turn rose, then purple before the moon rose into the sky.

Call me crazy, but I love the drive across Kansas.  It's a beautiful drive (there's that word again...) with fields of grain, blue skies and patchworks of farmland.  It's important to see where so much of our food comes from, as the result of hard work of Kansas farmers. The only thing that would make the drive better was the flexibility (and time) to drive into some of the smaller towns off the interstate or the scenic landmarks to take some pictures or look in the quilt shops, antique and thrift stores to do some shopping.

I also loved Red Lodge, Montana.  I looked forward to going back there after having lunch there back in 2009, and it didn't disappoint.  It's a small town with western charm, a great main street to walk and shop along, and majestic mountains in the distance.  It's not the easiest place to get to, but it's totally worth it.  If I thought we could survive the winter there, I'd have convinced Jeff to buy the ice cream parlor that was for sale in town and made it our home.

There were so many good memories on this trip, and thanks to this blog, we'll be able to revisit them again and again.

A Final Word from Jeff

The trip has sadly come to an end, but before I let it rest in peace, I wanted to offer a few things so that posterity can pay tribute to our 2013 adventure.  While we had the normal occurrences of too much togetherness, there were infinitely more times that we were laughing at each other’s oddities or otherwise having a great time seeing all the places that we visited.  We covered approximately 5,000 miles in the RV and another 2,500 in the Jeep over the five weeks.  I know that sounds like quite a bit, but it honestly didn’t feel that bad.

My favorite spots were….

  

10. Red Lodge, MT

9.  Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP, CO,

8.  Flaming Gorge, WY

7.  Sheep Loop Drive in UT

6.  Bayfield, WI (Apostle Islands)

5.  Beartooth Highway, MT

4.  Yellowstone - Lamar Valley, WY

3.  Mackinac Island, MI

2.  Harbor Springs, MI 1.  Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons, WY

The best day for me was the day we floated down the Snake River in WY when we saw something around 18 bald eagles.

The award for the best moment was in Yellowstone when Henry and I spotted a bald eagle about 700 yards away, and while we were watching, it took off and dove into the river for a fish.  No way to get a photo of that since we were so far away but it was incredible.  Incredible doesn’t describe the two black bears that jumped out in front of the RV on consecutive days in MN and WI.  The one near Duluth was on the small side but the one near Iron Lake, MN was enormous. Ruth was my co-pilot that day, and I think she was in shock since she wasn’t able to pull the trigger with the camera.

The biggest dud of the trip was our very brief stay in Deer Lake, MN.  The camp’s website was glowing with beautiful pictures and using the term resort.  My definition of resort and theirs are obviously a little different.  The Deer River stop turned out to be a very short one since we ate the cost of the 2^nd night and quickly moved on to the Duluth area the next morning.  While the Duluth area was an audible, it was very nice and the City of Two Harbors along Lake Superior turned out to be a gem of a place so all was not lost in Minnesota.

Best surprise was Michigan.  Can’t begin to describe just how fantastic northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula areas were.  I’ll be checking the price of houses in the Harbor Springs area from this point forward.  I would have bet the farm five weeks ago that I would have hated every last second of being in Michigan, but it turned out to be exactly opposite.  It’s going on the short list of Saratoga Springs, N; Estes Park, CO; and Jackson Hole, WY for those places that I’d like to live.

Regardless of the jibber jabber of what we did or how we liked this or that, the main point of all these trips are for us to spend as much time together as possible. Henry and Ruth will surely move on in a few years, and they will be missed immensely.  It’s my highest hope that Henry and Ruth will remember these trips long after they’ve grown and gone on their way and find time to do the same for their kids.  

  

Homeward Bound

It's that time again... time to pack up the motorhome one last time and head for home.   No matter where we are, it's the least fun part of the trip to pack up, unhook the water and electric, and hook up the Jeep.  

This morning, it's tougher because it means we're heading home.

It's a funny thing how I'm both sad to head home and somewhat happy about it.  I look forward to sleeping in my own bed and having more room than our motorhome affords us.  We bought in 2009, and we've outgrown it.  IN cramped quarters, the closeness can sometimes be overwhelming and lead to grouchiness.

