We left home on Friday afternoon and drove up to my parent’s house to spend the night. Saturday morning we all piled in the van – it was a little crowded with six adults, six backpacks, and six overnight bags!
We drove up to the northern tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan and stayed at a campground in Mackinaw City. It was a nice campground but unfortunately our sites were right next to the highway – lots of motorcycles and rumble strips!
Sunday morning we drove across the bridge into the U.P. We stopped for lunch at Muldoon’s (apparently the best place to get a pasty (pronounced Pass-Tee)). We were not that impressed – root vegetables with little flavor in a pastry crust.
We got to the campground in Munising and had a great site right on Lake Superior (possibly considered part of Munising Bay). We met up with my aunt, uncle, and cousins and all tried to get ready for our backpacking trip. We also played a game of miniature golf (this is necessary on every Bennett vacation).
Monday morning we chartered a shuttle to take us to the start of the trail near Grand Marais. We hiked only seven miles that day. It was pretty foggy during the day and fortunately the first section was mostly in the woods (i.e. not many views).
After setting up camp, relaxing, and eating dinner we hiked a short distance to watch sunset at the Au Sable Lighthouse. We were fortunate to see a lot of good sunsets on our trip (below are a couple of them).
On Tuesday, we hiked almost eleven miles – most of the distance of Twelve Mile Beach. We had some great views and even got to see some of the shipwreck remains on the beaches.
We decided that if you want a “Caribbean” vacation without people, heat, or humidity, the Twelve Mile Beach campground is the place to go. The beach was deserted and the views from the campsites were absolutely amazing – the water was so clear!
That night there were a few people in our group that were in a lot of pain and they were calling for bad storms so we made the tough decision to catch a ride out the next day.
Wednesday we hiked to Little Beaver Lake Campground and relaxed, read, and played cards while waiting for our ride. We decided to spend the night in a hotel in town because of the storm.
Thursday we took a boat tour of the Pictured Rocks. It was nice to see them from the water. On Friday morning, we did a long day hike around the Chapel area – we got to see a lot of the Pictured Rocks as well as a couple waterfalls.
Saturday was a long drive back to my parents’ house where we spent the night. We left on Sunday morning and apparently just missed seeing the calf down the road that was just born (that’s Saxonburg excitement for you!).
While we were gone, Tucker got to make quite a few friends. Our friend, Tom, watched him for us and he had a luau party the day before we got back. Plus he had another dog and two kids to play with all week. Tucker is going to think we’re pretty boring after all that!
Wow, that was some great packing, Clark! Did the Family Truckster come with the optional Rally Fun-Pack?
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