6/17/10 - Thayne, WY

We will be in Thayne until July 15th when we head east to Douglas, WY for Barb's 50th Class Reunion. Then we are going to an Alfa Rally in Ft. Collins, CO for a week and then head back to Casper, WY for Pat's 50th Class Reunion. We should be back in Thayne, August 2nd. We have seen a lot of beautiful country and definitely know that God has protected our travels. In four different instances we have been about 3-5 days ahead of major tornados and flooding in areas that we had just stayed in (Oklahoma City, OK, Springfield, IL, Northern Indiana and Wadena, MN) we praise God for his protection and thank you all for your prayers for our safe travels. I probably won't do another blog until after the reunions.

Can't possibly have a bad day when this is the view out our window.

6/16/10 - Casper, WY to Thayne, WY

These were pictures that we took while going over Togwotee Pass before dropping down into Grand Teton National Park. We couldn't get any pictures of the Tetons because it was raining so hard....but they still have a lot of snow on them.

Right along the roadway.

Pat thought this looked like a quilt the way it was thawing.

6/14/10 - Visit with Mom in Casper, WY

We headed south from Dickinson, ND into western SD and then into Wyoming. There has been so much rain in Wyoming it was like a lush green carpet....have never see it so pretty. We will spend a couple of days visiting Mom. We stayed at Ft. Caspar Campground which is right on the North Platte River. They were concerned with flooding so we moved to Walmart for the 2nd night. Had a great visit with Mom and Debbie.

6/13/10 - On to Dickinson, ND

We drove for about 90 miles and met some Alfa friends in Fargo for brunch...had a great visit with them and then it was straight across ND to Dickinson. We had an absolutely beautiful sunset and you could actually see it........we were glad to get out of the trees....they were pretty but it's great to be able to see for miles and miles. Spent another night @ Walmart.

6/12/10 - Heading West

No pictures today.....we had planned on the boat cruise along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, MI but everything was so fogged in the boats weren't even going out. It didn't look like the weather was going to clear for 2-3 days so we decided to just get headed west to Wyoming. We drove 520 miles to Wadena, MN and stayed overnight in a Walmart.

6/11/10 - Bear Cubs

The one on the chair started suckling on my hand and really making a loud suckling noise. While I was watching this the little guy on the ground was in the process of untying my shoelace...and he got it untied before I could stop him. I could have spent all day with these two. Jewel Oswald told us when they first get the little cubs they keep them in the house and they have to be fed every four hours....what an awesome thing to be able to do.....I'm jealous.

6/11/10 - Bear Cubs

This was soooooo fun interacting with these two little guys -- Conner and Kaden -- they are six months old and were from Pennsylvania....their mother was killed.

This guy figured out I had on earrings.

He found the earring and I had to push him back...they told me he would get it off my ear if I didn't stop him!

6/11/10 - Oswalds Bear Ranch

This guy was just sitting watching the day go by.

6/11/10 - Oswald's Bear Ranch

This is the same bear that was in the tree - munching away on a branch with probably juicy leaves.

When he got done eating the leaves he got in the pool and then hopped up on this log. I could watch these guys all day long....wish I worked here.

6/11/10 - Oswald Bear Ranch, Newberry, MI

The Oswald's have turned a twenty-five year hobby into a unique and fascinating business. They raise and rehab black bears. Many of their "residents" were born elsewhere, and later brought to the Bear Ranch to live. Each day, Dean Oswald goes in to Newberry and collects unwanted-surplus-food from five restaurants and a grocery store. This helps defray the large coast of feeding 28 hungry black bears at the Ranch.

This yearling couldn't make up his mind which way he wanted to be in the tree and finally decided to just get down.

6/10/10 - Shores of Lake Superior

On the shores of Lake Superior. We had a beautiful sunny day for our trip to the falls and Whitefish Point.

6/10/10 - Whitefish Point USCG Lifeboat Station

Established in 1923, the United States Coast Guard Lifeboat Station at Whitefish Point reflects a time when highly trained and dedicated surfmen often risked their lives to render assistance to those in peril along Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast.

One of the surfboats that were used for rescue.

Breeches Buoy - a crude rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels....can you imagine moving this in the sand!

