Michigan!

 The month of August has zipped by in a blur of packing, unpacking, preparing for and starting school-- and taking a really wonderful vacation to the Upper Peninsula and Nothern Michigan with our friends.  I'm going to attempt to recap the trip in just one post because there a lot more August to catch up on... Here we go!!

Off we went in Vandalf the Grey, like turtles with our house on our back.  Behind Nat-- the giant white insulated cooler with food for a week.  Behind the kids-- tents and air mattresses and the camp stove and alll the other things...

We broke up the 8 hour drive with stops at roadside attractions along I-75.  There were ridiculous number to choose from.  We ended up visiting the Giant Mouse with Cheese....

...Giant Paul Bunyan...

(Ivy was unimpressed)

... and the Cross in the Woods (said woods were deliciously piney and fresh, our first taste of Northern Michigan air...)

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge with great excitement, ready to see the glories of the UP.  A pretty drive along the shore of Lake Michigan soon turned to a long road surrounded by forest.   And nothing else.  Lovely at first, then a bit... dull.  We were feeling a but underwhelmed.  We met Eli, the Northwoods caretaker, and our friends, at a gas station on the outskirts of Munising. Followed him along increasingly rough roads to get to camp... and all of a sudden we understood why everyone loves it here so much.

This place is pure magic.

We had the most lovely 18 hours there, with a campfire and swimming and canoeing and cooking in the lodge kitchen, playing giant chess and horseshoes, reading in hammocks, and soaking up the view.  It was easy to sink almost immediately into camp life, and we were sorry that we'd only booked one night there.  

But one night was enough to convince us that we will be back to Northwoods-- soon!-- for a longer stay.

We drove along the Pictured Rocks lakeshore (more "road surrounded by trees") and set up camp, squeezing both families onto one site, then headed east to see Grand Sable Falls and stop in the town of Grand Marais for ice and firewood. 

The falls were beautiful.

So was the surprise at the bottom, where the falls emptied into Lake Superior alongside a magnficent dune. 

We were, of course, not prepared to swim, but much wading and climbing commenced. 

The kids even convinced me to climb to the top of the dune. The view was worth it, as was discovering this inter-dune space which was so acoustically soft it felt like our ears were blocked. 

Finally, tired and hungry and sandy, we tore ourselves away, back up 168 stairs to the cars, and off to Grand Marais.

Which was ADORABLE.  And also in posession of just one restaurant, which had a 45 minute wait to eat.  So we stocked up on picnic supplies and penny candy at the ADORABLE general store and headed toward the water (like you do) and found this view. 

There was even a picnic table right by the water, and the sunlight was golden and the water crystal clear and all the kids played on the playground together for ages and it was pretty much perfect. 

We got ice cream after and adjourned to the boardwalk beach on the other side of town for a hazy pastel sunset. 

Day 2 at Pictured Rocks: I took a morning hike down to the lower campground and discovered another waterfall-to-lake surprise.  Later, we took the whole group for an exceedingly cold swim.

Then a quick stop at Miner's Castle rocks on our way to Munising for our Shipwreck boat tour.

This was our first time seeing "actual" pictured rocks and we could finally able to really understand what all the fuss was about.  Wow.  There is really no filter on this photo.  The color of the water!  Amazing.

Unfortunately we had about 5 minutes to enjoy the view as we were on pretty much our only time deadline of the trip.  Can't be late for the pre-paid boat tour!

We posed for pictures quickly and headed on our way.

The boat tour was worth the rush.  The shipwrecks really were right there, easy to see in the clear water under our boat.  And the view and breeze and warm sunshine on the deck was grand.  

Our boat captain backed our giant boat right up to this cave.

On the way home we stopped at Wagner Falls and Munising Falls, and caught another hazy, soft sunset from the parking lot of the Munising Urgent Care, which was right on the bay with an amazing view.

We also discovered that Jack looks great in flannels.

Day 3 at Pictured Rocks-- Nat and I took a 3 mile hike to see some shipwrecks that were actually ON the beach not far from our campground.

Also visited the Au Sable lighthouse, which was utterly charming.

Back home in time for breakfast!  

Overall we survived our primitive camping experience pretty well.  Lots of eggs and hash browns for breakfast, and mediocre sleep on our air matresses.  The pit toilets at our campground were pretty terrible smelling;  we did in fact drive 8 miles out of our way one evening to use the fresh, bleach-smelling flush toilets at the Au Sable visitor center...

For our final afternoon at Pictured Rockes we went hiking in the Beaver Lake recreation area.  There's the glimpse we got of Beaver Lake as we hiked past it-- our destination was the big lake, and the Coves.

It was about 1.5 miles to get to Superior, where we found a shallow, white sand beach and silky, crystal clean water-- and some intruiging cliffs down the way.  I took it upon myself to swim down and investigate.  It took a while to swim down but the water was heavenly. There at the edge of the little bay were low cliffs that arched into overhangs and tiny caves... and around the bend-  this!

Turquoise water and sandstone formations in whimsical shapes.  Like some sort of tropical paradise, if a tropical paradise could have pine trees and rather cold water. Nat and Will had caught up to me before I rounded the bend. We decided the rest of the group HAD to see it and so we hiked a half mile back along the North Country trail.  In our bare feet and wet swimsuits.  Traipsed the group back and settled in to our little piece of heaven.

We swam and explored and jumped and basked for hours.

And were pretty darn tired for the hike back.

But not too tired to make a trip to the Log Slide Dune after dinner!  (Just too tired to climb all the way down and back up...)

We broke camp the next morning to head back to the mainland.

Six hours of travel brought us to our tiny cottage at the Betsie River campground.  SO civilized!

Spent the evening in Frankfort, the most beautiful little beachside town on Lake Michigan.  Victorian houses, vibrant gardens, charming shops and restaurants, and a lovely, dune-y beach with a lighthouse.

A lighthouse that you can walk right out to and explore, no less!

S'mores to cap off the day. 

Our final day was dedicated to Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Sadly we had the worst weather of the trip-- grey and sprinkly and SUPER windy by the dunes.  But we toughed it out and enjoyed one of our favorite places thoroughly, despite being exfoliated by the sand in the air...

Lunch and fun at Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor.

Ivy is a fan of cherry wine, it turns out.

Dinner at an excellent brewery in Beulah, after an evening swim in Crystal Lake.

We were too tired for s'mores that night!!

Last day breakfast! Thes three loved every minute of their week together. 

On our way home, to make vacation last longer, we stopped at the Point Betsie Lighthouse for a tour.  I can't handle this water!

Then a stop in Midland to tour the Alden Dow house, which was a colorful and creative treat of a place. 

It was grand to travel and see new things again!  And to spend a full week with our favorite friends was a gift for sure.  Northern Michigan, we will be back to see you again soon!