Found It!

Woke up and it's still cloudy. Even though this seems like vacation we still have to do household maintenance stuff like pay bills. So we hung out this morning and while Ken took care of the bills I did the planning for routes through North & South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Finally the sun came out and turned into a beautiful day but still very windy. We decided to go back to Sand Point Beach area and take the Marsh Trail we started yesterday. The trail was all boardwalk and had interpretive signs about the trees, flowers, and animals. There was a pond where the beavers had built two large houses and lots of ducks. After the trail we had just enough time to get back to the boat dock for our 5PM cruise to Pictured Rocks. This is a 3 hour tour (not like Gilligans..).

Wow what an incredible place! The Lakeshore offers towering multicolored sandstone cliffs, miles long sparkling beach strands, and dashing waterfalls. Our 37 mile adventure took us out into the crystal clear blue green waters of Lake Superior and past masterpieces of colors and rock formations found nowhere else in the world. It was amazing to be able to see these incredible formations up close as they cannot be seen from land. Now I will add that it is COLD and we now have on our winter jackets as you will see in the photo. However, the sun is warm. Sitting on the back of the boat (no indoor cabin for us....brrr) we met some really nice folks. One couple from New Jersey was celebrating their 25th anniversary. As you pass the various rock formations the captain provided history with legend and lore thrown in. We passed Spray Falls, Colored Walls (made from different minerals seeping through the limestone), Miners Castle, Rainbow Cave, and us. It is incredible to think the rock formations are all natural due to water, ice, and wind. The cruise was well worth it and the scenery breathtaking.

We forget what time it is here as it stays light for so long. We grabbed dinner at the local Thai restaurant and then headed for camp. It was time to get some shut eye, but when we looked out the front coach window the sky was a brilliant red! What an unbelieveable sunset at 10:30PM!

Yes we found it. Awesome natural beauty, kind people like the lady who helped Ken print some forms in the coffee shop and refused to charge us, and the restaurant that didn't close at 9pm because we walked through the door. It's not big, you can't buy it, and we couldn't take it with us. The nice thing is it will be there the next time we travel through.

Did you find it yet?

Left Paradise this morning and headed for Munising, Michigan moving toward the center of the UP. We took Rte 123 to Rte 28W. This is a nice ride but the scenery is very much the same as it has been mostly trees and doesn't run along the lakeshore. We saw a couple of Sandhill Cranes walking down the railroad tracks. Arrived in Munising and found the Munising Tourist Park at about 2:30pm. This is a city park on Rte 28 and is right on Lake Superior. This is a nice little park and the first city park we've stayed in. It is still very cold and windy.

We went into Munising to check out the town and stopped at the visitor center to find out what there was to do. They asked us if "We had found it yet"? We didn't know what "it" was so we said not yet. The lady said don't worry - Some find it on the big lake. Others come across it deep in the northern forest. Still others don't find it until they turn that last bend in the river. It's there, and you will find it! We learned there were some 15 different waterfalls and a 42 mile stretch of shore along Lake Superior called Pictured Rocks Lakeshore and alot of beautiful vistas. We made a reservation for tomorrow to take the boat cruise along Pictured Rocks.

After making our reservation we drove to Munising Falls. A short trail leads up the cool shaded sandstone canyon along Munising Creek to the falls. Nice little waterfall, two sets of stairs lead to elevated platforms enabling view of the 50 foot waterfalls which drops over a sandstone cliff.
Very different from those we saw in Tahquamenon. Back in the car we decided to see what was further down the road. We came around the corner to see this spectacular white sand beach with vistas of the Lake Superior shoreline. Even though the lake was winter grey with white caps it was pretty. Across the road was the Sand Point Marsh Trail. We decided to walk the .5 mile boardwalk trail . We started up the trail when the thunderstorm hit.... back to the car fast! We sat in the car and watched the waves and lightning on the lake and then decided to head back to camp. On the way back we found a place to rent movies so we got one for the night.

Back at camp we cooked pizza for the 1st time in our convection oven..it came out pretty good. This is always a learning experience as it is totally different from cooking at home. We settled in for the night... guess we haven't found it yet.... but there is tomorrow!