W-I-N-D-Y Weekend

Last fall we were experiencing difficulties with our blog. I had written over a dozen blogs that never appeared on our blog. They were lost in cyberspace. This morning as I prepared to write another blog, this favorite blog from October 2011 reappeared. I didn't want you to miss this story so I am posting it today. Hope you enjoy it!


This Saturday we were under a high wind warning and on the lakes a gale warning. This means that winds could be blowing 50-60 miles per hour. The winds were the worst we had experienced since we have been in Mackinaw. The winds came at us from the northwest with gust over 50 m.p.h. Traffic on the bridge was opened to only cars,vans and pick-up trucks without a load or cabs.
The waves crashed on shore at about 4 feet. On the straits, the waves were huge. So much so that the ferry companies cut times going to the island from Mackinaw City and finally didn't run to Mackinaw City from the island at all. Instead, people wishing to go to Mackinaw City were ferried to St Ignace and then shuttled over the bridge. When the ferry companies do this, the water is rough. Too rough. So what did I do? I bundled up, grabbed my camera and went under the bridge to take some pictures of the water for you. The winds were blowing so hard that I took cover on the side of a bridge piling. The wind driven rain cut my face as it pelted me. At times the wind was so powerful that it jolted me, causing the picture to be blurred. The roar of the water and the howling winds were deafening.I was determined to get some pictures of this incredible sight for you.
I should tell you something about me...water like this terrifies me. Thank God I didn't have to use a zoom lens...that would have been really scary. The sheer power of the wind and water combined re enforced my respect for Mother Nature. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Spring Is In The Air

Hello everyone! We're back! We have been busy in the past few weeks spring cleaning, doing lots of laundry and finalizing renovation plans for some of the rooms. We have spent a lot of time in Gaylord and Petoskey gathering supplies for our projects. Sunday we drove through the tunnel of trees on our way to Petoskey. The trilliums are in full bloom between Good Hart and Harbor Springs and they are so thick in places that it looks like snow is covering the ground. Because there are no leaves on the trees yet,the surrounding landscape is in full view. I didn't realize how high the hills were in the trees. There were some hills that looked to be 50-75 feet high and many are covered in trilliums. I love these beautiful flowers because to me, they are natures way of saying spring has sprung. We stopped several times along the way so I could take some pictures. We hope you enjoy these beautiful wildflowers.

The Big Rigs Were In Town

About 100 eighteen wheelers came blasting across the Mackinac Bridge Saturday night and the town was packed along the parade route with excited visitors waiting to get a glimpse of these big trucks. With horns blasting,the beautiful lighted, immaculate trucks made their way along South Huron and Central Avenue to the encouragement of the crowds. It was a perfect fall night and the trucks put on a great show. Take a look.

Big Wheels Were Rollin In Mackinaw!

One tractor, two tractors, red tractor, blue tractor! That's right. The big tractors all 870 of them came to town on Thursday and 820 paraded across the Might Mac on Friday morning. I was unable to move my vehicle because the line up for the parade had started early. So I took several pictures from my car and then from the motel. Here are some of my favorites.

The Is The Job

I was out in the back parking lot when I noticed a bridge worker walking on the catwalk up the cables towards the towers. Then a crane came along and hoisted up a platform for the worker. Can you imagine the view from there? I'm not certain that I could walk up the catwalk and feel like I'm not going to fall. But I sure would love to give it a try. How about You?

Do You See What I See?

It was another glorious sunrise. I looked out my window about 5:30 and caught a glimpse of a ship..or so I thought. I looked closer and noticed that there were two ships passing right in front of the motel. I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. Take a look.