Several year ago, I wanted to start a tradition with the kids--taking them on a one-on-one trip between their 8th & 9th grade. Have a fun time, have some serious conversations. Talk about life and connect with them before they entered High School.
March came in like a lamb and left like a lion. The nation marred by Covid-19. School went on-line, church went live-stream. All sports and activities ceased. However, my work schedule went largely undaunted. In fact, I got busier--with a change in company policy and a co-worker leaving the company, which left us with only 2 drivers and a manager. I picked up the extra week of on-call and have been working on-call 4 our of every 5 weeks. Life's been pretty hectic with me.
We managed our annual family vacation in July and I barely managed hosting the Annual Great Lakes Gathering in August (thanks again Maude, Lampwick, and others for the help and encouraging me with many kind words).
As summer days dwindled short, Becki & I knew that we had to continue the tradition and push-come-to-shove make the special trip with the twins happen.
Kaitee's was probably the easiest trip to plan. I knew exactly what she would find fun and interesting. Read about her trip here.
Alex's trip was a bit more complicated. Ok, I really had no idea what to do with her. She suggested a shorter trip with some hiking...Blamo! Done. Here is her trip.
Will's trip was easy for me to decide too. I knew what he would enjoy and had a trip planned out in my head for him pretty much since Kaitee & I took our trip together 4 years ago. [that post is forth coming].
When it came to Maddie, my mind went totally blank. Maddie's main interest is volleyball - there is a Volleyball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts - well that's a little too far to drive for a 3-4 day trip. Maddie suggested that we go on a Texas Roadhouse tour and eat at every Texas Roadhouse in America. Well, again, 3-4 days here...not to mention the hit on the pocketbook and waistline!
Then Becki said something that totally floored me, "how about you take her to the Upper Peninsula?" My jaw dropped. The U.P. is one of Becki's "must visit" spots, and remarkably, in the 22 years we've been together -- with all the traveling we've done--I've yet to take her to the U.P. (this goes for Door County as well).
I've only driven through the U.P. throughout my childhood on one of our famous annual "Drive Around Lake Michigan" trips. Last time I was up there was more than 25 years ago. I didn't want to rob Becki of the shared experience. But the more we talked, the more I came to the conclusion that the Upper Peninsula would be the best option.
During this discussion, we thought of having Will's and my trip before Maddie's because of the fact that he is 2 minutes older than her. Chronologically speaking, his trip should be first. However, once we pinned down the destination with Maddie we opted for my trip with her to be first. Given shortened cooler days ahead, that would only be magnified by driving 9 hours north. Not to mention her volleyball (Club ball) would be starting back up again. So we decided that Maddie's trip would be first.
Day 1: Thursday September 10, 2020
With Covid guidelines in place at school, the kids all have a mix of in-person and on-line classes. Monday and Tuesday are in person. Wednesday and Thursday are on-line. Friday - well, I'm still a bit confused about Friday. *shrug*
We left on a Thursday, but before we could hit the road Maddie had to check in on-line first and do some school work. So, we couldn't leave first thing in the morning.
We left mid-morning and stopped by Chick-fil-A to meet Becki for breakfast before our journey began.
The day we left Moline to head north was gray, damp, drizzly. Blah! It rained and drizzled practically our entire trip north through Wisconsin. We didn't have any specific stops in mind, but we did stop for a few letterboxes.
It was pretty miserable...until...[queue the Hallelujah Chorus]; the skies cleared, rays of sunshine danced a glorious dance around us, and we pulled into the parking lot of Texas Roadhouse.
So, an inside joke for our family is taking pictures of us exaggerating our double chin. So, you will find a few "double chin" pictures throughout this post. <I did ask permission before posting>.
Maddie's favorite part of Roadhouse? The rolls...she is a Texas Roadhouse roll connoisseur--and as such, a cheap date.
Day made.
After a wonderful meal at the Roadhouse, we continued our northern trek. It was already getting dark out as we passed through the town of Minocqua, WI. We were greeted by Paul Bunyan and Babe. I immediately pulled into the parking lot for a photo-op, as our family has stopped to take pictures of various Paul & Babe statues/signs throughout the country through the years. Maddie gave me a look--she didn't have her siblings with her for support, and wasn't too thrilled at having her picture taken here. As you can see - we compromised.
We ended our day by, unintentionally, passing our hotel and crossing over the Michigan state line. Ther hotel was recently bought by another hotel chain. They had no outside illumination or signage. As soon as I crossed into Michigan I knew we passed our abode for the night.
