September 20, 2024

Gaylord Couple Don and Debbie Campbell on the Ice Breaker Mackinaw .



amackinawvisit, originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

Mackinaw Museum- Todays picture is from yesterday as Deb and I rode up to Cheyboygan in the car and talked about my 45 mile bike ride and looked for the trail from the road. It’s hard to believe i rode my mountain bike that far in 4.5 hours.
Then we drove to Mackinaw City and we decided to tour the Ice Breaker Mackinaw Museum Ship.
It is more than just a museum tour to us , it has a lot of memories for us with Nicole too. Nicole dated the Captains son for about a year and we were invited on board several times to cruise the great lakes breaking ice , a summer cruise and we enjoyed being on board the Mackinaw another time at the Traverse City Cherry Festival. We had a ring side seat sitting on the top of the ship as the Blue Angels performed for the massive crowds on shore. The Blue Angels would fly towards the ship in all directions and then pull up at the last minute and fly straight up from our point and dissapear into the sky. It really was the best seat at the show.
We also enjoyed touring the bridge where we got to sit in the Captains seat watching all the crew members working . We did that several times while we were breaking ice and that brought back memories too . We also toured the mess haul and remembered we all lined up for a steak dinner one night with the Captain and his family and we all got our dinner and the Captain was last in line and he did not get one as they were one steak short. We all laughed about that as the Captain dined on a burger and we dined on steaks. (:>).
But the most memorable moment was when we walked into the Captains quarters and looked around. It really brought back the most memories of Deb, Nicole and I sitting in the recliners and on the couch for many hours and sitting at the large dinner table for our meals with the Captain and his family. We will never forget eating lunch and the vibration from the 30 inch thick ice cracking below us was vibrating our plates and glasses almost off the table. Deb and I and Nicole looked at each other and smiled like is this normal, ha,ha.
We were also on board the Ice Breaker on it’s very last voyage with a couple hundred other special guests and that is cool knowing we were there when it docked for the very last time after 65 years of duty.
The best thing of all is Deb and I have so much fun together and it was just another perfect day in Mackinaw City. Almost perfect, we didn’t even buy a single piece of fudge. (:>). But we did share a childs size ice cream cone, ha,ha.
Morning Walk/ run – We were up early getting our 5K walk and running done this morning and 5 minutes after we got back the sky got dark and it started pouring and lightning and thunder let loose . So we planned it just right, ha,ha.
Boat Model- Today i will work more on the dozen sets of rear steps and railings.
Have a great Monday !