We left Saturday morning at 9:25 a.m. It was 48 degrees here! We bought gas for $1.669 a gallon and then found it was $1.639 in Oil City. Oh well we only bought 3.596 gallons!

We arrived at Deer Acres (I will have more pictures later, I took 3 rolls plus the 12 pictures my digital camera will hold so I only have the 12 digital pictures right now) at 10:40 a.m.

We rode rides, looked at Story Book Land and fed the animals until 2:15. We also ate a picnic lunch in the park. The boys especially liked to see the alligator, who never did eat the whole, raw chicken that was thrown into his cage just as we arrived. Christopher liked driving the tin lizzy cars and Billy liked running over the Troll's Bridge where the Goats and the Troll were. The Troll yelled at us "I'm the Deer Acres Troll, now move it! Get off my bridge!"

Left: In the Deer Acres stockade. � ��� � � � � � Right: Feeding the deer

We left Deer Acres at 2:15 and drove up US 23, along the coast of Michigan on Lake Huron. We saw a lot of neat little towns with things we'd like to do next summer.

Lutz's Amusement Park - Au Gres
Park and Beach at Tawas City
Harrisville State Park
Dinosaur Gardens - Ossineke

Gas seemed to get less expensive the farther north we drove, which was really unusual.

Gas in Pinconning was $1.839. In Tawas City it was $1.799. Au Sable had gas for $1.769 and Harrisville was $1.699.

At 4:20 p.m. we crossed the 45th parallel (where you are halfway between the equator and the north pole I believe).

We stopped in Alpena to eat, nothing fancy. We also bought gas for $1.669 a gallon (bought 5.392 gallons).

At 5:55 p.m. we stopped in Rogers City for a bathroom break. Gas in Cheboygan was $1.77 a gallon.

Around 7 p.m. we stopped at the Mackinaw Motor Lodge Resort and rented a camper. It had a beautiful view of the bridge and lots of stuff for the kids to play with.

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Left: Kids play near the beach at the resort. � � � �� � Right: The Mackinaw Bridge as seen from our camper.

The owner of the resort told us at dark there was a parade of Semi Trucks going through Mackinaw City. We decided to drive into town around 8 p.m. (just before dark) and get a few groceries since the camper had full cooking facilities. We bought eggs and bacon and many other things at the IGA. Then we drove over the Mackinaw Bridge north as the trucks were coming south for the parade. We got off the bridge at 8:32 p.m.. We drove up 75 for a few minutes, turned around and got back on the bridge, southbound, at 8:45 p.m.

By the time we got back to our camper we were all very tired. The resort has a nightly bonfire which was very pretty, but we all fell asleep pretty quickly.

The next morning we woke up and Alan cooked breakfast while the boys played outside some more. It was not nearly as cold Sunday morning as it was Saturday morning!

At 11 we packed our things back up into the car and crossed the bridge into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan again. We drove up US 2 West to Totem Village.

Left: Alan and the boys by an Indian display � Middle: The boys by Indian totem poles � � Right: Feeding the Reindeer

We left Totem Village and drove south again, back across the bridge into the Lower Peninsula. We had a small lunch and drove south towards home on I-75.

We stopped in Gaylord for gas at 2:40 and had planned to go to Call of the Wild but both boys were asleep. Gas there was $1.799 a gallon! Ouch.

At Graying the kids woke up so we stopped in and went to Hartwick Pines State Park. This is one of my favorite places; I did a paper on the park a few years ago for English 101 at HCC.

Left: The Chapel � � � Middle: The boys sit on an old wagon wheel � � � � Right: More logging equipment

Left: Christopher in a loggers bunk � � � Right: Alan and Christopher sit at the replica of the loggers table

Hartwick Pines also has a playground and the boys played after we walked through the Logging Camp. Then we headed for home, where everybody was hungry and tired.

Click here to see what else we've done this month

Click here to see what fun we've been having all year long