We stopped at the Welcome Center to call the hotel for directions--"Oh, what do you know. There's a letterbox here." Another eye roll. Found it. Called the hotel. Found the hotel. Hunkered in for the night.
Day 2: Friday September 11, 2020
We had no internet connection the first night. Well, I didn't. Maddie had very limited - just barely enough to log into her Friday classes that morning.
In the brief few days before hitting the road, I was pretty overwhelmed regarding where we should go once in the Upper Peninsula.
I don't know why, so don't ask, but I always had the assumption that the Upper Peninsula was relatively small and could be done in a long weekend. This is laughable if you are familiar with the U.P. as it is larger than Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined.
Besides being large, it has SO much to offer!! Waterfalls, rapids, forests, rocky beaches, beautiful views of Lakes Superior & Michigan, "mountains," parks, history, etc. What to do? Where to start?? How in the world do I narrow down unimaginable opportunities? [I share very good advice from a friend, at the end of this post]
Web sites offered itineraries for multiple day trips, and Maddie & I would just have TWO DAYS! Oof.
We left our hotel in Hurley, Wisconsin and headed towards Superior Falls.
The Montreal River lies right on the Wisconsin/Michigan border and empties into Lake Superior. About 100 yards upstream from Lake Superior is the 90 foot Superior Falls.
We found the small parking area and started our descent towards Lake Superior. Each step revealing more and more of the Lake. The "valley" was still half in shadow, as the morning sun had yet to make it's full ascent. The Wisconsin side was fully illuminated.
We joined a small handful of early morning fishermen. The moment was so peaceful and serene...we were in awe.
The Montreal River was crystal clear, and the ripples of the current had a magical affect on the reflections.
We brought both of our cameras. The pictures shared in this post are a collaboration of shots taken by both Maddie & myself.
A few yards closer to the falls was a building with a steep staircase behind it. I didn't take a picture of the WARNING sign posted on the building (kind of regret that now), but it warned that if the lights and siren go off it means there will be a sharp rise in water levels and we must immediately run to higher ground for our own safety. This did not set well with Maddie. I had to do some coaxing to have her continue on.
"It doesn't look like we should be walking back here." Maddie has always been my timid one. Like a good and loving father; I kept walking. Shortly after we passed the "scary stairs" we spotted Superior Falls.
You see the "U" shaped tree branch/root on the left side of the next picture? That's where the trail ended. Right against a rock wall.
The next picture was my view of the falls from trails end. If I leaned out far enough, I was able to capture the entire waterfall in one picture (second picture down).
"Dad, don't do it!" were the words I heard next (see next picture). I turned around towards Maddie, "What? What did you think I was going to do?" She confidently answered, "you were thinking of stepping on those rocks and going around the wall."
Of course she was right. She knows me. I love adventures. I still consider myself pretty surefooted and I do push my limits - many times at my family's dismay. Do I trip and fall from time to time? Sure. Do I slip and get a foot wet now and then? Yup. I see life as dull and it's up to us to add some adventure. If nothing else, we have a funny story to share later. [I will add; I know my boundaries. I wont do things at (major) risk of life, and I do have my limits]
My first thought was to step out and onto the rocky wall and skirt around it to the other side. I knew #1) that Maddie wouldn't follow me; #2) I didn't know what was on the other side of the wall; and #3) I REALLY didn't want to get my shoes wet at the first stop of the day. The next 3 pictures Maddie took of me "getting a better angle" of the falls and returning to her.
After that mini-"adventure" we leisurely made our way back to our car. Our walk back was more casual than our walk there. We tend to have the end as our goal (seeing the falls); so we hurry to get there and our tendency is to hurry to our next stop. This time we purposefully took our time to take in this beautiful spot. No rush. This trip was about spending time with Maddie--creating memories for us to share together--not rushing from "Point A" to "Point B."
I was captivated by the beauty of the landscape, taking pictures along the way. Then I caught up to Maddie only to find her out on these rocks. Woah! You may not think this is anything at all, but for Maddie this pushed her limits of comfort. Hashtag-Proud-Dad-Moment.
We wrapped up our time at Superior Falls and made the steep ascent back up to the parking lot.
From Superior Falls we headed east towards the Porcupine Mountains. We entered the park and found a parking spot near the end of Presque Isle Road and found the trailhead.
Soon our nice forest trail descended down several levels of staircases.
In my terrible lack of planning for this trip, I had no idea of the beauty that lay ahead.
