Day 6 - Around the World and Home Again...

 Our final day! No students to blog today, just me.

On our way back to Monroe we made a stop at the Reiman Aquarium and Discovery World in Milwaukee. It had a lot of great STEM exhibits and interactive tcchnology demonstrations.

I want to thank our traveling parents for being great chaperones and flexible when necessary to give our itinerant scholars as many education experiences as possible. We packed a great deal into our week away. Kudos to our students who really let their lights shine. We heard comments almost every day from strangers who were impressed with their politeness and maturity. One gentleman at a restaurant in Green Bay even gave us $80 to help with gas money when he learned what we were doing. We are thankful to the many accommodating and friendly tour guides who shared their knowledge and experience. with us. We are thankful to those school and church friends and family who helped us in funding this trip by patronizing our fundraisers over the las t two years and making this trip possible. Most importantly, we thank God for his grace and love, and for protecting us on the journey and giving us a wonderful world to discover on our Lake Michigan Circle Tour.

- Mr. Schneck

Day 5 - Goats and Goat Lockers

 We started the day driving to LaClare Dairy Farm and Cheese Factory. We learned ALOT about goat milk and how cheese was made from the woman who started the farm with her husband. The we went to walk among the Sheboygan Indian mounds, and took  some extra time to walk the sand dunes. After a stop for delicious Wisconsin ice cream we headed to the Manitowoc Marine Museum and our overnight stay onboard the USS Cobia submarine. The tour person was so kind. The sub did smell a lot like diesel. The spaces were small but the tour was interesting. Some of us chose to sleep on the sub overnight. It was a fun night and cool place to sleep, and surprisingly comfy.

-McKaylee and Charlie

Mr. Schneck's notes - 

Our visit to LaClare Dairy and Goat farm was really interesting. Owner Clara Hedrich, a former teacher, and her husband bought a farm with two goats in the 80s and her family turned it into the premiere goat dairy in Wisconsin. It is still a family business, and Clara herself gave us a fantastic tour which included cheese tasting, and of course, goats to pet. She was quite a salesperson, as many of us ended up with goat cheese and other products to take with us.

After the dairy we made a quick stop at the Acuity Flag Pole - the tallest American flag pole in the world at 400 feet, with a flag 70 by 140 feet in size. You could see it from miles away, and standing at it's base was impressive, the stars being 3 feet across and the stripes 5 feet wide. 

We then visited the Sheboygan Indian Mounds, which were burial and ceremonial mounds from about 700 A.D. in the shape of animals and unique patterns, and learned a little about their history. Then we took a detour to walk the dunes of Lake Michigan at Kohler-Andre State Park. A quick stop for ice cream and then on the the Manitowoc Maritime Museum. We rented the USS Cobia Submarine, WWII are ship, as an air b&b, which gave us all night to enjoy the museum after hours. Dan, our museum guide, gave us an incredible tour of the sub, going many places the "regular" visitors wouldn't have access to, and shared a great deal of history about the sub. After dinner at the local Fat Seagull we returned to enjoy the museum until late into the night. Dan took those brave enough the top of the sub (the conning tower and the "sail") and allowed us to operate (move, not shoot) the heavy guns. Some of the students and parents elected to sleep in the sub for the night, the girls in the main crew bunks and the boys in the aft torpedo room, in bunks right on top of the torpedoes. We had freedom to  roam the sub and the museum on our own to enjoy the museum and woke to a beautiful Wisconsin sunrise on the river. What an experience!

P.S. The "goat locker" is the section of the sub where the petty officers sleep.

Day 4 - Marquette to Green Bay - On Wisconsin!

We all woke up early this morning and headed to church. The church was called St. Paul's Lutheran, a WELS church in Marquette, Michigan. Everyone there was very nice. After church, we drove to Escanaba, Michigan for lunch and gas. Some people had Pasties for lunch, but we decided to pass on that. For lunch, we had Jimmy John's and Subway. It was very yummy. Then we headed to our hotel in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Once we arrived, we grabbed our bathing suit and hopped back into the car and headed to Tundra Lodge water park. We got there around 2:00pm, and we went on the water slides and swam in the lazy river together until about 5:00pm. When we were finished, we went back to the hotel room and cleaned up so we could go to Fox Pub and Grill. We ate dinner there and some really nice stranger donated to our trip. We all thanked him.  At the end of the night, we went to the gazebo under the moonlight by the lake. Kenzie shared her devotion with the group and then we headed back to our hotel room once more. When we went back everyone went up to there rooms and just chilled in their beds. 

-Josie and Caitlin

Mr. Schneck's notes-

We enjoyed the welcome from the St. Paul's congregation for church today. The church was built by miners in the 1800s. Before we left "da U.P." some of the students tried pasties, a traditional miners meal of meat and vegetables wrapped in a crust. On the drive down we enjoyed beautiful views of northern Lake Michigan. The afternoon was spent relaxing at the water park. At dinner at a local restaurant on the Fox River we were able to meet a man from the area who was impressed with our trip and our kids and gave us a generous donation of gas money - a nice blessing. Today's new food challenge - calamari and crawfish!

Tomorrow - dairy goats, Native American burial mounds, a giant flagpole, a giant cow, and a WWII submarine!

