tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46875261006341494382024-03-12T20:38:26.834-05:00Hanabi BoyOne dad's experiences as the father of a now young adult with autism.Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.comBlogger979125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-87867197384079735522022-06-05T13:58:00.000-05:002022-06-05T13:58:03.551-05:00High School Graduation <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1S6-OPGR6CyKoW5E640f8CQz86gJ7W18ch-ubjf23rp0D1HnZhmWsEq1heZnWJbHu5GYGJSIaBgdJtNNMX57HenWXlSPjLz16deqTAHKmwqu5Qa2U_ZNpS9kuaaa8krN3WCQxc9dzIfFmkNCE7Wb-8siC6PA8wJdski6st_tAfEpG-VbJc5fYhbVPg/s4032/IMG_5330.HEIC" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1S6-OPGR6CyKoW5E640f8CQz86gJ7W18ch-ubjf23rp0D1HnZhmWsEq1heZnWJbHu5GYGJSIaBgdJtNNMX57HenWXlSPjLz16deqTAHKmwqu5Qa2U_ZNpS9kuaaa8krN3WCQxc9dzIfFmkNCE7Wb-8siC6PA8wJdski6st_tAfEpG-VbJc5fYhbVPg/s320/IMG_5330.HEIC"/></a></div>
Kai's graduation was last week. Graduations are always huge milestones, but for us it was especially meaningful due to the challenges that Kai overcame to get to this point.
Throughout the time that Kai was in elementary and then middle school, he had attended therapeutic schools. Getting to attend our community's high school was always the dream, but it often seemed unlikely that Kai would make it. <br>
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But four years ago, we were surprised and happy when Kai was allowed to attend our local high school. He was very grateful for the opportunity, and was motivated to succeed. <br>
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Going from a small therapeutic school to a large mainstream school was definitely an adjustment, but Kai seemed to do okay through the first two years, albeit with a lot of ups and downs, and with the support of the wonderful special ed staff.<br>
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But toward the end of his sophomore year, the pandemic hit and remote learning was especially difficult for Kai. His junior year was very challenging and when he got off to a rough start in his senior year, we thought that he might have to return to a therapeautic school. <br>
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But Kai was able to overcome his anxieties and other challenges, again supported by the staff at school. He matured. And persevered. And had his best year at school.<br>
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And so this graduation day was symbolic of not just a passage of time, or a coming of age, but of overcoming adversity and hope for a brighter future.<br>
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For a while, we were not sure that my wife would be able to attend this momentous occasion. <br>
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She had to go to Japan following her father's passing. With no siblings, it was all her responsibility to settle her father's estate as well as to find a place for her mother to live where she would be supported. To do this while stricken with grief is never easy, and being away from her family added to the stress. <br>
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My wife wasn't sure how long it would take to accomplish everything she needed to do. Settling legal matters can take time in Japan and for a while it looked like she could be there for three months. But she was able to get things done quicker than first expected, and made it home seven weeks after she left, and just short of two weeks before Kai's graduation.<br>
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Kai and I managed at home but it was a happy day when Mom finally came home and we were reunited.<br>
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The graduation ceremony was held at Ravinia, an outdoor concert venue in our community. The forecast had called for rain but it turned out to be a beautiful day.<br>
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It was exciting when the graduates made their entrance and we saw Kai among them. We enjoyed all of the pomp... the school orchestra and chorale sounded good and the speeches were nice (and not too long). <br>
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But, of course, the moment we waited for was for the graduates names to be called and for them to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. <br>
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It was nice for us that Kai was one of the first names called.<br>
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The rest of the ceremony was a bit of a blur. We caught up with Kai afterward. <br>
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I was wondering what his mood would be. Would he have gotten agitated that the ceremony was long? Did he think it was meaningful?<br>
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It was so nice to see that he was as happy and proud as we were. He had understood all that he had overcome to get to here and it meant so much to him.<br>
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We are not sure what the future will bring. But at this time, we enjoyed marking this most significant milestone.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-90231519290937687032022-03-24T19:23:00.005-05:002022-03-25T08:12:58.643-05:00Remembering Jiji<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayLLXnSlhNmFbTDo-vHzK8QvOos4yzloy4YZWFIMO_oQWtQ26-JkgrBZDOV0ZE13ucukt5D4k-fcfCXPDIF1TB8geDsUuQWNX6Y8O4JV0i1JRnMCbBva4wuzI4Qe9IZUkeEcTphO4D4Vl3NHLW9rLy2amyd7AV5qA4lgM6JAg_XLIk-Y-ro452otpng/s1280/DSC_5548.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="915" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayLLXnSlhNmFbTDo-vHzK8QvOos4yzloy4YZWFIMO_oQWtQ26-JkgrBZDOV0ZE13ucukt5D4k-fcfCXPDIF1TB8geDsUuQWNX6Y8O4JV0i1JRnMCbBva4wuzI4Qe9IZUkeEcTphO4D4Vl3NHLW9rLy2amyd7AV5qA4lgM6JAg_XLIk-Y-ro452otpng/s320/DSC_5548.jpeg"/></a></div> <br>
We were in New Orleans when we received word. <br>
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It was Kai's Spring Break and we were on our first spring trip since before the pandemic. We wanted to enjoy warmer weather, good food, and the unique qualities of New Orleans. <br>
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Earlier that evening, we had ventured out for dinner, timing our walk to the restaurant to avoid an approaching storm. From the weather radar, it looked like the worst of the storm would pass well north and west of us. We made it to the restaurant safely and just finished our meal when the rain really picked up and the power went out. The festive patrons in the restaurant cheered in the dark, and then several minutes later, gave a bigger cheer when power was restored. By the time we paid our bill, the storm had passed and we were able to walk back to our hotel. <br>
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We turned on the television and were shocked to learn that a devasting tornado had ripped through the city just five miles away. Kai got very upset at how close we were to the destruction. <br>
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We tried to calm him but thought the best idea would be to turn out the lights and try to sleep. A few minutes later, in the dark of our hotel room, Kai asked why Mom's phone kept lighting up. I figured it was more weather alerts and told Kai to go to sleep. <br>
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In the middle of the night, my wife woke me to say that she thought that something had happened to her dad. She had gotten up to use the bathroom and noticed that there had been repeated calls for her from several different people in Japan. At first her phone wouldn't make a call to Japan, but when she finally connected, she learned that her dad had died suddenly and unexpectedly.<br>
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My wife wailed in grief, and Kai awoke and asked what was going on. I told him that Jiji had passed away.<br>
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Like many with autism, Kai does not do well with unexpected events and this was the worst kind of surprise. His grandfather in Japan was the closest person he ever lost.<br>
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When Kai was very young, before I had come into his and his mother's lives, Jiji visited often from Japan to help raise him. Jiji was always thinking of Kai, his only grandchild. He brought fun gifts and loved to spend time with Kai. <br>
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Through the years, though they did not speak each others languages, they shared a bond like none other. Kai was always talking to Jiji, who did not understand most of Kai's words, but understood that Kai was enjoying being with him.<br>
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When he got older, Jiji stopped coming to the U.S. but we were able to visit him in Japan. Jiji still had plenty of energy to go around the country with us, but his favorite moments were seeing Kai laugh and enjoy himself. <br>
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Jiji always saw the best in Kai. He was never disappointed in Kai. No one adored Kai more than Jiji did. I think that will be my most enduring memory of him. <br>
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Jiji enjoyed painting, and his favorite subject was Kai. We have a mini gallery of his paintings of Kai. <br>
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In our last video Skype with him, Jiji showed us the latest painting of Kai that he had just completed.<br>
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Of course, Jiji's passing is most difficult for my wife. They had the best father-daughter relationship. He was always supportive and the most dependable father a girl could want.<br>
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Kai has been upset since we got the news. I think part of it is his own grief, but he has also has been upset to see Mom cry and grieve. Too often he has gotten angry, and seemingly made the whole thing about him. Being empathetic does not come easily to Kai. Still, there have been times when he has shown that he understands the grief that Mom is feeling. <br>
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I know that Kai may also be worried about what happens next. Mom will travel to Japan for several weeks to settle matters and support her mother. We will have to make do without Mom while she is away. <br>
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In the coming weeks, when Kai lets his anxiety come out in negative ways, I will have to do my best to channel Jiji and see the best in Kai. Every good person deserves to have someone who loves them unconditionally. Kai just lost one of his best supporters. I will have to make sure he knows that Jiji wasn't the only one. <br>
