Living it up in Traverse City

Week 76

Day 532

Quang Trach, Vietnam

17.8330° N, 106.4170° E

We just made it to Phong Nha Farmstay where we will be taking off tomorrow for a 2 day trek through the Tu Lan Cave System. It should be pretty epic so make sure to check back soon.

But until then I’m trying to catch up with our fall adventures. I was awful about writing up our travels this fall as we road tripped it across the country visiting family.

We headed up from Holland to Traverse City to spend a couple weekends with Tom’s sister Christy, her family, and Tom’s brother Joe.

We made it into town at the perfect time to enjoy the peak of the leaves changing. The contrast of beautiful fall colors along the coast of Lake Michigan, combined with gourmet locally roasted coffee (our favorite being from Higher Ground Trading Company and Brew) and amazing craft beer made for an amazing visit.

As was the theme of our fall, the best part of the trip was our time with family. The Baker’s now have 5 kids with the arrival of baby Marie earlier this year and we loved our time writing with Ellie, throwing the football with Tommy, building Lego’s and taking selfies with Maggie, cuddles and tackles with Leo, and staying up late smiling with Marie.

The Baker’s kids are all very studious and Tom had fun putting them to work writing and illustrating a children’s book while we were in town.

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Weekends were packed with Rugby games, hikes, playing in the backyard, and drinking craft brew as I believe we hit every brewery in town!

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Sunday, after church we got a tour of the coast, hiking around Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was a blast playing with the kids and the scenery couldn’t be beat!

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During the week, we ventured up North on the Peninsula to visit an apple orchard with more apples then I realized existed. Before heading back we hit the top of the peninsula to see the lighthouse.

Michigan Lighthouses are a little different than any I’ve ever seen as they actually look like houses. The kids also had fun sneaking off into the water! 🙂