Tuesday, October 22, 2013
I know that heading straight from Montana to Michigan is a bit extreme, but not many or any pictures were taken of in between. Not much time was spent in between either, so by now, those few days kind of blend together in my mind.
After driving the few days through North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, we entered the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Rt. 2. We drove up to the coast of Lake Superior on Rt. 64 right along the edge of the Porcupine Mountains. We longed to see mountains again....the few days away, we had really grown to miss them. Now mind you, Government Peak is only 1,850...but maybe we would catch a glimpse of it. No such luck.
Continued on north up 26 into the Keweenaw Peninsula . Just north of Mohawk, we stopped to view this snow meter.
We took Rt. 26 along the coast, and stopped to let the dogs cool off in the lake.
We arrived in Copper Harbor around lunch time. We stopped at the visitors center to gather some info on different campgrounds. Deciding on Fort Wilkins State Park, we drove out to it and picked out our spot for the night before returning the mile back into town to have lunch at the Harbor Haus , a little German restaurant on the water.
After having an enjoyable late lunch, we headed down two blocks to Brickside Brewery to try a couple of microbrews. They were all pretty fantastic, us both being partial to IPAs, we ended up purchasing a few to take home.
The next morning, we walked around the fort.
We took our time getting back down the peninsula, enjoying all of the views.
Opted to stay that night in Baraga State Park, where we could pay $2.00 extra for electricity so I could give Dewar a haircut before the wedding.
The next day, we continued East on Rt. 41 and stopped in Marquette so Pete could get HIS haircut before the wedding as well! After lunch, we took 28 east and stopped at the ranger station in Munsing. The rangers there informed us there was a bad storm rolling in and there were weather advisories for Grand Marais (which was where we were shooting for, for the night). They told us about a national forest campground just 7 miles back in the town of Christmas. This worked out even better because we got to, again, walk the shores of Lake Superior with the dogs before dinner. That night we fell asleep to a quiet rain.
Awaking the next morning, we found a laundromat and started our loads then went down to the corner restaurant and had breakfast. Plan for the day was Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Unfortunately it was a gloomy day.
Showing off their haircuts.
We then hiked the short 1.5 miles to the falls.
We knew we had a deadline to keep that day, we had to be in Mackinaw City that evening, so we cut down to Rt. 28. Making decent time, we agreed driving through the Seney National Wildlife Refuge sounded fun. After driving into it a few miles, we stopped for a bathroom break and had plans to make a lunch after. No sooner were we out, and I was squatted 10 feet from the truck when they came....killer mosquitos. Attacking us like little soldiers with mini bayonet type stabbings all over our bodies. Even the dogs. We had disturbed their slumber....or something. Yelling and waving my arms about like an idiot and trying to finished up at the same time was quite a task. We darted back into the truck and drove away, still swatting the attached ones off of our legs and arms. Horrible idea.
Made it to Mackinaw City and stayed the night. The next day we took the ferry over to Mackinac Island
. The island is a national historic landmark, and is interesting because they do not allow any motorized vehicles. Only transportation is by foot, bicycle, or horse. We were there for a wedding, Pete's oldest so was getting married!
The happy couple saying their vows.
Pete with his grandson.
After the wedding, we rented bicycles, and a trailer (had to have something to put the dogs in!) and rode around the island. Here we are in front of Mission Point Resort, where we stayed and the wedding took place. This resort has much cool history, one fun fact is that it's where the movie "Somewhere in Time" was produced.
This makes us look like crazy dog owners, but we definitely weren't the only ones at least.
The Grand Hotel.
And yes, they take this seriously. There was a woman standing out front making sure no one even walked in front of the hotel without approval.
Heading back to the mainland on the ferry.
The Mackinaw Bridge.
After gathering our luggage and the stowed away truck and camper, we had a bite to eat at a pizza joint and headed over to Wilderness State Park for the night.
It was pretty windy that night, we thought we might blow away, but we survived and the next morning was gorgeous.
We decided we would head back up into the UP for a few more nights. Why were we spending so much time in a place so close to home? Maybe delaying the inevitable of going home?
So back across the bridge we go....
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