Number of Miles Driven: 305 (Day 13); 56 (Day 14) 

States Driven Through: Michigan (we crossed time zones in Porcupine Mtns)

Hours Driven: 4.5 hours (Day 13); 1.5 hours (Day 14)


We thought it was going to rain during the night, so we had packed up the camp the night before. However, we awoke to dry skies and the new forecast had rain coming around 10 am.

We let the kids sleep until about 7:45 and then we did a breakfast of eggs and bacon. We are steadily working our way through the food and are able to consolidate things– which is a nice feeling!

The mosquitos were AWFUL this morning. We were all in long-sleeves, had four citronella candles on the table, and had been using the weak bug repellent, but they were still all over us. We were constantly swatting them away as we ate and as we packed up the campsite. Par for the course, Andrew was extremely helpful with packing up the sleeping bags and sleeping pads. We had Carolyn do a little more this time, and Andrew patiently taught her the best way to roll the sleeping pads. Carolyn swept out the tents and Michael got them folded up. After Michael washed the dishes, I packed them up and then put away the clothes. Just as we were packing away the final things, it started raining – perfect timing!

Matthew helping by making PB sandwiches

Our next destination was Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Park, but we decided to stop at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore first because it was on the way and Andy had great things to say about it. He told us the best way to see the rock cliffs was from the water, but we didn’t see any options for renting kayaks – just taking guided tours which were fairly expensive. So, we decided to go to the overlook at Miner’s Castle. We were completely fogged in and couldn’t see anything (good thing we didn’t pay for a boat tour!).



There are cliffs behind us - isn't it a beautiful view!


You can barely make out the beach below the cliffs

Andrew always wanted to read the informational plaques


Driving through the lakeshore - very pretty, but very hazy

We did get to see some rocks


We continued on to Porcupine Mountains and ate lunch in the car. We had the kids catch up on their journal entries before they did tablet time because it was a 3 ½ hour drive. Carolyn rushed through hers but she gave sufficient details to earn tablet time. Andrew had some nice pencil drawings, and Matthew highlighted playing basketball at the Franks’ house as his favorite thing in Michigan.

The drive to Porcupine Mountains was rather desolate and we were surrounded by green forest on either side of us. As we got closer to the campground, we started driving alongside Lake Superior – it was beautiful. We checked in, and I was so disappointed to be reminded that we were changing campsites after our first night. I completely forgot that I had to book two different sites due to lack of availability, and we had been looking forward to not packing up a campsite after one night.  Our campsite was out in the open, not exactly level, and surrounded by other campsites; but we were right across from the playground and the kids always love the playgrounds.

After we set up camp, we headed to the Lake of the Clouds. It was a lake nestled into mountains and the vista was amazing. Andrew and Carolyn each took pictures of me and Michael overlooking the lake, and they decided to have a competition. We voted Andrew’s as the best picture because he had the best framing. There was hardly anyone there so it was peaceful and very enjoyable. We stopped by the park store on the way back to get ice – and they kids all wanted ice cream at the park store. They used their souvenir money for it and I also grabbed a “Porkies” sticker. They said it was the best ice cream ever and Michael said it was pretty good! Carolyn got a Blue Moon/Cotton Candy combo, Dani got Superman, and Andrew got Toasted Caramel Apple Crisp.

Lake of the Clouds

Carolyn's Picture

Andrew's picture

Andrew wants to take a panoramic picture for everything





Using Dad as a stool


Enjoying ice cream

Cornhole at the camp store


Taking a break from the playground to help make dinner

Our first campsite at Porcupine Mtns


When we got back to the campsite, we heated up chili for dinner and it was still good. Then the kids took off to the playground where they entertained themselves for 2.5 hours. There were a lot of kids there and they were all playing together – mostly playing memory tag. Meanwhile, Michael and I enjoyed a quiet campfire and had one of the beers we bought in Leland. The kids finally came back to the campsite around 9:30, so we did s’mores. We hung out by the fire telling stories because it was still daylight. The kids asked for a scary/horror story, so Michael told the history of vampires vs. werewolves. The kids weren’t satisfied with the scare-level of that story and asked for one like I told from camping last fall (Argyle Road ghost). Reluctant at first because he didn’t want Matthew and Dani to have nightmares, Michael decided to tell the haunted story of Abigail’s. The kids seemed to enjoy it – especially when he drew them in with a quiet voice and then startled them with a loud sound.

The sun set at 10 pm but it was still dusk until 10:30, and we called it a night shortly thereafter. We bundled up in sweatshirts because it was a cool night. Andrew even used the hood of his sleeping blanket and looked like a mummy, but we all slept comfortably.

*Oh, while we were at Lake of the Clouds, the campsite directly behind us had set up, and they had a large camper. They had backed it in only a foot away from our tents – and that was the entry side of our tents. It was a little frustrating, but the owner came over shortly after and apologized saying they had to position it to reach the outlet and he didn’t realize that side of our tents was our doors. We probably should have turned the entry a different way. Needless to say, it felt a little cramped.

