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4th of July
  • Catherine Jasionowicz
  • Catherine Jasionowicz

4th of July

Biking trip to Traverse City and Petoskey Read more
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  • Trip start
    June 30, 2022
    Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler

    Day 1: Travel to Traverse City

    June 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Today we biked a new trail called Palmer Woods in Glen Arbor. I found out after we rode it that it's pretty new. Each trail (there are four separate loops) started with 1/2 - 1 mile of climbing, but then it was super fun down! Bermed turns, table tops, and rollers!! The best one was Beach Drops.

    From there we went to Cherry Republic for an early dinner/late lunch. And we went shopping... Gary bought at least one of everything in the store! 😂

    By then it had started to rain, so we stopped at Moomers for some ice cream and wait out the rain. Once it stopped, we went on to the campgrounds and set up camp. Hope this heat and humidity break!!    Read more

  • Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler
    21

    Day 2: Traverse City

    July 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    So there was a thunderstorm last night...

    Not much sleep...

    But we got up and went biking at VASA. It changes directions every year. They just started doing this during the pandemic, so this is the first time we are riding the dirt in the new direction. I actually liked it better! I'm surprised! I liked it so much in the original direction, but this way seems so much more fun! The downhills seem longer.

    From there we went to Kayak, Bike, Brew for a paddle to four breweries. All along the way I was getting contact information to do runs up here next year! Four gave me contacts!! And I got one "maybe" from a fifth. That was pretty successful! The beer was good and it was a perfect day for being on the water! And we met some interesting people.

    All day, the Blue Angles we're practicing for tomorrow's air show. So we got to see all the stuff early because we were out on the water! They were so loud! But it was still really cool! I had to remind myself to keep paddling!

    Then it was on to dinner. I wanted to go to The Big Salad for dinner, but they closed early because the Blue Angels were practicing and were too loud!! 🙄 We ended up at Middle Coast for dinner. The waitress was new and the kitchen had just opened last week. So it was an adventure just getting our food. It tasted good though.

    Back to Moomers for dessert. Gary got cherry moobalie and amaretto cherry. I got watermelon, coconut, and butter pecan. All the flavors were great!

    Then it was finally back to camp for a shower and some much needed sleep! Tomorrow is the Cherry Festival and on to Petoskey.    Read more

  • Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler
    2
    2

    Day 3: Travel to Petoskey

    July 2, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Today we got up a little early to break down camp. Then we took the TART trail from our campground to downtown Traverse City. It is like a Riverwalk pathway by some old train tracks. That trail was so busy!!

    Today was the official start to the Cherry Festival. They have a pancake breakfast to celebrate. You have to catch the pancakes! They flip them to you!! And there is cherry topping and cherry syrup to put on them (once you've caught them). We got to eat right on the edge of the bay.

    We got to see the opening ceremony and shopped around the festival before heading back. We had one backpack full of fresh cherries and the other full of cherry flavored food for Gary. 😋

    We drove to School Forest Trail in Boyne. They have a new lot and a new start point. I told Gary it looked like they were building a whole new trail system and connecting it to School Forest. The new stuff was good, but there was a lot of climbing at the beginning! 🚴

    One part that frustrated me was that from 10 to 13 on Wild Hog (W) is one direction all the time towards 13. We kept wanting to go the other direction. They need to rethink that part of the trail and what they are trying to do. But other than that it was a good ride!! Gary was worried that it was going to be a short ride, but he forgets that we rode 9 miles this morning already (to downtown)!

    From there, we headed towards food at Beard's. I know it was only 4 pm, but we didn't eat lunch and I was hungry! We split a pizza and had some good beer. And, of course, we got ice cream for dessert from Kilwins on our way to the campground.

