After celebrating Sid’s 11th Birthday (for two full weeks, per his instructions!) we are back to continue the recap of our “Have Pug, Will Travel” road-trip from September. If you need to catch up with earlier installments, here’s Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

When we last left you, we had set up camp at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which is located on the east side of Michigan’s upper peninsula. In the lower falls area, you can row a little boat out to an island that is surround on all sides by several cascading waterfalls. We definitely weren’t going to pass this up!

After acquiring his sea legs, Sid enjoyed the easy rowboat ride to the island. On the island is a trail that winds around the perimeter so you can get right up close to each waterfall. I made a little video of some of the lovely sights that Sid and I observed.

The shots at the end of video are actually of the giant upper falls. With a drop of nearly 50 feet, it is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi.

I asked Sid if he wanted to try riding over the upper falls in a barrel, and this was his response:

There were quite a few sets of stairs around the upper falls that connected the various viewing locations, and even though I had to carry a 24-pound furball up and down each set, the views were totally worth it!

After a fun day of exploring the falls and some nearby trails, we hopped back into the car and headed south towards the lower peninsula of Michigan. My flat-faced navigator decided to switch to auto-pilot.

We soon approached the enormous suspension bridge, affectionately known as “Mighty Mac“, that connects both the upper and lower parts of Michigan. I was slightly terrified as we crossed, since the roadway is over 200 feet above the water at the midpoint! Eep!

Our next stop was Petoskey State Park, where we set up camp. The campground was fantastic, with lots of tree coverage, and a quick walk right to a lovely beach.

We parked our van, got settled in, lit a campfire, and had some dinner.

After we filled up our bellies, we headed to the beach as the sun was beginning to set.

There was a picture-perfect sunset over Lake Michigan that evening.

The moon was full and bright, making the conditions ideal for some dramatic pug posing.

After a good night’s sleep, we awoke the next morning and headed straight for the beach!

There were lots of smooth round rocks on beach. Sid insisted upon sniffing every one in the event that one of them was actually a disguised treat.

We had a great time exploring the beach and dipping our toes in the soft rolling waves. After we had our fill of sand, we went for a hike on one of the nearby trails: the “Old Baldy” trail. The woods were very beautiful, especially when the soft breeze would make all the leaves flutter.

I wished we could have stayed another day in Petoskey as the campground and beach were lovely. However we had to get back on the road and make way to our next stop: Traverse City and the Sleeping Bear Dunes! We’ll tell you all about it in Part 5!

We hope you have enjoyed hearing about our adventure around Lake Michigan. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them earlier.

Onward to Part 3!

So as we were sleeping that night in Munising, we awoke to the sound of pinging and plunking noises. They started getting more frequent and louder in volume. It sounded like a steel drum band was having a concert right on our campsite. When I peaked out the window, there was no steel drum band, but rather a HUGE thunderstorm coming in and millions of raindrops bouncing off the metal panels of our home. The wind and rain were fierce! In the morning, this is what our view looked like:

Luckily we stayed nice and dry inside our van, though the poor folks in tents did not fare so well. Most of the tents were flat on the ground and sitting in large pools of water.

Sid didn’t really mind since he just ate his breakfast in the car instead of outside. But little did he know he’d have to soon run out in the monsoon to do his business (He was not happy about this!).

The wind and rain did not abate so we decided to leave our campsite and hit the road towards the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We were hoping to do some more exploring there, and possibly a kayak trip to see the enormous striped cliffs along Lake Superior, but the weather was not cooperating. We were still able to drive to a few lookout spots to see some of the wonder of the lakeshore.

The rain eventually subsided, so we were able to explore a bit at the north-east end of the park. Here’s a shot of the lovely Sable Falls.

As we continued on, now back in the van, the pavement started getting very rough and then suddenly it just ENDED! I kept rechecking the map to make sure we weren’t lost, and sure enough I had missed a small detail that explained that the dashed line we were now riding on was an “improved” road which really dirt and/or gravel. Well, add some heavy rain to an “improved” road and you end up with mud. Lots of it!

We bounced and splashed along for many miles – not sure when, or if, we were ever going to see pavement again. I laughed out loud every time we made it through a huge puddle – it was pretty thrilling and the forest around us was really breathtaking.

I’m not sure how we survived but we did eventually reach pavement again. Our pristine white van was now a brown splattered mess. It was ok though because all the vehicles up there looked exactly the same way. Now we finally fit in!

When we arrived at our next campground, Sid didn’t want to emerge from his bed-cave – for fear of getting soaked or splattered with mud.

He eventually came out when he saw I was whipping up some food.

Our campsite at Tahquamenon State Park was really lovely and was right in the heart of the lower falls!

We’ll see you next time in Part 4, when we actually visit the falls up close and Sid rides in a boat!