After spending a week in NYC without the van, we headed back to Philadelphia to begin our road trip. We made a few mandatory stops across our home state of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, State College, Greensburg, Pittsburgh (and points in-between)
Next stop, West Virginia, Sal's birthplace. And another adventure to visit the setting of the True-Crime Podcast ‘I Was Never There’ Goes Inside 1988 Mystery – Rolling Stone.
After soaking in a pleasing bit of nostalgia in PA and WV, it was time to head for Lake Michigan.
In route, we spent the night at the Long Ridge Trailhead in Wayne National Forest, Ohio. It was getting dark, and we had been sightseeing all day, so we wandered up into the mountains and found a secluded spot in the woods. Wayne National Forest - Home (usda.gov)
The next day, we did a meander from Columbus to Fort Wayne to South Bend and then across the "wrist" of Michigan.
We had never spent any time on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan so we took our time working our way north. Our first stop was at an interesting HipCamp in the small beach town of Bridgman, MI.
It's called Once A Pond A Time Campsites with 8 different breeds of free-range ducks.
While the ducks were amusing, I was most enthralled with the intriguing "flying cotton ball", called the wooly aphid, which I had never seen before.
All creatures, great and small...
And it was quite a beautiful ride up along the eastern shore...
We discovered that Michigan has lots of well-maintained State and County parks.
Our primary destination on the "Lower Peninsula" of Michigan was visiting with family along the northeastern coastal area of Lake Michigan. They were the perfect hosts and tour guides!
From our sisters' cabin to the quaint little beach town of Frankfort, to Crystal Lake, to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, to Boekeloo Trail, we had two wonderful days of jaunting through this beautiful part of the world.
Sandhill Cranes are one of the oldest bird species on the planet. They are over 4' tall with a 6' wingspan. We saw this guy on our hike through the dunes on the Boekeloo Trail. "They move elegantly, are very large, graceful birds, and look something like a living dinosaur. Listen to their loud, trilled calls." ‘Like living dinosaurs:’ Where to see Michigan’s spectacular sandhill crane migration this month - mlive.com
Time to bid adieu to the Lower Peninsula and cross the Mackinaw Bridge (where Lake Michigan kisses Lake Huron) as we head north to the Upper Peninsula.
It was our first time in the UP and we were not disappointed. After a stop at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, we made our way to the Hiawatha National Forest where we stayed at the AuTrain Lake Campground . We camped in site #11, right at the Birdsong Trailhead. The trail winds through forest and field, along bog and lakeshore, and includes an observation platform on Au Train Lake's Buck Bay. We saw massive pileated woodpecker holes in the trees and were lucky enough to spot a beaver at the mouth of the Buck Bay Creek. In this lush, moist environment, as you might expect, there was also an abundance of the "world's deadliest animal"!
From there, we headed up to Lake Superior and continued west to the delightful port town of Marquette. At this point, yes, we are still in the Eastern Time Zone. Central Time is now due South! (Did you know that there are actually 13 states that are split between two time zones?!?)
Lake Superior lived up to its name. We were there during the time of the out-of-control wild fires in Canada but the winds must have been blowing the other way as we had beautiful clear skies (just a bit foggy at times). I was most intrigued by the Ore Dock in Marquette. It is no longer a working dock but there is one just north, at Presque Isle.
We spent our final night in Michigan at Bete Grise (from the French Bête grise, "Gray Beast"), a nature preserve on Keweenaw Peninsula, situated between Lake Superior and Lac La Belle. We now begin our journey south, then west into the Central Time Zone.
Haven Falls, on the road to Gay, MI, was a perfect way to transition from the water to into the North Woods of Wisconsin. Cheers, to what was a wonderful visit where we got to experience PURE MICHIGAN!
Comments