At some point along the descent I noticed something at the bottom of the stairs--a bridge!!! I gave a little "woo-hoo" and sprinted down the stairs. I stopped and turned around..."Maddie????" She was still at the top of the stairs.
"I saw the bridge before you did," she told me afterwards. She hates bridges like this--me on the other hand...
Below is a picture from the bridge looking north toward Lake Superior. You can just barely see the blue waters of Superior through the trees in the background.
While the view from the other side of the bride was cascading white water rushing towards us. I LOVED IT!!!
I immediately wanted to walk on the rocky ledge, you see just to the right of the river. Maddie was like, "no way buddy," but then she gave a little head nod showing me the "trail head" to get to that very ledge. Off I went.
Maddie didn't get much further than this spot here. I on the other hand was like a little kid hyped up on cotton candy & pixy sticks, washed down with Mt Dew. This is my favorite kind of place. Rock formations, water cascading through. I just love it!!
Every now and then I could hear the faint sound of Maddie's voice, "Dad, don't get too close."
Ok, maybe I got a little carried away. Look how far back she is (small blue dot).
I just asked her how she felt at this moment and she said, "I was frustrated. I was like well, if you die you die."
I was hoping to hear, "well, I didn't really enjoy it. But you were having such a good time that made it ok."
Yeah, so I guess I didn't take her feelings into consideration. Sorry, Mad Mads.
There were several of these "pot holes." Especially on the other side of the river and the water was swirling around in them. When the river is a bit higher this one would be filled with water too. The water would take the pebbles and stones in the bottom and swirl them around inside--creating the round pot hold.
We made our way back to the bridge where we crossed and made our way back upstream via a trail through the woods.
Once we immerged from the trail, we were met with layers of rocks cascading across the river bed. When the water levels are high, the dry rocks would be covered with currents of water.
In the next picture, wayyy upstream, you can see the faint mist of a waterfall in the distance.
This was more to Maddie's liking.
We really enjoyed our time exploring this much flatter, not so up-close-and-personal with the fast moving river area.
There was a trail that went into the woods on the other side that you could follow to get closer up to the waterfalls in the way distance. We debated about taking the trail or not. We were both a bit fatigued, hungry, and neither of us had brought water with us.
On our way back across the flat stones, I went over to the edge to see where the overflow would go if the river were running high--I'm standing on the precipice of a dried up waterfall here. If it were flooded, water would be cascading down to into this pool/river and flow out to Lake Superior.
We continued back to the "dreaded" bridge, but instead of heading back to our vehicle, as planned, we kept going straight. The wooded path lead us to the shores of Gitche Gumee (Big-Sea-Water).
Maddie had fun "skipping" rocks on Superior.
After spending 20 minutes or so on the shores of Lake Superior, we decided it was really time to head back to the car to get snacks, water and take a restroom break.
As we strolled back to the van, we still paused to take in God's beautiful creation. We were glad to refresh and get some much needed sustenance before hitting the road for the east side of the Porcupine Mountains.
Heading north on South Boundary Rd on the east side of the Porkies - the road started descending towards Lake Superior. It was quite the visual effect, as the trees just stopped and there was nothing in front of me but the waters of Lake Superior.
We turned left and stopped at the Porcupine Mountain Outpost. The next few pictures were taken on Maddie's cell phone.
We drove to our final destination in the Porkies; Lake of the Clouds. We found a parking spot near the trailhead to the Lake overview and had an immediate choice to make; straight a few hundred feet with an uphill pitch and some uneven rocky footing near the top, or a nice flat, level, boardwalk.
We choose the short and steep to get to the top, and the long and flat to return to the car. If we had this to do over, I would've gone for the boardwalk first. With the boardwalk the views of the lake are in front of you. As it was, we did the boardwalk returning to the parking lot and the lake was behind us -- so we had to keep turning around for the views.
The lake was beautiful.
I wanted to be sure to get a few pictures of Maddie & I together during the trip, and this seemed like an ideal place. We didn't bring the tripod with us, so I found a fairly level rock to set the camera on. I put it on a timer and then it would rattle off 10 pictures in quick succession.
When I heard the camera click-click-click-click-click- I hip checked Maddie. LOL
I'm pretty sure she's forgiven me.
Of course, I wanted to re-do the pictures and had to promise her the world that I wouldn't hip check her again. So, we have at least one good picture.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of waterfalls in the U.P. Many off the beaten path. How in the world do you choose which one(s) to go to? Well, for Maddie & I, the decision was kind of made for us when we checked into our hotel the night before.