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-19847668976311704392021-07-16T20:56:00.004-05:002021-07-16T21:11:45.651-05:00Summer Program for Kai in MinneapolisAs Kai is rapidly approaching adulthood - he will be starting his senior year of high school in the fall - we have been feeling more and more stress about what he will do after he completes high school. It is becoming increasingly likely that Kai will not attend college. He has gotten good grades in high school and did well enough on the SAT (average in verbal, above average in math), but through remote learning this past year I got to see firsthand how he can get derailed and the amount of support needed to get back on track. It's hard to see him navigating college with these challenges.<br>
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And so we have been exploring other post secondary options for Kai. <br>
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We found a number of programs that provide supports for young adults with disabilities and teaches them life skills and provides vocational and job preparation training. One of those programs is located in Minneapolis and that is where we found ourselves this week.<br>
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In addition to the full-time program, MICC has a summer program where teens can get a small taste of what the full-time program would be like. Normally the summer program requires participants to live on campus (without parents) for two weeks but with the pandemic, this year they ran a one-week day program instead. So we rented a house in Minneapolis for the week and Kai attended the summer program during the day and came home in the late afternoon.<br>
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As with many things with Kai, he developed huge anxiety ahead of our trip. In the weeks prior, he started to dread coming up here and was convinced that it would be an awful experience. <br>
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On the first morning of the program, my wife and I stayed for a brief orientation. The staff seemed very friendly and energetic. <br>
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My wife and I got a private tour of their little campus including a look at a student apartment, classrooms, and community areas. We liked what we saw and thought this could be a good post high school option for Kai.<br>
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When Kai came home after the first day, he said that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. The summer program is a mix of learning about different vocational careers, a small amount of training for getting a job such as resume preparation and mock interviews, a bit of life skills education, and afternoons of fun activities. <br>
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Kai seems to have enjoyed all of the fun stuff, from miniature golf and laser tag to swimming in the pool. <br>
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By the end of the week, he acknowledged that the week was mostly good. He liked all of the staff and said the other students were okay, too. <br>
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I'm not sure how he will feel if we want him to come here on his own for the 3-year full-time program, but this was a start. <br>
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While here, we also went out and saw some of Minneapolis. <br>
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The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was fun with many interesting sculptures.<br>
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And we made the obligatory visit to Mall of America. We rode a couple of roller coasters and played miniature golf.
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It was really crowded so we had to wait to putt on every hole. It was a unique but difficult course with many uphill putts. Kai got frustrated at many holes and so I was surprised when, as we were leaving, he said "That was fun!"<br>
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The area where we stayed is near a couple of lakes and so we took in a beach on multiple days. Kai always loves getting in the water.
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We were very pleasantly surprised to find that Minneapolis has a great diversity of restaurants and we tried several different ones over the course of the week. A few highlights included:<br>
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The 5-8 Club, home of the Juicy Lucy, a cheese-filled burger.
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It was really good!
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Vo's Vietnamese restaurant.
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Revival, a Southern restaurant that serves yummy fried chicken.
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And Kyatchi, our favorite Japanese restaurant.
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On several days we had Japaneses-style crepes for dessert at Ichigo Tokyo Crepes.
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On our last night, we went to a Venezuelan restaurant, Hola Arepa. We had a couple of small plates for appetizers: plantains tostones and shrimp aguachile.
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And then arepas (cornmeal griddle cake sandwiches) for the main course.
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The food there was good. This restaurant, like several others we went to this week, was walking distance from where we were staying. We really enjoyed staying in the city and having so many fun choices for dinner.<br>
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All in all, it was a successful week. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed Minneapolis. We also learned that Minnesota has good programs and supports for people with autism, much better than our home state of Illinois, so it might make sense to move here after Kai completes high school. <br>
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Now if only the winters weren't so bad...
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-30414728816840127722021-06-27T00:23:00.002-05:002021-06-27T09:55:17.452-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 11: PortlandOn out last 'real' day of vacation, we explored Portland. <br>
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We started out by getting breakfast from a Portland original, Voodoo Doughnuts.
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There was a line but the wait wasn't too long - about 15 minutes. We got some of their unusual flavors including Voodoo Doll, Vicious Hibiscus, and Dirt.
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And then we went to the Portland Japanese Garden.
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It felt like being in Japan.
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As it was a very hot day, we especially appreciated the many shady areas.
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The following rock garden reminded us of a place we went to in Kyoto.
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After going to the Japanese garden in Seattle a week ago, it is hard to say which one is better. They are both very good. It was probably more crowded here but otherwise would have been as serene as it was in Seattle.
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One thing they have here in Portland are very colorful, and large, koi.
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It was one of our favorite spots in the garden, or would have been if it wasn't so hot in the sun!
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I also liked the following... not sure what it is called but the bamboo pipe fills with water then tips, and the bamboo makes a nice soothing sound as it bangs against the rock.
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Right next to the Japanese Garden is the International Rose Test Garden.
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My wife was tired and feeling overwhelmed by the heat so she sat on a bench in the shade while Kai and I looked at the roses.
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Kai loved that there were so many different colors of roses.
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My favorite was this pink climbing rose.
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We weren't sure they were roses as the flowers are so small, but the thorns confirmed that they were.
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Kai took pictures of each different color of rose. I like that he takes interest in what we are seeing and that he wants pictures of everything.
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We then checked out the Portland Saturday market which is a weekly art and craft fair. It wasn't much different than our local fairs back home though I did enjoy seeing the photos of professional photographers who captured many of the places we went to on this vacation. <br>
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And then we got lunch in an air conditioned restaurant. Besides the relief from the heat, it was our last chance to eat oysters. My wife said that eating oysters gave her the most pleasure on this vacation.
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In the afternoon we went to the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium, an odd little museum that had a number of freaky, peculiar, creepy exhibits.
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Here Kai took photos of everything.
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Big Foot was present.
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But Big Foot was relatively normal compared to other oddities like this burning chair.
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I can't even begin to describe the following.
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Or this one:
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Afterward we went to Salt and Straw, another Portland original, to have ice cream and meet up with a friend of mine who happened to also be traveling through Portland.<br>
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By then the temperature had gone over 100.
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And we had enough of being out and about. We returned to our hotel so my wife could relax and recover while Kai and I went to the swimming pool.<br>
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For dinner we went to a Thai restaurant. Kai loved his coconut water.
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And his green curry.
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It was a very good last dinner. <br>
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Tomorrow we only have time to head to the airport and fly home. Kai is happy now and I think he enjoyed the vast majority of the vacation. So hopefully he will have pleasant memories.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-54668587754442063682021-06-26T00:29:00.002-05:002021-06-26T12:03:23.848-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 10: Columbia River GorgeThis morning we drove east out of Portland and set out to explore the Columbia River Gorge. We stopped at Vista House to take in the great view.
