On August 1st, 2003, we piled ourselves and an unbelievable amount of luggage and equipment into our little car and headed off on our first family roadtrip. We had three goals in mind: to enjoy baseball games in Chicago and Milwaukee; to visit all five Great Lakes; and not to kill each other before returning home. We succeded on all three counts. So we left Toronto, leaving Lake Ontario behind us, to spend the first night at Mikael's mom's house in Fort Erie.
Our first stop was the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where there was a dinosaur exhibit. Gavi is the world's biggest dino fan (he tells us that he, himself, is a dinoraptor, which means "terrible thief"), so the visit was for him. We had no idea, however, just how amazing the exhibit would be. Not all the dinosaurs were full-size, but they were incredibly lifelike, moving heads and eyes and arms and jaws, blinking, and spitting, and some even eating. At first, Gavi wouldn't go near them to have his photograph taken, because he was convinced the monsters would eat him.
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This Dilophosaurus greeted us as we entered the exhibit area.
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We all avoided being eaten, luckily, and after finding some food for ourselves, continued our drive westward, towards Toledo. We camped that night at Maumee Bay State Park, on the shores of Lake Erie. After a struggle with our new dining tent, we finally got the thing standing, which was the one thing that saved us when a tremendous storm blew through. There were two square feet in the middle of this tent that stayed dry, and that's where all three of us ate our supper.
The next morning the rain seemed to have stopped, and we began to pack up our camping gear while Gavi was still asleep. We'd taken the fly off the tent when the rains began again. It was a nasty wake-up call for poor Gavi, who dashed from the open tent to the car, stark naked and shivering. We've never packed up a camp site so quickly!
We drove all morning, and arrived in Chicago in time for lunch. We settled into our Lincoln Park hotel, and enjoyed a stroll down by Navy Pier that evening. Every time I go to Chicago, I want to go back, and the architecture of the city is only one thing that keeps drawing me there.
I love the gothic spires and the steel and glass, and the river and the bridges and the way the city embraces its waterfront. Where Toronto has buried its own lakeshore beneath a morass of highways and industrial detritus and high-priced condominiums, Chicago's is open and cared for and inviting. It makes coming home very hard.
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Chicago skyline
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When you drive into Chicago from the south, it's very hard to miss the huge dinosaur standing outside the Field Museum, and Gavi's eyes grew to twice their normal size when he saw. So naturally, we had to go and check out the dino the next morning. The thing is huge - I assume it's life-size. The little white blob by the Brachiosaurus' knee is Gavi, standing on a picnic table.
Good thing this creature was a herbivore!
Inside, however, was another dinosaur, and a real one this time. I had completely forgotten that the Field Museum is home to Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex. Gavi saw the signs and went dashing in, with his poor parents panting to try to catch him. By the time we made it into the front doors, our little monkey was nowhere to be seen, so Mikael took off trying to find him while I tried to pay for our entrance to the museum and explain to the cashier just why I was paying for three people and why my husband had gone racing in without paying. We got things sorted out quickly enough, and spent several hours checking out the displays.
Gavi had another request - to go to the beach. We'd seen some beaches on Lake Michigan as we drove north to out hotel, and he'd been asking and begging ever since. We were excellently located, so after lunch, we set out on foot to find a sandy spot by the water. This we did, and while Mikael and Gavi played in the lake and on the shore, I hid under a tree with a book and was lost to the world for an un-known amount of time.
South to downtown Chicago. Check out the clouds.
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As we walked back to the hotel, we were greeted by a cloud of Monarch butterflies, enjoying all that Lincoln Park had to offer.
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That evening, the guys went off to cheer the White Sox, while I fended for myself. I had planned to meet Donna that night, but her baby was sick, so it was just me. As luck would have it, the hotel I'd found was half a block, in various directions, from a Borders, a Barnes and Noble, and a Starbucks. Have credit card, will read. I think I had as much fun as my men that night.
