Fun with Family in the UP of MI

We wrapped up our Scout Camp workamping mid-August and readied for our next adventure.  We had a great time at the camp and will be coming back next summer to be their family camp hosts.

On a drizzly Thursday morning we packed up and said good-bye to our camp friends.  We pointed the RV northeast and began our trek to the UP of MI.  We had a 5 1/2 hour drive ahead of us across a section of NE WI that we have not traveled and were excited to see the scenery of the north woods near Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.  

We arrived at our destination of Indian Lake State Park in Manistique, MI mid-afternoon.  We had been to the park 5 years earlier with the same group for our annual family camping trip.  This year the group was a bit bigger and we had right around 30 people and about 10 sites booked in one section of the campground, which we all booked 6 months ago.  The greater Ciriacks clan was definitely taking over!

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Indian Lake is the fourth largest lake in the UP and is six miles long and 3 miles wide, but is only 18 ft deep at its deepest point.  That means that all along the shoreline, you can easily walk out into the lake for a bit.  It is a beautiful lake and made a fantastic backdrop for alot of wonderful sunset pictures

We were the first to arrive and got settled into our spacious site in the back row, up against the woods.  Because of our size, this was the best choice for us.  We still had a view of the lake, but our other family members would all either be on the middle row or with a front row with a beautiful lake view.  

Our beautiful view of Indian Lake

We would be staying 10 days with only electric hook up so we made sure to fill water to the brim and made ourselves familiar with where we could refill water, luckily across the road from our site and readied our lucy loo for dumping mid-stay.  The water option did not have a threaded fill spigot but no worries with our Water Bandit.  That thing has saved us several times and this trip was no different.

On Friday folks began arriving and over the next 3 days, the entire gang, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and one son arrived.  It was quite a motley crew from 3 different states.  We always have a great time together and picked up right where we left off!  We braved cold, windy nights and had some great nights around the campfire.  Even had a big, loveable lab to keep us warm! ​

Alot of games were played, like hand and foot card games, washer box tournaments and alot of shenanigans all around!  What happens in Indian Lake , stays in Indian Lake!

Washer Box Tournament!!

We also had a couple excursions in the U.P.  Some brave soles took a evening trek up to Lake Superior in search of the Yooperlites rocks.  Another day we went to check out the old water tower and historical museum in Manistique.  

What a beautiful water tower

There were some beautiful paintings on buildings in downtown Manistique as well as a beautiful marble living monument in the shape of the U.P.

Manistique also has a lovely boardwalk walking path along Lake Michigan and we spent a morning there admiring the lake and lighthouse.

One of our favorite things to see in the area is the Big Spring called Kitch-Iti-Kipi located in Palms Brook State Park.  This natural spring pumps 16,000 gallons of crystal clear water per minute.  The park is just the spring and a great gift shop with delicious ice cream.  But what it lacks in size it makes up for in awesomeness!  The spring is soo crystal clear that you can see the bottom, the spring bubbling below, the large trout that live in the spring and all of the wood that lies beneath.  The best part is that there is a large raft that you ride across the spring while someone turns the wheel to propel you across on a tethered rope.  The middle of the raft is open to view the fish and spring below.  There is no charge, except for state park admittance.  We really enjoy going there every time we are in the area.

Our big excursion of our stay in the U.P. was a day trip to Munising for a Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore cruise.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and probably the warmest day while we were there.  It is really hard to describe the beauty of the Pictured Rocks, but we were in awe at the beauty, changing color and uniqueness of the cliffs.  We hope to go back someday and check out all of the trails and overlooks to get a view from the land.  We'll let the pictures do the talking here.

Our time with family in the U.P. went by too quick!  We are looking forward to our get together next year!

Up next...on to our next workamping gig...umm, maybe...at least for a little while.  Stay tuned for that story!

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