Our next stop in Colorado is a park we have never heard of before this trip – Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde National Park is in southwest Colorado. It was established to protect the heritage of the ancient Puebloans and the park contains over 5,000 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. The cliff dwellings are supposed to be particularly well preserved and spectacular – whole cities tucked underneath cliff ledges. It should be a fascinating visit.
We are all excited to be going to Colorado. Our first stop will be Rocky Mountain National Park: mountains, wildflowers, alpine tundra, mountain goats, marmots and moose! We are looking forward to the hikes, the views and the animal sightings. And an added bonus – Kay’s brother, Brad, is coming to visit.
We are so excited for our next stop – Yosemite National Park. Stunning sheer granite walls, meandering rivers and iconic landscapes. We are camping in the park at Lower Pines Campground in the heart of the park – we feel very lucky to have the reservation. There are only a couple spots that our 30-foot Airstream will fit in – we were so happy to get one of them by booking the instant reservations open online five months in advance! We also are relieved that the park is open – it has been closed due to forest fires for weeks and just opened a week and a half before we are scheduled to arrive. We are also concerned about smoke – we are hoping that the park and campground will be clear!
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are our next stop. The parks abut one another in Northern California in the southern portion of the Sierra Nevadas. Sequoia National Park is home to groves of enormous towering sequoia trees – the largest trees on earth. And Kings Canyon is one of the deepest canyon’s in North America.
Our next stop – the North Oregon Coast. Long stretches of deserted beach, forested cliffs overlooking the ocean, tide pools filled with colorful sea-life.
Our next stop is a highlight of the Pacific Northwest: Mount Rainier and its iconic snow-covered peak, multitudes of wildflowers and breathtaking hikes. Friends from home are meeting us which adds to our anticipation.
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.
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.
We drove north from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore up to Mackinaw City, Michigan. The highlight of this stop was going to be our day trip to Mackinac Island, with it’s horse carriages, old fort and lovely old hotels and beautiful shoreline.
It was a peaceful drive that took us less than 3 hours. We arrived by noon and, after we set up camp, we decided to go out to lunch. We enjoyed simply outstanding fresh, wild salmon sandwiches at the Bière de Mac Brew Works on the outskirts of Mackinaw City. To Elle’s dismay, we opted not to eat at Weinerlicious despite the enticing giant hot dog on top of the building!