I'm not excited to return to the heat and humidity.  I have loved the weather throughout most of the trip, once we got to Denver.  I still miss the beautiful beaches and perfect weather in Michigan.    And of course, going home means returning to work.  Yuck.

The kids are excited to see and talk to their friends again.  Henry's trying to put together a fantasy football team with some of his friends, and it will take less than 30 minutes for the girls next door to ask Ruth to come over to play once they see the motorhome parked in front of the house.

These trips always have their testy moments, either because we're waking the kids up too early (by their standards) to go somewhere, or somebody won't share, or somebody (Ruth) wants to spend all her time at the pool instead of going to a national park or museum, or because the satellite signal just won't work (guess who...).  But the times when we all cram into a queen-sized bed to watch a movie at night or spend an afternoon on a beach, or get stuck on a road with bison all around our Jeep - those are the things we'll remember.

Well, Jeff's about to unplug the electric, so that's all for now.

Dinner with Friends...and Ice Cream at the Falls

The reason we picked the Cleveland area as our last stop on the trip is that my friend Cori and her family live in Chagrin Falls, in the 'burbs of Cleveland.  Their town reminds me a bit of Stars Hollow in the Gilmore Girls - it's that cute.  It's named after the waterfalls in the center of town, which run right next to the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop, which makes all kinds of popcorn:  caramel corn, caramel but, cheese, double cheese and more.  They sell ice cream and candy too, covering all kinds of snacking needs.

Chagrin Falls

We drove to Cori's house from Cleveland and beat the rush hour traffic.  It was good to see Cori again; she used to sit in the office next to me at work and made my job infinitely more enjoyable.   Ruth enjoyed spending time with Annabelle and her baby sister, Lizzie.  Ruth picked her up and held her for awhile, and played with her.  The kids played Candyland and ping pong, and they taught Belle how to serve.

Cori and her husband put together a delicious dinner of grilled pizza.  Cori assembled a fabulous buffet of pizza toppings so we could make our own pizzas.  Her husband Trey took care of the grilling, and did a superb job.  It's not easy to grill a pizza without burning it - I speak from experience.

After dinner, Cori took us into town for ice cream at a new place called Jenni's.  They make artisanal ice cream, with unique flavors and all natural ingredients.  We sampled a few, and then Jeff and Henry opted for vanilla, Ruth got the Milkiest Chocolate in the World, and I had a combination of salted caramel and butter toffee crunch.  Totally delicious.

We hung out around the falls for a bit while finishing our ice cream, but then it was time to go.  And the end of our visit marked the end of our road trip in a way, because all that was left was a six-seven hour ride home the next morning.

 

 

 

Cleveland Rocks!

For our day in Cleveland, the kids chose the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Jeff saw that there was a Titanic exhibit at the Great Lakes Science Center.  Around 9:30 a.m., we headed into the city to check them out.

The kids really liked the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  They were able to see pictures of singers and bands that they've heard of, and watch video of them singing.  Henry could have spent hours watching the video screens with snippets of rock concerts, music videos, and Hall of Fame Induction concert performances.  Ruth checked out Michael Jackson's sequin glove and listened to music on headphones she said cost $300.

The kids recognized Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Johnny Cash, ABBA, and of course, thanks to American Idol, Steven Tyler and Aerosmith.  I liked seeing Janis Joplin's custom-painted car - it was really cool.  Jeff checked out the area highlighting Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Elvis outfit

The special exhibit there right now celebrates 50 years of the Rolling Stones.  To get in the exhibit, you walk through the trademark Rolling Stones mouth, which Henry thought was awesome.

After the Hall of Fame, we went over to the Science Center next door.  We spent most of our time in the special Titanic Exhibit, which was pretty good.  They didn't allow photography, so we have no pictures to post.

 Upon entering the exhibit, we were given boarding passes with a name of a real person on the Titanic.  The exhibit begins in a brightly lit room with lively music playing that depicts the departure and boarding experience.  There are some metal artifacts from the ship, and on the walls, biographies of the ship's architect and captain.  There are also biography panels of some of the famous people on the ship, including John Jacob Astor, Molly Brown, and Mr. and Mrs. Strauss, owners of Macy's.

