Worthington, Minnesota was eerily quiet that morning, even at 10am, so we grabbed a few quick snacks at our gas fill-up and hit the road.
I'd love to tell you that the next few hours were full of funny stories and excitement, but honestly, our drive through the middle of this state were very uneventful. There wasn't much to look at, and the kids were quiet and slept through most of it. Grey had taken over the role of co-pilot once Jason had headed home, but even he couldn't keep his eyes open through this boredom.
The day was bright and sunny, and I do love driving, so I turned on an audiobook and sailed over the state border and into Wisconsin. My plan was to head to Munising, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, to camp along the shore of Lake Superior before taking in the sights around the Pictured Rocks. When I informed the kids of this plan, the groans from each of them were almost in unison. They had reached their limit. I figured it would take me until about 10pm to make it to Munising, or, for a couple more hours of driving, I could get us all the way to our cabin in Gaylord, Michigan. The vote was unanimous: GAYLORD OR BUST. As much as I didn't want our road trip to be over, I didn't want to overextend my kids and the amount of travel they were able to tolerate. I also thought I'd like more than a night in the U.P. and Jason and I could take the kids for a long weekend sometime and explore that, separately from this trip.
So, I re-set the GPS, and set my sights on making it to the cabin. I'd like to make a small note here and tell you that Emerson loves Taco Bell. I mean, like LOVE loves it. We hadn't seen a Taco Bell since Missouri, and I promised her that the first one I found we'd stop at. It must've been her lucky day, because on that Tuesday of driving, we happened to stumble upon a Taco Bell at lunchtime, and AGAIN at dinnertime, and yes, she ate it twice. I think she's a fan of Wisconsin.
Oh, and how could I mention Wisconsin and not mention Emerson's love of cheese?! She had saved most of her souvenir money from the trip just for this state. When I spotted signs for a little shop that sold cheese and gifts just north of Green Bay, I knew we had to stop. Not only did we pick out two large blocks of cheese and some horseradish for Jason, but Emerson's wish came true: She got herself a cheese hat. Her trip was now complete.
It was just a quick stop, though, because it was already after 7pm, and we weren't even into Michigan yet. That arrival time kept inching further and further out, and I had to keep driving.
Within an hour, we were in Michigan. Officially back in our home state! It was a little bittersweet, knowing our trip was almost over. We had so much fun together on the road, and had seen so many new and interesting places, and I didn't want it to end. It felt like real life was on hold and we were in our own little bubble.
The sun was setting, and there was still one more picture to take. We made it to Escanaba, nearly "in da moonlight", and found a little spot to unload for juuuuuust a couple of minutes. The kids were all smiles, happy to be back on our home turf.
By this point, it was nearly 9pm, and I knew I still had miles to go. We cruised along Highway 2, as it followed the coast of Lake Michigan, heading towards the Mackinaw Bridge. I couldn't help but smile as we drove through all the little towns with their lakefront homes and cabins, all with little name signs hanging at the edges of their driveways. "The Logan's Lakehouse", "North Country", "The UP Getaway", and "Lake Time" all reminded me of the Northern Michigan I know and love. The last light of sunset faded quickly, and just before the darkness hit, I was on high alert. This was deer country, and I spotted several along the sides of the road.
And then it was dark. And when I say dark, I mean DARK. There's a stretch of Highway 2 that's pretty desolate even in daylight, but at night? Freaky. No street lights, no towns, no stop lights, not even an occasional car with headlights coming at me. I was the only one on that road on that Tuesday night. I prayed the deer kept their distance. My eyes were constantly scanning for any kind of movement from the sides of the road, and Greyson and I chattered on about all the things that swim through an 11 year old's head.
I thought that once I got closer to the big bridge, there would be more signs of life, but the only lights I saw were from the distant glow of the Mackinaw when I could catch glimpses of it through the trees. The kids were all awake as we approached the bridge. The only time they had been over it was a couple years ago when we walked it. In daylight. With thousands of other people. Crossing it in the dark, alone, in a big van pulling a camper was another experience altogether. The good part was, since we were utterly alone, I could go as slow as I wanted and not hold anyone up. And when I got to the scary part where instead of driving on actual road, one lane is just metal grates, I could opt for the actual paved part and avoid the feeling of tires on grates completely. Not even Mackinaw Island had any light showing and it seemed like we were floating, looking out into darkness all around us. Then we were coming down the other side of the bridge and entering the Lower Peninsula. I was still expecting some traffic, but there was none, in either direction. I still had an hour to go, and all but Greyson were sound asleep. He and I cranked up the music and sang along to our favorite country songs to keep ourselves awake. I was so thankful he had napped earlier in the day because those last couple of hours of driving would've been near impossible if I had had to keep myself awake!
We had left Worthington, Minnesota at 10am, Central Standard Time, and I'm not sure where the time went, but we arrived in Gaylord, Michigan at nearly 1am, Eastern Standard Time. The cabin is in a small and quiet neighborhood, and I am sure that the sound of our rig pulling in so late on a Tuesday night/Wednesday morning alarmed a few folks! The kids' heads popped up as I pulled in. They grabbed only what they needed for the night and silently stumbled inside and passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillows. It had been a long day of travel with more than 750 miles of road in 15 hours.
The story isn't over yet, though-it's only early Wednesday morning! We've got a few more days until it's back to reality! Stay tuned to find out what the rest of the week held for us!
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