Day 14 - Porcupine Mountains

We had a very leisurely morning. Michael got up around 7 and I rolled out of the tent around 7:45. The birds still woke me up at 6 am, but I easily fell back asleep. It was a cool morning (50 degrees), so we stayed in our sweatshirts.  Michael had already prepped the eggs and sausage for breakfast, so we enjoyed a quiet morning (hot chocolate for me, coffee for Michael) for a short period before the kids started waking up around 8:30.

After breakfast, the kids went back to the playground while Michael and I cleaned up. We “semi-packed” and got permission to go straight to other campsite since the previous people had already left. We kept the sleeping pads inflated and didn’t roll up the sleeping bags – made it go so much faster.

Our next campsite was the best in many ways and the worst in one way – we were directly on Lake Superior and it was breathtaking; but it was a rocky shore, and that spread into our campsite, so our tents were on rocks (thank goodness for sleeping pads).

Looking out over Lake Superior

Our second campsite at Porcupine Mountains overlooking Lake Superior 

The always helpful boy scout...notice the rocky pad

After we set up camp – again – we went to Presque Isle (about 30 miles away but still within the park - fun fact: Porcupine Mtns is the largest state park in Michigan). The hike at Presque Isle was approximately 1 mile and had several lookouts for waterfalls. We did a picnic lunch and ran into people who live in Orange Beach part-time. They have a daughter who went to Auburn and a son who was an LSU alum. Michael was wearing his Alabama shirt, so it created fun conversation.

The waterfalls were really pretty and we enjoyed the scenery.  The falls ran over shale rock that had been shaped into semi-circles by the falls. The walk was fairly easy but there were lots of steps to get to observation decks for the falls. We stepped out onto the shale rocks for one of the waterfalls and got a closer look.

The "porcupine" mountains







There was a suspension bridge that crossed the Presque Isle River and led to a rocky lakeshore area. On the lakeshore, several teepees had been made out of driftwood, and the kids immediately claimed them as headquarter. The girls pretended it was a house and they “cooked a meal”  using the rocks and the flowers they found.

View from the suspension bridge



Lake Superior







We were planning to visit Summit Peak – the highest point in the state park – but we realized we were low on gas. Our driving range was 30 miles and we were likely a good 15-20 miles from our campsite – and we hadn’t seen any gas stations anywhere near the state park. The Gas Buddy app suggested there was gas about 10 miles from where we were, but the name of the location was a hotel – that didn’t seem accurate to us. We tried to call the number to clarify if there was a gas station by them, but we had really poor service and the lady couldn’t understand me. We headed in that direction hopeful that Gas Buddy wouldn’t steer us wrong (and really having no other option). Sure enough, there was a single gas pump at the hotel – apparently, they mostly use the gas for snow mobiles in the winter – so we said a little thank you prayer! Unfortunately, it was premium gas at $5/gallon – but we had gas and Michael could breathe a sigh of relief.

Instead of backtracking to Summit Peak, we played Disc Golf (which was preferred by the kids) at the Winter Sports Complex. It was an 18-hole course, and we played the back-9 because those were the holes that went up and down the ski slopes so it was more picturesque. It also meant skinnier fairways and lots of trees surrounding them. Except for Michael, we’re all pretty bad disc golfers, so we were traipsing in the woods/brush quite frequently. Carolyn even lost her disc about halfway through – and that was after we all looked for 10-15 minutes. But everyone seemed to have fun and it was cool to be at the top of the ski slopes. Dani and I were on a team and she took over when we got close to the baskets. Every time she got it in, she sang "Oh yeah..I won! Oh yeah...I won!." I think technically Dani and I won (we didn’t include Michael in the scoring), but most of us reached our agreed upon 7-toss limit for every hole (I strongly disagree with them all being Par 3s – ha!).



On a ski slope overlooking Lake Superior

Dani's first time playing disc golf 


We got back to the campsite around 5:30 and had our final leftovers for dinner (bountiful soup for some; hamburgers for some). We did a really good job with our food and had no cold food remaining – we ran out of everything at exactly the right time. We had also worked our way through the pantry items and were just starting to run out of stuff like bread/chips at the right time. It felt good to start consolidating things and to not have to worry about keeping the ice chest stocked with ice. We also transferred all of our drinks to the ice chest which opened up room in the trailer.

We spent the evening on the lakeshore at our campsite. I read by the fire, we played Exploding Kittens, and the kids spent a significant amount of time building a “rock bridge” with two other boys who were camping across from us (T.J. and Lincoln). We had planned to do a peach cobbler but we forgot the butter -so we did one last night of s’mores

Relaxing by the campfire


The rock bridge - Andrew was the primary contributor

Exploding Kittens

Warming up by the fire



Last campfire

Building rock homes

Sunset on Lake Superior

The sunset (9:55) was gorgeous from our campsite and we watched it from the rocks. Because it was still dusk for a while and the fire was still going, we didn’t call it a night until close to 11. It was a little bittersweet knowing it was last night camping.