Michigan - Day 3

Today was about animals. We headed north with a couple destinations in mind. Our first stop was the Country Dairy in New Era. My dad grew up on a dairy farm, but this is a FARM. The Country Dairy milks 1300 cows three times each day. They give tours, have a farm store, deli and pizza shoppe. How could we pass that up? Actually, we love factory tours. They're usually a lot of fun and educational.

On this tour we got to pet calves, saw cows being fed and had a tour of the processing plant. At the end of our tour we were offered free moochie (cheese curds) and chocolate milk samples. Since our tour ended just before lunch, we ordered from the deli and ate on the patio. Our sandwiches came with bottomless cups of milk. Did I mention our family drinks a lot of milk? That was definitely a win.

Our second stop of the day was near Ludington at the Amber Elk Ranch. This was so much fun. We paid for our tour and boarded a tractor-drawn wagon. Over the course of about an hour we drove through several pens of elk: Mature bulls, cows and calves. But the best part was getting to feed them. Some of the bulls were pretty aloof. The calves avoid people and the cows were total pigs. 

This was the closest I've ever been to elk. They tend to be shy and like all wild animals, can be unpredictable and aggressive. As our tour guide said, these tours don't happen in the fall when the animals are in the middle of the rut. It's simply too dangerous.

We got to back to Muskegeon in time to meet some cousins for dinner. The Station Grill came highly recommended, so that's where we went. They have huge hamburgers, homemade potato chips, fries and onion rings, all served in a '50's themed restaurant. The food was excellent!