A beautiful end to day four!

The sun sets on the Mackinac Bridge.

I thought this made for a stunning view and shot!

The advantage of flight

I think I am catching up with the number of pictures Susan took when she was on the same trip…

Ok, so I took too many pictures of the Mackinac Bridge…

I liked to frame it with something interesting in the foreground, vegetation in this case.

Back in Michigan in St. Ignace

It let us watch the bridge while the sun set behind us.  I thought this was a perfect picture with the sign and the bid.  I was happy with the depth of field having both the up close bird and the distant bridge in focus.  It's good to be able to play with camera settings. :)

First trip without any windows, doors, or tops.

THIS is THE way to run errands for sure.  I was getting duplicate keys, fluids, filters, etc.  The tinkering begins…

The ride home

Julie followed me in a chase vehicle "just in case".  I mean, the thing is "a classic" hahahaha.  I needed to get to know what worked, what didn't and what might break first… Here she pulled up next to me along the way and snapped a pic of the fun I was having.  

We started the end of day four with some bridge gazing

After dinner and this shot, we headed across to St. Ignace for another angle. ;)

Laura and I laughed…

…when mom said we were going to "the taxidermy place" for dinner!

We realized what she meant once we got there.  What a combo.  An Italian place in a log cabin specializing in steak with taxidermy/antler decor… Only in a tourist destination like Macninaw City… :) The food was really good, so we started letting mom pick all the spots, hahahaha.

For some reason, Laura thought this was appropriate.

I guess it checks out in multiple ways for me… :)

On the way back to the Ferry

I really enjoyed the view of the shops with Fort Mackinac in the background!

What a beautiful view with the gardens, carriages, pillars, gazebos and weather!

Back at Mackinac Island, we enjoyed the porch of the Grand Hotel some more!

The doors HAD to come off for the ride home.

It was easier to enjoy the sunset view that way too. :)

Well… Julie helped buy me a birthday present…

For a couple years, I've been looking for a 2-door, manual, older Jeep that worked but needed a little work.  We found this one a couple months ago on our trip to Indiana.  It fits the bill perfectly.  I can two the ATV trailer and use this as my cheap side-by-side at the same time.  That way the kids and us can double date.  Best part, it was cheaper than the two, used, twenty year old ATVs I have already.  It's a historical vehicle by Ohio standards, but it works well enough I've taken it on a couple road trips already.  It even came with a spare set of new factor rims and tires, and a soft top to go along with the hard top.  The guy I bought from is a woodsman farmer from Indiana.  He's had it long enough that his three kids all learned to drive in it on their 140 acre homestead where each of the three kids have built their houses too.  They were all happy to see me love it, but also sad to see it go.  They were glad I was gonna give it a good home. :)

The fancy carriages even have prettier horse teams. ;)

This is the “fancy” carriage if you have a room at the Grand Hotel

What a trio and great time :)

A nice shot of Grand Hotel blue

The underside of surfaces are painted this color.  It allegedly keeps the swallows from nesting there?

Back on the island…

…we decided to visit the Grand Hotel.  It was so pretty!  I like the view with the Mackinac bridge on the horizon.

They finally re-opened the Spring Valley gas station.

It burnt down years ago.  The best part, they're serving Boston Stoker!  They have highlander grogg!

We got mom home and I made her a grilled cheese lunch.

It was yummy!

When you have horses…

…I guess you have to clean the streets SOMEHOW.  So much so that you automate it, but then pull it with a horse team because…rules.

We had this view a lot on Mackinac Island ;)

At least this was a a pretty view/day to go along with the hose butts, hahahaha.

Laura and I sure enjoyed our trip together with my mom.

It was fun to explore, see and discover stuff at the same time.

Does this count as a bridge picture Susan?

Mom’s was back up and moving just a couple days after her surgery.

This summarized the day well, butterflies and moving safely.

Mom is looking a LOT better.

It helps to not have a leaking spleen and also have half your blood volume back!

A gunner’s view of the bridge

The fort was so pretty.

The horses, towers, stone walls, and hillside setting added together nicely.  You can see a carriage tour approaching through the arch too. :)

I captured this moment of the salute!

Now, back in Michigan…

We got to see the daily firing of the cannon at fort Mackinac!

Mom is on the mend :)

Mom had her surgery early Sunday morning about 10 days ago.  A new day is dawning here, and she seems to be doing well.  This shot was taken as she and I were waking up the next day after her surgery (I had spent the night).  It was fun spending the nights with her while she was in the hospital. I lost count how many.  Probably four or five.  We were happy to be there with her and care for her.

Current day: And in other great news, we received the all clear from her pathology reports!  A happy answer to our prayers and a great anniversary present for what would have been Dad and Mom's 60th anniversary yesterday.  

I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of Michigan, like Arch Rock

 The cliffs, caves, beaches, and lakes were wonderful.  this rock doesn’t look too big, until you realize there are full-size trees growing out of the middle of it.

What a great variety of pretty things in the pic. :)

The high cloud cover, the cannon, tea room, and harbor all combined to make a place I could have just sat and watched for a long time.

The historic St. Ann’s cemetery was pretty

 Just some more of the sights along our tour on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

Whether teams of two or three, they were pretty and powerful!

That wagon, when filled with five people per row, is quite a load…

Never leave your iPad unattended in a hospital room…

…Or these goofballs might drop in!

We weaved though all the pine forests on the island

It was a perfect and serene way to take in the sights, and history of the area!  We even learned a lot in the process. :)

Part of the stable system on Mackinac Island.

They kept some of the horses here along with a museum of carriages used over the years.  It shows some of the beautiful weather and colors we saw on our trip!

I loved this little cottage made of windows!

 It was a public garage sale inside.  

The Grand Hotel was rather magnificent!

You'll get to see a few more shots like this later. ;)

It was fun to see all the different colors and breeds of horse teams

We made it to Mackinac Island

This was the sight that greeted us as we pulled out in our own horse-drawn carriage.  What a fun day of touring the island that way!

Glad we got our Michigan trip in when we did…

My mom decided to have a stay at the hospital last week.  She had emergency surgery, but is home now and doing well.  We're still waiting for follow-up appointments to figure out why her spleen wanted out so bad and decided to rupture… We did get to catch up on time spent together so it's a blessing in disguise.

So thankful we made it home and got our wonderful trip in first.  Now, look at some more Michigan pictures. ;)

Village salvage has LOTS of door hardware…

I thot it made a cool pic

I liked this view of the mansions, churches and sailboats

Our first good view of Fort Mackinac…

 …We were headed up to visit it, but enjoyed a nice view on the entry into the harbor first.

The rooster tail of the jet boat

And a nice view of the Mackinac bridge in the distance with the scattered clouds of a beautiful blue sky.

Coming out from under the other side.