Our first stop to start our journey was a bit of an aggressive drive from Ontario. It was an 8 ½ hour drive not accounting for traffic or boarding crossing time. We tried to stay closer at a few other destinations in Michigan but found that most were booked, it was the Canada Day long weekend as well as upcoming 4th of July. Found Pictured Rocks and we were happy with making some distance for our first travel day 😊
Still decompressing from wrapping up the sale of the house, putting our belongings in storage and organizing the RV, we did not plan to do too much at this location to allow ourselves to get some rest and start to slow down in life. It will be interesting to see how long it takes both Jason and I to stop thinking we need to check our work emails or feel like we are in a constant race, taking this time to go a different pace and enjoy the gift of travel we are giving ourselves.
Where we stayed
We stayed at the KOA Munising, Pictured Rocks in Wetmore, Michigan. You know that special moment when you see someone with the same trailer as you? Well we had it! They had the 2016 Montana High Country BH340, ours is the 2017. What are the odds? Beautiful campground and we managed to get a pull-thru site in the back of the campground surrounded by lots of trees but also mosquitoes! We stayed at site 91 which had water and 30 amp, no sewer. This KOA had incredibly fast Wi-Fi allowing us to upload all of our pictures as well as upload 20GB and download 20GB. I have a feeling we were spoiled so we took advantage of it!
What we did
First let me tell you that we arrived here in a heat wave, and I mean heat wave! The full day we were there temperatures went up to 33 degrees Celsius with 13 degrees of humidity …. So feels like 44 degrees Celsius or 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot! So no hiking today as well as leaving Kenya behind in the trailer as we are still trying to figure out how to manage our outputs on 30 amps. The trails all through Pictured Rocks do not allow dogs on the trails, they are however allowed at some of the beaches and look out areas so, that’s what we did. Munising Falls was our first stop and the ranger at this location gave us great advice at some of the lookouts as well as an activity booklet that Annalise loved.
We ventured to Grand Marais first and went out to the water and felt the temperature just drop. From hot and humid to cold and extremely windy, we witnessed a storm sweep through Lake Superior and literally move a wall of water in it’s path. Quite a sight to see, Annalise said this was the highlight of her day!
Stopped at a few other lookouts along the way including Munising Beach as Kenya was allowed to wander on this one….she didn’t like the waves though! The stable flies were horrible there and we were told that no bug spray would keep them away. Annalise swells up from any bug bite, so our visit was short and we were hot and sweaty ready to return to camp anyway. Beautiful sights along this drive especially our stop at Log Slide Overlook, breathtaking views of pictured rocks and Lake Superior.
What we missed
Originally our hope was to go to Bear Dunes Michigan to see the sand dunes, but due to no availability we found this location. With the weather and Kenya’s restrictions to the trails, we did not get the opportunity to see the sand dunes to the extent that we would have liked here.
Pasties, a baked pastry filled with meat and vegetables is quite popular in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was Jason’s miss as I am gluten and dairy free so sadly, no pasties for me.