Traverse City

Days 7 and 8 were a lot of fun for both Alex and me. It was a 20 mile ride to our hotel on the East Bay side of town. We stopped at one of our favorite places for food in TC - the GT Pie Company, where they give you a free drink if you ride your bike there! We saw 3 other cyclists who were also going to Mackinaw City, but they were doing the camping thing. We chatted it up with them for a while before they left. Our Hotel was next to Pirate's Cove. Since it was Father's Day they had a special - Dads mini-golf for free. We had a blast playing 36 holes. Later that afternoon we were invited to join the Cobb family (Jeff, Laura, Elijah, and Ari) for a get-together at Laura's dad's home. There were 18 people there, and they made Alex and me feel very welcomed. They have a beautiful home on Elk Lake, and the food was terrific too. Jeff and Elijah took us back to our hotel, and we made plans for Monday.

Monday morning Alex and I had most of the day to ourselves, and we took advantage of the time off. It started with go-cart racing at Pirate's Cove, and then we went across the street to the Beach Haus Hotel. It turns out that Laura is running the hotel (a very complicated story). She made arrangements for us to use their beach and they provided us with towels and a place to secure our bikes and belongings. We had the best time that afternoon! We rented a Sea-Doo for an hour and buzzed around the bay, and I was able to convince Alex that the parasailing would be fun. I am not a big fan of heights, but I have to say it was extremely peaceful up there. We were in our swimming trunks, so they gave us a "foot dip" before bringing us back onto the aft deck of the boat. After changing we went to a pizza place for lunch.

We did ride 7 miles that day to the Cobb's home. We were invited over again, but this time for dinner and to spend the night. The kids set up a home-made slip-and-slide in the front yard as soon as we got there, and Jeff made a delicious meal. We talked a lot over a few brewskis, and finished the night by playing video games on the Wii. It was a fun day. The down side was that it was Robin's and my anniversary. This seems to happen to us most years, but we always make sure to celebrate it a little late or a little early. Usually it is a professional obligation that keeps us apart on June 22nd.