…named after Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a French explorer who travelled the Great Lakes and was said to have stayed the night on Fisherman’s Island one night during a harsh storm.
Signed up for my Michigan marathon after scoring crazy cheap tickets on Southwest. Denver to Grand Rapids – direct flight, $110 roundtrip. A week out from race day, goggled directions from Grand Rapids to my shared hotel in Petoskey. 3 hours? Ugh…that’s an unexpected haul. 2 hours from the Canadian border, 45 minutes from Mackinac Island.
Ok, I can work with that. Marathon first, Mackinaw second 🙂
Quick sleeps, up early. Room shared with 2 other Maniacs: Andy from Houston & Todd from Missouri (thanks Stacy for connecting us). Todd drove 800 miles [from Missouri], picked up Andy in Indianapolis – made my 3 hour ride from Grand Rapids seem kinda small.
Secured parking downtown & watched the morning rise over Lake Michigan. Lotta colour – truly stunning.
Cool temps, gun start over the town’s historic drawbridge. Charlevoix is a small resort town – today’s course hugged the lakeshore. Fairly flat run – one steep incline coming outta town at mile 5.
Fav part of the run: treed section starting at mile 10, looped at 13, same return view thru mile 16 on this out-n-back course.
Ended in a sprint with another runner who failed to stop at the Finish, fell over a barrier & bloodied his face. Lotta excitement, over-achiever 🙁 Finisher’s medal – one of my favourite, adorned with a working drawbridge.
Congratulations!
K R HagaFinish Time: 04:16:57.0
No shower this day. Quick sink bath at a local pizza joint (post-race lasagna), then ferried over to Mackinac Island. Only bicycles & horse-drawn carriages on this island. FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- Good Morning Charlevoix!
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- lighthouse on Lake Michigan; picturesque one-bridge town (only 2 hours from Canada)
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- town’s scenic draw-bridge represented on today’s medal — pretty amazing location, pretty amazing day!
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- direct flight to Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids — week out ’til race day, hadn’t noticed Charlevoix was 3+ hours away…ROAD TRIP!
Early Sunday rise – pumped, excited – vacation highlight: downtown to Lake Union for an 8am 
seaplane departure to San Juan Island on the US-Canadian border. Prop plane loaded, looped Seattle’s city lake, speed increase & UP…on our way. 45 short minutes later, circled once, water landed in Friday Harbor WA. Awesome ride, super convenient.
Weather plays a HUGE role in life in the Northwest. Cool temps, dense fog, steady mist, drizzle. Our day? Sunshine, all day long. Couldn’t ask for better weather 🙂
Pier walk, short jot into town, breakfast at Cask & Schooner, tour check-in.
Boarded MV Sea Lion; charter advertised “over 90% whale sightings”. Sign me up! First Orca adventure – killer whales, wolves of the sea. These massive mammals hunt in packs, often toying with their prey before flesh tearing into dinner. Intelligent, majestic, SeaWorld giants – but don’t be fooled, these giants are meat-eaters. Social creatures migrating up-n-down the Pacific Coast – Washington, BC & Alaska (summers), Baja California (winter).
WHALE! Not one whale, but an entire pod. SPECTACULAR!
Trademark black-n-white markings – just out there in the wild – no words.
Our boat briefly crossed into Canada, following multiple family pods hugging the northern shoreline in search of seal. Stunning landscape, tree line, glacier-fed bays, ocean channels, snow-capped Mount Baker. Incredible scenic wonder.
Whatta day, whatta adventure. ‘Catch the Whale Plane’ – highly recommended.
Free Msg! Welcome to Canada. Dial +1 & 10-digit# to call US. Global Data: $2.05/MB. Turn data services off in device settings or use Wi-Fi to avoid charges. Sent from my iPhone
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- downtown Seattle to San Juan Island in under an hour
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- water landing in scenic Friday Harbor
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- next stop, breakfast
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- 3-hour whaling adventure
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- family pod of orcas
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- W-H-A-L-E
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- Boundary Pass, between Gulf Islands Canada & San Juan Islands USA (background, Mount Baker)
Orca Adventure (clip 1)
Orca Adventure (clip 2)
WaMu Theatre, great air-conditioned place to recover after marathon finish 32. Jurassic World, while not as good as the original – most sequels aren’t – still worth seeing for the special effects. Can never go wrong with dinosaurs 🙂
Already been a FULL marathon day – literally. Ran 26.2 miles, ate lunch, watched a sell-out movie – sadly, no shower. Bathroom flash bath as good as it’s gonna get this day. Space Needle. Can’t visit Seattle without riding up the Needle, right? Tickets weren’t good for 2 more hours – next up: Chihuly Garden…Ash’s idea.
Never imagined a botanical garden walk would have made the list after marathoning. Day highlight. Would have missed out on an AMAZING experience. Glass artwork juxtaposed within a botanical setting – SPECTACULAR. So unique, absolutely nothing like it.
Toured indoors, outdoors. Leg weary, watched short films ‘bout Dale Chihuly’s installations in Jerusalem & Finland – before realizing time had quickly expired…almost missed our Space Needle queue. Yikes!
Space Needle Observation Deck – great views of Seattle, something you’re supposed to do. Chihuly Garden & Glass – something you HAVE to do when visiting Seattle. Seriously recommended.
Whatta day – shower & bed couldn’t have come any sooner.
Tomorrow, another early vacation start – trip highlight: seaplane to San Juan Island, breakfast in Friday Harbor, followed by an orca (killer whale) adventure…sailing north in Canadian waters. WOW, WOW, WOW!
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- built for the 1962 World’s Fair
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- skyline from the Needle’s Observation Deck
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- day highlight – Chihuly Garden
