10/3 Tu – Took Mike to lunch in Chicago and arrived in Milwaukee before the kids were home from school. Moved some items into the house, e.g., wing-back chair, large copper kettle, Matt’s painting, etc., and then had some time for playing followed by a delicious chicken & dumpling dinner.
10/4 W – Grandparent’s Day at St. Sebastian Church/School, started with Mass (Seamus was a reader), followed by snacks and visits to Drago’s, Seamus’s, and Lena’s classrooms.
10/5 Th – We took Seamus and Lena, first to Goodwill for “low cost” shopping, and then to the Milwaukee Zoo. Drago was to go climbing with a friend but that did not work out.
They had a special Ice Age Exhibit loop walk with animated prehistoric animals.
We also saw the Sea Lion Show and the kids did the 3D Virtual Reality Gorilla Trek. Our Zoo visit ended with a Rainbow Sherbert cone from the family farm. In total, we walked about 4 miles!
10/6 F – Chad drove Drago, Seamus, and I to the Pike Lake Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest. We did a 5-mile hike including a segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.
Gained over 400ft to the top of the Powder Hill Observation Tower –
Meanwhile, Helen and Lena were making Halloween cookies at home. In the evening, we went to Drago’s volleyball game (win) and the Family Fish Fry at St Sebastians.
10/7 Sa – I took Lena to her soccer game (win) while Chad and Helen went to Drago’s swim meet.
It was the feast day of St Francis of Assisi. In the afternoon, Chad and I walked to the church for Clancey to receive his blessing. We celebrated Drago’s birthday early (it is on 10/10) at the Old Town Serbian Gourmet House in S Milwaukee. Finished the evening with the card game 99 at home.
10/8 Su –started with Mass and then everyone rushed to get to Seamus’s soccer game (win). Afterward, we drove to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of MI to spend the next day with our friends Clark and Donna.
10/9 M – Did a tour of the area along the border between WI and MI starting at Dave’s Falls in Marinnette County WI. Then drove to the Lighthouse in Menominee MI, did Thrift shopping, and ate at the Ogden Club (1900); tried Cheese Curds for the first time. High fat, greasy, but good! Had a pizza dinner and played cards at home on a cold rainy day.
10/10 Tu – 2hr drive to the Munising Falls Visitor Contact Station at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (NL). Fall colors were near peak on Lake Superior.
We visited here in 2003 on our first “Around Lake Michigan” trip. That year we did the Ship Wreck Tour leaving out of Munising.
Followed by the 0.5-mile rt trail to Munising Falls located in the NL.
We then drove to Hurricane River and the Au Sable Light Station trailhead. We did the 3-mile rt hike along the beach (North Country National Scenic Trail), passing the remains of Lake Superior shipwrecks, to the Au Sable Light Station.
Our first hike on this visit, 20-years later, was the 1-mile, mostly boardwalk, Marsh Trail Loop near Sand Point.
Our next stop was the Miners Castle Overlook
Followed by a short hike to the Lower Overlook on a segment of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCNST). The NCNST stretches over 4,800-miles from VT to ND or vice-versa!
The Lower Overlook provided a close-up view of Miners Castle. Note the window picture frame – for taking a picture of Pictured Rocks NL!
We then took a cold stroll on Miners Beach – looking West –
Miners Beach looking East –
To warm-up, we then did the 1.2-mile rt Miners Falls Trail
2018 NP Quarter
Followed US-2 around the N end of Lake Michigan, crossed the Mackinac Bridge, and stopped in Petoskey MI for an Octoberfest dinner at the Side Door Saloon. My mother’s first cousin, Josephine Kolinski and her husband Walter, owned this bar/restaurant and it was called the Vienna. It was handed down in the family but sold last year and the new owners re-named it the Side Door Saloon.
This deer was shot by Tony Kolinsky, the first one of the 1964 hunting season.
Spent the night in the scenic town of Charlevoix MI –
10/11 W – It was a rainy 2hr drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (NL) –
Our first trip here was in 2003 when we ran down to the lake and then climbed the NL’s highest dune at the Lake Michigan Overlook on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.
It took about five minutes to run down to the lake and about a half hour to climb back up the 450ft dune!
This year, we took pics and reflected on how difficult it was to climb that sand dune twenty years ago! Note the observation deck that has been built at the overlook.
Legend of Manitou Islands and the Sleeping Bear
View of climb from Observation Deck –
Lucky we didn’t get stuck at the bottom!
This year, we started our visit to the NL by doing the 1.2-mile hike to Pyramid Point
Another warning sign!
Next, the historic Village of Glen Haven
Then the U.S. Life-Saving Station
The Coast Guard Station was active from 1902 to 1942.
We then did the 1-mile rt hike to Sleeping Bear Point
Dune climb on our return hike to the SUV.
This was followed by the 7.4-mile 12-stop Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. First stop, Glen Lake Overlook.