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There are many waterfalls along the gorge and we made a quick stop to see Latourell Falls.
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But the falls we really wanted to see was Multnomah Falls. It is considered a 'must see' when visiting Portland. <br>
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We arrived at the falls to find that the small parking lot was full. Traffic coming from our side was not allowed to wait for cars to leave the lot. Instead we were told to try a supplemental lot, and if that lot was also full, then to take a shuttle from a farther lot. To get to the supplemental lot, we had to get back on the interstate several miles down the road. But traffic coming from our side was not allowed to enter the supplemental lot either. We headed on to the area to catch the shuttle but we had to go an extra exit down and circle back. By the time we got on the shuttle and got to the falls, an hour had passed since we first arrived at the falls.<br>
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There were a lot of people at the falls. And the sun was right behind the falls making it impossible to get a good photo.
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We walked up to the famed Benson Bridge, the footbridge that traverses Multnomah Creek between the two cascades of Multnomah Falls. From there I had planned to take the hike up to the top of the falls. Kai said he had enough and didn't want to walk further. My wife and I told him that we would go up ourselves and that he could wait for us there at the bridge.<br>
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That was a big mistake.<br>
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The walk up to the top of the falls was very steep and arduous. We had to stop a few times to catch our breath and rest. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top. If Kai had walked with us, he would have given up before we even got halfway. <br>
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At the top, we got to see the stream that fed the waterfall.
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We refilled our water bottles with the cold water from the creek.
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The following is a photo of the top of the falls looking down.
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It was around this time that I saw that Kai had tried calling me. I tried to call him back but the cellular service was bad and the call would not go through. I texted Kai to let him know that we had just made it to the top and it would be a half hour before we got back down. We later found out that he did not receive the text. <br>
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We tried to walk quickly down and made it down in about 15 minutes. But we did not see Kai at the bridge. We walked further down and came across him coming back up the path.<br>
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He was furious.<br>
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And scared.<br>
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It was a huge mistake to leave him for that long. <br>
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We got him to go to lunch. A little calamari and a burger helped to calm him. He talked about how scared he was and that he realized that he is not ready to be alone. He said that after we get home, he would need to rest for two weeks. <br>
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After we left Multnomah, we drove further down the gorge. It wasn't as impressive as I had hoped and we drove back to our new hotel late in the afternoon.<br>
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It was nice to have a room with air conditioning!<br>
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This hotel also has a swimming pool so Kai got to go in the water which always helps calm him.<br>
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We had a late dinner at an Italian restaurant.
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We let Kai have an Italian soda and have a canoli for dessert.
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Our vacation is down to its last full day. While we enjoyed most of it, I think all of us are looking forward to having it come to an end.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-71016895314271123582021-06-25T00:48:00.002-05:002021-06-25T11:02:54.089-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 9: Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and on to PortlandWe had stayed the night in Bend Oregon and there are many places to see in the area. As we were moving on and needed to be in Portland by the end of the day, we had to choose one place to visit in the area. We decided on Newberry National Volcanic Monument.<br>
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We learned that Newberry is the largest of several volcanos in Oregon. But it is not a cylindrical shape, instead it is spread over an area the size of Rhode Island.<br>
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The first thing we did at Newberry was to ride the shuttle to the top of Lava Butte, a cinder cone that rises 500 feet.
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From the top are nice views of the surrounding lava flow and mountains.
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There are several snowcapped mountains including the three 'Sisters'.
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The nearest mountain to Bend is Mount Batchelor.
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After that we we went to Lava River Cave, the largest uncollapsed lava tube in Oregon.<br>
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You walk in and descend down the stairs.
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The cave is dark with no lighting whatsoever. So we rented lanterns which provided the only light.
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The cave is cool... constantly 42 degrees, so we wore our sweatshirts and jackets.
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As caves go, it doesn't compare to the magnificent Carlsbad Caverns. There are no stalagtites or stalagmites as there are at Carlsbad. But it was still cool to walk through a large lava tube. This might have been the most interesting part of the cave, a section called "Tube in tube" where there are vertically stacked passages.
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Kai loves caves and said he really enjoyed coming here. I love caves as well.
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We had a late lunch back in Bend. We found a Hawaiian/Japanese restaurant so Kai had beef teriyaki, my wife had loco moco, and I had the two-item combo with chicken katsu and chicken teriyaki. I had a taste of my wife's loco moco and wished I had ordered that as well.
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From Bend, it would be a three and a half hour drive to Portland. Bad traffic actually extended that by another half hour or so.<br>
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But we broke up the drive with a stop at Trillian Lake near Mount Hood.<br>
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Wow, what a nice view!
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We got to our hotel in Portland to find out that the air conditioning in the entire hotel was not working and would not be fixed for another week. With 100 degree weather coming, the hotel was shutting down after this one night. They offered to refund our money but as it was getting late, I thought it best to stay the one night before moving on to a different hotel tomorrow. But sitting in our really hot room right now, I wish we had taken time to find another accomodation. <br>
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We went to dinner before all the restaurants closed for the night. We were lucky to find a table at Murata, a Japanese restaurant.<br>
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We were very happy to find out that the sushi was outstanding, among the best we've had and certainly better than the sushi we had in Seattle.
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Even the ice cream was especially tasty.
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It will be a challenging couple last days of the vacation with the extreme heat on the way. Wish us luck!
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-17312766407028812922021-06-23T23:54:00.000-05:002021-06-23T23:54:35.715-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 8: Crater LakeThis morning we got our last look at the ocean before we would drive inland. We went out to the beach near our motel in Bandon (Oregon) and was able to see the rocks in the water that were hidden by fog the night before. The large rock is known as Table Rock due to it's flat top.
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We saw a lot of great ocean scenery the past few days and the scenery here was nice, too.
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We then drove four hours to Crater Lake National Park. After arriving at the park, we got lunch at the park restaurant before going out to see the lake.
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And then we went to the rim of the lake.
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Oh my! From first sight, we were in awe.
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The water was the bluest of blue.
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I had to ask people to take a photo of the three of us here.
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Crater Lake was formed when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed around 7,700 years ago and the caldera subsequently filled with rainwater and snow melt.
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Wizard Island is itself a cinder cone so it is a volcano inside a volcano.
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We drove the West Rim drive and saw the lake from a different angle. Every view was stunning.
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It was definitely worth the trip to see this beautiful lake.<br>
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We then drove two hours to the town of Bend where we would spend the night. <br>
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We stayed at the only motel on this trip that had a swimming pool. Going in the water always helps Kai calm down.<br>
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But then it was time for dinner and he started to get agitated when it looked like we might have to wait a long time to be seated as Bend is a very popular town. Fortunately we found a great restaurant that had a table available on the sidewalk. <br>
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Kai enjoyed his flat iron steak while my wife loved her roast duck. I had blackened redfish which was also good.
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We saw a lot of people walking around with ice cream so I looked up what ice cream places were in the area. It turns out that there was a highly-rated gelato place just around the corner so after dinner we walked there.
