Arrival Saturday, June 27
310 Miles | 6 hours plus 2 hour layover for laundry and lunch
Michigan comes through with wildlife, as shortly after we cross the border we encounter a box turtle, a porcupine and several mating pairs of Sandhill Cranes. One of Datta’s business partner's, Mark, runs a boating tour and has hooked us up with a spot last minute at Pictured Rock RV park which is owned by a friend of his so it appears our run of luck has remained intact. And he has prepaid our fees! But when we pull in at 10:10 for after hours checkin our welcome packet directs us to a spot next to the park restroom with bright lights and zero privacy.
Mari checks the website and sees one other available spot by the upper perimeter that looks like it’s still open so we book and pay for it online and pull up only to see the site blocked off by a picnic table. Given the late hour and the fact that the office is closed we take our chances and set up camp for a third night in a row wondering if we will be awakened by the sound of a knock on the door, but we go off bumper, level the trailer and connect the full hookups since we have paid (actually double paid) for our site this time. We drift off to sleep sometime before midnight.
We wake up to a setting that feels less like the nature camps we have grown accustomed to and more like a rally or a revival with row after row of big RVs mixed in with smaller campers and a few tents on a relatively barren grassy field, with our nearest neighbors being a Mennonite family of 7 who have squeezed into a small pop up camper pulled by a big white van with an additional cargo trailer to boot.
As the camp clears out we end up with a lot more vacant spaces around us. Our spot is sunny and gets a nice vantage point being on the high side of the park. And we're getting three bars of LTE so we decide to settle in, each having a productive workday before our planned tour of pictured Rocks with Captain Mark.
He has slotted us in for a 5pm twilight tour, but just as we are starting to get ready we get a text that the boat is having engine trouble so we decide to explore the town instead. We drive to a pretty waterfall and scout out nearby Furnace Bay State Park campground which may have some first come first serve sites coming available the next day. But the LTE reception isn’t as good and the spaces are set back in the trees away from the water so we’re not 100% motivated to uproot.
The nearby Tourist Resort RV park tells us they book up for the year within hours when they come available on October 21st so we make a note to call them on October 21 to see about next year.
With just enough daylight left we hike to Munising Falls and take a bike ride to catch the sunset at Sand Point. We order pizza to take back to our campsite and extend our stay for 2 more nights. The next day Sibri and Datta take a morning ferry out to Grand Island and do a 2- hour bike trip to see a lake on an island in a lake.
We also hear from a ranger that captain Mark’s family sold the island lodge to the State, and we gain new insight to our host’s deep roots in the area. After another productive afternoon of working we connect with Mark in the late afternoon to get a private tour of the Pictured Rocks, which are nothing short of spectacular. It’s glassy calm and 80 degrees out. With the waterfalls and clear water accentuating colorful sandstone cliffs and rocky beaches it feels more like we are in some exotic tropical paradise, not in the upper peninsula of Michigan. On the way out of town Datta spots a single track mountain bike park and makes a mental note to check it out the next time we’re in the area. And yes, we are definitely coming back.
Departure Tuesday, June 30
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