Road Trips and Hike Reports

After arriving with the truck on Friday the 1st, we had some recommended movers help us unload the truck.  They really did everything which was great.  They also went over to Sears with their own truck and picked up the mattress and bed rails and set that up so Brian and I could really just focus on unpacking and getting ready to return the truck to Harrisburg.  Compared to the ordeal of dropping the car trailer off, returning the truck wasn't too bad.  We drove it empty down to Harrisburg and David came and picked us up at Penske of Harrisburg and took us to the airport to get the Malibu which was patiently waiting for us all those weeks. The details of settling in aren't too exciting.  The gift cards for Bed Bath and Beyond and Target we had purchased months ago were really appreciated as we intentionally left some things in Oregon that we wanted to replace.  Money wise it's a natural low point since I am just getting back to work and Brian just started his job on the 

Wednesday morning started in Superior.  After breakfast at Hardees, we headed back out on US-2 as we had been for the past several days.  Michigan's upper peninsula came quicker than I expected but it went on longer than it seemed like it would.  I had hoped to eat at the Stonehouse in Escanaba for either lunch or dinner but we arrived too late for lunch and too early for dinner.  Escanaba was originally the planned stopping point for that night but since we were ahead the night before by getting to Superior, we pushed Wednesday's stopping point out until Mackinaw City MI.  Mackinaw is a beautiful spot with a legendary bridge and sparkling Lake Michigan water on 2 sides.  We ended up staying at Holiday Inn Express which was nice but not someplace I collect points at or am a frequent guest at.  Dinner was from Audie's just across I-75 from the hotel (walkable thanks to an underpass).  We shared chicken alfredo which came with beans and a salad.  We also had raspberry pie. 

By Brian Gilbar Saturday morning, April 25th we headed out at about 6:30 a.m. to pick up the rental truck.  We had a quick breakfast at Village Inn with Chris' Dad and then headed to the storage place.  It was really quick work with help from our friends Daniel, Lyn, Josh and Roger as well as Chris' Dad.  As we got close to the storage units being emptied out, I drove the car to pick up Splash (cat) at Bob V's house and then met Chris at Penske.  Roger and Josh nicely drove me to the storage place to close my account and then back to Penske where we loaded up the cat.  Chris and his Dad had already loaded the car on the trailer. Then we headed out!  Day 1 on the road was fine.  Splash stayed under the seat the entire day and Chris did an amazing job navigating a 23 foot long truck towing a car.  The first night we stayed in Sandpoint, Idaho at Best Western, City Beach .  We had to park in the parking lot of the park next door.  We were right next to the water and