Traveling with the Schroeders -- Fall trip to the Mackinac Straits

We had planned to be gone for the Teachers' Conference, which got us out of town from October 8-13.  We ended up going up north, hoping that decent weather and peak fall colors would all come together.  While we did not get everything we wanted for the entirety of the trip, we did get to enjoy good weather for Wednesday-Friday (with a little rain on Friday), and we got to see peak colors up in the U.P.

The first leg of our trip was to start in the Tunnel of Trees on M-119 along the Lake Michigan coast, just north of Petoskey.  While it was an enjoyable drive, we did not get the splendor of fall colors we would have hoped for.  (Note: Before we got to Petoskey, we stopped at the Cross in the Woods at Indian River to see the world's largest crucifix.  Pretty cool.)  After the Tunnel of Trees, we went to Mackinaw City to our hotel and pretty cheap rates (yeah, off season!).  We spent Thursday on Mackinac Island (Peter's first trip there) to see Fort Mackinac and other places on the island.  On Friday, we went up to Tahquamenon Falls to see the upper and lower falls.  On Saturday, with the weather taking a turn to colder weather (highs in the low to mid-40's; that was highs in the low to mid-40's--with stiff winds, no less), we decided that walking around town was not going to be that fun.  So we traveled back up the U.P. to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, most of which is indoors.  Then on Sunday, we made our way back home after church at Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Indian River.  The trip back home had peak colors down I-75 for the first hour of driving, too.

In addition to this, we got to enjoy a waterpark at our hotel, including a massive hot tub which was very welcome when the temperatures began to dip.

Anyway, here are some photos from a neat fall get away.  Enjoy!