D. H. Day wanted to develop the area – thank goodness he failed!
Our last stop on the drive was the North Bar Overlook
Got our stamp at the Visitor Center, had a bowl of soup in Empire, and then did the 4.5hr drive to Dearborn MI, which is just N of Detroit.
10/12 Th – We were at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation at 9:30am when it opened. It is one of the locations within the MotorCities National Heritage Area (NHA). We were disappointed to learn that Greenfield Village, which was decorated for Halloween, was not open. We decided to “pay the piper” for the Museum anyway and were not disappointed.
Exploded 1923 mass produced Ford Model T
The Museum has several sections, one of which is, not surprisingly, Driving America.
This was my favorite car – a 1903 Model F Packard Runabout (made in Warren OH). Tom Fetch and Marius Krarup (Packard employees) called their car the “Old Pacific.”
It was the second car to drive cross country from San Francisco to New York City (61-days). The first transcontinental trip was with a Winton car, which took 63-days earlier that same year. The exact number of miles is not known because of the circuitous route due to the lack of good roads. As far as I know, the record for the “Cannonball Run” (an “illegal race,” due to high speeds) from NYC to LA is 26hrs and 38 mins in 2019 during the Covid pandemic. This 1903 Packard carried a large umbrella for the sun!
Helen’s family had a 1952 dark green used/repaired Hudson Hornet with a red hood. They called it “Cherry Nose.” It was like the Doc Hudson car in the movie “Cars.”
Helen had a 1962 dark grey Corvair convertible when I met her in 1967.
My car, at that time, was a 1962 Chevrolet Impala sedan, three speed stick shift on the column, that I called “Mister Good.”
Two other cars at the museum caught my attention. The first was a Moore/Unser racecar used on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1958. The Pikes Peak Hill Climb was started in 1915, one year after the toll road was completed. It is run on the last Sunday of June each year. The 2011 “Hill Climb” was the last year when some of the route was not paved. In 2018, a VW I.D.R. electric racecar set a record of 7 minutes 57.128 seconds for the 12.42-mile course, with an elevation gain of 4,720ft and 156 turns! One reason why Electric cars have an advantage is because the gasoline engines require oxygen, which decreases with altitude.
The second car was the 1965 Goldenrod, which held the land speed record of 409.277mph for 25 years. It was powered by four Chrysler engines. The record was set on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.
Another popular display includes a line of Presidential Limousines. The most recent was for President Reagan. Each one became bigger, heavier, and had more security features.
The following line starts with President Eisenhower’s “Bubble Top” Lincoln limousine –
I remember getting a “Wiener Whistle” from a Wienermobile as a child in the early 1950s! This year I came across one visiting Yellow Springs OH.
OK Everybody, let’s sing the Oscar Mayer Wiener Song!
15 cent McD hamburger anyone? Note the 1956 Chevy and a Studebaker in the photo as well. You can eat lunch in Lanny’s Diner.
There is a large section of the museum devoted to innovation in Agriculture and the Environment. I have picked out a few photos of personal interest. The first is the International Harvester wagon built in Chicago.
An 1850 Reaper made in Brockport NY
A 1900 Superior Grain Drill made in Springfield OH
A 1910 Aermotor (Windmill) made in Chicago.
Many are still in use. I took this photo last year in West TX
Railroads – Early RR Steam Engine and the C&O 1941 Locomotive called the Allegheny.
The Allegheny was one of the biggest/heaviest most powerful locomotives ever built. It is the most photographed item in the museum.
This is why passenger cars on trains are called both “ passenger carriages” and “passenger coaches.”
A center section of the museum was devoted to Liberty and Justice for All. President Lincoln was assassinated while sitting in this blood-stained rocker at the Ford Theater in Washington DC on April 14, 1965.
The 1800s
Some women, who were arrested picketing President Wilson in front of the White House, went on a hunger strike while in jail and were force fed.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on this Montgomery AL City Bus and was taken to jail.
Another favorite section of the museum for me was the “Heroes of the Sky Exhibit.” This is an exact replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer made in Dayton OH.
In 1926, Admiral Byrd made a disputed flight over the North Pole in this Fokker Trimotor aircraft. The expedition was sponsored by Edsel Ford and the plane was named after his daughter Josephine.
It is documented that he did make the first flight over the South Pole in 1929 in this 1928 Ford Trimotor.
The Douglas Commercial (DC-3) was built from 1936 through 1950 and was the workhorse of the fledgling airline industry.
This was one of the first Plane-Helos that was put in operation by the Detroit News.
The Dymaxian Round Aluminum House was a 1948 prototype of a proposed mass-produced house that was made from aluminum, steel, and plastic. It looked like a great idea!
Made in America items –
Last photo, Phone Evolution –
We hope to go back to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation again, when the adjacent Greenfield Village is also open.
A 3.5hr drive got us home about 5pm.
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