June 20-26 Traverse City, Saginaw and Niagra Falls Quick update

We are getting ready to head over to Saginaw this morning to visit Joan and Bill, Fred's cousin.  It's rather windy this morning, but this weather is supposed to be moving swiftly so we are hoping by the time we are ready to head out it's calmer.  We have had absolutely incredible weather this trip and the last few days were actually HOT, but clear and beautiful for the drive tours we've been taking.
On the 17th we drove down from St. Ignace to Traverse City, but on the way down we stopped at Petosky State Park to look for Petosky stones.  Our friend Rich said we needed to find one so we were on a mission.  (A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil, often pebble-shaped, that is composed of a fossilized rugose coral, Hexagonaria percarinata)  Really pretty when wet and you can see the fossils.   Unfortunately we did not actually find a Petosky stone, but thanks to a very sweet concession worker at the park, we got one to take home.  What a gorgeous area!!!  The sand was beautiful and big sand dunes along the shore line.  We hugged the shore most of the way to Traverse City so it was a mix of shore and farm land.  Rolling hills, wine vineyards, big farms and orchards.

We have been with lousy to no internet so I have really fallen behind with the blog.  Since I started this brief update we have been to  Saginaw....had an absolutely wonderful time....and are now in Niagra Falls on the Canadian side.  While at Bill and Joan's I was finally able to upload pictures so I did so, but ran out of time to publish them on the blog.  It's now 3:00 in the morning of the 26th and I couldn't sleep for fretting over how far behind I've gotten with the blog.  I decided to publish the pictures that were uploaded as of two days ago and write about them later.

This has been such a phenomenal journey that I find myself too busy enjoying where we are going and what we are doing to take time to write about where we have been.  I wish I could journal while riding, but there's just way too much to see.  I haven't even been reading while we travel, which is so unusual for me.  I have been taking pictures and trying to capture the wonders of this magnificent country we live in.  They don't do it justice, but it helps us to remember the times we've had.  I hope to one day label the pictures and actually write for the blog, but in the meantime, if you are following along I hope you enjoy what we are seeing.  My darling grand-daughter Juli writes so beautifully on her blog that I wish she were along to express for you what we are seeing and feeling.  I feel badly that I can't keep up.

Now that I am not quite so far behind, maybe I can sleep.  Another long day tomorrow at the Falls.  We are planning on taking the boat ride, touring more of the area and hopefully seeing a show at the Casino if the sold out performance has two cancellations.  Of course there are more pictures, but lousy internet so can't upload them.  First chance I get I will try to get caught up.
Good night!!