When I checked in they handed me a little "newspaper" that focused on various attractions and "where-to-go" places. On the front cover was this most magnificent waterfall with the headline (to the affect of) "Little known/least visited" with the punch line of "easy, less than a mile walk."
The paper was talking about Bond Falls.
Here's the thing, I also wanted to get up to the Keweenaw Peninsula and possibly even Copper Harbor before calling it a day. #1) this is the WORST way to plan a trip; #2) those of you who know the area, are probably laughing right now.
It would have made more geographical sense to head north to the Keweenaw Peninsula first, however, the picture of Bond Falls was so alluring we didn't want to find ourselves arriving after dark.
This also plays into an earlier comment that I held the false notion that the Upper Peninsula was much smaller than it actually is.
So, off to Bond Falls we went. Arriving just over an hour after we left the Porkies.
There was a nice boardwalk leading to the falls. We could hear the rushing water almost immediately.
Glorious!!
We set our camera on a cement pillar to take the above picture. While there, a large herd of people caught up with us. They, like us, were walking around the falls in a clockwise direction. Maddie & I had a little powwow and decided to back track and hike the loop in a counter-clockwise direction.
We had heard that the trail system, although less than a mile, goes "on and on" (as per a fellow visitor).
Along the right side of the falls were cement stairs leading up. As we were heading up towards the top of the falls, we realized that water was cascading onto and down the the stairs/sidewalk. As we got up to the viewing platform, literally a foot from the falls, Maddie exclaimed, "This is like at Niagara Falls!"
Our double chin selfie turned out well, unfortunately, the falls are whitewashed. :-/
Once we reached the top, we were met with rushing water cascading towards the falls. We enjoyed our hike up the Middle Branch of the Ontonago River. Such beauty!!
Maddie even humored me by letting me take her picture - on a rock in the middle of a fast flowing river. Go Maddie!!!
I told Maddie that I was going to walk across the river using the cement "steps."
For her sake I only went a couple of steps in.
It seemed every step we took revealed more and more beauty. So glad that we made it a point to stop at Bond Falls.
At the top/back of the loop, we crossed a road where the Bond Falls Flowage (large man made lake) spilled into the river. Once we saw that, the trail headed back to where we started, going down the opposite side of the river.
"Oh look, I could've just walked across the cement steps."
I loved these trees growing in the middle of the river.
We made it back to the top of Bond Falls. The trail on this side of the river and falls was much more difficult to discern. We had trouble finding an actual path. I just knew to follow the flow of water and sooner or later we would end up where we needed to be.
I'm also glad that we decided to go around the water system counter clockwise. If we had gone clockwise, we probably would not have gone around the entire system, since it was so hard to figure out the actual path. Also, we hardly encountered any people during our entire mile-or-so hike (perhaps a half dozen others at most, that includes couples).
Well, we've had a pretty casual day so far. We haven't rushed at all. We've enjoyed the scenery and our time together. No rush. It was wonderful and we had a great time together.
At this point it was pretty clear that we would not have time for Copper Harbor. We still wanted to go up into the Keweenaw Peninsula -- it was decided to head to the western shoreline so we could watch the sunset over Lake Superior. Then we would drive into Houghton to eat at Ambassador's for some highly recommended pizza for dinner. We had a game plan!
I looked on my GPS for a little patch of green (that indicates a cemetery or park) along the shore and found Agate Beach Park--an hour and a half north of Bond Falls.
I knew that we wouldn't have time to do anything else that night aside from dinner and drive to the hotel (over 2 hours away). And yet, when we arrived I quickly realized it would be about 2 hours until the sun actually dipped below the horizon and my first thought was, "we're not staying here that long."
Maddie had expressed, outright, her desire to stay and watch the entire sunset. I had to fight the desire to do what I wanted, and give this evening - this moment - as a gift to Maddie. I had made my decision; we would stay.
It was a beautiful evening.
We found a log to call our own. Maddie took her shoes off. It was a nice sitting log - just sit there watching the waves lap the rocky shore as the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky.
We walked up and down the shore - several times - picking up pretty rocks. Skipping rocks. Listening to the sound of the waves breaking over the rocks. So methodical and serene.
The evening, and day, wase all so perfect! I texted Becki a picture of the setting sun over the lake. She replied how lucky we were, as back home it had been gray, damp, rainy and chilly since Maddie and I left.