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It was one of the best ice cream we've ever had. And that made Kai happy. And that made me happy.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-32042414257987584492021-06-23T10:03:00.004-05:002021-06-23T10:03:59.750-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 7: Clouds and the Oregon CoastIt seems like there are times during each of our vacations where I wonder what in the world was I thinking of planning a vacation with Kai, and vowing that we would never go on another trip together again. On this vacation, this was that day. <br>
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Besides his autism, Kai has high levels of anxiety and depression. It can be hard to predict when those become a factor. In this case, tech issues may have provided a trigger. The night before, he couldn’t download the pictures he took from his phone to his laptop. Then the video game he was playing kept crashing. The extra long wait at restaurants didn’t help. And once Kai gets agitated, things can spiral. He becomes very negative and angry.<br>
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We took more time at our inn before we left Cannon Beach to try to give Kai time to calm down. But with a long day ahead, we had to get going. But he (and we) had a rough time in the car, to put it mildly.<br>
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I asked my wife to text Kai’s therapist and see if he was available. He said he could talk to Kai for 20 minutes. We finally came to a town and parked the car in the lot of a supermarket while Kai talked to his therapist.<br>
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After they finished talking, Kai was much calmer. We went to a Starbucks and got drinks for everyone. And then we continued on. <br>
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We ended up having a good day and Kai was happy.<br>
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We would drive 230 miles down the Oregon coast. Our first stop was at Cape Kiwanda.
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For lunch, we stopped in Depoe Bay and found a place for more seafood. We started with more oyster shooters. The oysters were from the area and were huge.
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Kai had fried oysters.
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Depoe Bay (the bay, not the town) was beautiful.
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Devil's Punchbowl is said to be better at high tide. We were there at low tide and the devil had drained the punchbowl.
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Our favorite place of the day was Yaquina Head.
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The area is beautiful but what made it extra special is that the low tide worked in our favor here as we were able to explore the tide pools.
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We got to see and touch many sea life including anemones.
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And sea urchins.
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Kai loved it. He said this was his favorite spot on this vacation.
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We even saw many seals.
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And mussels.
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We also went to Thor's Well which is also known as the drainpipe of the Pacific. As it was getting late, we viewed it from afar.
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The area there was also beautiful.
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For dinner, we found a place where the wait wasn't too long! Kai had a peanut butter and jalapeno burger. He said it was good!
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Near the motel is a beach that has sea stacks. But it was very foggy and we could barely see it.
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Our travels will continue inland.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-30505488967713597362021-06-21T23:43:00.000-05:002021-06-21T23:43:09.699-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 6: Ruby Beach to Cannon BeachBefore leaving Olympic National Park, we went to one more beach that was on our way out of the area. Ruby Beach is another gorgeous locale.
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My wife was still tired from all the walking we did the past two days so she sat on a log and rested while Kai took a short walk to explore more of the beach. Kai waded in the water for just a bit and said the water was very cold.
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We went to take a closer look at the sea stacks.
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One rock had a mini version of the Hole-in-the-Wall.
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Peek a boo
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There was a hint of fog on one side.
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When we got back to where my wife was sitting, we saw that she had made a new friend. Toby just came up to her as most dogs tend to do.
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It was a nice little beach.
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From there we spent drove a few hours south. We stopped for lunch at a DQ and our string of slow service at restaurants continued in the drive thru line. It wasn't so bad, but did take longer than you would expect for a restaurant of that type.<br>
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We entered Oregon and made a stop at Fort Stevens State Park to see the remains of a shipwreck.
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And then we continued on to our final destination of the day, Cannon Beach Oregon.
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The Haystock Rock at Cannon Beach is quite large.
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It was a nice sandy beach. The water was cold but Kai enjoyed wading in and out for nearly an hour.
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For dinner we went to a casual restaurant where you order your food and then find an outdoor table to sit at. We ordered oyster shooters, fish and chips for me and Kai, and Ahi salad for my wife. It took over 45 minutes after ordering before the food was ready. Kai was ready to explode. Between issues with waiting for food and having tech issues with the hotel wifi and the online games he's trying to play, it's been a tough afternoon. But he settled down once the food came.
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After dinner I went back out to the beach by myself to see the sunset.
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Unfortunately clouds rolled in and the sun disappeared so the sunset wasn't as good as I hoped. But it was still interesting to see the Haystack Rock in a different light.
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Tomorrow we are driving down the coast of Oregon.Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-72030916453489750222021-06-21T00:16:00.004-05:002021-06-21T09:45:15.884-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 5: Hoh Rainforest and Rialto BeachWe had a hearty breakfast to start our day.
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Unfortunately, the service at this small town restaurant was slow and it took a lot longer to get our food and get out of there than I had planned. Along with Kai’s usual slow pace, we got off to a lot later start than I had wanted. <br>
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We drove to the Hoh Rainforest within Olympic National Park and when we got to the entrance there was a line of about 30 cars backed up. They were not letting anyone in until a car left as they had run out of parking spaces in the park. At that time of day, very few cars are leaving the park so we sat there for about 50 minutes before we could get in.
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Once we finally got in, though, we enjoyed a hike through the rainforest.
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There are very few rainforests in the US, particularly in the lower 48, and so it was very interesting to stroll through one.
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We saw all of the lush ferns and the mosses on the trees.
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The trees were gorgeous, and many were huge.
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Kai said he really enjoyed this place.
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I had wanted to do one more hike at the rainforest but as it was already lunchtime and we still had other plans for the afternoon, we cut short our visit and went back to town for lunch. The burger place we planned on going to was not open so we went to a Mexican restaurant. Service was no better here than at the place we went to in the morning. Most Mexican restaurants serve food quickly, but this place took forever and then brought out the most pathetic-looking tacos I’ve ever seen. Kai was fine for the first part of the wait but as it extended out, he got as agitated outside as I was feeling inside.<br>
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That brought on some of the depression and anger that we have seen a lot from him in the past year. It was what has made me lose hope for his future and is also hard to deal with in the moment.<br>
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Eventually I got him to settle down enough to go back out for our afternoon activity. <br>
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Olympic National Park is unique in that it has three very distinct areas. After seeing the high mountains and the rainforest, we headed out to see the Pacific coast. Our destination was Rialto Beach. <br>
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Rialto Beach is famous for the driftwood that line the length of the beach.<br>
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It is also famous for the sea stacks, but to see those up close you have to hike about a mile and a half. You can see them in the distance in the above photo.
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With the sand, it does take longer to hike that distance. And Kai takes his time to stop and look at things. So it probably took well over an hour to get to the rocks. But I thought it was worth the hike.
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This rock formation is known as Hole-in-the-Wall.
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The sea stacks were something to see.
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As were all of the driftwood.
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Kai said that this was his favorite part of the trip so far.
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After the long hike back, we went to a pizza place for dinner. We had to wait a long time for our pizza but at least this place set expectations.that it would take that long. And the pizza was good so worth the wait.
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We saw a lot of beautiful places in Washington, but tomorrow we will move on to Oregon.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-40574890365171489362021-06-20T00:09:00.000-05:002021-06-20T00:09:20.766-05:00 Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 4: Hurricane RidgeWe had enjoyed Seattle but it was time to move on. We rented a car and drove on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. It was nice to see Seattle from the water.
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We again got to see Mount Rainier. I have been to Japan several times and have rarely seen Mount Fuji, but we saw Rainier every day we were in Seattle.
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Our destination was Olympic National Park, a two and a half hour drive after getting off the ferry.
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Olympic is a very interesting national park that has several very different areas. On this day, we went to Hurricane Ridge which is high in the Olympic Mountains.
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My objective was to do the Hurricane Hill Trail which is a little over three miles up and back. The 'up' part of the hike was the big challenge. The total elevation climb over the course of the trail is 650 feet, which is about the equivalent of climbing a 65 story building. In the photo below, we are about to get to a steeper section of the hike. The hill in the background is our destination.
