Back up to the UP

Balcony of pastie restaurant in Epouffette every town had a pastie place

Naomi at our private beach in Lake Michigan 

A piece of the Mackinac Bridge grating in our lobby

Brown trout in the Big Spring   55,000 gallons a minute come through several openings which we could see in the bottom. Water is a constant 45 degrees but the several species of trout, some 6 feet long, don’t mind Water very clear and 40 to 50 feet deep

Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior 

Sunrise on the Manistique Boardwalk that was 2 miles long. I ran both mornings there you can see the sun and the moon here

Kayakers at Pictured Rocks

Staircase down to the Tahquamonen River

View from our balcony Straight ahead was the private beach    The place also had a hot tub which we spent some time in

Naomi and me at the lighthouse 

Log at sunset 

At our breakfast place 

Brink of Tahquamenon Falls. Brown color is from all the wood tannins

Cute little wine and beer tasting place on an island in the Manistique River

Our boat going through a narrow passage

We take a self propelled raft across the big spring and could look down over the edge or over the side

The Mackinac Bridge from the UP

The water was so pretty 

Staircase at Tahquamenon Falls 

Lobby decorations lots of gray wolves 

The Mackinac bridge from Mackinaw City. This is Lake Huron 

Naomi and the Big Spring 

Manistique water tower  A bit more ornate than the stone one in Ypsilanti 

 Naomi selfie at Lake Michigan

Maya was gone and Naomi had a break between semesters. Time for a mini vacation up north. She had never been north of Mackinaw City. We had perfect weather and stayed on the Lake Michigan shore in an old lumber town Manistique   I brought beer and drinks to keep in the motel refrigerator to have on the beach and on our balcony 

We spent the first day exploring the small town and lounging on the beach. The water was quite warm. I knew that we were going to several state parks. In Michigan if you pay $10 while registering the cars, all state parks are free versus $17 a visit (though out of staters just pay $10)

We took her car. I made sure she had the little P on her tag indicating she paid. I saw the P but failed to notice that the tag said MAR 22. Unfortunately at the Big Spring state park, the gate keeper noticed. Unless the paper registration had something about her paying we would have to pay full price. Well even though she thought she had the registration it turns out she forgot to register the car which is a misdemeanor if caught. Furthermore we thought we would need proof of insurance which also was missing in action. Complicating everything unless you are in town, no cell service for most of the UP  and Steve was not picking up the phone. Also these small towns have limited Secretary of State hours. We had driven to Munising on Lake Superior for our Pictured Rocks tour. Not the day the local Secretary of State was open 

After the boat tour, which was great, we had to hurry back to Manistique before the Secretary of State office closed with the proof of insurance that Steve with lots of effort got. The Secretary of State was a single room in an old school house with 2 chairs in the hallway for waiting. No one was there and she got the car registered in a minute. Didn’t need the insurance proof as it was in the system. A sharp contrast to the ordeal back home is. I waited 3 hours to get my special star on my license 3 years ago

The next day we headed east and then North to the Tahquamenon Falls park. beautiful 

On to Paradise for coffee and a snack and relaxing on Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior then a hour having lunch in Mackinac City, a veggie pastie 

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