September 2010

September was a great month! My parents are in Marquette, Michigan for work and I got to go spend three weeks there with them and Justin got to come for the last week. Marquette is right on Lake Superior and it is beautiful there. We had so much fun exploring da UP!

My Mom took me on a hike that overlooked the lake so I could fully appreciate it. It feels more like an ocean than a lake!

I'm on a boat! We took a cruise to look at the Pictured Rocks National Park. It was so pretty but the day we chose to go was a little windy and there were pretty good size waves once we got out on the water. Luckily neither me or my Mom get motion sick but most of the rest of the boat did. I about jumped off the back of the boat when the lady next to me asked for one of the red biohazard vomit bags... luckily she just wanted it for a souvenir I guess.

When I got there the leaves were just starting to change. It was so cool to watch them turn colors and see what a real autumn looks like!

We drove down to the south side of the Upper Peninsula to go see Lake Michigan...

I jump Lake Michigan lighthouse!

After the Pictured Rocks tour we did some hiking in the park and then drove over to one of the beaches that we had seen from the boat on our tour. It was probably the prettiest beach I've ever been to! Clear blue water, soft sand... it was too bad the day we were were there was windy and cold but at least it made for some awesome waves!

There were also some really cool rocks at this beach... so colorful and tumbled smooth and perfectly round from the waves. We both had our pockets stuffed by the time we left!
I jump twelvemile beach!
Yes, that is a bear sitting in a lawn chair eating fruit loops off its stomach... how cool is that?! I really wanted to see some bears so we went to Oswald's Bear Ranch in Newberry, Michigan.
We hiked to as many waterfalls as we could (and there are a lot of them!). This is the largest, Taquamenon Falls. It is 200 feet across and drops 50 feet.

When Justin came we took a day trip to Mackinac Bridge. This bridge is FIVE miles long and connects the upper peninsula to lower Michigan. They forced me to drive across it even though I am afraid of bridges! It wouldn't have been so bad but the outside lanes were closed so I had to drive on the metal grating in the center that has nothing but the water below! Scary!
I jump Mackinac bridge!
Taking the ferry over to Mackinac Island. It is such a cool place... there are no cars allowed on the island so the only way to get around is walking, biking or horseback!
The Mystery Spot!!! Umm... not so mysterious but we had fun anyways! :)
Showing Justin around Marquette.
Hiking around Lake Superior. It is just incredibly beautiful there.

Laughing Whitefish Falls.
One day we decided to go biking around Grand Island. It was cold in the morning and my hands were freezing... after about 15 minutes we stopped and walked down to the beach and lying right on the beach were a pair of womens bike gloves! I was so happy! It made the day much better with warm fingers.
Grand Island was beautiful. There is only one ferry to and from the island everyday. We were running late so left without bringing any food with us. We thought there might be something there where we rented our bikes but there is nothing on the island! We biked until about one and then were too starving to do anything else so we took a nap on the beach for a couple hours!

This was on our last day. There is a cool little place right by Marquette called Presque Isle. My Mom had seen deer there a couple times driving around so we decided to go hiking back in there and see if we could see any deer. We hiked for awhile being super quiet but didn't see anything. We gave up and were playing around in this hollowed out tree and not being quiet at all and this deer walked right up to us! If you look carefully you can see it in the background of this picture. We followed it back in to the woods and it led us to about 8 or 9 deer that were just laying around. It was so cool! We watched them for awhile until they all took off and while we were standing around talking about what had just happened a Mom and baby deer walked out of the woods and right up to us! It was the coolest thing ever!
The Momma and baby deer.
Well that is just a taste of our trip to Michigan. We crammed a lot in thats for sure! Me and my Mom drove all over the UP and hiked and hiked and hiked. You know it was a successful trip when the last day you are so worn out you have to crawl to make it up the steps of the apartment!