June 21. We're sorry to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday but it's time for us to start back east. Our next destination is Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We spend the first night after a long drive in Gladstone, MI at a camp along the shore of Lake Michigan. In the morning we take our time leaving, eating a lunch of grilled hotdogs before we go.
A shorter drive brings us to Castle Rock, a campground in St Ignace, MI. This is our home until Saturday.
We settle in and relax. There’s no lake view but Lake Huron is close by. It's our anniversary - 36 years! We have pork chops, corn, and watermelon for dinner, and a nice bottle of celebratory Rombauer wine that we've been saving for a few years.
Thursday June 23. The plan for the day is to go to Mackinac Island, but first I have a call with Bennett, my running coach. He's helping me process the race. My goal this week is to write down race thoughts as they occur. We are going to talk again next week. I know he'd like me to sign up to be coached by him again but I don't want to spend the money. He'd have to give me a huge discount! Ha, not happening.
We take the ferry to Mackinac Island. It's breezy and cold up on top but the views are great. Mackinac is adorable.
No cars are allowed on the island. People get around mostly by horses, bikes, and feet. We walk east and eat lunch at Bistro on the Green and then walk along the shore. It's a lovely day but warm. We let the dogs get in the water before we turn around.
I start to fade as we get close to town. My feet hurt and I'm feeling tired. But it's only 5 days after the marathon and nothing a little chocolate mint chip ice cream won't fix.
That evening we want to see the classic cars parade down the the road in front of the campsite but I misunderstand the times and we only get a few glimpses of the cars. We're disappointed. Lee knows something about them and can identify the year and make of a lot of them. I know nothing about old cars except that they are pretty and evoke a mysterious sense of nostalgia in my bones.
The next day we don't try as hard to be tourists. We laze around in the morning, then go to the park overlooking the Mackinac bridge.
We walk along the water, then head to downtown St Ignace. Surprise! All the classic cars are lined up along the street so we get to see them after all.
The next day starts two long days of driving to get home. The first day we take a "shortcut" through Canada that ends up taking probably just as long as if we had gone through Detroit, because of the wait at the border. We stay outside of Niagara Falls in a KOA campground in Lewiston New York. There is a vague sense that the falls are close but we never see them. We've both been there in our earlier years so we don't really feel deprived.
The last day includes a seemingly endless drive through upstate New York, western Massachusetts, and finally we’re home. The lawn is shaggy and the garden needs weeding and there's lots of laundry to do, but it's nice to be back in New Hampshire. We really enjoyed our RV adventure and are already planning more destinations for the coming months and years. But for now we’re ready to enjoy a New England summer, the best time of the of year up here!
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