Family Road Trip to the U.P.

We bought a littler camper.  Her name is Wanda. 
She is a 2022 Prime Time Avenger LT 17BHS 

Day 1: 

Drove for 12 hours from home to St. Ignace, MI KOA. Set up in an electric and water-only site. The kids did great, and the camper did great.

Day 2: 

Everyone had a great nights sleep! However, in the morning, we found that the coffee maker wasn't working. We had to drive to Sault Ste. Marie, to the nearest Walmart to buy a new one and a few other items. While we were there, we followed a suggestion from Dave and Maureen and went to The Soo Locks, which is in a cute little town and cool to watch the boats coming from Lake Superior to Lake Huron.  After that, we drove over to Kinsmen Park in Canada, where we walked a easy walk to Crystal Falls and spent some time at the park lake.

Day 3:

We took the ferry boat to Mackinac Island. Once off the boat, I was overwhelmed by the number of people. We spent some time at Marquette Park, overlooking the marina, to get our bearings. Then, we set off on foot to visit Arch Rock. The kids and I did not particularly enjoy the uphill climb, but once we got there, it was beautiful, as were the summer homes we passed. We headed back downtown to a restaurant called Ice House BBQ for lunch. It had a cool vibe. We ended the day with a private horse-drawn carriage tour, where the guide shared a lot of history about the island and the horses. He was clearly a horse enthusiast.

Day 4: 

We moved to a new campsite with full hook-up at site #41. It was a fantastic little spot. After setting up and leveling everything, we headed to the beach for the day. We drove about 15 minutes east to a private beach on Lake Michigan. I read a book while the kids played in the water and sand for about 5 hours. It was a wonderful day!

Day 5: 

Laundry Day. David worked until 5 pm. After finishing the laundry ($2 to wash and $3 to dry), the kids and I explored St. Ignace a bit. We got ice cream and played at the park. After David finished work, he met up with us at the campground park for putt-putt and pillow jumping. Then we went to dinner in town at The Gangplank.  The server asked Eli if he would like a pop refill and he had no idea what “pop” was. 

Day 6: 

We packed up and headed to Woodland Park Campground in Grand Marais, MI. It was a first-come, first-served campground, so we were a bit nervous. On the way, we stopped for gas, where a lady asked where we were heading. We told her, and she asked if we were going hunting. I told her no, we aren't hunters. She told me she just found a great Agate. Being unfamiliar with this term, I asked what it was. She said it was large and beautiful, with stripes. Still confused, I asked if it was the size of a deer or a squirrel. She looked confused and said it's a rock. They hunt for rocks. We all laughed.

We ended up on Lot #69. It was a wonderful surprise as it is in the shade. Here we met our neighbors right away, Jay and his wife. They were from Marquette, MI. We noticed we were missing a water valve cap, so after setting up, we walked into town to get one from the hardware store. As we arrived back at our site, we noticed our battery smoking. We waved down Jay, who helped us remove the battery. We then walked the beach and checked out the rocks. There were lots of people down there looking for these Agates.

Day 7: 

I worked in the morning.  At 1 pm we headed over to Au Sable Light Station.  It was a 1.7 mile hike up but mostly flat and next to like Superior, so it was fine. We did a tour once there and got to go up in the Light House.