UP Travlelog

Left about 8 am on Friday morning.. first stop was Meijer for some Aloe Vera to slather on already crispy children. Weather reports are calling for 95 today.. glad to be heading north!
Arrive in Mackinaw City about noon, get some sandwiches and go to the park by the lighthouse.. after a quick lunch we headed into the UP. High winds in the Straits.. they had Bridge Authority people at the entrance in Mackinaw and they were making trucks, trailers etc park to the side and be escorted across... First time I had seen that.
Got to the UP and stopped and did 2 geocaches at a rest area south of the Soo. Arrived in the Soo about 2 and toured the locks. It was engineers day, the one day of the year that you can go out onto the lock and see the admin building. The building is beautiful, all marble and tile.. built in 1879... did not realize it was that old. Unfortnately no freighters going through while we were there.. but got to walk across the Mac & Poe locks. Started to rain before we left.. not hard.. just sprinkled for a bit. Headed toward the campsite, and stopped to get some juice which I had forgot to pack.
Arrived at the camp site and got checked in, got the tent set up and our stuff unpacked... walked down to the beach and was stunned at how beautiful it was.. sandy beach and shore.. just spectactular! And a freighter going by too :)
Had dinner, got some wood, then went swiming.. the water was so warm.. could not believe it was Superior!
Campfire was a bit of a disappointment.. had trouble getting it to go.. but good enough for some marshmallows! Off to sleep looking out the tent window at the trees.
Saturday
After a breakfast we headed back into town.. Today there were boats in the locks! One was leaving as we arrived and we saw the OG: Reserve lock through (up bound). There was an indian demostration at the lower park. MM especially enjoyed this.. I was amazed at how many of the indians there were from St Ignace (and the rest from Brimley). No more freighters due in for a while and noon time approaching we left.. but ran out to the Ashmun boat launch on a hunch.. Sure enough the Gott was coming into the canal heading toward the Locks. Very impressive to see the 1000' boat go by so closely. After that we hit Subway and grabbed some sandwiches. Returning to the campsite we had lunch, then laid down for a while. After a nap we went swimming agin.. still can not believe how warm it is.
Off to do some geocaching.. headed toward Bay Mills which is an Indian reservation.. surprised at how strong the Tribes presences is here.. sort of like a different country. Very cool to see! We did a geo cache which ended up being down a snowmobile trail.. which this time of year is called a Cedar swamp. It was pretty to see.. but also wet, mucky and full of bugs that were attracted to my bald head! Found 1 of the 2 caches on this trail and also found some kindling for the fire tonight. Moving on we stopped at a statue to pay tribute to the Indian vets. Could not find the micro cache here.. but did look through the Old Indian Burial ground (1841) across the street. Rather than head stones there are small wooded boxes over the grave sites.. almost like caskets. I noticed they are all facing the same direction and have a small hole in the gable edge.. there must be a story here.. I will have to find it.. obviously has something to do with their beliefs and traditions.
Move further we went to the Pt Iroquois lighthouse.. we climbed the 72 steps to the top for an incredible view. We could also see people setting up for a wedding on the lawn. Came down and walked along the board walk by the lake. Found a geodetic marker here also.. an unexpected bonus!
Returning to the campsite we had dinner, then went swimming again. This time we saw 3 freighters going by. Coming back we had a campfire which went much better this time! Enjoyed being outdoors and the beautiful area.
Sunday
Slept in on Sunday until almost 10! Had breakfast and went swimming got back and had lunch.. by not it was nearly 1. The kids played at the playground while I packed up the tent and loaded the car.
Left the campground at 2:20 and headed south. Stopped at the Father Marquette memorial in St Ignace to do our last Geocache and take some pics of a freighter passing under the bridge.
Returning the the lower Peninusla we made our way home stopping to pick up a pizza in Mt. Pleasant and got home about 7:30