Kalamazoo, MI

I ran into the post office to mail some post cards and when I came out there was a guy hovering around our car. He told us he was from Kalamazoo (LOVE that name!), held up his “mitten hand” and pointed somewhere south of his ring finger. He said we should really see it if we could.

Considering this on our way back to the cabin we decided to go for it. Putting on our best hustle moves, we packed up and left a day early for the mainland.

Here’s the exciting part about this decision: we’ll have seen all 5 of the Great Lakes when we’re done with the states!

The bridge connecting the U.P. to the mainland is called the Big Mack. It was built on schedule and within budget and is still considered an engineering masterpiece. It’s 4 miles long, the longest single truss suspension bridge in the world. Dagne Taggart would be proud. What a beauty with the sun setting over Lake Michigan to the West and glimmering Lake Huron to the East. We really wanted to spend the night here to have an entire day to explore Mackinaw Island, but alas Indiana calls!

Driving in the wee hours with wee ones is a little less reminiscent of the old days when we were enamored with stories like On the Road. At 1am, the kids still weren’t asleep and Doodle was clamboring all over everyone like in the old days before seat belts. You can imagine the scene. In fact, I’d bet it’s much more in line with the outside world’s expectations of this trip. Truly, it hasn’t been a nightmare and the kids have been amazing, curious travelers. This night, however, was a departure from the norm. Niece worked her tail off in the backseat keeping Doodle strapped in. We put on some mellow Chris Isaak and Niece showed Doodle her favorite pictures on her cell phone: Missy dog drinking out of the toilet and baby cousin blowing out her birthday candles. When the phone ran out of juice, Doodle ran out of tears and finally drifted off. I’d like to say she was buckled, but when we arrived at a hotel in Kalamazoo, I saw she was peacefully sprawled across her car seat and her big sister.