Just wow

PH and I were gone last week.  He had to work in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and I went along for the ride. It was a nice trip, we did the same thing twice last year but he thought this year we could compress two weeks into one. As a result we drove over 4,000 miles. 

  There is a small issue with getting from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper.  You have to cross this bridge, the Mackinac Bridge.  It's five miles long, the longest suspension bridge in the U.S. and it scares me to death. I don't do bridges and certainly never one like this.  I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever drive across this thing. Did I say never ever? In an emergency?  Oh, well, too bad, so sad.
   There are lots of interesting facts about how big, strong, tough it is, but the one that gets to me is that in a big wind it will sway as much as 35 feet (not inches, folks.  FEET.)  They will close it down for high winds and ice falling from the towers and cables.   It's hard to look at a picture of it and appreciate how really big it is.  This bridge is necessary for the state and it's the icon image OF the state but oh, man, I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever drive across.

 This trip we took a little tour underneath the bridge.

 This cute little boat came from Maine and was a working lobster boat till recently.  PH and I were amazed that it came from a little town called Ogunquit, a place we have been to twice and love.  It's amazing how many times the name of that tiny little town has cropped up in conversations we've had with people.  The boat can take 35 on the tour but this evening there were just 8 of us.

 Now, this is the way to see and appreciate this bridge!  The closer we got the more we just giggled. Can you see the moonrise?

 This was phenomenal. Do you see the grates in the roadbed as you look up? There is solid road on the sides but the grates are in the middle.  Everyone hates driving on those because they make the car wibble and make a loud noise, but the grates are there to let the wind through so the bridge doesn't collapse in the high winds. 

Just wow