Number of Miles Driven: 317 (Day 15)

States Driven Through: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Hours Driven: 6.5 hours 

The rising sun (6 am) woke Michael up, so he got to see sun rise right behind out campsite. Me and the kids slept right through it and woke up closer to 7:15/7:30. Michael had organized the trailer the previous night, so we were in a good position to leave fairly quickly once we got the sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and tents put away. We did cereal for breakfast and headed out shortly after. I soaked in the lake/sunrise one more time before we hit the road. 

A little after sunrise, but still a nice way to wake up



Trying to soak in the surroundings one more time before we leave Michigan

We left around 9 am and hit the road for Rochester. We were behind an RV pulling an SUV with Minnesota tags, and it was going very slowly. We passed it with ease. However, we stopped shortly thereafter to get more reasonably priced gas and we got behind the same RV – so we passed it again. Right at the Wisconsin border there was a new road system, and we’ve been using the car’s gps to save our phone data, so we missed a turn due to an outdated map. We got back on track fairly quickly, but we found ourselves behind the same RV, so we passed it again. And, then, to top it off, we hit a detour about 15-20 minutes later, and we made a wrong turn. Got turned around fairly quickly, and we were behind the RV AGAIN. With how slow it drives, and with how quickly we’ve corrected our mistakes, we’re not sure how it keeps getting ahead of us. And it’s not just ahead of us – we find ourselves catching up to them. We thought it was funny – though somewhat frustrating. The RV people probably think we’re weirdos (or terrible drivers) with how many times we passed them only to keep getting behind them.

The drive was very pretty – rolling green hills with lots of silos. We weren’t on an interstate but we moved along as a quick clip and there wasn’t any traffic to worry about.

We stopped in Spooner for lunch and discovered Round Man Brewery. We ordered cheese curds and they were delicious – when in Wisconsin do as the Wisconsinites do. We all had great meals and Michael grabbed a couple of beers – Ha Spoona Colada. I even though it was pretty good because it had strong citrus overtones.

Finally, a new state! Wisconsin!


Our lunch stop - Round Man Brewing

Cheese curds! Delicious!

Spooner marked our halfway point, so we had 3 hours of driving left when we got back on the road. Everything went really smoothly – we played a round of Animal Trivia (Carolyn won!) and the kids played Exploding Kittens. We had them do their journals before they could do tablet – and they all wrote about their favorite UP memory. Matthew put disc golf but the others put thoughtful responses like "rocks."  

We arrived in Rochester around 4:00 and decided to do a quick stop in Trader Joe’s to help them run off some energy and to let them get Chocolate Cats – they’ve been going through withdrawal – especially Matthew. Next, we headed to Emily’s and got there shortly after 4:30, and she pulled up right as we were getting out of the van.

Exploding Kittens in the car

Arriving in Minnesota




First stop...Trader Joe's!

It was a little surreal to see her after so many years, but we made family introductions and things fell into place so smoothly! Her son, Rhys (10), immediately took our kids to the basement and he made them feel right at home as they promptly began bouncing on the air mattress that Gary had set up for our family.

We got to hang out with Gary for a bit before he left on a trip, and we mostly sat around just catching up for the evening (while we started the first of many loads of laundry!). We ordered pizza and just had a chill evening “chit-chatting” as my kids like to say.

On Saturday, we decided to continue to keep it low-key. The kids watched a movie downstairs until about 9:30 (which is about when Rhys woke up), and then we all got ready for the day. The kids played outside while we continued to catch up on laundry – it seriously took me over an hour just to sort through the clothes and get them put back in the right bins. Luckily Michael did ALL the folding while I just talked with Emily 😊 One highlight of the morning was taking a shower in their newly renovated basement bathroom – it was a two-shower head shower. It felt soooo good – especially since it was our first real shower since the hotel at St. Ignace.

Michael checked out a local brewery – the Little Thistle – and brought back a Key Lime Pie sour for me which was really good. We enjoyed it out on their back porch and soaked in the beautiful weather. We planned a Bama alum get together next summer in Omaha because Tess just moved to Ames, IA and Bridget Larson lives there, so it would be a fun meeting spot.

The kids entertained themselves for a solid two hours playing “Cops and Robbers” in the basement. The robbers had to sneak up the stairs and try to get to main level without the cop catching them. If they made it, then they got to eat a cherry for a “power-up.” We had bought a 3 lb container of cherries at Trader Joes, and the kids (mostly Andrew and Rhys) pounded through them playing that game! All the girls enjoyed playing with all the paw patrol toys as well.

Michael grilled burgers for dinner and then the kids had a final hurrah in the backyard – they had an awesome playset with turf– before it was time for bed. They had a huge Love Sac and a Sactional in their basement and they were so comfortable. We got three kids sleeping on the Sactional. Dani chose to sleep in the play tent with her sleeping bag. We are finally done with camping and she chooses to sleep in a tent (when there were other options available). I didn’t get it – haha!

We enjoyed one more evening with Emily – mostly talking about our favorite books – but then we called it a relatively early night because we were all so tired. It was the perfect way to spend the day because we all just needed a slower-paced chill day. 


Cheers to a great visit!