Vacation review

We are back, about 1,800 miles later.  Okay, we took the long way back.  We went to New Ulm, Minnesota via Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, La Crosse, and Rochester, MN.  We returned via the Twin Cities, Duluth, Marquette, MI, the Mackinac straits, and down I-75.  The northern route was to avoid the blistering heat and humidity.  We managed to avoid the heat (80's, not 90's, and much cooler for sleeping), but not the humidity.  Technically, rain is really high humidity, right?

Highlights of the trip included...
...Great River Bluffs State Park on the shore of the Mississippi River, just south of Winona, MN
...Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN (got Faith moved in and she is now a college student!)
...Martin Luther College Book Store (books, shirts, car stickers, choir CD's, etc....)
...Hermann the German monument on the bluff overlooking New Ulm
...a tour of the Schells Brewery Company in New Ulm, MN
...contact with Nathanael and Andrew to make sure that they successfully registered themselves at Michigan Lutheran Seminary (they did)
...a failed attempt at getting to the Maritime Museum in Duluth, MN
...Palms Book State Park and a little raft trip over the Kitch-iti-kipi spring and some really, really big brook trout
...Seul Choix Lighthouse, a bit south of Manistique, MI
...Mackinac Bridge (but no fudge)
...Swimming in Lake Michigan at Petoskey State Park

Some pictures follow.....

 

Looking south toward La Crosse, WI from the bluffs in Minnesota.

 

Hermann the German overlooks New Ulm, MN.

Old Main (1884), Martin Luther College.

Faith is officially an MLC Knight!

 Looking down from a raft into crystal clear water, 45 feet to the bottom, and full of enormous trout.  No fishing allowed.  Palms Book State Park, near Manistique, MI in the U.P.

Seul Choix Lighthouse on the northern tip of Lake Michigan.

The most beautiful bridge in the world.

Sunset over Petoskey Bay.