Fourth of July Journey

 The good ole fourth of July. It is my favorite holiday. Caleb and I have spent this holiday apart for the last two years due to travel and work and all of that dumb adult stuff that we have to do sometimes. But this year.. This year was different. We were going to have close to a full week together in Big Red and I couldn't have been more excited. Of course, in true Laura fashion, things went wrong and plans changed. 

We had a campsite reservation just north of Grand Rapids, Michigan Sunday night and the following days were going to be Upper Peninsula state forest camping. We decided to take the Africa Twin with us on the Versa-Haul to be our commuter vehicle. That is so much easier than packing up camp just to go sight seeing. The big bike is definitely a load on the back, but everything was within the weight limits of the hitch and the hauler. We had just left home and hit a small construction site in the road. The kind where they leave a big bump down and a big bump up. You know what I'm talking about? Well, the bump down threw the handlebar of the bike into the back window though it didn't shatter it.  We both looked at each other in shock. Shew, that was close! On the bump back up, we were not so lucky. That handlebar hit and the window completely shattered. Thankfully, we were only 10 minutes from Caleb's parent's house. A quick stop for a repair and lunch, and we were back on the road. 

Really at this point, all we could do was laugh and thank God that it didn't happen in Michigan. We continued on, arriving at our campsite later that evening. We went swimming and enjoyed a fire with a few drinks during dinner and called it a night. The next day was going to be a long travel day.

We were up early the next morning and on the road to the U.P. I should note that the sun was out but this would be the last time that we would see it for quite some time. The rain started about an hour before we hit the Mackinac Bridge. Big Red experienced her first trip over the mighty bridge! The traffic was heavy and we were on the bridge for about 30 minutes, which lead to some awesome gazing down to the water. I am actually quite terrified of bridges. This would normally make me scream, but I was so in awe of the work of the bridge that I really enjoyed being up there.

I knew where we wanted to camp for the next few nights but with it being a state forest campground, there are no reservations. I was pretty nervous that there wouldn't be any spots left, but we got lucky! There were actually only a handful of people camped there. I should also note that I will never mention the name of this campground. It became a favorite of mine on 2020 on my solo U.P. trip and I really don't want anyone coming along and ruining it. I will happily tell you all other campground names, but this one is top secret. We set up camp and I showed Caleb around the grounds. Dinner and drinks, a quick fire and then bed since it was raining. 

Tuesday morning was a motorcycle trip up to the Pictured Rocks for a kayaking adventure. The ride up was nice, but it quickly turned cold. Our kayak trip was modified due to the weather, thank God, and we did the Grand Island trip instead. Still a ton of paddling with a headwind and swells, but a really awesome time was had.

The weather was downright miserable at this point and we still had to ride back home in the rain and cold. This night was a very early bedtime. Wednesday morning was the turning point of the trip. It had not stopped raining yet and frankly, we were both over it. We made the decision to tear down camp and move to another region of the U.P. But, not before we did a little skinny dipping in Lake Michigan. Yes, it was still cold and rainy but that was an amazing moment in time! (no photo of that.. lol) 

We decided to head to Sault Ste Marie for a new adventure, but first we checked out Kitch-Iti-Kipi. Also known as The Big Spring, this is the largest fresh water spring in Michigan. This was so awesome! I highly recommend this to everyone. However, please please please, respect nature! We saw so many people destroying the beauty of this spring and it really broke my heart. Check out Leave No Trace for information on how to care for the land while recreating. https://lnt.org/  

On the road to Sault Ste Marie, we stopped at this Amish roadside stand full of baked goodies. I was in desperate need of something to life my spirits and this donut did the job.

We made it to Soo and went straight for The Locks. We watched a couple of ships come and go and enjoyed the view of Canada. Of course, Big Red needed to be photographed with the International Bridge. 

We meandered the streets, drank some really awful beer and bought some fudge. Let's talk about the beer for a moment before I go on. There was a brewery that we wanted to try, but the location was closed. Like, shut down for good. So we found a restaurant that had craft beer and tried some there. No joke, some of the worst beer that I've ever had. Caleb could barely choke his down. Awful. Soo needs to step up the craft beer game. We did end up finding out that the location that had closed really only moved. We stopped in. The vibe was cool, but the beer.... damn. I don't have anything good to say about it. 

Big Red chillin' outside this unknown, awful brewery

We decided that we should find a campsite before dark and ended up at Brimley State Park on Whitefish Bay. Wow. I have good things to say and bad things to say. First, we just came from dispersed camping with no neighbors or electricity. It was shocking to pull into what we call "City Camping." This is 300 sites packed so tightly together that privacy is unheard of. Busy streets, loud music, drunk people. Not a relaxing atmosphere at all. Until you break through the small bunch of trees behind the van and realize that you are mere steps away from Lake Superior. 

The sunset that night was spectacular. And that is an understatement. Take note, this is the first time that we saw the sun since Monday morning. We are now into Wednesday evening.

We had a nice little fire and enjoyed some local beer from the party store and called it a night. Thursday morning was a travel day south as we were going to be home Friday afternoon. We made a stop in St. Ignace for what the locals call a Pasty. Past-ee not Paste-ee. Holy hearty goodness, Batman. I want to eat one of these everyday!

We had plans to camp at a place that Caleb rides from a lot, but again, the weather just wasn't working in our favor. We both could not stand another night of rain so we continued south back to the original campground at Newaygo State Park north of Grand Rapids. This was a great last night of the trip and Friday morning was a quick jaunt home. It was a great trip in Big Red overall and I am so excited to see what next year's 4th has for us!

Notable moments of the trip:

Crossing the bridge in a storm

Kayaking Lake Superior in a storm

Skinny dipping in Lake Michigan in a storm

I feel a recurring theme here...

Suffering in the cold Lake Superior water just to say that we swam in it!

The sunset at Whitefish Bay

That pasty!! 

Taking my first shower from the water tank in Big Red

Oh! Those pizza quesadillas that we made at Newaygo!