Vacation '12: The U.P.

We have returned from a great vacation to Michigan.  It was a wonderful time.  We spent the first part, about three days, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, better known as the U.P.  We camped for two nights in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (The Porkies).  Amanda and I camped here when we were first married so it was great to come back with 5+ kids.  Our campsite was great.  The picture above is from the back of the site, overlooking Lake Superior.  The kids spent lots of time on the rocks there.

Our first day was spent hiking to a few of the more accessible waterfalls.  Our kids all wanted to bypass the "DANGER" signs and get as close as they could to the falls.  Thankfully, the U.P. is rather sparsely populated, so we didn't have any problems doing that.

One of my favorite spots of the whole trip (and Amanda's top) was a falls that emptied directly into Lake Superior.  It was absolutely beautiful.  This picture doesn't do it justice.

 
We spent lots of time on the shore of Lake Superior searching for cool stones, skipping stones and watching Burley learn to swim.  That night we went to the Lake of the Clouds.  It is an amazing overlook.  The Porkies is truly wilderness.  We said many times that it was amazing how few people were there.

After the Porkies we drove to Tahquamenon Falls.  So much different from The Porkies, it was packed with people.  It is much closer to population centers and it was a holiday weekend.  It felt much more like Disneyworld.  We even had to wait in line to see the falls.  (The line was only about three people deep, but it was funny.)  When Amanda and I came here 12 years ago, we almost had the whole place to ourselves.  We were tired after a long drive so didn't spend much time there.  It is an impressive sight though.

We were so thankful for the few days of time together as a family.  We reflected on the majesty of God in his creation, especially in huge and overwhelming areas like Lake Superior, Lake of the Clouds, the Porkies and the many waterfalls.  I stood in amazement at my eight month pregnant wife who hiked, slept outdoors and through it all cared for us with a smile.  A great trip!