Lakefront Property? Our First

Grand Marais, MI   Woodland RV Park.  High: 64.  Low: 55. Site: 10, back in, lake front view   AT&T cell service excellent

We booked this park in May, having never seen it before, but it had good reviews. We've had to book VERY far ahead for both private and membership Thousand Trails parks because of all the people out on the roads now, many newbies and the already seasoned travelers out in full force. So far, we have been doing pretty well with our reservations. It's not easy picking out campgrounds and making travel plans that far in advance but Eldo does a whiz bang job of it. He uses RV Parky, the app, and also Trip Wizard to figure out how far from one destination to the next and spends a LOT of time working out all the details. (Sparky is too ADD to do the research, unless it's a craft project, haha.)

So here we are in the Woodland RV Park in Grand Marais. It's a city owned park, it's beautiful, AND we scored a lakefront site with a terrific view of Lake Superior!

Grand Marais is a VERY small town that has been hit hard by the fallout from Covid. There is a very small grocery store in town (which is excellent for its size) and a couple of small taverns and that's about it. We ate a simple meal at the Dunes Saloon, the Lake Superior Brewing Company. It was just ok, (Just ok? asks E. Yep, just ok.) But it had a cool vibe inside. Check out that ceiling just above the sign!

No restaurants that serve breakfast, one of our favorite things to do on a Sunday, but Sparky has discovered a couple of food trucks that have breakfast burritos, so she's ok with that! No hiking or biking trails, but hey--there's Lake Superior and the beach right outside your front door. Gotta love walking the beach here with these cool structures people have built out of the existing driftwood.

The beach is VERY rocky right at the park's front edge. It's not easy to walk the beach. The sand shifts constantly...it's loose, not packed. If you are a rock hound, THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE! People assume the rockhound stance, and can be found zealously searching for Petosky stones and agates all along the water's edge. Sparky saw a lot of butts and buckets today, haha. Too hard for her aching back. Besides, she wouldn't have a clue what to look for, other than a "pretty rock" souvenir. (Whew! We absolutely do NOT need any more weight in the rig! says a relieved Eldo.)

BUT--Sparky could become a rock hound easily if she had more time to learn about it. (Uh-oh! Sparky, we have a weight limit in the rig, and we are already exceeding it due to--your crafts supplies? warns E.) Geesh, she was only thinking about it....haha.

Sparky went to a rock hound show next door this weekend, and it was really interesting. To the novice, it just looks like a bunch of rocks. Can you really tell the difference between a 2.00 rock and a 3.00 rock? A rockhound aficionado can!

Sparky learned that this is an Omar...a rock with an indentation made from another rock which was previously embedded in it. A vendor gave her a little souvenir of one from the show for free!

It was very interesting to see all the different locations around the world and variations of agates and rocks that had been collected at the show. There was something called a pudding rock, vendors were describing how the rocks were formed and the differences between them. It was just a completely foreign world to Sparky! She just can't get her head wrapped around paying 3.00 on up for rocks that you can find at the beach up here in the U.P.! They ARE beautiful in the water when they are wet.

The birches and/or aspens that had fallen into the sand and water were still beautiful.....

People love to stack rocks and make fake cairns....Cairns are supposed to be indicators or landmarks on a hiking trail, but at the beach, people are just enjoying the childlike side of themselves by stacking rocks. 

Here's another one....

And here is some of Mother Nature's artwork.....

This is part of the shoreline...VERY unstable walking and many more rocks than what is shown here, but there is a nice beach with a lot more sand down the road just a bit.

Here is a better view of all the rocks....

Even if you dig a tunnel down into the sand, the rocks are still there!

Watch out for sharks! NOT!

We really enjoyed our short stay here in Grand Marais....We hope to come back again some day...the temps were Sparky's idea of terrific! Sixties during the day, fifties at night...She is in 7th heaven.....Bye for now!

Grand Marais, MI

On the way to Grand Marais

We thought we'd go exploring by car today..Eldy's feet hurt and my feet hurt from yesterday's 6 mile hike, so we thought we'd just be tourists today...off to see the town of Grand Marais right on Lake Superior, and a one hour beautiful scenic drive from Munising. The trees are maxing out their colors right now. On the way out of Munising, we thought we would check out Horseshoe Falls, a 50 ft. drop falls located within two blocks of downtown Munising. It wasn't listed in the brochure for waterfalls we picked up, and there's a good reason for that. The falls is located behind a fenced in park, and they charge 5.00 for you to see it. There are some giant trout in the park somewhere, but for 5.00 a person, our interest  just wasn't piqued enough to pay when there are many other falls to see for free. On to  Grand Marais....

Eldy at Lake Superior

Sable Falls at Grand Marais

Pickle Barrel Museum

There didn't seem to be much going on in town due to late fall and a cold, cold, windy day...I almost said winter day!--it seemed like that with the dark clouds passing overhead and the rough waves..wind chill factor had to be in the 40's....but we accidentally stumbled on more of the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore and the beautiful Sable Falls. From the parking lot in the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore park the walk to the falls was about 500 feet.  WOW! Awesome waterfalls! We then followed the waterfalls descent down to Lake Superior on a very well constructed series of viewing platforms and stairwells. Easy going down, LOTS of steps coming back up..that got the ole hearts a-pumpin!  Lake Superior was wild and wooly today...high waves crashing on the shore, there are some sand dunes right next to the waterfall's exit, but we didn't explore them today. We looked around Grand Marais a bit. The historical landmark that was shaped like a pickle barrel caught our eye, and it was appropriately named the Pickle Barrel Museum. Someone famous built it for his wife, a children's author, many years ago, and they actually spent quite a few summers living in it. It's not in its original location, and has been restored but it still looked very cool. We would have loved to see the inside of it, but it wasn't open.

We're trying to decide where to go next...it's going to be very cold in the U.P. this weekend, which is not a problem for us, but cold coupled with wind and rain really curtails our love of outdoor activities. So we're thinking of moving towards the lower part of Michigan Friday and through next Tuesday to head back to Grand Rapids. Our toilet now leaks, the bathroom cabinet lights appear to maybe have a short in them, so the list of repairs is growing! Darn it!