PICTURED ROCKS

We both had a week off work and were planning on doing something fun, but then Kellen's vacation got cut short by 3 days. So we had to change our vacation to something short and close by. So we decided to check out the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a bit of a drive and we only had 4 days total, but with a good audiobook and a portable DVD player, it was actually rather nice. The weather was perfect, and the drive was absolutely beautiful the entire way.



The first day we went across Mackinac Bridge and drove over to Tahquanemon Falls.



Tahquanemon Falls


Then that night we ate at a nice "Australian" restaurant and went over to the beach by the dock that gives guided boat tours. We explored there for awhile and even saw a crawdad - too bad we didn't have a camera. The sunset was amazing!

The next day we did a gorgeous hike to Chapel Falls, Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach. It was 6 miles, and Shade actually hiked half of it by himself. We had brought a little stroller and the ground of the trail was hard enough that Shade had to do very little walking the second half.

Hike, Chapel Falls, Orange Mushrooms :)


Chapel Beach


Chapel Rock (the tree grew on top of the rock, the roots made their way to the soil via an arch that fell away), Climbing the Waterfall, Tiny Frog


That evening we took a boat cruise that takes you along the pictured rock cliffs. Those cliffs are amazing. The acids from the plants on top make some amazing colors. The captain of the boat told us that people named specific cliffs according to what they looked like and kept us informed of each one. It was a 3-hour boat ride and extremely gorgeous. Only problem was Kellen eventually got sea-sick from standing up to take pictures. Luckily, it didn't last long. That night we ended up having ice cream for dinner. Overall, it was awesome :)



The boat captian actually drove the boat right into this little cavern - we were close enough to the sides we probably could have touched the rock wall with our hands - unfortunately, Shade and I were on the top deck and Kellen was on the bottom deck with the camera being sick at the time. Then when the boat was backing up to leave, the captain said "I always wanted to try that..." :)


The third day we decided to just hike around the area and go to a beach and relax. We hiked to 3 nearby waterfalls and then took some time to do some miniature golf near the motel we were staying at. Then we got on our swimsuits and drove over to Miner's Castle beach. The water was still a bit cold, but Shade loved playing in the sand just as much, and Kellen and I ended up taking a little nap while he played. It was very relaxing! When we finally decided we had gotten enough sun, we drove over to see Miner's Castle rock cliff and then hiked to see Miner's falls. All of these were actually very close to the parking lots, so it was a much more low-key day.

Hike to various waterfalls


Mini Golf - I got a hole in one! Shade kept swinging like field hockey :)


Miner's Beach



Miner's Castle Cliff, Miner's Falls


The next day when we were packing up to leave, we ended up having a little visitor. Perhaps he smelled the peanuts, but he ended up jumping on the table and lamp before he finally left :)



We drove home that day, but made a quick stop by the beach under Mackinac Bridge to throw some rocks. We finished our audiobook and listened to scriptures on the way home. It was such a nice vacation! One thing that made it so fun was Shade's excitement to see and do everything. He kept telling us "this is the best vacation ever!"

Under the Bridge (yeah, we all touched the bridge!)