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Some parts of the trail still had snow on it.
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Kai has a long history of complaining on strenuous hikes, and this one was no different. As the hike went on, Kai grumbled more and more. At one point he exclaimed "I can't believe there are so many old people who are hiking this!" Unfortunately, he said it very loudly within hearing distance of an older couple. Fortunately, they laughed at his comment. But all of these old people (and young kids as well) had more energy than Kai did. With only a little ways to go, he said "I've had it. I'm not going any further."
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I went the rest of the way by myself. The view from the top was spectacular, but really it was quite spectacular all the way up. My wife and I both thought this was one of the best scenery we've ever had on a hike.
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Along the trail, especially on the way down, we saw several deer.
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After completing the hike, we drove to Lake Crescent.
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It looked like a great place to canoe but that will have to be on another trip. It was getting late and we had to get to our cabin for the next two nights.<br>
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We had a lot of good food in Seattle but the choices in the small town we stayed in near the national park were pretty limited. My steak was really tough but Kai enjoyed his as he loves any kind of beef and we hadn't had any on the trip before.<br>
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Tomorrow we will continue to explore Olympic.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-1558000193214319362021-06-18T22:33:00.001-05:002021-06-19T09:28:09.090-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 3: More SeattleOn our third day in Seattle we head back out to Pike Place Market and got more of the doughnuts that Kai and I loved the previous morning. Nothing like freshly-baked doughnuts!
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But my wife told me that she would have a crab melt bagel and that sounded good to me so I wanted to have that, too.
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It was good, but my wife figured out that they used imitation crab instead of real crab meat and it just didn't measure up to the crab melt I had for lunch the first day here. But we did again take our foods outside and enjoyed the view while we ate.
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Our main activity of the morning was to visit the Seattle Aquarium. On our walk there, we made sure to pass by The Gum Wall.
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Located in an alleyway in Pike Place Market, The Gum Wall is a local landmark. Used chewing gum line a 50 foot section of brick wall.
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It is an odd and original tourist attraction.
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A few minutes later, we were at the aquarium. Kai and I gently touched sea urchins and anemones.
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Even though he is older now, Kai still loves all hands-on activities and enjoys touching critters so this was perfect for him.
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Kai always enjoys the jellyfish at any aquarium we visit.
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Some of the anemone were as colorful as the Chihuly glass we saw yesterday.
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It wasn't a large aquarium, but there was a nice amount of various fish and even some birds and sea animals such as this seal.
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Kai wanted to have a clam chowder sourdough bread bowl for lunch. He had wanted it at the restaurant we went to on Day 1 but that place had run out so he had a regular bowl of chowder instead. But today he really wanted to have the bread bowl. We checked out one restaurant that was renown for chowder but the line looked like the wait would be a good hour. So we went to an open air market where the line was shorter. <br>
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As we waited in line to order, I suggested that Kai think of what else to order in case this place did not have the bread bowl either. As he is wont to do these days, he exploded saying that if there was no bread bowl then we would leave immediately. As the area was very crowded, it would make no sense to leave and have to go somewhere else and wait in another line. I told him there was no reason to get mad but there's no reasoning with Kai when he gets like this.<br>
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Fortunately this place did have the bread bowls and we avoided a scene and more conflict. We also were able to get three seats, which was very lucky as there was only room for around 8 or so at the small counter.
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The chowder was very good and Kai ate all of his bread bowl.
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After lunch, we walked around and browsed some shops. There were a number of interesting independent stores in the area, particularly in Pike Place Market. One favorite was a shop that sold Donut Cats.
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We also went to a shop that sold these amazing looking chocolate-covered apples. We had seen this place on our first night and wanted to get dessert there, but when we went there after dinner it had already closed. So we picked up some sweets now to enjoy later in the evening.
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After a break at the hotel, we went to Kerry Park to take in the best view in Seattle.
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For dinner, the choice was sushi. Seattle is said to have a lot of great sushi restaurants. We had reservations at one near our hotel that had great reviews on TripAdvisor.
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The sushi was good, but for the prices charged we expected better. It wasn't as good as the fantastic sushi we had in places like at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, or the place we loved in southern California. <br>
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But we did enjoy the chocolate-covered apples we bought earlier.
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Yummy!<br>
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And that was a nice way to wrap up the day.<br>
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We really enjoyed Seattle but tomorrow we will be headed out.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-83098341706850671892021-06-17T23:45:00.003-05:002021-06-18T09:57:19.091-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 2: Seattle CenterOn our second day in Seattle, we planned to go to Seattle Center and see the famous attractions there. <br>
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We started our day by walking back to Pike's Place Market and getting some breakfast. Kai and I wanted to get the fresh-baked doughnuts that we had seen the day before. My wife was happy to find some bagels and lox.
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We also got some fresh fruit including locally-grown strawberries, cherries, and the donut peaches that we had seen yesterday as well.
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We took the food out to the waterfront and ate while enjoying the view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
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We then went to Seattle Center, and first on our agenda was to go to the top of the iconic Seattle Space Needle.
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The view from the top was truly phenomenal!
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And then we went to Chihuly Garden and Glass which showcases the glass art of Dale Chihuly.
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I think everyone's reaction upon seeing the glassworks is to drop their jaw and say "wow."
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The Chihuly exhibit was one of the things I was most looking forward to on our trip and it did not disappoint.
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After seeing all of the artwork, we saw a demonstration of glass blowing by a couple of local glass artisans.
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Before going here, Kai had grumbled "what is this Chihuly anyway". But after seeing the art, he enjoyed it as much as we did. <br>
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We even enjoyed a pizza lunch under some Chihuly art. It was a bonus that the pizza tasted surprisingly good.
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The last major stop of the day was the Museum of Pop Culture. This was the place that Kai was most looking forward to seeing.
The had exhibits on Disney costumes, sci-fi movies, and horror movies, among other things. But Kai's favorite area was the section on indie games.
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Kai took pictures of pretty much everything he saw in the museum and said it was his favorite place of the vacation so far.<br>
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I was exhausted by the time we were done. It was a relief to finalliy sit down as we took the monorail back toward our hotel.
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After a short break, we went out for dinner. We went to The Walrus and the Carpenter, a local seafood restaurant that had high ratings on TripAdvisor and was recommended to us by a relative of a friend as well.
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We had a variety of six different types of raw oysters. Kai loved all of them, as did my wife and I.
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We also had an order of fried oysters that Kai and I especially liked.
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Kai enjoyed everything we did on this day. And so it was another good day on our vacation.
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-91929903330578093902021-06-17T00:34:00.000-05:002021-06-17T00:34:22.655-05:00Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 1: SeattleIt's been a tough year and a half. As Kai has now finished his junior year in high school, and with adulthood rapidly approaching, a lot of my hopes for Kai have been reset in the past year. I've grown more discouraged about his future. <br>
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The three of us have been feeling a lot of stress so we welcomed the end of the school year and looked forward to going on a trip. With all of us now fully vaccinated, and the country starting to open up again, we decided to fly out to the Pacific Northwest for this year's summer trip.<br>
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We flew out this morning and arrived in Seattle midday. Kai was anxious about going to the airport and being on a plane again, but the flight was smooth and he seemed to enjoy the plane ride. <br>
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It helped that he had the window seat as he took interest in the scenery, particularly as we neared Seattle. He took a lot of photos!
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We had great views of Mount Rainier.
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After we landed, we checked into our hotel and then walked over to Pike's Place Market.
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Kai loved seeing all of the fresh produce.