    This campground is so big! And it has a beach. So we went down to see if we could watch the fireworks there, find some ice, and check out what was what. After munching on some cherries on the beach, we finally got cleaned up, and headed off for some sleep. 😴    Read more

  • Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler

    Day 4: Petoskey

    July 3, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Today was more of a "relaxed" day. We started with 9.63 miles of mountain biking on Tanton Trail. Gary really likes this trail, but I'm having a hard time warming up to it. The sticking point is the black trail. It seems like 5 miles of uphill, and it's not the easy kind of uphill! But Gary likes the fast downhill on the other side. It's too fast for me, so I don't enjoy it as much. The trail alternates direction depending on the day. We were doing this in a new (for us) direction. We got to one intersection and the sign was all kinds of wrong. We had a debate about the correct direction when someone (local) came riding down and settled the debate. Otherwise, the trail was ok.

    We went back to clean up. This campsite doesn't have enough showers and there is always a line. We're thinking of going to a different one next year. But then it was off to Pond Hill.

    We love this place! The food is great! The beer is great! The farm is so much fun to walk around on! There is a scavenger hunt! So, of course, I had to get the contact information for them. I really would like to do a 5k here next year! Our calendar is so full! And I have a half dozen more to contact about next year!

    We were there for about 3 hours. Then we went to downtown. In 2020, there was a mud slide along the bike path. We decided to walk to the mud slide area and see how they fixed it....well, they haven't fixed it yet! It was still blocked off. Gary thinks it's going to be permanently blocked off. 🤷🏼‍♀️

    Then it was on to Burnt Marshmallow for dinner. They have such a great place! Again, it is on a farm. But all these farm to table menus are going to spoil me! I've been eating way too much!! But it's so good!!

    Then it was time to turn in. Early morning tomorrow! We have a run in the morning! 🏃🏼‍♀️    Read more

  • Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler

    Day 5: Petoskey

    July 4, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    This morning was early. We had a 10k. Of course Gary came in second. And me? Well...I finished! ☺️ From there we went to Avalanche to bike while the parade went through town. It was really tricky getting to the trail because that was where they were getting everything ready for the parade. But we had the whole trail to ourselves!! It was hard climbing those hills after running, but my legs finally got with the program!

    We really like Avalanche and we're glad that we got to do it! They were predicting rain all day today. It rained this morning at the start of the run, but it turned out to be a real nice day. 80s, sunny, and HUMID!

    Boyne has so much to do on the 4th! They have a "market". That was our next stop. We walked around there for a long time, got a bunch of stuff (foods and seasonings), and got some lunch (hot dogs and smoothies).

    Boyne also does a Duck Race. A bunch of rubber duckies launched up the river. They sold tickets and the winners got $500! We couldn't afford the tickets, but it was fun watching the ducks come down!

    Then they had a Raft Race. The rules were you had to make your raft and it couldn't be just a kayak or canoe or some other kind of boat. But it has turned into a water gun fight with the boaters too! It was great! This year's winner made their "raft" out of a door!! And just watching, we still got soaked from the cross fire! Next year, bring water cannons!! But honestly, the water felt good!!

    That was the last thing until their fireworks, so we came back to get cleaned up. I packed up a bunch of stuff. There is going to be rain tonight for sure. We're hoping to get the fireworks in before it hits!!

    Off to dinner. There is a bike path at the end of the campgrounds that leads to Petoskey Brewing. So we headed there, but they were closing because it was 4th of July! Nothing in Petoskey was open because their parade was going at 6 pm. The whole town shuts down for that. Dinner...we ended up getting McDonald's and bringing it back to the campground. That ended up being a great dinner!!

    Well, I hope the fireworks get to go!    Read more

  • Catherine Jasionowicz4th of JulyTraveler

    Day 6: Travel Home

    July 5, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    Well, we made it home! The day started with worrisome news about storms hitting home just about the time we would be pulling in, but the storms all went south and we had a great drive in. Stopping to ride Glacial and have lunch at Short's made it the perfect ending to a great trip!Read more

    Trip end
    July 5, 2022
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