Great Lakes road trip

Tuesday, September 26

We headed to SLC only to realize we forgot our passports!
Turned around in Ogden, drove back to Deweyville,
 got the passports and drove back to SLC.
Not too great a start but Tuesday morning we flew to Chicago, Illinois
to start our road trip around the Great Lakes.

Flying to Chicago because it was the cheapest airport.

Chicago O'Hare Airport 
We rented a car and headed to Minnesota.
Toll roads ALL the way thru Illinois! $7.90!

Driving through Wisconsin. No tolls!

 

Outside of Madison, Wisconsin we saw and stopped at a
Mousehouse Cheesehaus.

Wes is a Cheesehead!

We sampled fresh curd and other cheeses and bought a
cheese wedge souvenir and fudge.



Checking out the area where Heidi & Sam will be moving soon.

corn fields and soybeans and pine trees - also lots of cranberries

Made it through Wisconsin into Minnesota

We found our hotel and took a shuttle to the
Mall of America
in Minneapolis, Minnesota

an art exhibit done out of yarn

Grandma with Dora and Diego!

We rode the FlyOver America and it was so amazing!
What a great country we live in - it was beautiful to experience.

a penny smasher

the Crayola store

 



 

 Wednesday, September 27

Driving across Minnesota

lots of lakes

seeing Fall colors!

famous for their beer

 

entering North Dakota

Fargo. North Dakota

We saw harvested wheat fields,

lots of water

lots of grass hay

 

bales of hay everywhere, even along the side of the highway

and sunflower fields that have frozen

huge farm equipment

some oil fields as we got more north into North Dakota.

 We passed the Geographical Center of North America

 

Getting close to crossing the US border into Canada.

Lots of oil derricks here in Saskatchewan, Canada.

we spent the night in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada

bought some KINDEREGGS and a 6 pack of Pepsi "mini" cans



gas is bought by the liter and we gave up trying to figure out the price

 

known for its' wheat

 

Acres of harvested wheat fields.

Thursday, September 28 

The speed limit is 100 Km
sounds fast but isn't... only about 60 mph

We are driving towards Regina, Saskatchewan.
Construction for miles and everyone drove 40 km = 25 mph!

 

North Dakota and Saskatchewan both get high winds.

Moosomin, Saskatchewan

Trip Advisor suggested eating here and it was delicious.

Now we are in Manitoba, Canada,
known for buffalo.

 



the Canadian trains run alongside the highway

Manitoba is prettier.  Lots more trees,
high groundwater with reeds and cattails

We are driving on the Trans Canada Hwy #1
also known as the
Highway of Heroes - Honoring Those Who Served

We are staying the night in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
 where we ate at Mary Brown's Chicken 'n Tators.

Canadian geese

a cute Canadian guard by our hotel in Winnipeg

 Friday, September 29

it's a crisp, foggy morning

East into Ontario, Canada towards Kenora,
we drove through Whiteshell Provincial Park
(like our National Forest).
This area is known as "Lake of the Woods"

 

Falcon lake, Hawk Lake, Eagle Lake, Caribou Lake ---
this is lake country and beautiful!!!

Old lake town, touristy and very pretty.

the windy road South through the lakes and the trees

 

 

 

We have seen watch for moose signs for 2 days but no "live" moose.

Close to the US border in a town called Emo, Ontario we spied a
Heward Road sign!  We checked out the road :)

This is Heward Road

both directions

The end of our Canadian adventure.  We have now been to
9 Canadian Provinces and seen 2 more from a ship!

what a terrible back warehouse type place

United States

International Falls, Minnesota
 

 

We ate at a Canadian fast food place called Tim Horton's,
lunch with yummy donuts.

The drive from International Falls, Minnesota to the entrance of
Voyageurs National Park.

Rainey Lake Visitor Center

there are 3 entrances to this National Park

This national park is a hiking and boating area,
exploring the lakes in this area.

a moose!  still not live

A view of Rainy Lake and the islands and
Kabetogama Peninsula.

 

Ed Woods but looks like Davey Crockett or John Smith.

Now driving 3 more hours to Duluth, Minnesota.

Lake Superior

We walked the Lakewalk in Duluth, Minnesota.

 We walked out to the light house.

 

This bridge raised for boats to pass under it, then
lowered for cars and us to cross.

pedestrians and cars may now cross...

 

Saturday, September 30



We took the bridge across Lake Superior from
 Minnesota into Wisconsin.

into Wisconsin

the tip of Lake Superior

 

this sign reads Wisconsin

 

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
from Ashland, Wisconsin

Driving East into Michigan
( the last of "my" 50 states to visit!!!)

Our rental car and our license plate

 



We stopped for lunch in Marquette, Michigan and
had Culver's meal with Turtle Custard --- YUM!

Following the coastal road of Southern Lake Superior we
stopped and touched the lake at Christmas Point. I gathered
pine needles, a pine cone and a driftwood stick.

 

Pictured Rocks

Lake Superior

 

across the mainland

Now we are HERE!



the North shore of Lake Michigan

gathering driftwood and pine cone pieces

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

The bridge to Mackinaw City, Michigan

$4.00 toll

Lake Michigan on the right

Lake Huron on the left

Colonial Michilimackinac,
a quaint, touristy town where our hotel is for the night.

 

this is how we found our bed in our hotel room

 

red rose petals

Chief Wawatam Park

 

Lake Huron

Mackinac Island from Mackinaw City, Michigan

collecting small rocks from this lake



Lake Huron

lots of seagulls

Lake Huron

our footprints

We shopped and ate cod for dinner and found a penny smasher!

 

the waterpark in our hotel

 Sunday, October 1

The old Mackinac Lighthouse

 

 

this is Mackinaw City

heading South through Michigan

lots of colored trees

We drove along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and
 previously along the Lake Superior Circle Tour.

Lake Michigan at the south end.

Heading towards Chicago and the last day of our trip.

Gary, Indiana

Illinois

 

The Chicago Loop where the traffic really got bogged down.

The train to the city.

Chicago skyline

 

The Chicago bears were in town and traffic was at a standstill sometimes.

Took us 3 hours instead of one to get to our hotel by the airport.

 

We got to our hotel, left our luggage then returned the rental car,
took their shuttle to the airport, called for our hotel shuttle
(phone system not working!) after an hour of calling finally got through
 and they picked us up and back to the hotel.
Exhausting day - should have been short but was LONG!

 Monday, October 2

Today we took a hotel shuttle to the train station,
 rode the Blue Line train to downtown Chicago,
transferred to a bus which dropped us off at
the Navy Pier.

It was only 9:00am and the pier was closed so we walked
along the coast path down to the Millennium Park.

Crystal gardens

Canadian geese

The Cloud
or the Chicago silver bean.

Laurie

Wes and our reflections

Us in the middle under the cloud.

Wes is waving

Chicago reflection

We sat and watched people until 11:00am then
walked up the street to Giordano's.

Chicago's GIORDANO'S pizza!

Wes had chicken alfredo pasta and I had deep dish pizza!
YUMMY!



walking back to the Navy Pier along Chicago's Riverwalk

 

a fountain spraying across the river

 

We rode the Centennial Ferris Wheel.

 

a picture of the picture on the internet  :)

 

pictures taken from the top

A great day AND we managed to find the right bus
AND get on the right train back to our hotel
AND they picked us up AND took us to the airport on-time!

Our blueline transportation passes

We flew on American Airlines back to Salt Lake City.

All of our fun souvenirs.