Not A Baby Post!
I know, shock and horror right, how dare I write a post that is not about AJ. Well of course, no post in my new life will be complete without at least a little AJ. This past weekend, we decided to take a little road trip, if you call 1000 miles in 4 days, with MIL, dog, baby and wife, little!
We were hoping to take Jan (MIL) away, for her last weekend in the country until Christmas, on a trip to see the fall colours, although most common sense was telling us that they had already passed their best, and like common sense mostly is, it was true. Although that didn't stop us having fun.
We took off early on Friday morning, well early by our new standards, around 8am, bound for Grand Haven, approximately a 4-5 hour drive according to the Tom Tom. Of course that doesn't factor in stopping for feeding every three hours, and that taking 30-45 minutes between, feeding, changing and burping, but enough about my personal habits!
We stopped en-route at an outlet mall that had been recommended to us in a place called Michigan City, which is in fact in Indiana, where we found all of the usual favourites, Eddie Bauer, Timberland, Old Navy, and a new favourite Osh Kosh B'Gosh. We purchased several outfits that you will no doubt see making appearances in the coming months and years (yes that's right we bought some for next winter). It's weird though, now that we are buying in dollars, instead of converted pounds, stuff doesn't seem nearly such a bargain, although it still is!
We headed on from there up to Grand Haven (actually Spring Lake a little place just outside) where we spent the first of what I am sure will be many nights away from home with a baby. . and I must say, the Holiday Inn did an awesome job. They allowed dogs, helped with boiling water for bottles and even gave us use of a microwave in a second room to sterilise them.
We were right on the harbor and there were some incredible motor yachts there. Literally millions of dollars worth I am sure. We arrived late, so it really was a quick dinner, then off to bed. Next morning we checked out the local town surrounding area, although the weather was foul. The pictures of the Pere Marquette, the lighthouse and the sand dunes are all from there. Apparently the town is the home of the oldest operating coast guard station in the US. There are some more details about the town here.
After a windy trip down the breakwater to check out the lighthouse. We headed on up the coast to PJ Hoffmaster state park near the town of Muskegon, where my boss "summers". The park was pretty deserted, but it had some fabulous colours, a great beach (no dogs) and a few nice trails. We took the buggy/pushchair/stroller (depending on your preference) off road through a woodland trail, over tree roots, sand, dirt, etc. It proved it's worth right there, and should be excellent for snowy walks.
Before we left Muskegon, I wanted to check out the Great Lakes Naval Museum. It has the USS Silversides, which was only in commission for about 5 years, but as you can see from this picture of the conning tower, it was pretty successful. The prohibition coast guard cutter was pretty cool too. Check out a lot more pictures here, and read about the museum here.
From Muskegon we took a more scenic route up to our next destination of Traverse City. Through some of the very small coastal towns, along route 119, which between Petosky and Traverse has a very picturesque 4 mile stretch of road with trees on either side, almost meeting at the top, well worth the extra time it took to drive that stretch. With time marching on however, we got back on the "main" road and headed for TC, arriving very late, around 9pm.
Next morning, a little walk around TC, not seeing much, but recognising that we really needed to go back there and spend some significant time one summer to explore properly. Again taking the scenic routes, we took off for our next destination in the UP, still part of Michigan, although not joined by anything other than the Mackinaw Bridge.
We spent the night in Manistique, but it really was a quick stop and then the whole next day driving down through Wisconsin to get home. We saw so great stuff along the way, and took some excellent pictures, and for our first family road trip, there were no major issues. Next time though, we will be spending more time and trying to cover less distance so we can really spend time, particularly in Traverse.
We were hoping to take Jan (MIL) away, for her last weekend in the country until Christmas, on a trip to see the fall colours, although most common sense was telling us that they had already passed their best, and like common sense mostly is, it was true. Although that didn't stop us having fun.
We took off early on Friday morning, well early by our new standards, around 8am, bound for Grand Haven, approximately a 4-5 hour drive according to the Tom Tom. Of course that doesn't factor in stopping for feeding every three hours, and that taking 30-45 minutes between, feeding, changing and burping, but enough about my personal habits!
We stopped en-route at an outlet mall that had been recommended to us in a place called Michigan City, which is in fact in Indiana, where we found all of the usual favourites, Eddie Bauer, Timberland, Old Navy, and a new favourite Osh Kosh B'Gosh. We purchased several outfits that you will no doubt see making appearances in the coming months and years (yes that's right we bought some for next winter). It's weird though, now that we are buying in dollars, instead of converted pounds, stuff doesn't seem nearly such a bargain, although it still is!
We headed on from there up to Grand Haven (actually Spring Lake a little place just outside) where we spent the first of what I am sure will be many nights away from home with a baby. . and I must say, the Holiday Inn did an awesome job. They allowed dogs, helped with boiling water for bottles and even gave us use of a microwave in a second room to sterilise them.
We were right on the harbor and there were some incredible motor yachts there. Literally millions of dollars worth I am sure. We arrived late, so it really was a quick dinner, then off to bed. Next morning we checked out the local town surrounding area, although the weather was foul. The pictures of the Pere Marquette, the lighthouse and the sand dunes are all from there. Apparently the town is the home of the oldest operating coast guard station in the US. There are some more details about the town here.
After a windy trip down the breakwater to check out the lighthouse. We headed on up the coast to PJ Hoffmaster state park near the town of Muskegon, where my boss "summers". The park was pretty deserted, but it had some fabulous colours, a great beach (no dogs) and a few nice trails. We took the buggy/pushchair/stroller (depending on your preference) off road through a woodland trail, over tree roots, sand, dirt, etc. It proved it's worth right there, and should be excellent for snowy walks.
Before we left Muskegon, I wanted to check out the Great Lakes Naval Museum. It has the USS Silversides, which was only in commission for about 5 years, but as you can see from this picture of the conning tower, it was pretty successful. The prohibition coast guard cutter was pretty cool too. Check out a lot more pictures here, and read about the museum here.From Muskegon we took a more scenic route up to our next destination of Traverse City. Through some of the very small coastal towns, along route 119, which between Petosky and Traverse has a very picturesque 4 mile stretch of road with trees on either side, almost meeting at the top, well worth the extra time it took to drive that stretch. With time marching on however, we got back on the "main" road and headed for TC, arriving very late, around 9pm.
Next morning, a little walk around TC, not seeing much, but recognising that we really needed to go back there and spend some significant time one summer to explore properly. Again taking the scenic routes, we took off for our next destination in the UP, still part of Michigan, although not joined by anything other than the Mackinaw Bridge.
We spent the night in Manistique, but it really was a quick stop and then the whole next day driving down through Wisconsin to get home. We saw so great stuff along the way, and took some excellent pictures, and for our first family road trip, there were no major issues. Next time though, we will be spending more time and trying to cover less distance so we can really spend time, particularly in Traverse.
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