Number of Miles Driven: 317 (Day 15)
States Driven Through: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Hours Driven: 6.5 hours
The rising sun (6 am) woke Michael up, so he got to see sun
rise right behind out campsite. Me and the kids slept right through it and woke
up closer to 7:15/7:30. Michael had organized the trailer the previous night,
so we were in a good position to leave fairly quickly once we got the sleeping
bags, sleeping pads, and tents put away. We did cereal for breakfast and headed
out shortly after. I soaked in the lake/sunrise one more time before we hit the
road.
Finally, a new state! Wisconsin! |
Our lunch stop - Round Man Brewing |
Cheese curds! Delicious! |
Spooner marked our halfway point, so we had 3 hours of
driving left when we got back on the road. Everything went really smoothly – we
played a round of Animal Trivia (Carolyn won!) and the kids played Exploding
Kittens. We had them do their journals before they could do tablet – and they
all wrote about their favorite UP memory. Matthew put disc golf but the others put thoughtful responses like "rocks."
Exploding Kittens in the car |
Arriving in Minnesota |
First stop...Trader Joe's! |
It was a little surreal to see her after so many years, but
we made family introductions and things fell into place so smoothly! Her son,
Rhys (10), immediately took our kids to the basement and he made them feel
right at home as they promptly began bouncing on the air mattress that Gary had
set up for our family.
We got to hang out with Gary for a bit before he left on a
trip, and we mostly sat around just catching up for the evening (while we
started the first of many loads of laundry!). We ordered pizza and just had a
chill evening “chit-chatting” as my kids like to say.
On Saturday, we decided to continue to keep it low-key. The
kids watched a movie downstairs until about 9:30 (which is about when Rhys woke
up), and then we all got ready for the day. The kids played outside while we
continued to catch up on laundry – it seriously took me over an hour just to
sort through the clothes and get them put back in the right bins. Luckily
Michael did ALL the folding while I just talked with Emily 😊
One highlight of the morning was taking a shower in their newly renovated
basement bathroom – it was a two-shower head shower. It felt soooo good –
especially since it was our first real shower since the hotel at St. Ignace.
Michael checked out a local brewery – the Little Thistle –
and brought back a Key Lime Pie sour for me which was really good. We enjoyed
it out on their back porch and soaked in the beautiful weather. We planned a
Bama alum get together next summer in Omaha because Tess just moved to Ames, IA
and Bridget Larson lives there, so it would be a fun meeting spot.
The kids entertained themselves for a solid two hours
playing “Cops and Robbers” in the basement. The robbers had to sneak up the
stairs and try to get to main level without the cop catching them. If they made
it, then they got to eat a cherry for a “power-up.” We had bought a 3 lb
container of cherries at Trader Joes, and the kids (mostly Andrew and Rhys)
pounded through them playing that game! All the girls enjoyed playing with all
the paw patrol toys as well.
Michael grilled burgers for dinner and then the kids had a
final hurrah in the backyard – they had an awesome playset with turf– before it
was time for bed. They had a huge Love Sac and a Sactional in their basement
and they were so comfortable. We got three kids sleeping on the Sactional. Dani
chose to sleep in the play tent with her sleeping bag. We are finally done with
camping and she chooses to sleep in a tent (when there were other options
available). I didn’t get it – haha!
We enjoyed one more evening with Emily – mostly talking
about our favorite books – but then we called it a relatively early night
because we were all so tired. It was the perfect way to spend the day because
we all just needed a slower-paced chill day.
Cheers to a great visit! |
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