Maddie decided to make a cairn. She isn't very patient, but she is determined and persistent. Frustration was definitely a factor, "they keep falling over," and yet, in the end, she had built a pretty nice cairn.
And then she stood up and couldn't believe all the sand on her knees (our family hates sand).
As the sun dipped a bit lower towards the horizon, we walked down the beach again. This time I saw the possibility of some pretty nice pictures. These next few pictures kind of encapsulates the entire evening.
Peaceful. Moment in time. Four of our five senses were involved; from the beach smell, to the touch of water, sand, and rocks on our feet. The beautiful sight of our surroundings and sunset. The sound of the waves or an occasional gull flying overhead. We'll both remember this evening for the rest of our lives.
At one point Maddie said that she was ready to go. We didn't need to stick around until after the sun was below the horizon. I suggested that we stick around until the sun dipped below the cloud line. So that's what we did.
After the sun dipped below the clouds we headed back up the dune to our car. We headed out of the park, but the colors of the sky caught my attention. I pulled into a parking spot where we stayed another 5 minutes or so to catch the silhouette of the trees against the pastels of the evening sky.
We left the beach somewhere around 8:30. We were both hungry and were about half an hour from Ambassadors. I called ahead to see about getting inside to dine, I was told there was about an hour long wait. While Maddie prefers a simple cheese, my pizza of choice was the Tostada--mounds of lettuce, tomato, chips, sauce--there would be no eating that cleanly in the car.
Not to mention the 2.5 hour drive to our hotel for the night. We did drive up to Houghton, but found ourselves (sadly) sitting in the drive-thru for Burger King instead. The only major let down of a near perfect day.
We drove to our hotel in the dark arriving just past 11:00pm. At check in, I was handed a blast from the past; when's the last time ya'll had an actual key to get into your hotel room? I told Maddie, "this is what room keys looked like when I was your age."
DAY #3: Saturday September 12, 2020
We spent the night in Marquette. We awoke to find all the gray, cold, miserable rain and drizzle that Becki mentioned to me via text last night had made it's way to the Upper Peninsula.
Even sadder than that, I didn't have any game plan for the day. There is SO much to do and see. So much to experience. Sadly, I was so overwhelmed by it all - everything about this trip was so last minute - without Becki's help in planning...I winged it.
I looked up a couple of waterfalls we would be near -- but Maddie informed me the day before that waterfalls aren't really her thing. As much as she enjoys the experience of actually being there, she feels that "if you've seen one you've seen them all." With that knowledge I didn't want to go all out on the waterfall theme.
I did get several suggestions from my letterbox community on things to do. I know Maddie well enough that I scrapped anything that she would be afraid of; I feel I do my best to stretch her boundaries and I do make her go out of her comfort zone when the situation calls for it (crossing the suspension bridge in the Porcupine Mountains), but I'm not going to have her go sky diving with me).
The cold dampness outside really squelched both of our gumption to explore (we really are a fair weather family).
We drove around Marquette with no real destination in mind. We drove to Marquette's Upper Harbor and saw this incredible structure. It's the Presque Isle Dock. Iron ore used to be transferred from railroad cars to cargo ships here. Pretty incredible.
Also, you can't see it in this picture, but it was basically sleeting. The mist/rain was more prominent, but there were definitely little spheres of ice hitting the windshield as well. Blah.
After milling about Marquette for a bit, we continued our auto-tour by heading east towards Munising.
I did print up clues for letterboxes along the way, but I really limited looking for anything. I want to spend time doing what the kids want to do and exploring new areas. Letterboxing has, and does, help in planning trips. As I read through clues, or see a picture that is included in some clues, it piques my interest--leading me to places that I didn't know about that are right off the main road.
This next stop wasn't just off the main road, it was right ON the main road. There are several boxes hidden here with pictures in their clues. As soon as we drove by it (with a massive pickup truck sitting on my bumper), I recognized it. Maddie said, "that looked interesting." So, we turned around.
Not sure if I was more happy in finding a place to explore (via our car) or getting that pickup truck off my tail.
Lakenenland Junkyard Art
Lakenenland is open to the public and is a free attraction. The drive-thru attraction contains sculptures made from scrap iron created by Tom Lakenenland.
While many were quite political in their message, I preferred the whimsical ones. However, each was a marvel unto itself. Such creativity.
The next one is a tribute to 9/11 and the Twin Towers.
After we finished driving through Lakenenland we continued toward Munising. We drove through the town of Christmas, Michigan.
