This morning we told Jonas we would pick him up at ten AM at Michigan Tech. Was he ready then? Nope. He did not leave the building until 10:30 AM. I asked him if he has seen my text from the night before and he said he did but he chose to ignore it…
You could tell the boy was tired the minute he got in the car. In addition to being tired, you could smell his shoes a mile away. His phone had broken the day before, and I mean completely broken. The screen had been broken for a while but in addition to that the touch was not working. He has had his phone for almost four years. I suggested we go to Verizon to get a new phone but he did not want to do that at first and he complained about all the suggestions of things to do I had. Thus I suggested the family split up for an hour. David took Rachel to walk around downtown in Houghton and I took Jonas back to the hotel where I was able to convince him to go to Verizon and then after that to join the family. I have still yet to ask him much about the program as he was so tired I didn’t want to irritate him more with my questions.
Once we got the phone situation fixed we headed an hour and ten minutes east towards Copper Harbor. Rachel fell asleep on the way and Jonas was on the verge of falling asleep. When we got there, Rachel spotted a playground. Jonas wanted to rent a bike at this point but he just seemed so tired I did not feel super comfortable with that idea. I was able to convince him to come to Fort Wilkins with us even though he had been there before.
Thus next we headed to Fort Wilkins. This fort was built to help keep law and order during the copper rush. The first part of our visit was spent looking for Jonas who managed to walk so far ahead of us that we lost him. Once we found him the girl was complaining that she wanted to visit the playground. I was frustrated because I just wanted to look around. At this point Jonas went back to the car and David took Rachel to the playground and I was able to enjoy the fort. Once I returned back to the car everyone seemed to be in a better mood.
Next up we headed to Horseshoe Harbor. I picked this place to visit as it seemed like there may be some rocks for the kids to climb on. Additionally, to access it you had to go on a dirt road for two miles. This stop seemed to be a hit with the kids. Jonas at one point went pretty deep into the water so that he could climb “island rocks”. Rachel was mad she was not wearing a swim suit and said she wanted to come back to this beach. I enjoyed just sitting there and watching the kids and enjoying the water. It was also not very crowded.
After Horseshoe Harbor we headed up Brockway Mountain lookout. This is a drive that takes you up the mountain and gives you great views of the surrounding areas. We did not do the whole drive, we just went up to the highest point and then turned around.
Our final destination of the day was the Devil’s Washtub. We were following directions I had taken screen shots of and I was pretty sure we passed it. We then came across a picnic area and we decided to stop. As Rachel and I were exploring one area of the picnic stop, David pointed out something we missed. It turned out we had stopped at Devil’s Washtub!
At this point it was 5:20 PM. The family unanimously decided that for dinner we would get take out from Joey’s seafood and bring it to the hotel. Both kids fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. We did not get back to the hotel until after 6:30. I ordered dinner and then went to the grocery store while we were waiting for the food. Picked up the food, ate dinner, and then I went to the Loads of Fun laundromat to do wash. Both pairs of Jonas’s shoes really stank, but after doing wash I think the worst of the stink is behind us.
Initially there were complaints from some people about driving to Copper Harbor but I believe the whole family had fun. We rapidly learned that the cellular data service is spotty in this part of Michigan. I am glad I had taken some screen shots of some of the places I wanted to stop at, otherwise we would have never have been able to find a couple of these places. This part of Michigan though is really reminding me of Maine. It is beautiful and there is so much to do in the area. The kids would be happy going back to Copper Harbor tomorrow if they could (but we are not…I have other plans for us).
Family Vacation Adventures 