Wednesday we made our way almost to the Upper Peninsula. Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island are not Upper Peninsula, but just barely across the bridge below it.
We took the ferry out to Mackinac Island
There are no motorized vehicles on the island, so I was intrigued by this U-Haul truck (the ferry left with it not long after we arrived)
Beautiful, well-maintained vintage homes
We walked along Lake Shore Boulevard to find this:
The Somewhere in Time monument
Then we took some serious stairs up to the top of the bluff
And saw more beautifully maintained homes
We were headed to the Grand Hotel, featured prominently in the movie Somewhere in Time
After hitting up the gift shop at the hotel, spending some time on the veranda in the rocking chairs, we headed back down to Main Street to find some lunch. Bikes and wagons everywhere!
After lunch, an ice cream stop. There were SO many fudge/ice cream shops there!
Can you see the kites?
They were attached to this fence
We spent some time at the local library, J and S were thrilled!
View from inside (can you see two lighthouses?)
Beautiful fireplace inside and just outside those doors on either side...
On the way back to the ferry, we saw these beautiful dahlias
They shrink wrap the luggage so it doesn't go every which way while being transported on the ferry
The boat spray on our super fast ferry made me glad that we had a window between us and it!
Thursday we crossed the Mackinac Bridge to head to the Upper Peninsula
The center lanes are a metal grating, I suppose to let the water through?
There were construction workers up there!
We drove for at least another hour before we came to a community that had "Top of the Lake" banners on the light poles
We were headed to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Google it to see what it looks like, because I have no photos of it! They told us the actual Pictured Rocks are only accessible through an area that is named Mosquito Falls/River/Beach along a 6 mile hike route or a cruise. And the rangers told us the mosquito bit was aptly named....
We did go up and see Munising Falls
Lovely foliage along the trail
And on the way back to the motorhome, this lovely butterfly showed off for me, walking around and flexing its wings
We drove through Christmas, Michigan too!
Friday we were headed up to Keweenah National Historic Park. On the way there, we saw this sign. Apparently, if you are from the Upper Peninsular, or the U.P., you are often referred to as a "Yooper".
We saw moose crossing and an elk crossing signs, thankfully, didn't actually see either because it probably would have been a little too close for comfort!
All the rest areas up there are called Roadside Parks.
Keweenah National Historic Park is spread among several historic buildings, including this visitor center which was originally a Masonic lodge. There are also a lot of other historic sites to visit in the area that are affiliated with it
This was the area we were up in
Best known for the abundance and purity of copper in the area!
While driving around, we saw a few Michigan police cars, but never got a good photo until now. They are interesting, with one HUGE light in the middle of the roof of the car
Here's a close up
We also saw snowmobile crossings everywhere
And stopped for pasties for dinner. A pasty is like an empanada--flaky crust, mostly meat filling. SO very yummy! Pasty shops are everywhere in the Upper Peninsula and you say it like "nasty" not "tasty", although they are quite delicious!
Saturday we headed back down the Upper Peninsula and even drove through a very low cloud!
Look, a pasty shop! (In the middle of the cloud)
We crossed the Mackinac Bridge again
And drove past the 45th Parallel sign. We had driven past it on our way up, I wasn't expecting to see it so we didn't get a photo of it and this photo has blurry bug guts in the way!
Today we attended the Ypsilanti Ward, Ann Arbor Stake in the Detroit, Michigan area
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