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We went white water rafting in Menominee river, Wisconsin. The company is called "Wildman adventure resort".  We went there for the 9.30 ride and realized that we had booked the wrong day. However they asked us to wait and see if another group doesn't show up so that we can take their place. Fortunately, the group who had booked the wild ride didn't show up so we could take their place.

Wild ride is special because the raft is small and it can hold only 4 people. That group gets to ride the rank 4 ranch thrice while others do it twice. There, we have go over the ranch 3 times and come back by foot  2 times.

We got a female guide and she was really nice and active. I guess it would be more fun if the water level was bit higher that day but it was great for a first time rafting experience.
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Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is an amazing place for nature lovers. It is situated in lake Superior's southern shore in Michigan.

The main attraction in the area is the mineral rock formations. You can read more here. The cliff walls look like human painted pictures.

The provide  guided cruise rides to show these rock formations. Rides are available several times a day but the most exiting ride is "Sunset cruise" which departs at 7 pm. If you are going from Wisconsin, remember that pictured rocks is in eastern time zone. We couldn't catch sunset cruise that day because we were not aware of time zone change. So we had to adjust our plans and come back next day after white water rafting in Wisconsin.

So we were able to catch the cruise next day and experience really beautiful sceneries in reddish sun rays.

After the cruise ride we headed back home (to Bloomington, In). We started the 10 hr drive around 10 pm.



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We drove overnight and it was really exhausting after an eventful day. It was around 11 am when we arrive home. We were awake for almost 30 hours. All these happened because we had to adjust our plans because of the time zone issue. I think it something you should do once (only once) in your life :)
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We visited Six Flags, Chicago in Summer 2012. It was not as big as Cedar point but it had some different rides, specially the Superman Ultimate Flight. There we ride in a flying position and it was a really thrilling and different experience.

Other rides we loved are, Batman, X Flight and American eagle.

After spending a fun full of day in Six Flags, we spent the night in a hotel and left heading Pictured Rocks next morning.
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Cedar Point is considered to be a best amusement park in USA. We visited there in Summer 2012. Honestly a full day was not enough to cover all thrilling rides it had.

We liked the rides Raptor, Millennium force, Power tower and Wind seeker the most. We enjoyed Gemini and Magnum too but they were too bumpy and rough.

One thing we shouldn't have done is visiting the water park. It was not that much fun compared to the roller coasters. Water rides were good but coasters are much fun. So if your time is limited then it is not a good idea to waste time in water world.

We spent the night in a nearby hotel (it was a good idea because we were exhausted by the EOD). Next day we visited Detroit, Michigan but it looked like a dead city. So didn't spend much time there.
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Indiana dunes, which is a shore filled with huge sand dunes, is situated in southern Michigan shore in Indiana. We were driving to Chicago airport to drop off my parents who were going back to Sri Lanka. We searched for a place to visit on the way and found this.

It was a cold and sunny day. The lake shore was really beautiful. Sad thing we couldn't stay out much longer due to cold wind.

We visited Cincinnati aquarium on our way back from Cincinnati Buddhist temple.

The New Port aquarium is really good compared to some other well known aquariums.

We drove from New Jersey to Pittsburgh, PA. It was kind of an exhausting ride. It was around 11.30 pm when we reach Pittsburgh. Fortunately still, we had the time to have a ride in Duquesne incline.

Duquesne incline closes at 12.45 am. The ticket price was very reasonable ($2). It elevates to a top of a mountain and allow us to experience a magnificent view of Pittsburgh from the deck. The best time to do this is at night. You can see thousands of lights in the city below.

We didn't have much time to explore the city. We drove around the city next morning but wish we had more time. Pittsburgh is such a beautiful city which is situated in a pit (indeed).

Then we returned to Bloomington, IN via Columbus, OH.