Tonight's transmission comes to you from Ludington, Michigan. I have to keep this extremely short as I need to be up in 4 hours to catch the ferry in the morning.

We left Benton Harbor a bit late, but still made it to Michigan's Adventure by 1pm. The entrance along Shivering Timbers is enough to make even the most jaded enthusiast a little giddy.

We made our way to the gate, showed our Dorney Park passes and got our tickets (Come on, Cedar Fair - even Six Flags can scan passes from other parks. Let's get with it already!)

Immediately upon entering we ran into Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy in rapid succession which made the kids pretty happy.

We then proceeded around the park in a counter-clockwise fashion hitting all the coasters, most of the kiddie rides and no less then half the flats. Ride-wise there is nothing outstanding here. As far as Coasters go the selection is basic fare that may even be below average with the sole exception of Shivering Timbers. I can't even begin to describe in words what a sick ride it is. If you're feeling froggy, get a back seat ride and be prepared to be left speechless. I cannot even begin to express my joy in this ride. A new top ten coaster and in a hard fight for the best woodie I've encountered so far.

Michigan's Adventure is small...very small really. We skipped the waterpark which made it even smaller. We did find it to be an outstanding park though. Great atmosphere, exceptional employees (I dare say the best of any park we've been to) and a good time in general. Pulling that off with the lackluster coaster selection and average flat ride offering says a lot about the park. Go here for Shivering Timbers and to see how a small corporate park can excel regardless of what sits inside the gate. It's a shame the park is so far out of the way (for us, at least) because it's somewhere I'd like to visit regularly.

We made it out of the park shortly after 5pm managing multiple laps on Shivering Timbers and at least one lap on all the other coasters along with the aforementioned sampling of flats. We packed a ton into that 4 hours with little effort. The parking lot wasn't even half full and most of the people there were in the waterpark. Couldn't ask for much more than that.

From there we hit 31 north and were at our hotel within an hour. Sadly, the hotel selection in Ludington is limited at best and we had a reservation at the Ramada.

Now as far as Ramada hotels go, I'm sure this one compares favorably, but I have no problem admitting that I am a hotel snob and this would not be a place I'd be staying if more selections were available. If the hotel you're staying at has those little prize crane games in the hallway, you're either somewhere very touristy or at a less than great hotel. (sorry, but it's true) Add such amentities as a game room, a pool with opaque water, a moose head in the lobby, non-working room phones, the wet underwear in a gym bag smelling elevator and minimalist furnishings and you have the one place that makes a 6am wake-up seem not so early.

Basically, as a place to sleep near the ferry - it works. As anything more than that, I'd be somewhere else. Thankfully the rest of the trip consists of lodging at Marriott's, Hilton's and Comfort Suites.

Again, I apologize for the abbreviated entry. I really wanted to add more of the little things that bring this sort of 'trip report' to life, but I now have less than 4 hours sleep ahead of me and a long drive across Wisconsin tomorrow.

Check back then, we'll be in Minnesota by the time I sit down to write tomorrow's entry.