First some snapshots of Grandma Paula in Espana!
Some photos of Paulina mugging in her fancy reversible dress from Avery with fancy necklace!
Daddy, Lucy and I went to pick up Peter and Mateo from
Camp Sancta Maria in Gaylord. Since daddy and Mikey dropped off last weekend and grandma and grandpa picked up last year, I wanted to catch Mass but it was at 9:15am. Though Lucy has me awake many days at 5am, I would rather not be on the road that time of day. I arranged for an
AirBNB in Walloon Lake about 30 minutes away from camp. The room was not daddy's cup of tea, but I thought the place was adorable. I have no memories of Walloon Lake from living very close in Boyne Falls when I was younger, but it is an absolutely adorable little village with a cute public beach. Below is Lucy at Walloon Lake and checking out the full size bunk bed ladder in our room.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Northern Michigan. We arrived about 2:30pm and went to the public beach in Walloon Lake for about a half hour since check in at the place wasn't until 3pm. At 3pm we checked ourselves in and dropped off some stuff in the room and then headed out to check out Petoskey. Upon arrival in Petoskey we saw the weirdest fog that we thought couldn't be fog but with the windows down it didn't smell like smoke. Sure enough the wind coming off the lake was at least 10 degrees cooler than the temps and it was fog. You couldn't even see the lake from the walkway!
Below are actually pics from Charlevoix.
Left: the water fall in Petoskey where at least 3 wedding parties got pics while we were there and right Lucy on the beach in Charlevoix - she was absolutely fascinated with the sand.
Lucy was asleep in the back seat. Mike and I got out to sit on a bench and look at the lake while she got a much needed nap. And then this seagull landed and sat that for about 20 minutes looking totally suspicious, like he might enter the windows and fly off with her.
Lucy and I on the beach in Charlevoix with the lighthouse in the background.
Below: the Petoskey fog just before it lifted.
After a somewhat brief stay in Petoskey, just long enough for the fog to lift and us to get in a little walk on the old railroad trail, we decided to head over to Charlevoix where we'd possibly get dinner or head down to Boyne City to eat there.
We arrived at another public beach in Charlevoix that was quite quaint and reminded me a little of the Empire beach even though the city is much larger. Lucy had a great time on the playground and in the (much cooler) Lake Michigan. There was a cute little cafe we decided to eat at and we got some great food for under $20 with tip! Lucy found a little girl just about her size and really gave her a talking to. Then we headed out to walk to the lighthouse. Lucy was NOT happy and tried the entire walk in to get to the beach and then the entire walk out to jump off the breakwall. Sigh. I kept grabbing her shirt to keep her from falling in and then she basically tore at it until I took it off so I wouldn't be able to catch her as easily.
Finally happy enough for a selfie!
A view of the little cafe we ate at and the playground in the background.
Left: Charlevoix Lighthouse and Right: Walloon Lake Hemmingway sign.
More pics from Charlevoix. While there we were able to see the Emerald Isle (the ferry that goes out to Beaver Island) come in and go down into Lake Charlevoix and the drawbridge open. It was a nice parting treat to our stay :)
Below: sitting on our bench in Petoskey and daddy walking with Lucy as the fog burned off...
After Charlevoix we headed down Boyne City Road and took a quick trip through Boyne City downtown. Lucy didn't make for a very happy traveler so we decided to head back to the lodge to get her to sleep and then while I did that, Mike went back into Walloon so he could watch the sunset.
The next day we were up pretty early but we hung out in the room for a bit, explored the lodge (it would be an awesome place to have a group stay - they have a big kitchen where you can store and cook your own food and an outside grill to use) and then around 8am we had a quick coffee and breakfast and then headed to camp for pick up. On the way, Mike was kind enough to allow me a diversion to see good old 941 Deer Lake Road where we could still see the remnants of our back breaking labor from the summer of 1985, 86 or 87 I don't recall. But the railroad ties and stones are still there and though they don't mow the whole hill like dad did, they do mow down to our landscaping, the deck still looked in great shape with lights hanging, they had a flower garden box and the back yard looked like it probably gives the new owners a lovely place to hang out.
After the diversion we headed for camp and got there while the boys were in the mess hall. Mateo's stuff was literally all over inside and outside and Peter's stuff was meticulously packed up just as he came with it. The boys came out of the mess hall with arms around each other and for two guys who normally fight like cats and dogs, it really warmed my heart. We went to a terrific Mass with Father Jim who gave a great homily and then we headed for home. Mateo hadn't eaten much of the chips that daddy had mailed to him in a care package so we had plenty of snacks for the ride home and Lucy was much easier to deal with with some entertainment in the back seat from the boys.
