Jun 24, 2011 - Day #8: Heading for Home

It was up at 5:30 at out the door by 6:00 a.m. Throughout the past week we have been keeping contact with the shop repairing our car. The shop said they would have it ready by noon today. It's off to Chicopee, Massachusetts to pick up the car. We arrived at the dealership ready and waiting. They let us return the rental car to them and even reimbursed us for the cost. What a wonderful surprise. We were so fortunate not to incur any expense except gas and lost time due to the breakdown. Our plan was to head to Vermont today. Due to the extra...

Jun 23, 2011 - Day #7: Back to the Park

The day started with breakfast in bed...blueberry pancakes. Yum. Blueberries are a big thing in Maine, just like lobster. The day was cloudy and cool but great for hiking. It was back to Acadia for another strenuous trail (of course) to hike. The trail we would have liked to take, the Precipice Trail, was closed due to peregrine falcons nesting along the trail. Instead we hiked up the Acadia Mountain trail. This trail was longer than the last one we took with a lot of rock climbing. However, we weren't climbing on cliff ledges. We climbed...

Jun 22, 2011 - Day #6: Historical Lighthouse Tour

It's off to class for me. Jeff and the kids spent the morning by the pool. After a quick lunch by the pool, we joined a group of 145 people to take a Historical Lighthouse Tour. We got on the boat and were unable to get a spot on the upper deck so we went down in the cabin and got four seats. The thought of being stuck inside made Jeff crazy so we moved to the bench outside. This turned out to be a bad choice. With the boat moving about 20 mph, the wind chill ended up being about 35 degrees. We all had a single sweatshirt and FROZE, FROZE,...

Jun 21, 2011 - Day #5: Acadia National Park

We decided it was time to try our rock climbing skills. Acadia is divided into four categories of trails...very easy, easy, moderate and strenuous. Being Finnegan's we decided we would start out with the strenuous trails. During our climb me and Riley had to remind a couple of those in our group that we were "finnegan's" to get them to continue their climb. We are not sure if it was that motivational talk or the fact that they couldn't go down backwards that prompted the skeptics to continue. Once we reached the top, the views were worth...

Jun 20, 2011 - Day #4: Bar Harbor, Maine

Morning comes early on the East Coast. The sun rises around 4:45 a.m. The day started at 6:00 a.m. Off to class for me. Jeff and the kids spent the morning at the pool. The weather was perfect. We are being told this is very unusual for this time of the year. It looks like we will have sunny weather with highs in the 70's most of the week. Yeah!! The afternoon was spent in Acadia National Park. We tested our hiking skills on a few short paths. The first was relatively easy. We walked down to Jordan Lake. The second hike up "The Bubbles"...

Jun 19, 2011 - Day #3: On our way to Bay Harbor, Maine

We started the day early...packed up our things so we could get an early start. Trouble found us in the drive thru at Starbucks. The transmission in our car went out. Jeff was able to push us out successfully. The next few hours were spent on the phone trying to arrange towing and repair services. Jeff was successful in finding "Chuck". He came to our rescue in an old mustang convertible that was missing its top and seat belts. The kids and I rode with Chuck. Jeff was fortunate enough to ride in the tow truck. Chuck decided it would be fun...

Jun 18, 2011 - Day #2: Six Flags Theme Park

Yesterday we woke up at 6:30 to drive through Canada, through New york and to Massachusetts. It was the longest car ride I've ever been on. we have a lot of stuff in the car so its a tight squeeze. It was really cool just to see all the sights on the way there. On the way we stopped at Niagara Falls. It was nothing like I expected it to be! After that we finished our ride to the hotel. I don't like being in the car so it seemed like forever! when we finally got to the hotel we went to a restaurant called Uno's to get some dinner. It was...

Jun 17, 2011 - Day #1: On our Way....

On Friday, June 17th we packed our bags and hit the highway at 7:00 a.m. After a couple pit stops for the important stuff (Starbucks!), we crossed the Blue Water Bridge around 7:30 a.m. It's a beautiful drive through Canada, and a short one. It only takes about 3 1/2 hours to cross through Canada from Port Huron to Buffalo New York. Our first stop was at Niagara Falls, Ontario. Jeff and the kids have never seen the falls. It was beautiful. We didn't take time for a boat tour...only a walking tour along the river. The view was tremendous....

Jun 10, 2011 - St. Clair MI Thousand Trails

On Friday, 6/10, we left Kenisee Lake and Ohio and headed into Michigan. We were going to another Thousand Trails in St. Clair. We were very disappointed with the campground. Nothing like Kenisee Lake! Our first problem was trying to get propane. They didn't take care of their equipment and managed to get grass into the check valve on our propane tank. They had to call Amerigas to try and get the situation fixed. Fortunately, all's OK now. In addition, the roads were all mud and most sites were in deep woods with no chance to get satellite...

Jun 18, 2010 - The Shores of Michigan

Friday, June 18, 2010 Sean and I will start our summer vacation "on the road". No rushing. No real plan. The first part of the trip will be I94 West towards Jackson, Michigan hop on 60 and head southwest to our first destination. The sleepy, hidden village of Michiana. This history was taken from Beachtowns.org "was built around a giant oak known as the "Old Indian Signal Oak." This southernmost town of Harbor Country is the summer residence for a number of well known Chicago celebrities, and is best known for its quiet, relaxing cottage...

Sep 14, 2008 - Thank you very much, IKE!

Today we are getting the affects of hurricane Ike. However, because of the last hurricane,it has been raining since we arrived in St. Clair, MI on Sept. 10th. It's been pleasantly warm, 76 degrees, but very wet. (We could have stayed in Oregon if we wanted this kind of weather!) We had a great week in Sault Ste Marie, MI. We were camped on the banks of the St. Mary's River about a half mile from the Soo Locks. We did a dinner cruise to tour the locks while we were there. It was pretty impressive. From the campground, we could watch the 1000...

Jul 27, 2008 - Lazy Days is Port Huron, MI

Here we are in the great state of Michigan, at the Thousand Trails St. Clair Preserve to be exact. This campground is located about 50 miles north of Detroit and just 13 miles from Lake Huron. It’s a nice park with lots of activities, and there is a lot going on in the area this summer. On Monday we went exploring (had to find the local Wal-Mart – giggle!), and we ended up visiting a light ship museum. Until that visit, I never knew light ships existed. Light ships were used all along the coasts of all the Great Lakes from approximately the...