When I volunteered to chaperone Maxine’s field trip, I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I do now. I was mildly annoyed when the new bicycle helmet we bought for Maxine was declared unfit (too big). I rolled my eyes when I heard Maxine tell me that if her bike’s brakes didn’t work to her teacher’s satisfaction, she’d need to bring another one. We live a good distance away from the school, and it was a hassle to bring her bike to school in the first place. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having to do it all over again. We had checked the brakes before we brought it, and I resented a bit that the teacher was double-checking. I didn’t say anything to the teacher. I just grumbled a bit in the privacy of my own home.
And then the day for the trip came. Maxine told me minutes before we left we would need rain ponchos. I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I hadn’t looked at the weather report, and I just assumed we would have a sunny day. If it rained, I knew I could buy ponchos on the island.
Long before we arrived at the island, I was changing my tune. Maxine’s teacher knew what she was talking about. This wasn’t going to be a leisurely field trip to the island. It was going to be work, and for the kids, the work started on the trip to the island. They had homework to do as we traveled approximately two hours north. They read the Legend of Mackinac Island. They reviewed the dinner menu. They even read a diary of a 10-year-old boy who had lived on the island in the late 1800s. (The boy was right around most of their ages.) The activities kept them pretty busy right up to our arrival.
The work didn’t stop there. We took the 9:30 a.m. ferry to the island, and we stayed until 9 p.m. Of that time, we spent very little time in the shops in the downtown area (less than an hour total). The rest of the time was full to overflowing with educational opportunities. Maxine’s teacher knows so MUCH about the island, and she had this trip planned to every tiny detail.
We began by pushing (not riding) our bikes up the hill by the fort and the Grand Hotel. This is not an easy push. The hill is very steep — steeper than my ankle likes to bend, and I was very happy when we finally made it to the top behind the fort. But even at the top, we were not yet approved to go biking around the island. We were given instructions on how far apart to stay, and all of the children had to practice keeping their distance. We were going to be biking to the highest point of the island. Despite the huge hill we had just climbed, we were not yet to the highest point.
Did I mention it was raining? No? How could I forget that? It was raining. Maxine’s teacher was right. Before we boarded the ferry, I spent $20 and bought a rain coat and bibs. It was well worth it. Maxine wore a rain poncho. Doesn’t she look cute?
On the bike ride to Arch Rock, I was very thankful all of the children with us had working brakes — especially those children riding behind me. The hills on Mackinac Island? Steep. When we arrived at Arch Rock, we were wet, cold and hungry. We took refuge where we could — with the rain coming down hard, we ate lunch in the restrooms.
Yes, I did just write that. We ate lunch in the restrooms because it was raining too hard outside to eat at the picnic tables. When I told Steve and my mom this, they both had the same reaction — laughter. And that was before I showed them a picture:
Here is proof that the group really did eat lunch in the bathroom (I blacked out some people’s faces since I didn’t ask them if I could post their photo here.):
Eventually, the rain subsided. I think most of us were able to take off the rain ponchos sometime after 3 or 4 p.m. Even without the rain, it was still a very dreary day. The fog really limited how far we could see. In this picture of Sugarloaf, you can see how quickly the fog encased our surroundings.
In case you were wondering, when you climb to the highest point on the island, you eventually have to ride your bike back down. This is the fun part. It is followed by a three-mile bike ride to dinner, which was then followed by yet another climb up that hill (this time without bikes) to the fort. The day ended with the kids getting a private tour of Fort Mackinac. They were able to step back in time and play games from the late 1800s and even learned to be a soldier at the fort and participated in guard duty. I was even arrested and thrown in jail after being caught trying to sneak into the fort without knowing the password. When you are no longer sweating from exertion, it can get cold. I wasn’t wearing wool like the soldiers teaching the children how to march.
Despite the weather, it was still Mackinac Island, which is always a wonderful place to be and thanks to Maxine’s teacher, it was also an incredibly educational trip. We did not waste a single moment. I learned so much, and I know the kids learned even more since they had been prepping for the day for weeks.
I think the noise the cannon made caused me to jump as I snapped this picture:
I could not have done this trip 40 pounds ago, but I did it. It was not easy, and my butt does have some sore spots on it, and I am covered in bruises (I must have hit my shins on the pedals umpteen times), but I did have fun. Despite the rain. And by the end of the day, I was still riding the bike and even managing to ride it up the hills instead of climbing off and pushing.