The next rooms include artifacts from the ship, including water faucets, tiles, and wine bottles.  They recreated a first class room on the ship using furniture designed for Titanic that was in storage so you could see what a first class room would look like.  They also had a model of a third class room, which is better than I thought it would be.  As you walk through the exhibit, it follows a timeline, and you eventually come to the room where the ship hits the iceberg.  They even have a huge chunk of ice resembling an iceberg in the final room that you can touch, and it explains how cold the water was and how most people died of hypothermia, not drowning because of the freezing water.

Helium balloon experiment
at the Science Center

The exhibit also shows the submersible that went down and explored the Titanic on the floor of the ocean and said a metal-eating bacteria is slowing eating the Titanic away.  Some day, there will be little left.

We looked at the huge chart on the wall of the survivors and those who died.  The women on Ruth's and my boarding passes lived, and both Henry and Jeff's men died.

After walking through the exhibit, we were hungry, so we got a snack to tide us over until lunch.  We walked through a bit of the science center, including a really nice NASA exhibit, and then headed over to the Great Lake Brewing Company for a late lunch.


 

ZZ Top

The Who

 

Keith Richard's handwritten set list

 

Hendrix guitar

Ruth's Ice Cream Round-Up

Tonight we had ice cream at Jeni's Ice Cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  I had the Milkiest Chocolate in the World (literally, that's the name of the ice cream) and it was delicious.  The shop had so many flavors of ice cream and you could put anything you want on it.  I tried some of the strawberry buttermilk too.

In Michigan, I had ice cream a few times.  Mostly, it was mint chocolate chip.  They had it at the KOA campground in Petoskey.  At Murdick's in Petoskey, I tried the oranges and cream and it was really good.  The only other flavor I've had this trip besides these two flavors was the fantastic cotton candy ice cream at Scoops in Red Lodge, Montana.  Oh, and I had a strawberry sundae and a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate at Dairy Queen on the trip.

The biggest ice cream disappointment was the S'mores Blizzard in Jackson, Wyoming.  I was really excited to try one because I LOVE s'mores, but I didn't like it.

That's my last ice cream report of this trip.  Bye!

Ruth

Things We've Bought Along the Way

Blue Sky Agate
necklace

No Dean family road trip goes without souvenir shopping.  This trip, I vowed not to buy myself any clothing items, and instead focus on things for the house, like artwork, and wines or foods.  I came close, but did break down a few times for a shirt that I couldn't resist.

I bought some jewelry in Red Lodge that was made by a very nice man who owned the rock shop.  I love my Montana Blue Sky agate pendant and it will always remind me of the big, blue sky in Montana.  Near Yellowstone, I picked up a piece of petrified wood with a nice pattern that will look nice on a coffee table in our house.  I bought a pottery coffee mug in North Dakota that I really liked, along with some berry syrups to try.  At Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain national parks, I bought some prints that I need to get framed to display in our family room.  I also bought a small woven table covering made by Native Americans in Wyoming.

I've lost count of the number of bottles of wine I've picked up - first in Montana and then in Michigan.  I can't wait to try them all.  One of my favorites is a dry cherry wine from the Flathead Lake area of Montana.  They use local Flathead cherries to make the wine, and it's not sweet at all and will be great on a fall day.  All of the wine I bought in Montana is from Ten Spoon winery - I didn't get to visit it, but the two wines I tried from them were good, so I'm looking forward to trying the rest.  It didn't hurt that they have creative names for the wines and cool labels on the bottles.  I also picked up some pure Michigan maple syrup, plus the already mentioned American Spoon maple cream and apple cider grilling sauce.

For the family, I've picked up some Christmas ornaments from our various stops, including ones from North Dakota and Mackinac Island.

Henry got a few t-shirts along the way, and I think his favorite is the one that says Come to the Dork Side - We have pi.  Get it, pi?  He thinks it's hilarious.  We wondered - out loud - if he gets that it implies he's a dork.  He doesn't care - he loves it.  

His other favorite souvenir, if I had to guess, would be a stuffed prairie dog he has named Jerry.  He bought it in North Dakota after spending time at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park watching the prairie dogs.  He bought a bison bank in Yellowstone, and it has come in handy for holding all of our loose change on the trip.  He also got a white crystal in Montana north of Yellowstone at the same place I bought the petrified wood.

