Mid-fall fun

We ended our week last week with a Sunday adventure with Vanessa.  Since we had the day free, and we both felt like a road trip, we decided to head North for the day.  I'm never one to say no to a fun road trip especially if it includes the potential for some time near a Great Lake, on the North Country Trail, or in the UP, and this trip included all of those items plus the promise of a special lunch stop.

We met Vanessa at 8am for the start of our drive North and in just over three hours we arrived at the trailhead for the North Country Trail at French Farm Lake.  This spot is just two miles outside of Mackinaw City, and yet it feels a million miles away.  It is a really pretty spot with a nice trail and we enjoyed a nice fall afternoon hike here. 

With limited daylight and big plans, we did a quick 2.7 mile hike before we headed into Mackinaw City to check out some sites and do a little geocaching.

The difference in the temperature and amount of wind from the woods to the lakeshore was pretty drastic and boy oh boy were we cold when we made a stop at the Ice Breaker and a couple of other caches in town.

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After we stopped at the Mack-a-Tron, we walked down Main Street and were stopped by a very nice lady who's son owns a local business.  She asked if she could take a picture of the dogs because her son has a GSP too, so of course we obliged.  Then we grabbed another geocache and headed back to the car in the rain.

Once we got back to the car, I quickly fed the dogs lunch and then we headed North over the Bridge into St. Ignace so we could have lunch at Clyde's.  It was slow enough that we could actually sit inside and eat, which was a treat, and we completely splurged with our burgers, sides, and shakes.  It was delicious.

After lunch, we grabbed a couple of quick geocaches before heading to downtown St. Ignace for a walk along the boardwalk which is also part of the North Country trail.  There were several geocaches for us to pick up along the trail, and we enjoyed the hike and lake views.  While it was misty, thankfully the wind wasn't as bad as it had been in Mackinaw City. 

We stopped on the shore of Lake Huron for the dogs to take a drink about mid-way, and I'm pretty sure this was the first time Smokey had seen a Great Lake.

As we headed back toward the car, the rain picked up a bit, but it still wasn't terrible.  We finished our hike with an additional 2.3 miles on the North Country Trail for a total of 5 miles for the day.  Now, we only need 12 more miles to complete our 100 for the year.  I'm pretty excited about that.

We made a quick stop at St. Anthony's Rock and picked up a couple more geocaches in St. Ignace before we started our trip South toward home.  After dropping Vanessa off at her car, we made it home in time to watch the Lions game.  While it had been a whirlwind trip, we had had a really great time and nobody regretted our decision to make the trip.  

Outside of our Sunday adventure, we've had a pretty slow and quiet week around here, and I'm not complaining.  I'm still not adjusting to the early sunsets and the long dark nights of November, but I'm appreciating the fact that the the early darkness forces me to slow down a bit and enjoy some down time.  

On Monday, I took the dogs to Padgett Park on my lunch so we could take advantage of the daylight.  They enjoyed a good run and I enjoyed the fresh air.  It was nice to get our exercise out of the way during the day so we could have a quiet evening.

Tuesday was a gray, rainy day, but thankfully the dogs were quiet during my workday.  

I knew I'd need to get them out of the house after work, and I decided a trip to Soldan's for baths was as good a reason as any.  There was a special on the self-service dog wash, and while I hate paying for baths, I do love the facilities.   

While Mina and Smokey did great with their baths. Peaches was miserable with hers.  She didn't even want to take a walk around the store when she was done and she pulled me right out the store all the way to the car.  Smokey got to pick out a brand new collar for himself before we left, and I washed all of their collars, harnesses, and leashes when we got home.  They are all squeaky clean and looking good now.  

Wednesday, due to some staffing issues at the shelter, we weren't able to hold the Wednesday night shelter dog walk, which gave me time to spend with Smokey and the girls. It was dark before we got outside for our exercise, but we spent a good amount of time out playing ball and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Thursday I was so exhausted after a long day of work that we didn't do anything at all after work.  I was so glad that the weather had been nice all day and the dogs had spent a lot of time outside while I worked because they all settled in for the evening really quickly after dinner, giving me the night off that I really needed.

