Day 8 by Stuart

We've been off the air for a few days. After Chicago we headed to Traverse City in Northern Michigan to stay with a fellow Rotary Youth Exchange Student I met when in Sweden in 1987. Amy and her husband Norm have three girls and Abbey loved having three older sisters! WE had a great couple of days - the girls were back in school but Amy took them out on Friday and we spent an amazing day at Sleeping Bear Dunes! We went down the dune to the shore of Lake Michigan and then had to climb back up - me with Abbey on my back for much of the climb up a very steep 450 foot high dune! Luckily it was not too warm. We then spent a few hours in the afternoon 'tubing' down the Platte River which was full of salmon making their way upstream to lay eggs. At the point we jumped in the river, which drains into Lake Michigan, there were literally thousands of salmon. Traverse City is a beautiful place on Grand Traverse Bay. On Saturday we then drove the 730km across Michigan, crossing into Canada at Port Huron, and Ontario to Niagara Falls where we have spent today - Maid of the Mist, past grade 6 rapids on the White Water Walk, and Journey Behind the Falls. The kids and Kaylene are down having a swim in the hotel pool, while I pay some bills online and take a quick nap! We head to Montreal, Quebec tomorrow.