6/10/10 - Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Deceivingly beautiful Lake Superior's unrelenting fury has earned the reputation of being the most treacherous of the Great Lakes. Throughout the museum complex you see maritime legends come to life. Artifacts and exhibits tell stories of sailors and ships who braved the waters of Superior and those who were lost to its menacing waves.

Of the 6000 ships lost on the Great Lakes, the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most famous and mysterious. The Fitzgerald lies twisted and broken just 17-miles from Whitefish Point, at a depth of 535 feet.

In the summer of 1995 the ship's bell was raised to honor the 29 men lost on November 10, 1975. It also serves as a reminder of the 30,000 men, women and children lost to shipwreck on the Great Lakes.

Diving gear that was used in the recovery of the Edmund Fitzgerald bell.

6/10/10 - Whitefish Point Light Station

Whitefish Point is the oldest active light on Lake Superior. The Keepers Quarters Dwelling attached to the light has been fully restored and you can tour both floors. Constructed in 1861 at the order of President Lincoln, exhibits reflect the life of the lightkeeper and his family at the turn of the century. This dwelling was a duplex.

6/10/10 - Tahquamenon Falls - Paradise, MI

This is the land of Longfellow's Hiawatha -- "by the rushing Tahquamenaw". Tahquamenon Falls State Park is home to the 2nd largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. Two distinctly unique waterfalls create the centerpiece for this park.

"Upper Falls" is the more dramatic - it has a drop of 50 feet and width of over 200 feet.

"Lower Falls" is 4 miles down stream the Tahquamenon River, and rushes it's 50,000 gallons of water per second around an island where it is then broken into two distinct waterfalls ccascading around opposite banks of the island.

6/9/10 - Soo Locks @ Sault Ste. Marie, MI

You watch in amazement as the large freighters move through one of the busiest lock systems in the world. They allow vessels of many types and sizes to safely traverse the 21-foot drop in elevation of the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron. The first lock was built in the late 1700s by a Canadian company on the Canadian side of the river. It was destroyed in the War of 1812. A private American company built locks on the US side of the river in 1853. Those locks were turned over to the State of Michigan in 1855. In 1881 the locks were transferred to the US government giving jurisdiction to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Currently, the Corps operates the locks toll free to any vessel wishing to pass through the St. Marys Falls Canal. More than 11,000 vessels, carring up to 90 million tons of cargo pass through these locks every year. Many different types of vessels lock through the system varying in size from small passenger vessels and workboats to large 1,000 foot ships carrying more than 72,000 tons of freight in a single load. Most cargo contained in these ships is either iron ore, coal, grain, or stone. One 1,000 foot Laker is equal to: Six 100 car trains with a 10,000 ton capacity each or 2,308 large trucks of 26 ton capacity each.

The water has been lowered 21 foot and the gates are opening into Lake Huron.

This freighter was the Stewart J. Cort, the first 1000 foot vessel on the Great Lakes. This was the one that we watched coming up from Lake Huron, going through the locks and then into Lake Superior, they are HUGE!

This ship was from the Netherlands.

6/8/10 - Missionary Bark Chapel

This chapel is located in Marquette Park (just below the Fort). The park is named in honor of Father Jacques Marquette who brought a band of Huron Indians to Mackinac Island in 1671.

6/8/10 - Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac was founded during the American Revolution. Believing Fort Michilimackinac, at what is now Mackinaw City, was too vulnerable to American attack, the British moved the fort to Mackinac Island in 1780. Americans took control in 1796. In July 1812, in the first land engagement of the War of 1812 in the United States, the British captured the fort. It was returned to the United States after the war.

6/8/10 - Carriage Tour

We took the 2 hour carriage tour (didn't get a picture of the carriage with two horses) and then we switched to this 3-horse drawn wagon to tour the State Park.

Arch Rock rises 146 feet above the water and spans fifty feet at its widest point.

6/8/10 - Street scenes on the Island

There are no automobiles allowed on Mackinac Island. Your choice of travel is by foot, bike or horse. The absence of cars have created a unique, charming and historic ambiance.

Horse and carriage taxis waiting in line.

This was a UPS delivery!

Looking up over the Marquette Park to Fort Mackinac.