Vacation Part 1

We are back from vacation!! We had a wonderful time! We rented a cottage in northern MI on Pencil Lake, a small lake within Lakes of the North. The lake was one of those where you're not allowed to build your house right by the lake so it was neat to go by the water and just see woods and feel like you were in the middle of nowhere! Which we really were... Haha!

Day 1: Travel. We packed up all morning and left at around 2 in the afternoon. We arrrived at the cottage to find that we had been given the wrong key! We  couldn't get inside! Dad called the person we were renting from who said that she had several other people nearby who had a key, so she'd call them. The problem was she couldn't get ahold of any of them! We finally decided to go out to eat since we still hadn't eaten supper. We used my GPS and it directed us to a place called Michael's. When it started taking us into a subdivision, we were worried we were gonna eat at Michael's house! And THEN when we were taken to a seasonal road, we decided the GPS was confused and turned around for the 20 minute drive back to Gaylord! We ended up eating around 10 and finished around 11. Probably one of the latest dinners we've ever had! Minte slept through it all! While we ate Dad got a phone call from the renting people who said they finally got ahold of someone and the cottage would be open when we got back! And it was! We looked around, unpacked, and crashed in our beds!

Day 2: Rest. We recovered from Day 1. It was Sunday, so it was perfect! After a church service at home, we checked out the old paddleboat and rowboat left for us to use by the lake and explored the cottage.

Day 3: Horses! We went horseback riding this afternoon!! Lakes of the North has its own riding stable so we were able to go there and Dad, Luke, Ethan, and I went on an hour long ride! Mom was unable to join us because she had a lot of pain in her hips and back. :-( It's especially sad since she's the one who loves horses the most. Minte and Ana took pony rides first and then visited the goats and donkey nearby while we went on our ride! The ride through the woods was a lot of fun!  Ethan got to ride and direct his own horse so that was neat to watch! The only incident happened when my horse decided he didn't like me keeping him from eating the grass nearby and chose to run me into a small tree. Haha! It didn't hurt, but it was rather interesting! When we got back Ana and Minte showed us the goats and donkey and then we headed back to the cottage.


Part 2 to come soon. Jetskiing accident, Mackinac Island, and much more!