On my last post I shared about the first leg of our 2018 family trip. We affectionately dubbed the adventure our "Great Lakes Tour" because the plan was to visit all five Great Lakes in a single trip. After two days, we had visited our first lake - Michigan. In actuality, we also visited Lake Huron because that is the lake that Mackinac Island is on and Mackinac Bridge stretches over the Straits of Mackinac that are the convergence of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. See...you're getting a geography lesson here too!
However, I wanted to count each lake by taking photos of them from shores that I had not visited yet, or in the case of Lake Michigan, that I rarely ever visit. So Lake Michigan's photo was taken on its northern shore from the Upper Peninsula. Let's continue on with our journey, though, shall we?
Day 3: Leave St. Ignace and head north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. For me growing up, these were the most amazing waterfalls ever. Whenever anyone would talk about Niagara, I would say, "Yeah, but have you ever been to Tahquamenon?". Again, more of that Michigan pride. But when you are from a state as magnificent as this, there should be some pride. Tahquamenon is beautiful and I loved sharing it with Maria and Ben...and the bison burger at the restaurant there was so delicious too!
After the falls, we travelled further north to Sault Ste. Marie where we crossed the border into Canada! Then we headed even further north to a small little motel outside of Searchmont, Ontario. I chose this motel because there was an actual converted train caboose that they rented out as a cabin. It looked so cool! Of course, my teens were not impressed. Especially because there was, *gasp*, no internet! It was out in the middle of the wilderness and it was very serene.
Day 4: We travelled north again for a day trip to Pancake Bay Provincial Park. At that point in my life, that was the furthest north I had ever been, and it was the first time I saw Lake Superior from any shore other than Michigan. It was, of course, magnificent! So, if you'll recall from my last post, I mentioned that my heart goes pitter-patter for another Great Lake besides Michigan. Well, the one that is in the top spot on my list will always be LAKE SUPERIOR! The great Gitche Gumee! (Check out this quick read for history on this name: https://www.lakesuperior.com/the-lake/lake-superior/281almanac/) Since I was a kid, I remember being in awe of this massive body of water, and that awe has not receded as an adult. It was a pure rush to stand on the eastern shore of Lake Superior and take in all of its grandeur! Aaannnndddd...we checked off Great Lake #2 on our tour!
After a few hours north, we travelled back down to Sault Ste. Marie and crossed back over into Michigan to visit the Soo Locks. It is always a pretty neat thing to watch massive ships pass through the locks and to see them either dropped down to the level of the St. Mary's River or raised up to the level of Lake Superior.
And for now, another leg of our journey was drawing to a close as we crossed back over into Canada and returned to our snug little caboose in the woods.
Stay tuned for the third and final chapter of this great vacation to see if we can possibly cram three more Great Lakes into this tour and reach our goal!
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