Caroline, Dad, and I went to the Michigan Upper Peninsula on a photography trip! This was Caroline’s first overnight trip focusing on pictures and without Mom. We were away from home for 4 days.
See my post on Paul S. Reid Photos about this trip if you just want to see my pictures.
We left on July 30th, 2020.
We drove for two hours before eating breakfast in Madison, Wisconsin, at Cracker Barrel. I ate French toast.
Next, we stopped at a camera store to get a tripod for Caroline since she did not have one yet and a new one for me since mine was falling apart and was getting too small for me.
An hour later, we arrived at a waterfall called Granite Quarry Falls, in Montello, Wisconsin. Dad had a phone call for work so he stayed in the car while Caroline and I went across the street to the waterfall. We also found a geocache there!
This is the main, naturally created, waterfall. This is the main, naturally created, waterfall. This man-made waterfall was to the side of the natural one. Caroline liked this one more… Caroline tried to take a selfie of herself, which didn’t work. This man-made waterfall was to the side of the natural one. Caroline liked this one more… This man-made waterfall was to the side of the natural one. Caroline liked this one more… Caroline unwinding the logbook of the geocache. The geocache container. The geocache logbook. The base of the light post across the street in the parking lot. The base of the light post across the street in the parking lot. The base of the light post across the street in the parking lot.
Next, we called Mom and Mary. We drove for three hours until we reached a Mexican restaurant called Casa Mexicana (that’s “Mexican House” in English). I ordered a taco, but I didn’t like it very much.
After two more hours, we reached Michigan and went to another waterfall named Bond Falls. While walking back to the car, we saw a snake! (all waterfalls & rapid names made up)
This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower rapids. This is the lower rapids. This is the lower rapids. This is the lower rapids. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the lower falls. This is the middle rapids. This is the lower middle falls. This is the lower middle falls. This is the upper middle falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper falls. This is the upper rapids. This is the upper rapids. This is a small lake next to Bond Falls Flowage. This was on Bond Falls Road. This was on Bond Falls Road.
Just 15 minutes down the road was Agate Falls.
We called Mom and Mary again. Finally, we went to the hotel and went to sleep.
The next day we went to a McDonald’s drive-thru to pick up some breakfast. We called Mom and Mary in the car on the way to the Black River Harbor Recreation Area, where we ae it. I had pancakes. Then we walked over to the harbor and took pictures.
We followed the Black River upstream/south and stopped at numerous waterfalls along the way: Rainbow Falls,
Sandstone Falls,
Gorge Falls,
and Potawatomi Falls.
Next, we were going to go to Copper Peak (an old ski jumping hill), but their chairlift was broken. We could have driven up their maintenance road, but we decided to come back the next day in the hopes that it would be fixed.
We drove to Walmart to get food so we didn’t have to keep stopping at restaurants. We took the food to the hotel and made sandwiches for everyone to eat for the rest of the trip, then ate one. After video calling Mom and packing up our cooler, we headed out again.
We went on a walk that was about 2 miles long at Presque Isle Scenic Area. We saw three waterfalls: Manabezho Falls, Manido Falls, and Lapisto Falls. Caroline waded in the river. We ate some dinner at the picnic table there.
*Can You Guess it?*
Below is a picture of something very close up. Can you guess what it is? Thanks to Grandma Peggy for the idea so many years ago! (This one is kinda easy, I have some other harder ones from other trips I’ll share sometime)
How quick did you guess it? Tell us in the comments below!
Then, we went back to the hotel, watched A Series of Unfortunate Events, and went to bed late.
The next day, after breakfast, we drove to Saxon Falls over in Wisconsin.
Next, we went to Potato River Falls. We all went to the lower falls, then I went to the upper falls by myself since Caroline and Dad were too tired.
Dad called Copper Peak, and they said that their chairlift was back operating, so we went there.
Copper Peak used to be a ski “flying” hill, but they had to close down due to not enough funds. Ski flying is very extreme ski jumping. There are only 5 other ski flying hills in the world and only about 100 qualified ski flyers in the world! Copper Peak is currently a tourist attraction to try to raise money to become a ski flying hill again. However, their funding might just go towards maintenance since their chairlift broke again as we were in the gift shop afterward! Copper Peak is about 335 feet tall, and it’s on top of a huge hill, so we could see very far: across the lake, to where we’ll go on our end-of-August-trip. At the very top, there’s nothing under us! On a windy day, it can wobble up to 8 inches to each side at the top! Dad bought souvenir T-shirts for Caroline and me!
On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the path to the observation deck On the observation deck On the top of the hill On the top of the hill On the top of the hill On the top of the hill On the top of the hill On the jump, right after the elevator On the jump, right after the elevator On the jump, right after the elevator On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump I took this picture by just pointing my camera beheind me and pushing the button, without looking! (On the jump) On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump On the jump Caroline says she looks like Pippi Longstocking in this photo. (On the top of the hill) On the top of the hill On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift On the chairlift
Next, we went on a drive for 2 hours to Copper Falls State Park. On the way, we missed a turn. Dad was going to take the new route that the map gave him, but,
Turn left.
Google
Into a cliff?
In one thousand feet, turn left onto Snow Mobile Trail.
Google
We weren’t driving on a snowmobile trail! It was covered with water anyway, so we couldn’t drive on it anyway. Once we arrived at Copper Falls, we turned around because we didn’t want to buy a yearly pass for one park when we would only be there for one hour and weren’t planning to return in the next year. We drove for another half hour to Saxon Harbor County Park. We were going to eat lunch there, but it looked rainy, so after I went to the bathroom and took some pictures, we left.
And sure enough, on the way to the hotel, it started raining! After driving to somewhere where we had some cell phone signal, Dad called a pizza place called Brewsters’ Northwoods Bar. They said it would be ready in about 20 minutes, which was good since Google Maps said it would take 21 minutes to get there 😁. By that time, the rain had slowed. I took some pictures while we drove.
We picked up the pizza, then went back to the hotel and ate it. Then, we video called Mom again and watched Christopher Robin. We went back to the Black River Harbor Recreation Area to take pictures of the sunset (even though it was still drizzling a bit) and went to bed.
We woke up early on the last day and drove back to the Black River Harbor Recreation Area (yes, again!) for sunrise, although we got there a little late, so we missed most of it. Oh, well, it was cloudy and still drizzling anyway, so we wouldn’t be able to see most of it.
We went back to the hotel, called Mom, and packed up. We drove, stopped for gas, drove, Zoom-ed into our church service (never listen to a recording of music over Zoom…it sounds horrible!), and called Mom. Then, it started raining very, very, hard. Nobody could see anything! Soon the rain stopped. That storm was the same one that was up in Michigan after we went to Saxon Harbor County Park the day before. The same storm rained on us a third time that night at home. Why was it following us 😆!?! We had one last bathroom stop at a rest area, then went home!
These are amazing pictures and a fun narrative. You are so lucky to have a dad who gives you wonderful experiences. Thanks for sharing them. We love you.