Friday morning Smokey had an appointment with the vet for another round of cryotherapy on his eyelid cyst.  The cyst shrank quite a bit from the first treatment, and we're hopeful that he'll be able to move forward with surgery after his check-up in two weeks.  He did such a good job at the appointment, and then I took him for a quick mile walk along the Hayhoe River walk before heading home.

I had an afternoon full of calls and to-dos, so I took an early lunch to get the girls out for a walk around Benjamin Davis Park before the busiest part of my day started.  At 12:30, I had 15 minutes between calls so I fed them all lunch and let them outside for a potty break while I quickly ate a salad.  By the time my 12:45pm call started, I got them all settled in for a quiet afternoon.  It was pretty quiet the rest of the day.

When my work day ended, I decided we'd make a short visit to the park to get everyone out for one last bit of exercise before dark.  It was a good way to end my work week and to kick off my week of vacation.  I was pretty excited to know that I didn't have to go back to work for a whole week.  

Saturday morning I headed out to the shelter for Dog Walking Club.  We had a small group, but the dogs that joined us were pretty excited to be out for a walk.  It was a group of very sweet dogs, and a lovely way to start my day.

After my Saturday morning dog walk, I made my way to Detroit and the campus of Wayne State University to watch them take on Northern Michigan University in the final football game of the regular season, and the first game of the season that my nephew, Mason, got to travel with NMU to an away game.

It was such a good day to watch football with mild and dry weather.

While NMU lost, and Mason didn't get to play, it was great to see him on the sideline supporting his team.  It was even nicer to get a chance to talk to him after the game.

I was especially happy that my dad got to sit in the stands with us to watch the game after missing so much while he was in the hospital earlier this year.  It's nice to see him doing so well.

I made the drive home after the game and arrived after dark to three dogs ready for some fun.  I debated what we should do, and quickly made the decision to run a couple of errands and take them with me and then get take them with me to Lowe's. 

There was quite a bit of excitement when we first arrived and several people stopped to see if they could say hello.  Everyone was happy to oblige.

We finally settled into a nice pace and enjoyed our walk around the store.  Then we headed home for a quiet evening. 

I was looking forward to a quiet Sunday, but first I needed to make sure we got out for some excercise.  Thankfully we had a little adventure close to home planned with Vanessa. 

We met Vanessa at Hunter's Ridge Park to start our fun day.  We took a short hike there and picked up a geocache along the way.  Then we we headed over to Fine Park for another short walk to pick up a few more geocaches. 

Next we made the short drive to Andersons Park for a nice walk through the woods and a few geocaches.  

We discovered Anderson Park during Covid and had spent a lot of time hiking there, but it's been awhile since we were last there.  I think all three of the pups loved their time in the woods.

We were so lucky with the weather too, because it was warm enough that we didn't even need jackets.  

We enjoyed a 2.6 mile walk through the woods and picked up a few geocaches along the way.  It was a beautiful day to be outside. 

I was thankful that Vanessa was with us when we reached a cache along the riverbank.  I would never have been able to retrieve this cache while holding onto three dogs.  I always appreciate her help with these finds.  Its great teamwork, I hold the dogs, and she makes the find, although Peaches was very concerned that Vanessa went down the hill without her. 

After finding our final cache we headed back toward the car.

Next we made a quick stop a Woldumar Nature Center to pick up one final cache in the woods since we were close by.  

After clearing caches out of several parks and enjoying some quality time in the woods, we had one more stop to make to pick up a geocache I've been wanting to find for quite awhile.  We made the drive and parked a short distance from the cache location, left the dogs in the car and made the short walk to the cache location.   It was a tricky little find, but with patience Vanessa made the find and we headed back to the car.

After great day of adventures,  we finally headed toward home.  I picked up some lunch along the way, fed the dogs their lunch when we got home, and the we settled in to watch the Lions games.  It was a great end to our weekend and the perfect Sunday.

I'm excited for this week because I have the week off from work, and I have big plans to get things done around the house and, of course, to have some fun too.  Here's to hoping for a productive and restful week before we move into the holiday season.  Happy Sunday!