What a great day...

First, we had to get the drive over with. We tried to get an early start, and it was about 8:30am by the time we left Marquette.

Our couchsurfing host Joy had to leave for work before 7:00am so it was a quick goodbye to her just after we got up. Joy doesn't like having her picture taken, but one of her friends managed a quick photo when we were at the pub the night before...

Ruth, Joy, Kevin.

Thanks for having us Joy...we had a great time. Even with the leaky air mattress!

We were doing a drive that took us a little off our route. Across the Mackinaw Bridge and south towards Detroit.

Yesterday's drive, 272 miles (440 kms)

Went for a hike down to the bottom of the Cut River Gorge. You can see the highway bridge through the trees.

Looking up at the bridge.

Shortly after that, we had another bridge to cross. The Mackinaw Bridge is a pretty famous one. The bridge connects the upper and lower peninsulas of the state of Michigan. Built between 1953 and 1957 and completed on time and under budget!

The towers of the Mackinaw Bridge are 552 feet high!

Heading across. $4.00 toll fee for cars. 

Stopped at a park on the south side to get a better pic of the bridge.

We could have taken the Interstate highway, but it's so much nicer to take our time and see the scenery on the side roads. Driving along, we saw a sign that said "Sinkhole Viewing Site". We looked at each other and said "okay!" and made the turn.

Shortly after getting onto the dirt road, another sign said it was 3 miles (5 kms) further on. Hmm. Okay, we were already on the road so might as well continue on.

They had a small parking area, and a trail leading to the five sinkholes. Not really much to see, so we only went to the first one.

Another couple was there and offered to take a picture of us overlooking the sinkhole.

And of course we had to take the stairs down into the hole.

Not much to see down there though!

Another hour or so of driving and we made it to the reason for our detour. We had met Bill and Bonnie down in Mexico when they had a truck camper and they were touring around just like we were. We hit it off and bumped into them a couple more times during that time in early 2009.

Since then, we've come close to getting together a couple of times, and we knew that they owned a place in Michigan. This time, we made the effort to do a little detour to come for a visit. And we sure are glad we did! Within minutes of arriving, they had us out on the pontoon boat enjoying sunshine and drinks. 

Bill and Bonnie.

Guess who?

Ruth was drinking a bottle of "Mad Housewife" wine.

 On the cork, it says "Housework can't kill you, but why take the chance?"

Trees along the lakeshore starting to turn.

Back on shore just as the sun was going down, and Bill grilled up some burgers and we had some dinner. Stayed up until midnight talking and laughing. Too much fun, but I have a minor hangover this morning. Oh well, it was worth it!

We showed our special rock to Bonnie and she wanted it. This is perhaps one of those deals you shouldn't be making when you've been drinking! Bonnie paid Ruth $5.00 for the rock.

Who got the best deal???

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