Picture taken while we were on the ferry to Mackinac Island.
This is the last installment for our Michigan Upper Peninsula summer adventure 2022. Sorry for the delay between posts, I fell off my ebike and broke my elbow in ten places and a compound fracture of my forearm and then coming down with the flu that lasted a couple weeks, I have been a little preoccupied.
In August 2023 we will be leading a tour of the Michigan Upper Peninsula (UP). This years trip through the UP was a fact finding, scouting trip in preparation for next years tour.
Entrance to Michigans Straits State ParkOur campsite at Straits State Park.Our campsite at Straits.From the campground at Straits State Park, The Mackinac Bridge from the UP to lower Michigan.MaryAnn and me at Straits State Park. Mackinac Bridge in the background.Video from the beach at Straits State Park.MaryAnn, me and the Traveling Pups on the ferry to Mackinac Island.Lighthouse at the dock to boarding the ferry to Mackinac Island.The horse drawn wagon we used to tour Mackinac Island. No motorized vehicles allowed on the island.
Motorized vehicles are not permitted on Mackinac Island, even ebikes were not permitted. We also had to take our traveling pups with us to the island since Michigan state parks do not permit dogs to be left alone at campsites even if the are inside the RV.
Luna enjoyed the wagon ride and the horses.Arch Rock on Mackinac Island. If you’re energetic you could climb to the top. I was not, energetic that is. Fort on Mackinac Island. There is a $6 fee per person to enter the fort.Architecture on Mackinac Island.Hotel on Mackinac Island, built in a month by hundreds of workers.Lighthouse on Mackinac Island.Video of ferry ride from Mackinac Island.Parachute on Mackinac island.Lake Huron. We have visited all the Great Lakes now!Lake MichiganMackinac Bridge. Video crossing Mackinac Bridge.Pic from the Mackinac Bridge.Mackinac Bridge.On the southern end of Mackinac Bridge is a museum of the Colony of Mackinac.Glad I’m not a statue!Looks like he is crying.Quite an epitath!There’s a museum and a reconstructed fort at the end of Mackinac Bridge as it enters the mainland of lower Michigan.The road to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.The entrance to Sleeping Bear.
Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore campground, called Platte River, is the best national campground we have ever camped at. Hot showers (free), paved campsites – it is beautiful!
Entrance to the campground.Our campsite at Sleeping Bear.Another view of our campsite.Hiking the Sleeping Bear Dunes.Hard to walk in the sand, but a great workout.Made it to the top! Oh wait, there’s another mile to go!
Hiking to the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes was on our bucket list. Now we can finally check it off. The dunes seem to go on forever, once we arrived at what we thought was the top, we discovered there was another top to conquer, and another and another till we finally reached Lake Michigan.
MaryAnn on Sleeping Bear Dunes.MaryAnn with our Leisure Travel Van down in the parking lot.Views from the dunes.The beginning of the hike to the top of the dunes.Our tiny house has given us opportunity to see places we would have never gotten to see!The hike to the top, that never seems to arrive.Could this be the top? Nope the trail keeps going on seemingly forever!Views from the dunes.From the dunes.
After Sleeping Bear Dunes, we continue east to the suburbs of Detroit to visit our Leisure Travel Van (LTV) friends who had traveled with us to Alaska in 2018.
We had started having some suspension challenges with our LTV and ordered new struts and shocks on Amazon having them shipped to our friends in Detroit. Next time we will continue our summer adventure getting work done on our LTV while traveling on the road.
(The picture above is of the Pecos River in southwest Texas.) My name is Terry C Barber, I am a disabled veteran, retired military and retired pastor. MaryAnn’s a retired special education teacher. Our Next Chapter, the open road – we call it “the Barber Road.” You're invited to join us as we explore North America in our Leisure Travel Van with two Shitzu pups.
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Always enjoy your adventures!
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Thank you 😊
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