In Jamestown, North Dakota, he bought a white buffalo stress ball - first because he thought the real white buffalo there was pretty cool, and second, because he has informed us that he gets very stressed out all the time thinking he has forgotten something, and the stress ball will help with that.  Good to know.

Ruth got a purple sweatshirt from Mackinac Island and a turquoise and white striped beach bag that she really likes.  She's already begun using it as a purse.  She's also gotten a few t-shirts.  She really wanted a neon green stuffed penguin from the Denver Zoo, but she didn't get that.  She bought a few pairs of earrings along the way - mostly sterling silver ones, one with turquoise from Wyoming.  She has also purchased a great deal of ice cream and candy along the way, most of which will not make it home.

Maple syrup

Wooden Eagle Henry
bought in Jackson

Petrified Wood

 

Depressing Drive South

With heavy hearts, we left the campground in Petoskey and headed south to Streetsboro, Ohio.  It's about 30 miles south of Cleveland.  I picked this last stop on the trip because it's near my friend Cori, who lives in Chagrin Falls.  The kids will like the Great Lakes Science Center and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I look forward to getting together with Cori and her family for dinner.

We have loved our time in northern Michigan, and today's drive will take us one campground away from home.

We took Michigan Route 131 South and made our way to I-75 south.  A bypass on Route 23 South avoided Detroit and took us past Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.  We couldn't see the University or the football stadium from the road.  I can't say it was a very scenic drive, and the roads weren't in the best shape, but we didn't have much traffic.   It was a long driving day; we left the campground around 8:45 a.m. and got to Streetsboro around 4:30 p.m.

The Streetsboro-Cleveland KOA is a nice campground.  It's quiet, and has a fishing pond and a swimming lake.  Ruth spotted the owner's pet pig in the owner's yard - it's a cute little thing.  We won't spend much time here, since we'll spend all day tomorrow in Cleveland and then Chagrin Falls.

After driving all day, Jeff wanted to go out to eat.  We found a place nearby called The Brown Derby.  Everyone loved their loaded baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, chives and bacon.  We thought our steaks were okay, but not the best we've had this trip.  But all in all, it was a nice dinner out.

We ended the night with a movie.  I picked up "The Big Year" in a $5 bin at Walmart earlier in the trip, and we popped it into the dvd player.  I don't know if the movie got great reviews, but we liked it.  It's about three men who are into birding who try to find a record number of birds in a year, hence the phrase "the big year."

Ruth gave up halfway through to read a book she likes, called "The Doll People."  She finished the first  Harry Potter book earlier on the trip, and she's looking forward to reading the rest of them.

Before going to bed, I got a peed at the "Blue Moon."  It was so bright in the sky, that if I didn't have the room darkening shade on the window on my side of the motorhome, it seemed like there was a street light on near it.  It was a gorgeous moon.

Henry's Take on Surfing Lake Michigan

You folks probably think Lake Michigan is as flat as the Europeans thought the world was, but you would be wrong. As someone who lives near Lake Superior noted, the Lake is the boss. The waves can be unpredictable. One day there were good waves, the next the lake was as flat as a flapjack. In our last day at Petoskey, we went to the state park to go in the water. The waves were so big that they put up a yellow flag, which meant caution, swim at your own risk. The waves were so good that I was about 20 feet out in the ocean and I rode a wave all the way to the sand and did a scorpion. (People who watch Ridiculousness know what a scorpion is.) Other times I ate sand (by the way, it was crunchy). 

It was so fun and I can't wait to go to Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow.

Rock on dudes!

Henry

 

Michigan Wines

Whenever we're on trips, I like to pick up local products when possible.  Northern Michigan has taken to planting grapevines and producing wines, so I decided to try some.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it to any Michigan wineries on this trip - it's a little difficult to do that with the kids, and with so many other things to do.  But I had the opportunity to check out Michigan wines in some of the shops throughout the state, and picked up some to try.  

In one of the shops, a woman said many of the Michigan wines are on the sweet side, and sometimes I don't mind that, especially if it's a reisling.  So picked up some semi-dry and late harvest reislings, which would be good on a summer day or at Thanksgiving.  I also picked up some red wines, most of which are blends of various grapes.  I've already opened one of the rieslings and really like it.    If northern Michigan has any wine festivals, I'd be glad to come back for them!

