Lake Michigan - Kalamazoo, Portage, and Plainwell

Monday morning, bright and early, we hit the road and started our Lake Michigan road trip for the next four days. Can you see Evan's excitement?

Our first stop was our old stomping grounds, Kalamazoo!  We had plans to show the boys the campus, do a little shopping at the book store, and grab lunch at Bell's.  The predicted rain was nowhere in sight.  It was perfect and aside from the usual whining about walking from the boys, our Western Michigan University visit was a hit!  We would be thrilled to have some future Broncos!

After doing some damage at the book store and getting attire for everyone for the fall, I actually ran into a former student of mine.  Small world!  Another current student volunteered to get this family photo before we went on to Bell's.

We stopped for lunch and beer at Bell's.  I think both Scott and I were a little disappointed in the food, but the beer made up for it.  They had a raspberry beer that was delicious!  Cheers, we're on vacation!

After lunch, we drove a few minutes to Portage to go to the Air Zoo.  We've never been, even though it's only a few minutes from Kalamazoo.  We drove by our old houses that backed up to each other and took a quick trip down memory lane.  Okay, back to the Air Zoo...

The museum was great!  It had a little something for everyone.  From carnival type rides to R2D2 out and about, it entertained us the rest of the afternoon.

There were four amusement style rides that the we all rode on for the first hour, an exhibit called Popnology that had things like R2D2 and E.T., of course the airplanes and fighter jets, a children's area, and a space section.  Of course, the kids were most excited about the gift shop on the way out...

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At this point, it was after 4pm, the kids were getting tired and hungry, and we were ready to drive a short drive to Plainwell to stay with my Aunt and Uncle.  We sat around and socialized for a bit, had pizza, fruit, and veggies for dinner, and then decided to go down the street to their lake for a swim before bed.

As the sun started to set, we knew it was time to get the boys ready for bed.  It was an exciting and busy first day and the next day would be the same.  We ate a delicious chocolate eclair cake my Aunt made for dessert, bathed the boys, and got them to bed.  The adults were able to sit down and watch some Under the Radar Michigan on PBS before we all turned in ourselves.

It was a great first day!  We went to bed anxious to see Lake Michigan in the morning, where we said our goodbyes to Paul and Mary and headed on to Saugatuck.