How we took the plunge and started living the life we imagined
We leave Rapid City and drive to Badlands National Park. As we approach the park, the trees disappear and the landscape becomes more dramatic looking. More austere, more barren. Just grasslands and rock. As we drive into the park we feel as if we have landed on another planet.
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On to the Black Hills of South Dakota, south of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. We leave the grasslands behind and the road winds into the mountains – tall granite peaks covered with dark green pines. This stop is a whirlwind of national monuments and parks– Devil’s Tower, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave. In addition, we want to see the towering Crazy Horse Memorial, the old west city of Deadwood and are hoping for some exciting wildlife viewing!
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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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We are now leaving the Great Lakes behind us. Our next stop is Voyageurs National Park, land of even bigger bugs and endless lakes, inland waterways and skinny pine forests.
We thought we had already experienced northern Minnesota during our adventures at our last stop (Grand Marais, Grand Portage and Isle Royale National Park), but for this stop we head even further north into Minnesota.
Our next stop is Grand Marais, Minnesota, our base to visit Isle Royale National Park. Isle Royale is an island in the middle of Lake Superior. The park, famous for its moose and wolves, is one of the least visited national parks. It is only open from April to November and… it is only accessible by boat or plane. Another boat trip, this was now our fifth in a little over two weeks. We were really done boating. But it had to be done – we couldn’t miss the National Park… and a seaplane is not in the budget.
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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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!
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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”
Niagara Falls – our first stop official stop on the trip! One year in our Airstream traveling all over the United States. We were excited, and just a little nervous. A whole year of travel. We had never spent that long traveling, much less in in our Airstream. We had really only travelled in it a handful of times before we left, mostly some long weekends and then one 8-day trip to Maine. We are also relieved to be finally on the road – the exhausting mad dash of preparing to leave was finally over! We pulled into our campsite, hooked up, settled in and patted ourselves on our back – we were on our way! Continue reading “Niagara Falls, New York (and Canada)”