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Everything looked so fresh and delicious. They had such a variety of fruits and vegetables including some unusual things we don't see back home.
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While in the market, we found a restaurant where we could have lunch. It was getting a little late but we had plans for a nice dinner so we didn't want to eat too much for lunch. Kai had a bowl of clam chowder and my wife and I shared a bowl of chowder and a crab melt sandwich which came with garlic fries. It was all very yummy.
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After eating, we walked around the market a little more. Besides produce, there are several places that sell fresh seafood.
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Besides the market, the Seattle waterfront is a fun area to walk around.
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Of course we had to see the first Starbucks restaurant as my wife is a huge fan of their coffee. Though a passerby told us that this was actually the second Starbucks restaurant and that the first did not exist anymore.
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It was perfect weather for walking - temperature around 70 degrees - and we made our way down to the Olympic Sculpture Park.
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After that we took an Uber to the Seattle Japanese Garden.
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We had been to the Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Fransisco and enjoyed it very much. This one was a bit smaller and had a different feel but very peaceful, beautiful, and very well laid out.
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It's hard to say which we liked better. They are both great.
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After a break back at our hotel, we went to dinner at a seafood restaurant on the waterfront.
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We all love crab meat so Kai and I ordered the crab boil comprised of three types of crab legs - snow crabs, dungeness and Alaskan King Crab, while my wife had dungeness crab.
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It wasn't quite as good as the garlic-flavored crab we had in San Fransisco, but it was still a real treat. Kai loved the battle with cracking opening all of the legs as much as enjoyed actually tasting the crabs.<br>
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By the time we finished dinner, the sun was setting behind Puget Sound.
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We were right by the Seattle Great Wheel ferris wheel so we took a ride as the sun was setting.<br>
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From the top, we had a great view of Mount Rainier...
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...and the Space Needle...
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...as well as the sunset.
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Kai is afraid of heights but he still enjoyed it.
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And thus wrapped up a very nice first day of our vacation.
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-10958369037810390972020-08-06T21:03:00.000-05:002020-08-06T21:03:15.072-05:00Dune Ride and GrandparentsOn the last real day of our vacation, we went to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in west central lower Michigan, and took a dune ride.<br />
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I had been to these dunes many years ago as a friend of mine let me drive an ATV onto the dunes with his family, but this was a first experience of this kind for my wife and Kai.<br />
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There are big stretches of sandy dunes and also places where you could see Silver Lake below.<br />
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At the place with the best view, the driver stopped the vehicle and we were able to get out and take pictures.<br />
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We all enjoyed the experience, especially since we didn't have to climb up any dunes. :)<br />
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Later in the day we visited with Kai's grandparents. Due to Covid, this has been the longest stretch of time where we had not seen them so it was great to get together and have a socially-distanced dinner on their back patio. <br />
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After dinner we took a walk to a nearby beach. <br />
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Kai doesn't talk too much to others, but he enjoys getting together with Bubbe and Papa and he expressed that afterward on this evening.<br />
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Tomorrow we will be driving home. <br />
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Kai said that the vacation went by fast. It's good that he thinks so. That indicates that he had enjoyed it. <br />
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We did quite a bit in the past 12 days and it was fun. But it will be nice to be home as well.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-42598934618388088862020-08-05T21:57:00.002-05:002020-09-05T10:53:00.772-05:00Sleeping Bear Dunes and Other Scenic Sights of the Lower PeninsulaWe headed south out of Mackinaw City and took the scenic route. We drove the 20-mile stretch of M-119 known as the Tunnel of Trees. The 1.5 lane road twists and turns along a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.<br />
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The scenic part of the drive concludes in the charming town of Harbor Springs.<br />
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I had intended to hsve lunch in Traverse City where we enjoyed the Cherry Festival four years ago. But as we drove through downtown and saw the traffic and the crowds of tourists, I called an audible and we drove on.<br />
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We ended up having lunch at a take-out joint in the small town of Empire. My wife and Kai had great Cuban sandwiches - who would have guessed we'd find great Cubanos there! I had a sub sandwich. <br />
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Our main destination for the day was Sleeping Bear Dunes.<br />
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The climb up to the top was a bit arduous, but the temperature was only in the upper 60s and we took frequent breaks on the way up. Kai grumbled a bit but persisted and we made it to the top where we had a nice view of Glen Lake below. You can get a sense of how high we climbed by looking at the parking lot just to the left of Kai in the next photo.<br />
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In the other direction, we could see Lake Michigan in the distance.<br />
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Coming down from the dunes was easy and fun. Afterward we drove to where we could wade into Lake Michigan. This was our third Great Lake on this trip after Superior and Huron earlier.<br />
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But Kai didn't go swimming there as we were staying at a motel on the shores of a smaller lake in the area - Crystal Lake.<br />
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The water was a bit warmer than Lake Michigan and Kai enjoyed swimming there. I joined him in the water but spent much of my time on a floating tube that was anchored off shore.<br />
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We got takeout pizza for dinner and took it to Inspiration Point near the small town of Arcadia. The pizza was so-so but the view was spectacular.<br />
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After we finished our dinner, we climbed up a set of stairs to an observation area where we could see for miles down south.<br />
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It was also a perfect viewing spot to see the best sunset of the trip.<br />
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Our trip is rapidly winding down. We continue the drive south tomorrow.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-13741627645486347562020-08-04T20:16:00.000-05:002020-08-04T20:16:47.462-05:00Mackinac IslandWe took the ferry to Mackinac Island. It traveled beneath the Bridge on the way.<br />
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A short walk off the ferry is Main Street.<br />
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We took a horse-drawn carriage ride to see more of the island. No motor vehicles are allowed on the island.<br />
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One of the sights is Arch Rock.<br />
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At the iconic Grand Hotel, we got off the carriage to spend more time and look around.<br />
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Here's the view from inside.<br />
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Here we are on the world's largest front porch.<br />
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From the front porch, you can see the Mackinac Bridge in the distance,<br />
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The hotel grounds are very well kept.<br />
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Here's a view of the hotel from the garden.<br />
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The hotel had a topiary of a horse-drawn carriage.<br />
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We walked along Main Street and went into several shops. Of course, we had to get more of this island's famous fudge.<br />
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It was fun to see this famous island, but it was by far the most crowded place we had been to on our trip. <br />
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And then it was back on the ferry to return to the mainland.<br />
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This evening we sat out by the campfire briefly but as it was a chilly evening, we didn't stay out long.<br />
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Tomorrow we drive south to head down the Michigan side of Lake Michigan.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-19845107787005161932020-08-03T20:40:00.000-05:002020-08-04T16:48:24.404-05:00Soo Locks, the Mighty Mac, and a Lumberjack ShowWe finished our tour through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with a boat tour of the Soo Locks in Sault St. Marie.<br />
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We went though the American locks and watched as the water level started out at Lake Huron levels.<br />
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The closed the gates on both ends.<br />
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Then they filled the lock at a rate of a million gallons a minute and rose the water 21 feet to Lake Superior levels.<br />
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On the way back, they went through the locks on the Canadian side. We took a photo to commemorate Kai entering a new country.<br />
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After we got back, we drove down to the Mackinac Bridge. Before crossing, we stopped to take a picture on the Upper Peninsula side.<br />
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And then after crossing took another photo on the Lower Peninsula side. <br />
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After we checked in to our motel, Kai took a short swim in Lake Huron. (Correction: I originally had that this was Lake Michigan). You can see the Mackinac Bridge in the background.<br />