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and we drove off the next morning to Milwaukee, which turned out to be another good thing. While not as extravegant as Chicago, Milwaukee also embraces its lakefront, and we spent an hour cycling around the many paths that adorn Veterans Park. We found a fantastic Greek restaurant for lunch, and then found our hotel to get ready for the Brewers game that evening.
The baseball game may have been the highlight for Gavi, but for me, it was meeting Jeanne and her two charming children, Julia and Jacob, who joined us for the game.
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Beverlee, Jeanne, and the three kids at Miller Park.
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Aren't they cute? Gavi, Julia and Jacob.
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A driving trip involves lots of, well, driving, so we were up early the next morning for the longest day of our holiday. We needed to make it all the way up to the shore of Lake Superior (that's lake number four, if you're counting) before nightfall. It was a long, tiring trip, but it was certainly worth it.
The campsite we had reserved at Tahqamenon Falls State Park happened to be right on the Tahq river, affording us some of the best dinner scenery we've ever had. While we grown-ups worked to set up camp, Gavi amused himself with a book about - what else? - dinosaurs!
That evening, we watched the sun set over the river.
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Tahqamenon Falls State Park exists thanks to the waterfalls, so the next morning, after breaking camp, we decided to see just what the fuss was about. Definitely worth a state park, in our opinion. The lower falls, while not as damatic as the upper falls, were accessible by rowboat. So we rented a little boat and went paddling around an island in the river before leaving for our next stop.
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Upper Tahqamenon Falls, above, and Lower Tahqamenon Falls, right.
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We had not yet actually seen more than a glimpse of Lake Superior, the camp site being a short way upstream from the mouth of the Tahq, so we took a stroll on the shores of that magnificent lake. Lakeshores are much better appreciated barefoot.
Sandals
We drove through Sault Ste. Marie, crossing back into Canada there, and then onto our next camp site at Chutes Provincial Park in Massey. This little park is right in the town, which gives it the advantage of being walking distance from a supermarket, liquor store and ice cream shop. There are a few camp sites that must seem like being in someone's back yard, but most of the park felt like miles from everywhere. The "chutes," or waterfalls, are on the Aux Sables River, presumably named for its sandy bottom.
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The falls on the Aux Sables River in Chutes Provincial Park.
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This river not only looked great, but it was a marvelous place to play as well. The large, shallow pool at the base of the falls was the perfect place for my little dinosaur and his dad to pass the afternoon.
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Gavi and Mikael had built a whole little city, complete with islands, lakes, castles and causeways.
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The River Spirit, wearing the latest in low-rise swimwear.
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Below, Gavi and his dad enjoying the water.
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Previous plans had fallen through, so we decided to spend an extra day in Chutes. Now, Chutes is only an hour from Sudbury, home of the world's biggest nickel, as well as Science North, a science centre built into an old abandonned nickel mine. We thought that once we were that close, and with extra time on our hands, it would be a pity not to go. As we approached the science centre, Gavi began making exited and incoherent noised about dinosaurs. It turned out that there was (yes, another one) a dinosaur exhibit at Science North too, and Gavi had seen the signs.
Once again, after chasing after him as he dashed headlong into the building, we found ourselves in the company of some very large, scary and realistic animatronic dinosaurs. The T. rex would actually turn, look at you, blink, and then lower its head while opening its mouth. I'm very glad these things went extinct 65 million years ago.
A Spinosaurus - not a good pet.
Finally, it was time to head towards home. We missed the ferry from Manatoulin Island to Tobermory, but still managed to sneak in some time on a boat on Georgian Bay (part of Lake Huron) by taking a cruise through the 30,000 Islands. A gull followed the boat out for miles, just floating effortlessly a few feet in our wake, before settling down on a railing for the rest of the journey.
.If I had to describe the cruise, I'd say all we saw was water, rocks and trees, but oh! what water, rocks and trees. Most of those 30,000 islands have cottages on them, and I'm already saving my spare change.
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A scene from the Group of Seven.
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And so we arrived home on Sunday morning, tired and smelly, but having enjoyed ourselves immensely.