The Upper Pennisula

Not much up here -- essentially a big pine forest on a lake.  Nonetheless, we found a Subway.  Starvation averted via avocado.

We've decided to abort on Duluth and booked a Hampton Inn outside of Minneapolis for the night instead.  Hotel options are not so good tonight in Duluth (busy time of year it seems) and this way we actually get a little farther west before end of day.

Wrapping Up Fountain Point

Our fantastic, annual visit to Fountain Point in Lake Leelanau, MI has officially ended. As usual, it is hard to leave, but we are worn out! The last few days were a frenzy of water skiing (yes, Aubry finally got it down!), ping pong, volleyball, tennis, Cherry Republic, kayaking, swimming, and Oberon fueled, marathon Texas hold'em.

Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor is a required stop each year. This is where we load up on our cherry themed treats. We love you, cherry sours!

There is also the group shot - easily one of the biggest challenges that faces us during the week. Thanks to Lynn for organizing this unruly crowd!

Now we are officially headed West! We will begin our trip with a drive through the Upper Peninsula. Hopefully we'll end up in Duluth, MN tonight.

Mid Week Update

It's looking like Fountain Point might succeed in breaking us again. After a few days of swimming, tennis, ping pong, running, water skiing, volleyball and sun exposure we're beginning to feel sore muscles and a little weary. The only thing that keeps us going is all of the delicious food the Knapps keeping making us!

There's an annual Wimbledon tradition that includes dressing in white and sipping mimosas on changeovers. Ray and I got to participate for a bit this year. Here's a shot of the pros:

Today we spent some time on the water. Ray is trying to teach me to water ski but I am progressing slowly. It's clear my technique needs some work!

Ray has clearly had some practice...

At least I still remember how to knee board from last year!

We have also contributed to making some of the delicious food in our spare time. We made some cheesecake squares on Monday.

Arrival at Fountain Point!

We have finally located working wifi so we can do another blog post! We arrived at Fountain Point in Lake Leelanau, MI yesterday afternoon. Now begins a week of mental and physical preparation before we head out on our 3 week car voyage across America. With a game of cornhole, a swim across the lake, and an epic volleyball battle already under our belts, things seem to be off to a good start.

Departing Detroit!

After arriving in Detroit, the home of Ford, just before midnight last night, we rested up in preparation for the final leg of our trip to Lake Leelanau, MI. We'll spend the week there water skiing, eating delicious food, playing tennis, and fending off evil gnomes until Saturday, when we officially start the drive out West. 

Departing Cincinnati

500 miles are already down on day one.  We've made it to Cincinnati where we've traded in our Volkswagon Jedi for an Acura MDX which we'll use for the rest of the trip.  We are both enjoying the additional space it offers for cargo (we've got plenty of that -- photos to come soon).

Aubry has taken the wheel and is slowly re-learning how to drive an automatic transmission.

We hope to make it to Detroit, MI before midnight.

Dune on audiobook, just under 22 hours of unabridged classic sci-fi should make the drive feel a feel light years shorter.  Audible uses DRM -- challenge accepted!