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For dinner, we drove into Mackinaw City and had fish & chips again.<br />
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After dinner we went to the Jack Pine Lumberjack Show.<br />
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Two lumberjacks competed in a variety of events.<br />
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The log rolling competition was a crowd favorite.<br />
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Both lumberjacks were very talented to be able to do all of the different events.<br />
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After the show, we went back into town for dessert. Mackinac Island is known for their fudge so we had to try some. <br />
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Kai and I loved it but my wife thought it was too sweet and rich for her taste.<br />
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Back at the motel, we sat outside by a fire pit and enjoyed the aftermath of the sunset.<br />
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When we crossed the Mighty Mac, the Upper Peninsula portion of our trip had ended. <br />
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We had traveled from nearly the western end of Lake Superior to the eastern tip and enjoyed it immensely. <br />
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Now we have entered the final phase of our vacation.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-48428483049988222042020-08-02T19:57:00.000-05:002020-08-02T19:57:28.238-05:00Tahquamenon Falls and Whitefish PointWe made our way toward the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula. Along the way, we stopped to see another view of Lake Superior. You can see the waves here are higher than what we saw the previous couple days at Sand Point Beach. This is more of what you'd expect from this great lake.<br />
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Our primary destination was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The upper Tahquamenon Falls are the second largest in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. It is nicknamed "The Root Beer Falls."<br />
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While it was impressive seeing the Upper Falls, we had more fun visiting the Lower Falls. The Lower Falls consists of a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island. We rented a boat to row to the island in order to get a closer look.<br />
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We walked around the entire island.<br />
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There are several spots where you can wade in the water and approach the cascades of the Lower Falls.<br />
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Kai and I walked close to one cascade. The closer you got, the harder it was to walk as the force of the water pushed against you.<br />
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Kai enjoyed the experience here.<br />
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Next we drove to Whitefish Point which juts out into Lake Superior near the eastern tip of the lake.<br />
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This area has had numerous shipwrecks over the years and so they built a shipwreck museum that tells the stories of many of the largest shipwrecks. The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1975 is probably the most famous due to the Gordon Lightfoot song, and the museum covered that wreck and even had the ship's bell which was recovered.<br />
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We then walked out to the point. It was very windy and surf was high. You could really see how the waters could get dangerous around here.<br />
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The town we're staying in has only a few restaurants so for dinner we stayed in as as our motel room has a kitchenette. We boiled water and we ate some instant Japanese noodles. Nothing to write home about, but it satisfied a hankering for Japanese food which you can't find in the U.P.<br />
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Tomorrow is our last day in the Upper Peninsula.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-10719869576106537872020-08-02T07:04:00.000-05:002020-08-02T07:04:58.182-05:00More of Pictured RocksAfter our <a href="https://hanabiboy.blogspot.com/2020/08/sunset-cruise-at-pictured-rocks.html">fabulous boat tour</a> of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore the evening before, the next day we went to a few more places by land. <br />
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Our first stop was Munising Falls where we took a short hike up a cool shaded canyon along Munising Creek to get to the falls.<br />
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Next we took a hike to see Miner's Castle. <br />
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The view from the boat last night was awesome, but this one from above was pretty special, too. I love the emerald color of the water surrounding the castle rock.<br />
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From there, we took a one-mile hike down to Miner's Beach. As it was either flat or down hill, it wasn't too difficult, but Kai grumbled along the way. He walked slowly and said it had to be way more than a mile. I don't think it was but it sure seemed that way when he was unhappy.<br />
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Toward the end of the hike, we came upon a creek that would lead to the beach. At that point we knew we were getting close and Kai's mood lightened.<br />
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He was happy when we first saw the beach.<br />
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And once in the water, he was at peace.<br />
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The walk back up was tougher, but after being refreshed by a swim in Lake Superior, Kai was much more energetic and we made it back faster than it took to climb down.<br />
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For lunch, we went back into the town of Munising. There aren't many choices there but we wanted to try pasties, a meat pie that seems to be very popular in the Upper Peninsula as we've seen signs for it in every town. <br />
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We had the Yooper pasty which was filled with ground beef, carrots, onions, and potatoes.<br />
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After lunch, we took a break at the motel and then went back out to Kai's "favorite beach I've ever been to", Sand Point Beach. The water was not too cold and my wife even went in a few times.<br />
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Kai loves this beach. It is a nice, sandy beach with no rocks, the water was calm and very swim-able, and it was not overly crowded. <br />
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For dinner, we went to one of the few restaurants in town that does't serve pasties and had Lake Superior Whitefish.<br />
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It was light and tasty, not overly heavy like some fried fish are.<br />
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Next we will travel to the eastern part of the U.P.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-46278691776558748992020-08-01T13:53:00.000-05:002020-08-01T13:53:29.063-05:00Sunset Cruise at Pictured RocksOne of the things I most looked forward to on this trip was a boat tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Pictured Rocks is known for its dramatic multicolored rocks cliffs that are best seen from a boat. I had booked a sunset cruise as I read that the angle of the sun at that time would best illuminate the rocks.<br />
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We arrived at the dock about a half hour before departure. There was already a line of people waiting to board and I was fearing that we wouldn't be able to sit up on top outside. And so I was relieved that there were not only several seats left on top by the time we got on board, but there were choice seats on the right side near the front.<br />
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The first formation we came to was the iconic Miner's Castle.<br />
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But that was just the beginning. We quickly came to a series of colorful cliffs, many with very interesting formations.<br />
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The following is an arch known as Lover's Leap.<br />
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If you use your imagination, you can see a face in the next rock formation. <br />
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I believe the next one is known as Indian Head Rock.<br />
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I like the tree clinging for dear life in the next shot.<br />
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Our captain took the boat into the very narrow Chapel Cove. We went all the way in to the end. It was doable on this night because the water was calm.<br />
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On the return trip, the sun had come down further and the rocks were lit up even better. This next arch is called Grand Portal.<br />
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I love the red colors on the cliffs behind Kai and my wife.<br />
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I love how the color of the water matches that of the cliffs.<br />
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We got right next to this waterfall.<br />
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And here's Miner's Castle on the way back, now basking in orange.<br />
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On this night, we got a bonus of a nearly full moon.<br />
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And of course you can't have a sunset cruise without a sunset.<br />
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It was quite a trip, even better that I hoped for. <br />
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We don't think of the midwestern part of the US when it comes to spectacular sights. In that way Pictured Rocks is a mostly unknown gem.<br />
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This was definitely a highlight of our trip.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-68564921626731645312020-08-01T08:22:00.000-05:002020-09-05T10:38:21.112-05:00Marquette MI and on to Pictured RocksWe had stayed the night in the UP's largest town, Marquette. We had some time before heading to our next destination so we explored some of the outdoor sights around the area.<br />
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We took a morning hike to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The hike up was wonderful through the serene forest. The temperature was pleasant so though there was a lot of climbing, we didn't get too hot.<br />
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From the top, we had great views of Lake Superior and the surrounding area.<br />
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After we came down, we drove to Presque Isle Park, a free park located on the waterfront. We started out by walking out toward the breakwater light.<br />
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It's always been refreshing to walk outdoors on this trip as the air is clean and the lake is not only beautiful but the water is clean as well.<br />
