Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Two

     Today we planned an easy day of travel so we covered around 250 miles from Mackinac City, Michigan to Marinette, Wisconsin. There are several reasons why we always stopped in Marinette on our trips to Minnesota; Food and Relatives.
     But first, let's update you on the clown car. Today I became a believer in the Toyota Prius. Look at this!

Our Mileage!

     As we drove, our mileage just kept going up until we peaked at 62.5 MPG. It only peaked there because we arrived at our destination but I firmly believe it would have gone up higher! Let me tell you two quick stories while at the gas pump. The first time we gassed up was yesterday and we waited and waited while the woman in front of us filled her car. Finally the pump in front of her opened up so I pulled in front of her and filled the Prius. 4.6 Gallons! We got in, drove away but stopped to fill out our car paperwork and when we looked back, she was STILL filling her car! The second story was today. We filled up again and it only took 4.5 gallons. A big Harley pulled in and I asked the guy what kind of mileage he got. He smiled and said 35 MPG. I smiled and said well, we're getting over 60 MPG in that car and then drove away leaving him staring at the car...LOL
     Keeping with tradition, if I see a usable Outhouse, I will stop and take a picture of it and use it. Here is the one we found today. It was actually clean and smelled like fresh wood. It also sported a toilet seat that closed itself slowly when you lowered it. Sweet!

The Self-Closing Toilet Seat

     This Outhouse was next to a waterfall. Here's that picture...

A View of The Waterfall

     Once in Marinette, we went to the city park where we used to camp and then on to the cemetery where our father is buried. His whole family is buried there as well. When we arrived, we noticed the graves had weeds growing in front. We cleaned them out, bought flowers and planted them in front of each family member. Here's my dad's before and after pic's...

 

Before

     Next on the list was food. For years we all went to Mickey Lu's BBQ for the best hamburgers in the world. Chuck Hennessy still owns the place and he still cooks the burgers on an open pit charcoal grill. Wow! They are great. Here's a video of Chuck grilling burgers. I don't think he has any hair left on his arms! 

     You can't get fries there but you can get Brats, Hot Dogs and Burgers. Today I tied my record and had 2 burgers and 3 double burgers! The best! 

     

Me in front of Mickey-Lu's

     Last on the agenda was to go to the park next door to our hotel to take in the first annual Rock Island Music Festival. There were quite a few bands that played and it was very entertaining.

Bridge to the Island

 The 1st Band Playing

 The 2nd Band Playing

     Finally, there are the coolest bronze action statues on the river. They depict a couple of boys having some swimming fun and I could just imagine my dad jumping off that rock to go for a swim. The boy below who is jumping is somehow attached to the rock but when you look at it, you wonder how in the world they attached a heavy bronze boy to the rock. Take a look below.

That could have been my dad years ago

     And so that ends day two of our journey. Tomorrow we will be heading to Stillwater, Minnesota. My gr. gr. grandfather and also my great grandfather ran a local brewery there and we plan to try and find where it was. See you tomorrow...

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day One

     In May, my mom died at the ripe old age of 99 years. She was a marvelous woman far ahead of her time and she lived life to the fullest. She passed away in Pennsylvania but she needed to be buried in Minnesota. She told us she wanted to be cremated and then taken to where she was born in Minnesota to be buried next to her parents.
     This first installment on my blog follows the trip that my sister and I are taking to take our mother's cremains to their final resting place. This trip is retracing a trip that we took countless times to our grandma's farm in Minnesota when we were children.
     So...we begin with my sister calling me a few days before she was to arrive telling me she traded in her gas guzzling mini van for a gas sipping Toyota Prius. Well, I thought to myself, there goes my packing list. You see, I take after my mother and take everything but the kitchen sink with me when I travel. So now I had to repack everything into a smaller sized load. Let's see...slide projector and slides to show to relatives along the way, computer in my Swiss backpack, good camera in my Lowepro backpack, suitcase, survival bag and cooler for drinks. Check!
     I looked out the window as she drove in the driveway and almost fell off my chair. An ORANGE car and a small one at that! Oh No!!! It's a clown car from the circus! Everyone is going to laugh at us!

Here it is!

     I'm thinking to myself "another yuppy car..." but little did I know what the future held for me.

     We packed the car and...well, you better take a look at it...

The full car

     Yes my friends, it is packed to the gills with all our things along with Mom and the back seats are even down. I thought to myself, "Man, the mileage is going to go to hell with all this weight."

     Our first stop on the trip while retracing the drive we took so many times was to Mackinac City, MI to take in the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge. It's a suspension bridge over Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. 

Here's me in front of the bridge

     Next, you will soon find out that FOOD is at the top of my list so you will most always see pictures of food. We looked up a good restaurant and while on the way, I hit the brakes pretty hard. We heard a loud BANG! when something slammed into the center console. I said "What was that!". My sister calmly said "That was Mom." We had a good laugh. Here's a picture of my fresh Michigan Whitefish dinner.

Whitefish

     After dinner we walked to a local fudge shop and bought 4 slices of fresh Michigan fudge. Boy was it good. 

Fudge

     Last thing I did for the day was venture into a local saloon for something to cool off with. I was enjoying my brew and when I looked up, I saw something familiar; a toilet seat with some writing on it.

1st Place

     The bar entered the 1st annual Outhouse Race in Mackinac City in 2013 and they took first place. Apparently 1st Place was awarded a toilet seat! I should know something about Outhouse Races. They are built on skis and pushed 500 feet on hard-packed snow. I should know; I was the official photographer of the Trenary Outhouse Races for ten years. The races are held every year in Trenary, MI. 

     End of Day One