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).