The Travels of the Agnew Family

Zaphod and

Caitlin chilling out.

One of the complaints with the GM was traveling any distance with four adults and two dogs. The two people in the back seat felt pretty squished after a ten minute ride let alone a few hours or a day trip. The front passenger was also squished as their seat had to be moved to the forward most position. With the new truck the front passenger can have the seat all the way back, and the backseat passengers are only squished when Zaph is sprawled out and laying on them or taking up all the floor space on one side of the truck. All in all a reasonably comfortable experience. To be fair the GM had been purchased to pull a fifth wheel trailer and to only carry 2 adults and one dog.

First stop was Boyne City, a cute town at the junction of the Boyne River and Lake Charlevoix.


There is a nice park at the water's edge. Leaving Boyne City we followed the western side of the lake only to find out that the ferry dock was under construction ... we turned around and drove back to Boyne City and up the east side of the lake finally arriving in Charlevoix. Can't really complain as both sides of the lake are picturesque.

First stop in Charlevoix is the "mushroom house". I wondered why we were being taken to a "mushroom farm" but soon found out what a "mushroom house" was.


Earl Young a resident of Charlevoix designed and built a number of homes that resembled mushrooms. The first house was built in 1918.


This house was built for Earl Young and his wife in 1946. There's an elf sitting on the stone on where the rock that starts the chimney meets the roof.


Another stop was Castle Farms. Built in 1918 by Albert Loeb who was vice president of Sears, Roebuck and Company. The farm was built as a model farm to showcase livestock in addition to new farm equipment that was sold by his company. Since then it has been used as an art studio, to host rock concerts and now it is primarily used for weddings.


Castle Rock is also home to a model railroad that provides a scenic journey through Charlevoix's history.

Leaving Charlevoix we drove to Petosky and enjoyed pizza for dinner on the shore of Lake Michigan.