Enduro Racing in the UP

G's second enduro of the season was held in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Given the distance, we made it a long weekend, squeezing in touristy stuff alongside the racing. Uncle Brad joined us and we met up with friends Jason and Eve and their two boys.

We crossed the Mackinaw Bridge Friday morning and headed directly for Oswald's Bear Ranch. G and J--his motocross buddy--were allowed to cuddle the bear cubs and spend time with Dean Oswald, former ToughMan Contest promoter. This was yet another experience us parents enjoyed as much as the little ones.

From there, we went to set up camp on the Taquemenon River. For convenience sake, we opted to forego setting our tent up, choosing instead to sleep in the cargo section of Jason's rig. Made sense since we were moving on first thing in the morning to the race site. Unfortunately, we left that cargo area open all day and it was filled with mosquitos. G and I woke with bites to our faces, neck and scalp. I kept trying to keep him totally under the covers, but our sleeping bag was so hot, we were suffocating. Paul escaped to the truck where he argued with the dog about who slept where. And Uncle Brad resorted to removing his pillow case and fashioning it as a malaria net over his face.

Even the dog needed added protection from bugs during the day:

Saturday we exchanged wet, bug-infested Newberry for the hot, dry winds of Marquette. Always fun to reunite with FES friends. G and his Dad rode G's second enduro (on his own bike) without problem and Mom enjoyed working the last checkpoint, seeing G come in from his first 'start to finish' enduro on his KTM.

Here are G and his Dad lining up to wait for their minute:

In addition to the trophy ceremony, we enjoyed watching as the enduro pros arrived for Sunday's National. G and J snagged some autographs and Uncle Brad won a signed Russel Bobbit jersey for display in his 'Gaylord bedroom.' So cool. Watching those pros race Sunday morning was even better. Wow. And funny to also catch a glimpse of friend Josh racing amongst them.

We headed home Sunday at a leisurely pace, stopping for ice cream and fudge of course. Not sure which we all enjoyed most that day--the beautiful drive or finally getting home so we could shower. We were all soooo dirty--absolutely CAKED in bug spray. Love the UP; hate the bugs.