Kardos Family Road Trippin’ Adventure

Wow did our friends, Jesse & Amie, spoil us all week in Michigan! They’re great friends from back in Oregon who live in Bend and spend summers at their lake house. They have such a great spot on Lake Columbia in Brooklyn, Michigan. We arrived Saturday afternoon and they were ready to show us around the lake on the boat and play on the toys!

Sunday was the big day of the Michigan Nascar races! The track is literally 5 minutes from their lake house. The races were supposed to start at 3pm and a monsoon downpour with thunder and lightning started so all spectators were huddled under the bleachers to wait it out. The races ended up starting about 2 hours late and it was quite the adrenaline rush! As the cars go by you could feel the rush in your chest and the extremely loud VROOM of the passing car… it was intense! Carter wasn’t a fan of the noise or wearing the ear headphones so mommy did a lot of walking (4 miles total) with him in the stroller to entertain him… Bentley loved them and hung with daddy, Jesse, Amie, and their nephew Matt the whole race. We will have to return when they’re a little older and they will enjoy them even more! The winner of the day was Kevin Harvick after a big crash took out a bunch of the top guys. It was an entertaining race! 🏁🏁🏁

Monday was recovery day after a day of fun in the sun at the races. We relaxed, played in the lake, and Ash took Bentley on his first jet ski ride!

Tuesday we went on a little excursion to the Detroit Zoo with the boys. It was a really cool zoo with huge animal enclosures and some unique exhibits. Our favorites were the penguins which had enclosed water tubes that you walk through so they can swim over and under you, the butterfly building that had butterflies surrounding us, the grizzly bear swimming in his pool and the kangaroos that you could walk right through the pathway of the exhibit with the animals! It was a fun day with the animals!

The next day we enjoyed another day on the lake where Kevin attempted water skiing and got up on his second try! In the evening we went the to the county fair with a performance of MONSTER TRUCKS! We kept it as a secret so Bentley was so excited to see the real things! Carter again wasn’t too happy with the noise and wouldn’t wear the headphones 🙄

Thursday was another day on the lake and Carter passed out on the jet ski ride 🤣 that evening Jesse & Amie took us to a local pub on another lake for dinner. They made some delicious mermaid water cocktails!! 🍹

Quick business update… back home we have some active new clients looking for a home and we are so thankful to our friends, Kari & Tia, for showing them homes! Wednesday evening they found “the one” so we wrote up an offer which was accepted on Thursday! Congrats to Scott & Jennifer!!! Kevin will be flying back early next week to attend inspections and also get one of our listings ready to go on the market! 🎉🏡

On our final full day Amie wanted to show us around some of the local spots (she grew up locally and knows all the great places!) We first went to Meckley’s Orchard where they bake fresh doughnuts, pies, desserts, brew beers and ciders, and sell some produce. The sunflowers were in full bloom so it was so pretty! From there she took Ashlee to the local butcher store that is also a full grocery store and prices were so reasonable… a big tri tip for $11?!? Ashlee & Amie then did a little wine tasting at Cherry Creek Vineyards 🍷

Friday evening Ashlee’s mom, Dana, flew into Detroit to join the adventures for about a week! Leaving Saturday was bitter sweet after such a fun week with the Browns! Thank you again for everything and the amazing hospitality! We are now off to New York to see the magnificent Niagara Falls and camp on Lake Ontario 🚐