How we took the plunge and started living the life we imagined
Onward to Teddy Roosevelt National Park! We are really looking forward to this park – buffalo, prairie dogs and feral horses. Wildflowers and towering buttes in the badlands. There is the much visited South Unit and the more remote, less visited North Unit and we plan to visit both. Our first dry camping experience – this is going to be an adventure!
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The Apostle Islands are 21 islands off the coast of Wisconsin on Lake Superior. Rock formations, sea caves and hiking are our plan for this stop as well as enjoying the charming little town of Bayfield, Wisconsin which is the launch point for the Apostle Island boat tours.
This is the first time we are staying at a first come, first serve campsite and we are a little apprehensive. We are not really first come, first serve types. We are reserve in advance types.
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We left Mackinaw City to drive the quiet roads across the Upper Peninsula (or the UP as the locals call it) to Munising, Michigan and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior. There was no traffic, really few cars. A very quiet and easy drive. We are looking forward to this stop as we have seen stunning photos of the colorful cliffs, that look like they are dripping with green, black, red and gold paint. We have to keep correcting ourselves as we want to call this place “Painted Rocks” as opposed to “Pictured Rocks”.
We originally planned on dry camping at this stop but, after the annoying midges actually squeezed through our screens in Mackinaw City, we switched to a full hook up campground on the shore of Lake Superior. With a name like the Munising Tourist RV Park we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a stunning lakefront spot and electric, sewer and water. Elle stuck her finger in the lake; it was ice cold; there would be no swimming here! But who cares, the views were simply amazing (and not a midge in sight, of course). We wished we had more than two nights here. Our spot was right on the lakeshore. This is what we imagined when we were planning this trip – the Airstream parked on the edge of a lake, looking out at the water, listening to the waves lapping against the shore.
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Our next stop is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. There are stunning water views on our drive to the park. We drive right along the lake and it’s a shimmering blue green color. Really beautiful. This is the stop of climbing giant orange sand dunes and taking some beautiful scenic drives.
We camp in the park at the Platte River Campground, which has an electric hookup but no water or sewer. It is a pretty campground in the woods with lots of trees and spacious sites that are not to close to your neighbor. This is our first time ever camping without water and sewer hook ups. Soon we will be dry camping (without any hookups) but this is our first test. We come prepared with our water tank full, which was completely unnecessary, as we could have filled up on the way in. Continue reading “Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore”