There’s nothing quite as refreshing as a camping trip in a cool
climate when the temperatures get too hot at home. During the first week of
August, Justin and I took Ellery on her first summer vacation – a weeklong trip
through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. On our way north, we met Justin’s dad
in Tennessee, and we all headed first to Burlington, Iowa to visit with Justin’s
sister Emily, her husband Eric, and their two beautiful girls, Lilian and
Gabriela. We spent the weekend visiting and skiing on the Mississippi River.
On Monday, we made our way to Munising, Michigan where we
camped for three nights and spent our days seeing the sights at Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore. The Pictured Rocks are long band of 200-foot sandstone
cliffs on Lake Superior’s southern shore. We got up close and personal with the
cliffs on a 10 mile hike (a hike that, I might add, Justin had estimated at
only 8 miles beforehand). The views were truly incredible, and the water looked
almost Caribbean – crystal clear, with a beautiful greenish tint. I imagine it
wouldn’t have felt Caribbean, though, had we decided to go for a swim. The
trail passed a couple of beaches that would have felt right at place in a
tropical island. The evening after we went on our hike, we all relaxed with a
boat ride that passed by the very same cliffs that we had hiked only hours
before. We left Pictured Rocks wishing that we had two things: (1) more time,
and (2) kayaks! Hopefully we will make it back some day to explore some more!
Our next destination was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The centerpiece
of the park is, of course, Tahquamenon Falls. The falls were nice, but after
our 10-mile hike the previous day, we didn’t do a whole lot of exploring and
instead spent most of the day relaxing under the shade of the forested
campground and cooking a fabulous steak-and-potato meal, followed by campfire
pies for dessert.
Our last destination before leaving the U.P. was Mackinac
Island. It was about a 15-minute ferry ride away from the mainland, and it had
a little bit of something for everyone – bakeries, fudge shops, and restaurants
on the main streets; big, beautiful, immaculately cared-for Victorian mansions
on the back streets; a historic fort and other old buildings; and wooded
footpaths that led to rocky overlooks of Lake Huron along the shoreline. The
weather was beautiful (as it was for the whole trip) and it made for a fitting
end of our exploration of the U.P.!
We couldn't have asked for a better baby for the duration of this trip. We spent a lot of time in the car, and Ellery was perfect for the majority of the time and didn't slow us down a bit (other than to change diapers and eat, of course).
We love getaways. We love road trips. There is just something magical about getting out of our rut that we are all too often stuck in and exploring beautiful places together.
