Sunday was our last full day on the island, and after listening to our ward's church via zoom from our room, we went out on a leisurely bike ride around the island.
We explored scenic views, and cemeteries...
..and talked a lot about the people that have lived here, and what they may have been like, where they worked, and how their families were.
We concluded that they are probably a lot like us, just got to earth a few years before we did.
I do believe that we are all way more alike then we think, and that we are all here learning the same life lessons about love and faith, just through our own experiences.
We were taken on a 20 minute carriage ride to a secluded and beautiful restaurant in the woods, appropriately called, "The Woods" where we had the Sound Off awards dinner.
This was a beautiful place full of good people and good food, and once again, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for all of my blessings, the beauties that we get to experience when we travel and see different parts of God's country, and for my sweet sweet husband.
Although we were not awarded Distributor of the year this time, we did increase our sales to a record amount, even during the pandemic, and we always come in as one of their top 3 distributors in the nation. Sound Off is a company that knows how to show their customers how much they are appreciated!
Clint and Cody, just like brothers. :)
On our ride back to the Grand, we got to sit on the front row of the carriage and watch the horses pulling us along.
Riding along on the streets through the woods and then along the lake was very nostalgic for me. We sat and talked with the people next to us (who are from Michigan) about their family traditions and things they do with their families.
These kinds of carriage rides are common place to some of them who said they have horses and hayrides around almost every holiday.
SO lucky!
It started to rain lightly as we were getting back, and the smell of the rain, the sound of the clip clop of the horses hooves, and the beautiful sights once again reminded me of my Heavenly Father's love and just how much I am blessed.
We of course got some pictures when we got back ;)
It was a beautiful night and I fell in love with Mackinac Island!
The next morning we caught the ferry back to the mainland where we had a 4 hour car ride with a couple of the people from Sound Off.
We were extending our stay and meeting up with some old friends that we hadn't seen in a while, and Brian and his wife were kind enough to show us where Sound Off is actually located, and then took us to our friends house, the Dykema's.
Seeing Rob and Leticia and their family was like seeing our own family. Clint and Rob are like brothers...twins actually.
(Just kidding.;)
We went out for ice cream, we went hiking, Leticia and I went running in the mornings together (which was honestly one of my favorite things because it was so pretty!)
We even explored the city of Muskegon where the TV show Civil War Gold is filmed.
(Clint the history buff was in heaven!)
It is rumored that someone years ago lost a train car full of gold into Lake Michigan on purpose to come back and reclaim the gold one day.
They still have not recovered any gold.
Rob and Clint are SO competitive that we even went Fast Karting to see who was the fastest driver.
It is no surprise that I did not win, and Clint and Rob both took a turn with the title of "fastest lap."
Part of the time we were there, we stayed at Rob and Leticia's cottage on the Lake.
It was beautiful and peaceful and so serene at night.
The warm fire, the calm water, the bright moon, and the great company.
Once again feeling SO grateful.
We only had a couple of short days with them, but we could not leave without a friendly game of pickle ball!
(Of course when I say friendly everyone knows that there was some competition involved), but we had fun, and I loved watching everyone enjoying the time together, especially Rob and Clint.
We hope to be able to stay close and see them again. Hopefully next time they can come here, and we can take them around beautiful Utah!
So grateful for this amazing trip!