Day 3 Eh! Zion Yoopers

Day 3 was pretty fun. The Mackinac Bridge was pretty cool. After the bridge we went to a fish hatchery which was okay but the display with the lampreys that stick on the fish was kinda gross and scary, but still cool anyways. We had lunch at Big Boy and went to Palms Book State Park to Kitch-Iti-Kipi spring which was cool, especially the boat. Later we explored an old mine site at the Cliffs Shaft Mine. Dinner was at Texas Roadhouse. After dinner we went to see Lake Superior and rock hunting.

-Alain and Kensie

Mr. Schneck's notes-

It was great to appreciate the Mighty Mac first hand as we moved into the U.P. We took a self guided tour of the Thompson State Fish Hatchery and enjoyed lunch at the Big Boy in Marquette. Kitch-iti-kipi was a beautiful fresh water spring. Gary, a third generation Michigan miner gave us a very informative tour of the Cliffs Shaft iron mine site and museum. They also had a fantastic rock and mineral collection. They gave us some hints on finding "yooperites" as well. After dinner we went to the shore of Lake Superior for more rock hunting and enjoying the beach.

Tomorrow- on to Green Bay!

Kitch-iti-kipi

Lake Superior

Thompson State Fish Hatchery

Cliffs Shaft Iron Mine

Day 2 - Mackinac Island Adventures

 

    We went to Mackinac Island. It was really cold. The butterfly house was really cool and warm. A butterfly landed on Alaina. We walked around the shops and bought stuff. We rode a carriage, and the horses Chuck and Doc were really cute. We saw Arch Rock. We saw Fort Mackinac and watched them blow a canon. Most of us got hot chocolate and skipped the rifle demonstration. We went to more shops and bought more stuff like fudge, stickers, clothing, and gifts. We rode the ferry back. It was freezing if you rode on top. We watched the boat workers in their short sleeves and shorts being all warm where you steer the boat. Once we got back we ate Mexican food. Alaina bought a big rubber chicken. We went back to the hotel and went swimming.

- Echo and Vita

Mr. Schneck's notes:

Only a few brave souls rode the top of the ferry in the cold, but we got to see the Mackinaw bridge from underneath. We enjoyed the Original Butterfly House with a lot of beautiful butterflies as well as an insect and small animal and insect "zoo". Draft horses Chuck and Doc with their driver Jamie gave us a great tour of some island sites, including the Grand Hotel and Arch Rock. They dropped us at Fort Mackinac where we pretty much had the fort to ourselves. We learned a lot about the history of the island from the carriage tour and the fort tour, were able to see a cannon and a rifle demonstration, and do some downtown shopping before heading back to the mainland. We ate some great Mexican food at El Zarape. We planned to go to the Headlands Dark Sky Park for some stargazing, but the sky was clouded over, so we called it an early night with a quick visit to the "Mac-a-tron" robot made out of auto, machine, and bridge parts (see below) and some swimming. Heading over the Big Mac to the U.P. tomorrow. Pray for us!

First Day On The Zion Trip

 Stardate-5/1/2025

    We all arrived at the school, got into our cars and prepared for the first leg of the journey. The first stop was Culvers and for me and Jamil Five Below to get umbrellas and ponchos because it was raining heavily. The Culvers was good and I had chicken tenders and a chocolate mixer with brownie bites and cookie dough. Delicious. 

    After that we went to a park and watched some elks but because of the rain most people stayed in their cars, but not me and Jamil! We got out into the rain and stared those elks down to establish dominance. 

    Then, we went to a Historical town of Mackinaw in the late 1800's and or early 1900's. There were a lot of dead flies but that's just a second lunch! Me and Jamil went down to the beach near the site and we found a rock with fossils in it. 

    Finally we drove to Mackinaw, got settled into the hotel, swam with the gang, ate some pizza, and went to sleep after a great day of traveling and partying!

- Jamil and Callen

  Mr. Schneck's note:

It was a pretty rainy trip up. We stopped in Gaylord for lunch and a chance to see the elk (wapiti - we found out it is pronounced wa-PEE-tee not WA-pu-tee) herd at the Elk Reserve. They looked almost as miserable as we did in the rain, but a couple got close to the fence for photo ops. 

The next stop was the Mackinaw Heritage Village in Mackinaw City. It's an open air museum of early 1900s buildings. Docents Mrs. M and John gave us a fantastic presentation in the old chapel, even though it was cold and rainy and the stove wasn't lit. They opened before season just for us, and I believe it is the most dead flies ever seen in one place by any of us. (Kensie and Josie even swept up a few for them.) But Mrs. M gave a great presentation even though we couldn't walk around the grounds. It is right next to the Headlands Dark Sky Park, so we may go pack tomorrow evening to walk the trails before stargazing. 

Next we drove down to McGulpin Lighthouse and then went to the shoreline to see McGulpin Rock . It was used as a water level measure and canoe route marker by the Native Americans and French fur traders. ("Michigan's Plymouth Rock"!) Yes, it was a big rock and a cold rainy beach. Callen found a five pound souvenir fossil and Mr. Grubb got some great footage with his drone.

Dinner was B.C.'s Pizza, then swimming and Uno No Mercy before turning in.

Tomorrow, Mackinac Island!

Don't know if you can see on the photo wat Vita is pointing to. It says "The Pizzarelli"

 Our long awaited grade 7-8 Lake Michigan Circle Tour Field Trip starts this Thursday!

Destinations include Mackinac Island, a mine in Ishpeming in the UP, Lake Superior, a goat farm and dairy, an overnight on board a WWII submarine, and Milwaukee's Discovery World.

Check out our daily blog from May 1-6 to follow our adventures!