Number of Miles Driven: 81 (to the ferry and back)
States Driven Through: Michigan (in the UP...aka Up North)
Hours Driven: 1.5 - 2 hours
After an enjoyable and much-needed slow start, we hit the
road for Tahquamenon Falls State Park (Tuh-kwah-meh-non) (rhymes with
phenomenon) around 10:30 am. We arrived at the campground around noon, but we
couldn’t check in; so, we unhitched the trailer and drove to the Upper Falls.
The Upper Falls has the second largest volume of water east of the Mississippi
(behind Niagara Falls). We had our picnic lunch and then walked to the falls. They
were beautiful and the “hike” to get to them wasn’t bad.
The Upper Falls |
We’ve had pretty good behavior since our “tent talk,” but today the kids seemed to be particularly annoying to one another which led to bickering (which annoyed us – ha!). I pulled Carolyn aside for a one-on-one first (because she was the most vocal about her displeasure) while the rest of the family walked to another viewpoint of the falls, but the whole point of my talk was hitting a brick wall. She was anxious to get out of the conversation, but we just sat there in silence until her glares and sighs subsided. Finally, she asked very nicely “Can we please go see the falls?” to which I said “Sure!” She told me the reason she was yelling at Matthew is because he was annoying her, so my next talk was with him. It went similarly but he didn’t glare or huff as many times. Finally, Dani hit Matthew as we headed back to our car, so I hit the trifecta when I had my talk with her. Andrew probably needed a “tent talk” refresher too, but he seemed to get the point by watching others’ talks. 😊
We hit the souvenir stores on the way out and everybody got
something. Michael and I got t-shirts. I decided to start a sticker collection
– I’ll probably put them on my water bottle, so I got an “Up North” sticker. Dani
got a stuffed triceratops (she named it Tie-Dye), Matthew got a pocketknife
with “Matt” engraved on it. Carolyn and Andrew each got magnetic stones.
There was a brewery (Tahquamenon Falls Brewing) right next
door, but their beers weren’t good, so we passed on that opportunity.
After the Upper Falls viewing and the souvenir shopping, it
was 3:30, so we headed to our campsite. The campsite was woodsy and fairly
private. We also had trees and Michael was finally able to hang his hammock.
The main downside to this campsite were all the mosquitos – they were constant!
We ran out of our bug spray with a higher concentration of DEET, so the one we
had wasn’t as effective, but it was better than nothing. After setting up the
campsite, the kids just wanted to hang out – they played in the woods and the
hammock. I read my book.
Practicing whittling with his new knife |
Finally had a good spot for a hammock |
Helping set up the tent |
We had chicken nachos for dinner. We’ve been putting off
that dinner because we were making them in foil packets, so it would have been
helpful to have a grate over the fireplace; but all of Michigan’s state parks
have the exact same fire pit and they don’t have grates on top. We used the Coleman stove and that worked
sufficiently but the chicken taco mix sticks really easily to the cast iron and
is hard to clean up.
After dinner, I worked on a blog entry while the kids
planned a wedding for their stuffies/dogs. They (mostly Carolyn) were planning
out all the details – dress, bouquet, music, food (Chick-fil-A) – it was very
cute to watch.
To enjoy the beautiful evening and help the kids run off
some energy, we hiked the .75 mile trek to the Lower Falls from our campsite at
around 7 pm. Initially the kids were anti-hike, but we let them take their
walkie-talkies and suddenly it was the best thing ever because they were
allowed to run ahead of us. Carolyn immediately came up with our “codes” – Code
Yellow was someone was hurt, Code Red was someone was lost, and Code Green was
everything was fine.
It was a scenic hike surrounded by woods that ran along a
stream and the destination was well worth it. The Lower Falls were not as “grand”
as the Upper Falls, but they were great in their own respect. It was a series
of five smaller falls that cascaded over plateaus of rocks. The best part was
that we could walk out to the lower falls – which the kids loved. We even had
to walk an extra half mile to get to the side of the falls where we could get
in – but the kids eagerly agreed. All of them were brave enough to tackle the
larger rapids that were at the foot of the falls. Dani was holding Michael’s
hand, which was good because she definitely lost her footing and got “swept
away.” The largest section of the waterfalls was accessible, but none of us had
on swimsuits and it got deeper as you got closer to that section of the
waterfalls. What started out as a forced walk for the kids, turned into a fun
adventure.
Hike to the Lower Falls |
Dani fell down, so they called a Code Yellow and Andrew went "running to save her" |
One part of the Lower Falls |
Another section of the Lower Falls (the part we walked in - see below) |
Matthew, Michael, and Dani walking out in the "rapids" |
Dani almost getting swept away |
As we started to head back, Carolyn and Matthew (and we
thought Dani) ran ahead. The next thing we know, Matthew calls a “Code Red” and
says Danielle is missing. She wasn’t with me, Michael, and Andrew, so we all
started looking for her. Andrew sprinted down one of the side paths without
even being asked to, and Michael and I ran back toward the falls. We didn’t see
her, but as tracked back further, we heard her crying. Turns out she had gone
the wrong way down the path and was going the opposite direction of everyone.
She was only missing for maybe a minute, but I guess that Code system came in
handy after all.
Dani wasn’t the only one to get lost on the way back. Andrew
and I were walking toward the back of the pack, and I stopped with him to take
pictures of the scenery. Soon enough, we couldn’t even see everyone else, so we
started jogging to catch up. We accidently passed our trail back to the
campsite and kept running down the boardwalk – I didn’t remember it being such
a long walk along the board walk, but I was sure I would have seen the trail
head for our campsite, so we kept running. When we finally made it to a parking
lot, we knew we had gone too far. Turns out, we probably went a half-mile out
of our way, so we turned around and kept running back. Andrew wasn’t even
winded as he sprinted up the hills of the trails (I didn’t realize it was all
downhill to get to the falls – haha!). We finally made it back to camp – about
15 minutes after everyone. I was a sweaty mess, so I took a shower while
everyone else hung out by the campfire.
My "scenery" pictures that distracted me |
The boardwalk to the falls |
For those interested in Andrew’s fudge challenge – Michael
didn’t allow him to eat the whole pound at once, because he’s the one sharing a
tent with him and he didn’t want him to puke everywhere in the tent. That
seemed reasonable, so even though Andrew was discouraged he couldn’t do it, we
promised him he could have a whole pound of fudge – just not in one sitting.
While eating fudge and s’mores around the campfire, Andrew regaled us with “fun
food facts” and “weird stories.” He told us of a boy who ate a whole tree with
thousand island dressing so he could win a monetary prize. He also correctly
informed us that the word “toast” comes from the early Roman act of putting
burnt toast in a glass of wine to give it
more flavor (and to soften hardened bread).
Campsite at Tahquamenon Falls |
Matthew telling stories |
Andrew - the orator and educator |
It was a fun night and everyone passed out as soon as they
got in their tents (around 10:30).
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