Farewell to Michigan Dinner

Stafford Inn

For our last night in Petoskey, we treated ourselves to a dinner at the Stratford Inn.  It's an older inn on the bay, and it's truly lovely.  The reviews for the restaurant on TripAdvisor were very good, and it was close to our campground, so we made a reservation for 7:30.  The kids showered after their lake swim and cleaned up quite nicely.  

Our table had a view down to the lake, so we watched the sky change from bright blue to a dusky purple while we ate.  Our meals were delicious.  Jeff and I had the chef's special for the night, which was a combination of sautéed perch with tomatoes and capers along with a medallion of beef tenderloin.  The brandy cream sauce with the beef was unbelievably good.  Both were fantastic.  Henry ordered pork tenderloin with little potato pancakes, and Ruth chose a combination of a caesar salad and tomato basil bisque.  

As we were finishing our meal, Jeff noticed the sun, just as it was touching the horizon, was bright red.  It was a gorgeous sunset, and a special treat for our last night.  While Jeff waited to pay the bill, Ruth and I walked out to the beach to enjoy it.  The iPhone camera didn't come close to catching the color of the sun and the sky, but it will have to do for the purpose of the blog.

Earlier in the day, when I took Henry to Petoskey for his pie, we were disappointed to find out that Jesperson's closes at 4:00 p.m.  It's mainly a lunch and/or pie place.  So he opted for the orange cream ice cream instead.  As we turned down another street to head back to the campground, we saw the Traverse Pie Company store, and we three agreed we should stop to get some pie for dessert later.

This shop is a very dangerous place for pie lovers.  They have pot pies as well as fruit and cream pies.  It was very difficult to decide what to get - well at least for me.  Henry wanted apple pie.  Ruth wanted to try the strawberry rhubarb crumb pie.  We knew we had to get Jeff cherry pie.  At this store, you could pie whole regular size pies (baked or frozen so you can bake it at home), as well as smaller pies and individual slices.  After skimming the selection, I was tempted by the coconut cream pie, so I got a slice.  And for later in the trip, because it looked so good I couldn't leave it there in the case looking so delicious and so lonely, I bought a whole mountain berry pie.  It has blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries in it, with a crumb topping, and a little heart made of pie dough in the center.  It will keep for a few days, so that will be one way to remember Michigan after we've moved on to Ohio on the way home.

One of my favorite sunset pictures

Back at the campground, Ruth offered to run over to the campground cafe for some ice cream for Jeff and Henry, who prefer their pie a la mode.  Ruth is very good at running to the campground store for anything we need, and we all appreciate that.

Catchin' One Last Wave

The kids really liked swimming in Lake Michigan, even more than in the swimming pool.  Some days, the lake had waves, and some days it was calm and almost motionless.  Obviously, the kids liked the waves better.

It was about 3:00 p.m., and I wanted a little more beach time before we left Michigan.  I had a feeling the kids would like some too. I suggested a few options for the rest of the day:  1) go to Petoskey State Park for a few hours and then have dinner, or 2) pack an evening picnic dinner and take it to the state park beach.  Jeff chose option one and sent us on our way while he got some work done.

The state park is only about 10 minutes from our campground, and we saw that it has a campground too.  The next time we visit, I think camping at the state park might be a better option if only for the quick access to the beach and the sunset views.  

The kids were thrilled to see lots of waves on the lake.  It was much windier here than at our campground.  We put down our towels and stuff and headed into the water.  The kids are used to the cooler water and made their way in pretty quickly.  I think I'd still be making my way in if I was going to go all the way in.  I just hung out on the edge, going in only to about mid-calf.  I took pictures and videos of the kids having a ball in the water and looked a little bit for Petoskey stones along the beach.  Petoskey stones are fossilized coral that are the Michigan state stone.  

Henry was doing a great job body surfing the waves, and rode some all the way to shore.  Ruth enjoyed skimming over them and jumping them and surfing a bit.  The water was so clear, I could see the bottom for a good distance.  Farther back behind the swimmers, kite surfers and small sailboats skimmed over the water with the aid of the winds.  

Once again, a perfect "Pure Michigan" moment:  perfect weather, beautiful beach, sand in our toes (and in the kids bathing suits).