Sunday Favorites/Outdoor Wednesday/ Mackinac Island and a Bear!!

Welcome to Sunday Favorites with our lovely hostess Chari! It's been so much fun getting to know Chari over the last several months. She has a beautiful blog with so many interesting things that you will want to stay a very long time. Thank-you my friend for hostessing this meme! I have been so busy getting ready for my son to visit that I haven't been up to posting much. I haven't seen him since last October and it's been tough. I will keep you all posted on our visit. My DIL and son fly into Minneapolis tomorrow and then it's about a 2 hour drive to our home. I can't wait! On another note, I am still shaky and a bit excited. Last night I saw a bear! I was driving towards town and had only gone about 1/4 mile when I saw something Big and Black coming from the side of the woods. It was about 8:30 and dusk was just starting to settle. It takes your mind a minute to process what your are seeing. I thought to myself, what is that big black thing? Is that a big dog? And then, OMG, it's a bear!!! I stopped, and he scampered across the road while I sat in my car with my mouth wide open . He started up a hill into the dense woods near us and when I called his name, (here Bear, here Bear) lol, he would pause and look back at me. Oh I so wish I had my camera with me! This is my 2Nd bear sighting in 2 years and it's quite an experience. It wasn't that long ago, when there were no bear in our county. Only the most Northern parts of Wisconsin had any left and they were dwindling. The DNR put them on the endangered species list, and they have been multiplying and migrating farther and farther south. We happen to live in a county with a lot of big dense woods. There are other counties North of us with a smaller bear population. Well, enough said about that. I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. Cindy

This is my 2nd go at this, so please let me know if this works. I have been having trouble with my blog all day. Welcome to another Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by the lovely Susan http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ please check out all the other great outdoor Wednesdays.While walking the streets of Mackinac Island, Michigan last summer we came upon this little boy and his dog. I swear he looked like he was right out of central casting and he wasn't posing, he just happened to be sitting there with his dog.

The Mackinaw Bridge is 5 miles long and the longest suspension bridge in North America. It's longer than the Golden Gate. If you have a fear of bridges, as I do a bit, then this drive will be quite the rush. On one side of the bridge you will see Lake Michigan, on the other Lake Huron. The bridge connects residents from the UP to the mainland.

A small section of some of the gardens at the Grand Hotel. They are incredibly lovely!

A view of Mackinac Island as you are coming in on the ferry. There are only about 600 year round residents, however summer is very busy! If you ever get to visit, this is one magical place.

A side view of the beautiful Grand Hotel. We would have loved to stay here, however rooms start at $450.00 per night and coat and ties for the men and dresses for the women are required after 6:00 p.m. The movie, Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour was filmed here. They have an annual lilac festival every June and I sure want to get there again this summer.

Thanks for coming by, Cindy