U.P. Adventure

By: Beth
Photography by Becca (mostly)

     

This was the first bear we spotted on our Michigan vacation last week.  Thank goodness he was only a very realistic wood carving.  We actually didn't see any live bears, or moose (which we were really hoping to see, but they remained elusive). 

This year's summer vacation was sort of my graduation present so I was able to choose where we went. We have friends who live in lower Michigan, and our dad grew up there, so we have made a few trips in that direction, but never to the upper peninsula.  So that's where we went!

Beautiful Lake Superior. Our first stopping place was Munising, MI.  Driving through M.N, W.I., and then into the upper peninsula of M.I. was such a change from the flat, grassy prairies where we live. Trees, trees everywhere….but no moose!  (did I already mention that we really wanted to see a moose?).  Chipmunks, squirrels, snakes, seagulls, and sand hill cranes were the extent of the wildlife we saw.  Oh yeah, and deer. But we see those all the time :)

Munising Falls

Hiking

Miner's Falls

"Quick! Take the picture before the mosquitoes eat us alive!" 

Miner's Castle 

At Miner's Beach

Pontoon ride along Picture Rocks

The water was so clear, we could see straight to the rocky bottom

The colors come from different mineral deposits

Spray Falls

Spray falls marked the boundary of how far we could take the pontoon boat, so we dropped anchor here and had lunch. This is also where I jumped off the boat for a swim…a swim in 50 degree water, brrrrrr! It was very cold, but refreshing :) 

Next stop was St. Ignace, a town right across from Mackinac Island.

Parasailing! Our very first time, and as you can see from Becca's face (maybe from mine too),
 we were a little bit nervous.

Off we go!

Mom and Dad went first, and had a lovely, smooth ride. When Becca and I went up, the wind had picked up a bit and we blew around more. It was still awesome to be up there, but when we came down, our stomachs were a wee bit queasy  :)

Riding the Ferry to Mackinac. I'm not sure who that crazy guy in front of us is :)

Mackinac Bridge, connecting lower and upper Michigan, and dividing two of  the Great Lakes,
Huron and Michigan.

A victorian era main street.
No cars allowed, the only transportation are horses, bicycles, or  your own two legs.

Just one of the beautiful mansions on the island

Riding tandem bicycles around the island turned out to be a lot harder then we thought. The original plan was for Mom and Dad to ride one, and Becca and I to ride another. Well, I got on the front of ours and tried to steer straight ahead...but it didn't quite work :) I wobbled down the street until Becca decided she could do a better job. So we switched places but the turnout was the same. Mom and Dad, who had managed to figure it out quite easily, stopped when they didn't see us coming behind. We walked the unruly bike to where they were and switched riders and drivers around. It went much better after that :)

A view of the lake from Ft. Mackinac.  

                                     After a day on Mackinac, we went back to the U.P.

Going on a boat tour of the Soo Locks. The Locks allow freighter ships to get to
and from Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.

Lower Tahquamenon Falls.    

                                 Upper Falls (much more impressive)

Oh, yes… and lots of stairs :)  93 to get to the viewing platform for the upper falls,
 and 100 something more to get to another viewing platform.
We were very tired at the end of that day :)

Well, there is the highlights of our vacation!  After leaving the Upper Peninsula we visited friends in lower Michigan, and went "junkin' " (going to garage sales and thrift stores and looking for treasures.  We did find some nice ones by the way, but that's another post), and then headed home.  We were glad to be back, to see our rabbits, and how much our garden had grown. 

But now, we are so behind in posting!  Get ready for a flood of new posts coming up.   :)