June 1 we head to Michigan for a birding trip (on our own). The sun is out the temp is warm (hot) and the roads are empty! What a great way to begin our journey. There was not too many places to stop but we managed to get out of the car a few times before arriving in Minocqua Wisconsin
Lunch on the lake at the Thirsty Whale, great service, great food, great view
A quick stop at
This little brewery is very involved in Wisconsin politics
We did purchase a 4 pack of Lady Justice and Evers Ale.
What a cute little town, it's actually more like Wis Dells than Hayward. lots of stuff to do and a big beautiful lake.
A few more stops before getting to Iron Mountain Michigan. Our hotel was the AmericaInn. Our room had just been renovated, so a hint of paint smell when we first walked in.
Great Pizza and beer at
The Upper Michigan people seem to think they are or should be the 51st State! I like their moxy.
June 2: Eric's 64th B-Day! We head to Gaylord Mi in central Michigan. Our first stop was in Norway!
Another beautiful day for driving, although we ran into a bit more traffic than yesterday. We stayed close to Lake Michigan before going over the Mackinaw Bridge into the lower part of Michigan.
We stopped a number of times to walk with a box lunch on the shore. Of course we had a time change, now in Eastern time zone. Arriving at our hotel at 4:00 in Gaylord. Dinner at the Snowbelt Brewery. the food was pretty good. music at the local park, which was 2 doors down from the Brewery.
Saturday June 3: Off to look for the Kirtlands Warbler. this bird breeds in Michigan in only 13 counties, then heads to the Bahamas for the winter. The nests are exclusively in young Jack-Pine forests of 80 acres or more. not easy to find... but we hope it will be singing to make it easier to locate.
Much to our surprise there were a few groups of people looking for The Warbler! As soon as we got out of the car we could hear them singing. We stayed away from the groups of people as we could hear multiple birds singing.. Well we finally got one to come out for a few pictures, well actually we had 3 come out.. USA #665 life bird. #921 world bird
We have looked in Wisconsin without luck, thus our journey to Grayling Michigan. We found a fun hiking place Camp Au Sable. We do not have any idea what this contraption is used for.... it was in the woods right off of the boardwalk.
Dinner at The Duck Blind at the Otsego Resort. it has both skiing and golf. the sky was filled with smoke from the Canadian fires.
kind of a crazy way to take a selfie
Lobster Ricotta
Chicken Piccata
a private concert for Eric
Sunday June 4 off to
We made a stop in East Jordan as a small park before getting to Fisherman's Island. Nice walk around both places.
into Charlevoix for lunch. We were looking for Pasties but found Hand Pies! One is beef the other chicken. pretty good.
WOW the worlds largest cherry pie!
Yep its pretty big
Gaylord has an Elk city park!
There are Elk, Fallow and Sika Deer on about 108 acres.
Dinner at the Pine Squirrel Bar & Grill.
Monday June 5: off to Ludington MI. We stopped many times for hikes and to have a box lunch at Ludington State Park. Pretty uneventful trip and not too much traffic. Just the way we like it!
Overnight at the Best Western. We had a wonderful dinner at Jamesport Brewery in downtown then wen to see our ship come in!
The big guy has to turn around to park
Tuesday June 6: Our sailing day! going across the little pond? Lake Michigan...
We are boarding
the Amish came out to see us off
half way across it got kind of chilly
60 miles in 4 hours
I see land
Manitowoc and the Badger
waiting for our car to come off
We went looking for a few birds (found 1) before heading to the Hilton Garden Inn in Green Bay, near the stadium.
As we walked around Green Bay we found
it works!
Wednesday June 7: We went to a few of our favorite places to walk. It was a bit cool this morning with a wind coming off of the big lake. A small lunch and a nap! then off to Downtown Green Bay for a walk by the Fox River, dinner at Fox Harbor and a beer at Titletown Brewery. A great day in the great town of Green Bay.
Thursday we head to Plover/Stevens Point for 2 nights. We always stay at the Hampton Inn in Plover.
A few stops on our 94 mile journey today.
A pre dinner drink at Oso' Brewery then to Mikey's for dinner. White fish dip! ooh so good
Friday we went to the Buena Vista Grasslands to look for the elusive Prairie Chicken. Again we did not find one.. the best time to see them is in April so we have little expectations of finding one.
Dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant by the hotel.
Saturday we head home after a fun week of hiking and exploring new places and eating new foods. We lucked out with the weather, not too hot, little rain and not too cold! perfect vacation.
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