Here's the thing, Kaitee loves Christmas after Thanksgiving, but hates Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving (let alone before Halloween).
So, when we drove through Christmas, Maddie wanted to take a selfie of her and Santa to send to Kaitee. It was pretty comical watching her trying to get a selfie with a GIANT Santa from the confines of the car--so I took a couple of pictures of her.
I had wanted to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Most every picture out there is from the water, people renting kayaks and such. The coast is where the scenery is. Hiking a trail in the weather we were experiencing didn't sound the least bit interesting to either of us. PLUS we would have to drive out of our way to get there.
After talking with Maddie about the pros and cons we opted not to pursue Pictured Rocks on this particular day. We did stop at a couple more waterfalls--both with little to no walk.
The first was Wagner Falls. A nice short boardwalk led us to the falls.
Alger Falls is RIGHT on the main road. No parking lot, cars were swinging onto the shoulder of the road while others zipped by. I was a little surprised that the shoulder hadn't been widened and paved.
Maddie, to my surprise, started to walk down the dirt/mud path towards the falls. I mentioned that she may want to stay up on the roadway, and she said she was going for a better view/picture.
All seemed fine until she turned and gave me a look. She had stepped into soft mud that went right up and over her shoe. Misery on top of misery.
We started heading towards Oshkosh, Wisconsin for our final night away. Our route took us along the shores of Lake Michigan. These next pictures don't paint an accurate picture - the waves were crashing onto the rocks. Pretty impressive to watch for a few moments - until the biting wind got to us and we had to hop back into the car.
DAY #4: Saturday September 13, 2020
Day #4 was nothing more than our drive home.
My birthday gift from Maddie was a nice meal out to Olive Garden - on her! So, I redeemed my birthday gift and we enjoyed a nice lunch together.
One thing that I had planned on doing for her was to take her out to a nice local ice cream shop. We thought we found a place at the Porcupine Mountain Outpost, but they just had some soft serve located in a gift shop.
Yesterday's cold, wet and windy weather left neither of us wanting ice cream (well, I'll speak for myself; Maddie is always in the mood for ice cream).
I was thinking about our route home from Oshkosh and figured it wouldn't be terribly out of our way to stop in Freeport to eat at Union Dairy -- a family favorite.
Promise kept. Day made. You could say this was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend with Maddie.
A week after we returned, a friend posted advice on Facebook. I will definitely heed this advice for future trips to the Upper Peninsula. [posted with permission]
"The best advice I can offer for anyone coming to visit the UP is to pick an area. While it is possible to trip through the entire peninsula in a week, that is pushing it. I would question the quality of such an experience, where you literally are on the go from sunrise to sundown, traveling the main highways and making short stops at only the most popular tourist attractions. But most of all, in doing this, you entirely miss the point of coming to the UP. The pace here is slower, more relaxed, it's about moseying. Getting yourself into that mindset will immensely improve the quality of time you spend here.
"Even if this may be your only trip to the U.P., pick an area...leisurely explore that area, not just the touristy stuff, but drive the back-roads, eat in mom and pop restaurants, talk to people, watch the sun rise and set. Spend a couple of hours driving out to a remote lighthouse, tour the lighthouses rather than just snapping photos as you drive by, take a boat trip through the Soo Locks or along the Pictured Rocks, ride the ferry to an island, climb a mountain, tour an abandoned mine, explore the remains of a once-booming ghost town, hike to a waterfall or the edge of a cliff, sit on a beach and watch a freighter pass, toast marshmallows on a campfire, stop at the many little museums and historical spots, walk beyond the boardwalk on a quiet forest trail, leisurely enjoy the scenic byways with less-visited pull-outs along hidden lakes, rivers and waterfalls.
"My suggestion is to choose camping or lodging that is central to the area you are exploring and stay there the entire time...packing up and moving every day or two is a lot of work and wastes time. It puts you in the mode of racing from one spot to the next. Better to spend those couple of hours each day enjoying the drive to the day's destination, venturing off the main highways and stopping at interesting places along the way. Speaking of lodging, if you're not a camper, don't limit yourself to chain hotels...they are scarce and only found in the larger cities, rather opt for a smaller roadside motel, a housekeeping cabin or one of the many vacation rental homes and cabins. The people here are welcoming and gracious, you will enjoy getting to know them! Other advice...get a good county roads map, buy gas often, keep the bug spray handy, pack a lunch, and most importantly of all...keep your itinerary flexible!"