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From there, we drove to a different area of the park, a place called Black Rocks where people dive off the cliffs. No, we did not partake, but it was fun to see others.<br />
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We had lunch at Culver's. The inside of the restaurant was closed but we could phone in an order and they brought it out to a table just outside the restaurant.<br />
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And with that, it was time to leave Marquette.<br />
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Our next destination was Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.<br />
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We started out our visit there by going to Sand Point Beach. This time Kai enjoyed the water. It was not super cold so my wife waded in for a bit. After taking this picture, I joined Kai and he and I stayed in the water for an hour.<br />
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Kai said that it was his favorite beach that he ever had been to. I think he may have forgotten some of the great beaches we went to in Hawaii, but the point remains that this was a really nice beach.<br />
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On this evening, we took a sunset cruise to see the most beautiful sights of the park from the water. But that will have to wait for another post. <br />
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Later.<br />
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-84252666765090577372020-07-30T20:52:00.000-05:002020-07-30T20:52:34.485-05:00Keweenaw PeninsulaToday was to be a low-key day driving up through Keweenaw Peninsula to the northern-most part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.<br />
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We made a few stops along the way. We found a couple places to walk right down to the shores of Lake Superior.<br />
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This next spot had a sandy beach. Kai dipped his feet in the water but it was colder than where we were yesterday and he didn't want to go much further.<br />
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Toward the northern end of the peninsula, we took Brockway Mountain Drive to get to some high spots. At this first lookout, we could get a panoramic view.<br />
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And then we came to a lookout where we could get a great view of Copper Harbor.<br />
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The photos don't really capture the magnificence of the views.<br />
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We then drove down to the town of Copper Harbor and had lunch. We buffalo tempura caulilini as an appetizer. I had never heard of caulilini but our waiter explained that it's like a cross between cauliflower and broccoli. This was deep fried with tempura batter and flavored with Buffalo wing sauce. It was good!<br />
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And for our main course we had pizza. Kai had a standard supreme pizza while my wife and I tried the Lake Trout pizza. I never had fish pizza before but it was tasty. Though I especially liked the first slice and then the salty fish flavor started to be a bit overwhelming.<br />
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After that, we had a three hour drive to get to our next destination of Marquette, Michigan. Kai and I swam in the motel's swimming pool before we went out to dinner. All of the interesting places were full so we ended up at Buffalo Wild Wings. <br />
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More adventures tomorrow.<br />
Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-66108601628649021702020-07-30T07:34:00.001-05:002020-07-30T07:34:33.190-05:00Porcupine Mountains... Lakes, Waterfalls, and Hikes Through the WoodsWe had breakfast in Bayfield at a cafe where we could sit outdoors. My wife and I had Eggs Benedict with Lake Trout as we wanted don't make Benedict at home and we also wanted to eat the local fish. It was good. Kai had chicken fried steak as he doesn't like traditional breakfast food very much.<br />
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After breakfast we drove east, leaving Wisconsin and entering the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our destination was Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The Porkies are known for its scenic sites and good hiking. <br />
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I wanted to do one main hike that would take us to two waterfalls and then over to the shores of Lake Superior. It was a good trail, mostly boardwalk, going through peaceful woods. There were a lot of stairs going up and down both ways but the temperatures were pleasant in the low 70s so it wasn't too tough.<br />
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The first waterfall we came to was the larger one, Manabezho Falls. You can't get right up to this one... here we are at the best vantage point:<br />
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Manido Falls was shorter, but I liked that you could walk right up to it. And the cascades were pretty.<br />
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From there we hiked back in the other direction until we got to the shores of Lake Superior where we had lunch. Subway never tasted as good. Something about eating outdoors while looking at a nice vista makes food taste better.<br />
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We felt the water with our hands and, surprisingly, it wasn't exceedingly cold. We experienced far colder water in Lake Michigan and thought that Lake Superior would be freezing cold. So I was surprised when Kai didn't want to take a dip. He wasn't wearing his swimsuit but that hadn't stopped him in the past. He was starting to be crabby after our hike and he just didn't want to do anything. He later said that he was crabby because he didn't get his usual amount of sleep the night before.<br />
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So when we went on a hike to Summit Peak, he was grumbling even though it was less than a mile to the tower, and then didn't want to climb to the top. My wife and I went up by ourselves and could see for miles around. In the photo below, you can see Lake Superior in the distance.<br />
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Our last destination in the Porkies was Lake of the Clouds which is at another high point in the park. It was a beautiful sight. We later saw a photo of it in the fall with all of the trees colored yellow and reflecting on the water. It was quite spectacular. <br />
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We then made our way to the motel where we would stay the night. It had a nice long pool and no one else was there (unlike previous motels where we had stayed on this trip) so we were able to go swimming. Kai was happy about that. But he wasn't happy that the motel was in the middle of nowhere, or rather, on the middle of a cellular dead zone, and that the motel's wifi was very spotty. (It kept me from posting my blog last night).<br />
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And so Kai was happy when we drove almost 20 minutes into the small town of Ontonagon to eat dinner. The food was just okay, but it was worth the trip for the free wifi which lifted Kai's spirits.<br />
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Back at the motel, we walked out to the Lake Superior shoreline to see the sunset. The clouds were in just the wrong position but it was still a nice, relaxing way to end the day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0oTguWiOEhU/XyIx-gSnwPI/AAAAAAAA7YI/dZsdVw1sYZgpfa-ArpDFneAW819oQYlkACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_8986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0oTguWiOEhU/XyIx-gSnwPI/AAAAAAAA7YI/dZsdVw1sYZgpfa-ArpDFneAW819oQYlkACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_8986.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div>Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4687526100634149438.post-50099259438768732212020-07-28T21:54:00.001-05:002020-09-05T10:25:01.392-05:00Sea Cave Kayak Tour on Lake Superior This was the day I was most looking forward to before the trip. We would go kayaking on Lake Superior and see some (hopefully) awesome sea caves.<br />
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We drove about three hours from where we spent the previous night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Our destination was the far northern tip of Wisconsin, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.<br />
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We arrived there at lunchtime and went into the small town of Cornucopia to have lunch. We found the only restaurant there that was open and had fish chowder and a Tater Tots Hotdish. <br />
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And then it was time to head over to Meyers Beach where we would meet our group for a two-hour kayak tour. As luck would have it, we were the only ones so we had a private tour. Kai and I shared one kayak while my wife rode with our guide.<br />
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Our guide, Travis, cautioned us that the water was choppy. It would be about a mile on open Lake Superior water before we would get to where the sea caves were, and it was tough paddling. But Kai kept at it and didn't complain at all.<br />
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The sea caves were as awesome as I had hoped. <br />
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Here we are approaching one that was quite narrow.<br />
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This was the view from my wife's kayak as we started to go inside the cave:<br />
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It got ever more spectacular the further we went in:<br />
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And this was the deepest we could go as our kayaks could barely fit:<br />
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We also went through a couple of arches. Here you can see my wife's kayak approaching one:<br />
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Here's me and Kai coming into a sea cave:<br />
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My wife took this next shot of the view coming out of a cave... Look at that tree hanging onto the side of the cliff.<br />
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And here's a picture of my wife and our guide in a cave:<br />
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It was a fantastic experience. I was happy that Kai seemed to enjoy it, too. He later said that he likes Wisconsin better than Illinois.<br />
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After kayaking, we drove to the nearby town of Bayfield where we would spend the night. We rewarded our hard paddling with some very tasty ice cream.<br />
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We checked into our motel and took a little break before heading into town for dinner. My wife and I had Lake Superior Whitefish while Kai had a mushroom and swiss burger.<br />
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After dinner, we walked around the small town and went to the harbor. The sky was still lit up from the recently set sun.<br />
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And so wrapped up a great day. This was the kind of day that all vacation days should be like.<br />
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More tomorrow.<br />
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Yujihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17025841543342602157noreply@blogger.com2