Adventures in Saratoga New York and Michigan 4 August 2014

Wow, it has been a wonderful two weeks traveling with Joan and her Tom. We left Linesville on 21 July and headed for Saratoga Springs, New York to visit with Mihley and Laurie Reisinger. We were blessed to have met them through our church in Tucson. They built a beautiful home in Saratoga Springs and invited us to spend some time with them. We drove across part of Pennsylvania and then New York State. Lots of rolling hills and beautiful green trees. We arrived to find such a beautiful log cabin just outside of Saratoga Springs. They designed and built the home themselves with help from a few local contractors. They even have their own well on the property. They met us at the door with hugs and smiles. Had a wonderful late evening meal with fresh vegetables from Mihley's amazing garden. After dinner we sat on the porch and enjoyed the silence of being in a beautiful wooded area. Tuesday, we drove into the Appalachian Mountains to the Appalacian Mountain Museum and spent several hours exploring the museum and having a nice lunch before we headed back to their home. We certainly would like to return to the area so can experience all the lakes and mountains have to offer. We helped to pick fresh yellow and green beans from the garden for dinner. They have all kinds of vegetables and herbs growing around the property. Laurie took us on a walk to show us the entire property with their own river that goes through the property. There was even a moose in the garden...it was a full size metal moose...but it was a moose!! The next day after a nice breakfast on the porch, we headed to the Saratoga Springs race Track. what a beautiful facility...amazing flowers blooming everywhere. Before we left for the track, Joan and I tried Laurie's Mother's hats that she used to wear..what fun. Will add some pictures! We experienced the excitement of the racing of these beautiful horses. Yes, we did experience the excitement of betting on the horses that we picked. Tom and I came out $20 ahead after a fun afternoon. Laurie and Mihley took us to a fun local restaurant for dinner and a driving tour (as it was raining when we left the track) of Saratoga Springs. Beautiful parks and homes in this neat town. What fun to spend these days with Laurie and Mihley and we thank them so much for sharing their days and beautiful warm home with us. We left on 24 July and headed for Ft. Drum, New York where we spent the night on the base. The next day (25th) we drove to Detroit,Michigan. We traveled through Canada into Michigan. We spent the next two nights in Dearborn, Michigan. We spent Saturday touring the Ford Factory and watching them building a Ford 150 truck. Then we spent a few hours at the Ford Museum. It was more than just cars...had the history of trains, airplanes, music, first round home ever built but never marketed, furniture etc. Very worth the time to visit. Did I mention that everyday, we laughed so much. We also played games as we drove through the highways and streets of our USA that made us laugh so hard, we had tears!! We stayed at Fort Custer, Michigan on Saturday night and attended Mass at the Old Fort Custer Chapel. Sunday we headed to Traverse City, Michigan. We stopped in Grand Rapids and had lunch with our friend Dave Raffo (met him when he was assigned to Davis-Monthan as an active duty physician) We had not seen Dave for 12 years. He is married and has two lovely daughters. We met at a place called ARTIES in Rockford Michigan. A must restaurant if you are near Rockford. What fun to spend time with Dave and his family. Monday we went to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park and Dunes. What a unique corner of the United States.We took a hike through the forest to beautiful Lake Michigan where we could overlook the shore line. Then we climbed on the 150 foot verical wall of windblown golden sand. The sand was very fine and soft. It was not an easy climb but we went to the top of the first large sand dune. The day was perfect for outdoor activities. We were amazed at the fields of Cherry Trees and the vineyards in the area. I picked a cherry off of one tree but quickly found out that it was a sour cherry tree! Hmmm . We did buy some fresh cherries and blueberries and they were great. In our travels around Traverse City Area, we found ourselves on the 45 th Parallel. We enjoyed exploring the towns of Empire, Glen Arbor, Sutton's Bay and Elk Rapids. Lots of fun walking about these towns and enjoyed the beautiful flowers in the villages and along the roads that we traveled. Of course we ate at "Grand Traverse Pie Company" and Moomers Homemade Ice Cream". Our Hotel in Traverse City was just across the road from Grand Traverse Bay so could watch the beautiful sunsets. We left Traverse City and took HWY 31 to Mackinaw City. We had reservations to stay in St. Ignace across the Mackinaw Bridge on the upper peninsula. The hotel was under construction and should not have been open but it was and we did not know that under construction when booked..we were able to laugh...but only stayed one night before we moved back to Mackinaw City Baymont Inns and Suites at Mackinaw Crossing. We were within walking distance of the little shopping area with a neat pizza restaurant. There were several fudge stores within a short distance too!! We took the Ferry over to Mackinaw Island and had a wonderful day exploring the island. IT is the only about a 20 minute ferry ride to the island. Vehicles are not permitted on the island so transportation takes place by horse drawn carriages and bicycles. The only vehicles are firetruck, ambulance and emergency vehicle. So all the deliveries are made with horse drawn carts or by bicycle. There are plenty of jobs for persons to clean up after the horses...they ride bicycles and have pooper scoopers to use to insure the horse feces are picked up in a timely manner. We really enjoyed taking the horse drawn carriage ride around the island. Tom and Tom explored Fort Mackinaw on the island...build in 1782. While they were at the Fort, Joan and I walked about the streets and shops. We were amazed by all the beautiful flowers and flower baskets and arrangements everywhere. There were at least 3 fudge shops per each block on the Island. St. Anne's Church on the island is beautiful. We had a nice lunch on the Island before we boarded the ferry back to Mackinaw City. The ferry ride back to Mackinaw City was over waters that were rough. We were all sitting outside on the top of the ferry...but after about one minute, I decided that was a bit cold and windy for me so went below for the rest of the trip. Tom, Joan and Tom stayed on the top deck!!! When we got back to Mackinaw City we went to Mickey's Ice Cream Shop. We were told at the hotel, they had the best Ice Cream in the city..and they were correct. It was not only really creamy but the kid's side was two large scoops and only $1.50! The next morning we went to the Old Mill Creek Heritage Park.. which is a sawmill that was built in the 1700's. It is one of the oldest working saw mills. They only use for demonstrations at the park. Amazing technology for that time period. ALSO Tom and I did experienced the Eagles'Flight Zip Line which was 425 feet long over a creek. What fun. No, it was not easy for me to step off the platform at the top but once I did...even thought hung on..WHAT FUN! Now we can take off our Bucket List. Yes, we will do again. It was rather frightening when we walked across the Mill Creek Forest Canopy Bridge on a wooden plank which was 50 feet high and 165 foot long...now do not think will do that again. We spent the rest of the day exploring the area's lighthouses. We climbed to the top of the McGulpin Point and then walked around Old Mackinac Point and checking out the lighthouse on the point. The park was a good place to get great pictures of the Mackinac Suspension Bridge. It is the 16th longest in total suspension and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere and is 5 miles long. We also went to the Jack Pine Lumberjack Show in Mackinaw City. We saw two lumberjacks compete in fast paced competition in chopping, sawing, pole climbing, logrolling, chain saw carving and axe throwing. It was a nice up-beat show with audience participation. More about food...the hotel staff told us about a sandwich shop that made their own bread and served wonderful sandwiches....and they did. There must have been about a pound of cheese and meats on each sandwich..it was definitely a local eatery... I also had a favorite of the Upper Peninsula called a Pastie. It is a pastry case with variable fillings , usually beef and vegetables such as turnips, potatoes etc. They are popular due to the spread of Cornish miners who traveled to different countries and variations can be found in the United States, Mexico Britain, Australia and elsewhere. I am having some problems with this blog page so before I lose what I have typed AGAIN...will post.