Up North :: Day 03

It was another day for celebration -- Father's Day! We needed to be out of the cabin pretty early, so headed into Iron River for breakfast at Main Street Cafe. Perfect diner food. Plus, right outside was a car show that spanned several blocks. We wandered the car show and stopped in antique stores before parting ways. Brian had picked up a flier with local waterfalls, so we decided to hike to Chicagon Falls. It was a good pitstop before making our way to Eagle River, WI. We walked around before stopping at the grocery store for some supplies. From there, we made our way to Franklin Lake Campground, our home for the next couple of nights. It may be one of my favorite places we've ever stayed. We were the only van I saw, and a couple sites had tents on them. Otherwise, most of the sites were occupied by RVs. Our site, and many of them, are right on the water. It was spacious, flat, and had gorgeous views. The only downside to the campground is that it doesn't have showers, and most of the bathrooms are pit toilets. Luckily, we were near one of the few real bathrooms, which I appreciated. The facilities were rustic yet clean. I was really impressed. Brian and I rode our bikes around the campground, and dined on cheese and crackers that night. It was perfect. 

Up North :: Day 02

The day was filled with on and off rain again, but also lots of Up North adventures. And Penny's birthday! So fun getting to celebrate with her. We made breakfast at home, then went to Seven Embers Coffee where we met up with Amy & Graham. The purpose for our trip was for a celebration of life for her mother, Carol, who passed away earlier this year. We were able to go to the cemetery with Amy & Graham & Sophie where Amy said a beautiful eulogy for her mother. Afterwards, we went to Infield to toast Carol with her favorite cocktail, a whiskey highball. When we walked in, imagine how surprised we were to see some friends from Milwaukee who were on their annual motorcycle trip -- one that Brian used to go on every year. So fun bumping into them. 

We had dinner reservations that night, but decided we'd rather cook at home, so we stopped at a grocery store on the way back and were pleasantly surprised to find gorgeous tomahawk steaks! Such a treat for a birthday celebration. We came back to the house, kayaked a bit, Brian fished, and we built a beautiful fire in the massive fire pit before cooking a most incredible birthday dinner. Amy, Graham and Sophie stopped by to celebrate Penny a bit, then the boys sat by the fire while the girls watched Dirty Dancing. The perfect end to a special day. 

Up North :: Day 01

Last Friday, we drove to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- lovingly referred to as the UP. It's a gorgeous area. We met up with Mel & Leif, and Penny & Chris at the house we rented for a few days. It was filled with taxidermy and loungers. It even had a Christmas tree -- and was extremely comfortable for the group of us. To get to the house, we traveled down a remote dirt road that was off the beaten path from any GPS mapping for a couple of miles (thank goodness for good written directions from the host) before we came upon the cabin. It was on a huge plot of land, and overlooked one of the lakes on the Fortune chain of lakes. We had kayaks, canoes and even a row boat available for use. Too bad it rained most of the weekend, but we were still able to enjoy most of it. The first night we stayed in and had brats and sipped Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream Liqueur from measuring cups while watching the World Cup and just enjoying each other's company. Mel had flown in from New York City that morning (talk about going from one world to the next), and Brian had gotten in late the night before from a work trip in Nashville. Needless to say, we were all exhausted. But also happy to be there. It really is a special place. 

Michigan 23 :: Day 04

We woke up to a gorgeous day. Brian took a dip in Lake Michigan, while Van and I walked over to the dog beach and he got his toes wet. After we packed up, we drove over to check out Headlands International Dark Sky Park. We didn't try to venture over the night before, but if the conditions would have been right, it would have been super cool to see. The facilities were pretty amazing even during the day. Next we drove to Mackinac City. We actually took a wrong turn, and ended up in the middle of all the chaos. Of course we had to stop to pick up some fudge and split some fish and chips before continuing on. Then we got to venture over the bridge again, this time in clear weather and holiday traffic. It took a really long time to get across. We had one more stop before the long journey home - Palms Book State Park to see the Kitch-iti-kipi, Michigan's largest fresh water spring. It was absolutely gorgeous. Thanks to the busy weekend though, we weren't able to take the barge across. The wait was over two hours. We'll have to go back some day. After all the fun, we headed back. Van was definitely ready to be home, but Brian and I are already talking about our next adventure.