Travel, Bears, Ferrys and Hello, Island Adventure.

Our last morning at the campground was spent getting packed up. For a final camp treat, I showed the kids how to make campfire doughnuts, something that I remember we used to make as kids when we went camping. Basically, this process consists of wrapping raw biscuit dough around a stick, roasting it until it's baked through, buttering the hot roll, and shaking it in a bag of sugar and cinnamon. YUM! The kids, however, were less interested in the taste of the doughnuts and more interested in the fact that the left-over dough made for some great make-shift playdough!





After a final photo taken at the state park sign, we were off on the next leg of our adventure. As we made our last trip past the Deer Park General Store, I noticed this cool old phone booth, so we had to stop and check it out. The kids couldn't fathom that booths like this one used to be on every street corner, and that people used these phones instead of cell phones. Kennedy thought it was so funny that you actually had to put quarters in the slot to make a call....IMAGINE! I felt a bit old, telling my kids about "How it used to be."

On our way to the campground, we had spied a sign for OSWALD'S BEAR RANCH.....our curiosity got the best of us, so we took a little pit stop. We got to view several bears, and the kids even got to pet and interact with a black bear cub. Doesn't that old guy just look like a 2007 version of Grizzly Adams? Yes, I am dating myself....I loved that show! This isn't exactly what we had in mind when we had hoped to see wildlife in the U.P., but I guess it was better than nothing.

After the Bear Ranch adventure, we were back on the road. We stopped for a nice lunch at another local dive in Newberry, then settled in for the trip back to St. Ignace where we would board the ferry for Mackinac Island. Hayden was just excited to ride the boat, as he was too young to remember what "Makna" Island was all about (in his words). Tomorrow, highlights of our time on the Island. Pray for more rain....the little bit that we have gotten is making our little garden grow like crazy.....fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, anyone?