Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Upper Peninsula Adventure 1

TaGeez and I are in the UP on an adventure! We LOVE the Michigan State Park caches, and we needed some personal time away. We drove up to Mackinaw City (where we grabbed our first park cache) and then targeted caches from St Ignace to Ironwood on our first full day!

MSPGT2-NL: Straits State Harbor GCAPW4B

Surprise! Surprise! This cache is a half mile from our motel. Lovely walk out here as the sun was setting. Steve, me, and a million bugs! At least it was a quick find!

And then off to downtown for Joanne's Fudge! YUM! It's so quiet on a Thursday night and end of season. The views of the bridge were enchanting. That's the only word for it.

MSPGT2-UP: Hog Island SFCG GCAPW36

After a restful night, we crossed over the Mighty Mac while it was still dark - so cool and no traffic! What a lovely drive to this first cache. 

The fog was both surreal and scary - we were affected by it several times today. However, things cleared as we approached the cache, and we enjoyed taking pictures on the beach afterwards.

Hog cache!

Tracker is loving the beach!

Bay Furnace Ruins Virtual (GCAPW34)

Next, we headed northwest to Miss Good Stitch Quilt shop in Munising - she was quite the character with many great custom printed panels. Look at this one we picked up!

We wanted a cache to mark this detour when we spied this virtual.

This is my favorite type of virtual! Fascinating history! Abandoned structure! Lost town! Amazing bay view! Most definitely a ❤️ Fave point here!

MSPGT2-UP: Cedar River North SFCG GCAPW34

After stopping at another quilt shop in Escanaba, we made our way along the coast to this cache. The sky and water along Lake Michigan are an amazing blue, and the temps are perfect!

It probably took us longer to drive into the park than to find the cache. Now we are heading north towards Ironwood.

Artois (GC31YTW)

After grabbing 2 state park caches in the southern half of the UP, we turned towards Ironwood with a stop at Jerri’s Quilt Shop near Norway. (Great shop, by the way! Amazing fabric bundles at great prices). 

We left the shop and headed North, but it wasn’t long before we were screeching to a halt!

A ROADSIDE ARTESIAN WELL!

Love them! And, surprisingly, we had actually packed a thermometer! It was fun watching Steve balancing on the wet rock for a reading! The older couple filling their bottles must’ve thought we lost our minds! 

We both took a taste, and then we posed for pics!

Fave point for a fun experience! ❤️ This has been a great drive around the U.P., and I feel so much at peace even if we are listening to a murder mystery audio along these country roads!

Bond Falls Boardwalk (GCAWQJX)

Midway through our trip - we left the artesian well in Norway and enjoyed lunch at Carlos Cantina in Iron Mountain (that was a nice surprise!). We posed for pictures at the Welcome to Wisconsin sign and continued onto Ironwood when we realized how close to Bond Falls we were! 

My favorite waterfall in Michigan! Detour!

We had a lovely time exploring. This time of year and time of day, it was really quiet, and we practically had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed this cache and tried to enjoy the park as long as we could.

MSPGT2-UP: Iron Belle Trail GCAPW38

Ironwood is our last stop of the day. We thought we got here early enough before sunset, but the incoming storm darkened the skies earlier than expected.  Luckily, this was a quick find located between parallel trails.

Funny thing is, earlier this week I had posted on FB the announcement that the Iron Belle Trail finally reached Belle Isle (which is practically at my front door!) 2,000 miles completed!

World's Largest Stormy Kromer Hat (GC5AA9V)

I’m glad to finally make it here. I love giant roadside objects (I had WAY too much fun in Casey, IL last year!). Plus, I bought TaGeez a Stormy Kromer hat last year! 

World's Largest Calumet (GCB5F6)

Calumet = Peace Pipe

This is our last stop for the day. I’ve wanted this Virtual for years, but Ironwood isn’t exactly convenient from Detroit. We didn't linger - the storm is coming. One more roadside attraction off our list!

Tomorrow is another day of adventure from Ironwood to Marquette!

Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Labor Day Adventure

It’s Labor Day weekend, and TaGeez & I decided to spend it walking around d the state parks as part of the Michigan State Parks GeoTour. The sun is out, but there is a hint of Autumn in the air - perfect time to head west! 

MSPGT2-SL: Hayes State Park GCAPW4N

First park of the day, and we practically had it to ourselves. We parked at the suggested parking spot and then passed several closer ones on the way to the cache. Luckily, we were hoping for a walk. Very cute container at GZ.

MSPGT2-SL: Warren Dunes State Park GCAPW5C

We decided to go for this one as it’s quite the lovely drive to get to. 

We had intended to stop and have a picnic here, but the mosquitoes were horrendous on this trail, so we went for the nearby Tapa Taco in Union Pier instead.

MSPGT2-SL: Kal Haven Trail State Park GCAPW4W

Ah, we love the state park series, but we question why, with all the beautiful parks in our state, you would pick this 4-mile round trip featureless trek in middle Michigan? At least there were a few challenge caches along the way to keep things interesting, though.

Nice container in the end, though.

MSPGT2-SL: Fort Custer Recreation Area GCAPW4K

❤️FAVORITE CACHE OF THE DAY!!!❤️

We were worried that we were not going to be able to complete this. The sun was setting by the time we rolled in, and we didn’t know if we would be able to see the animals. No problem here! 

Open the hunting locker...

Use the sight to find the four animals...

Using the supplied chart, determine the lock on the smaller container.

Some animals were easier to find than others!

❤️ Fave point for being the most fun we had today! This series has so much creativity!

Next up? The UP!