Dino the wonder dog goes on vacation.

Two years ago was the first and only time that we took Dino camping. He did very well and had a great time. Obviously. Coz as we were packing to go camping this time, he didn't want to get left behind. 

 His favorite thing is swimming in Lake Superior. He will fetch a stick thrown in the water forever. We worry that the stupid dog is going to have a heart attack though, coz he doesn't know when to quit. 

 It does take him a little while to settle down in the truck, though. Most of the way up to Michigan he drove us nuts, bouncing around. By the second day he had figured it out though. Time in the vehicle is just time to go from one fun thing to another. 

In an attempt to settle Dino down on the long drive to the State Park, Himey bought him a rawhide bone. Dino had no intentions of chewing it until it softened up a bit. So as soon as we got settled into our campsite, he buried it under some leaves at the each of the woods. Every day he would bring it out and nudge it around, seeing if it was soft yet. 

As we were packing up the camper and the campsite on Thursday morning, getting ready for the sad trip home, he dragged out the rawhide bone. He set it at my feet, as if to say, "Don't forget to pack my stuff too."

The day after we got home, he finally started chewing on the bone. He's such a goof. 

"Go Fly a Kite"

Sunday morning, my husband, the dog and I piled into the Blazer, towing the pop-up camper, and drove to Mclain State Park in Michigan’s UP. I just love it up there, and I know I have blogged about it before so I will try to stay focused on the story at hand.

Every morning when we are up there, we drive to a little township park a few miles up the road from where we are camped so that Dino can frolic in Lake Superior and I can hunt for pretty rocks. The hubby usually is along for the ride or the walk as it turns out.

Our first morning there this year, as Dino and I were on a mission on the beach – one of us to find rocks and the other to just plain play in the water – the hubby found a discarded kite in the sand. By the time I had walked far enough up the beach to have filled my pockets so full of rocks that my thighs looked like chipmunk cheeks, he had the kite aloft and was having a great time.

This is a talent I do not possess; I cannot get a kite airborne. Hubby, though, has never had a problem flying a kite. And I will never win an argument with him by ending it with “go fly a kite” because he would gladly go outside and do it.  

Even Dino the wonder dog thinks that Daddy is talented. 

Going Home

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Last day in Michigan’s UP and last night Himey and I both slept like rocks. Finally. Even Dino the Wonderdog slept in this morning.

By nine, though, we were taking down the pop-up camper and had everything packed and ready to go by ten. Our only stop on the way home was a roadside park north of Bruce Crossing.

It was the perfect vacation for me. And Himey was hooked. Oh, and the cost? $266.75. Sure can’t beat that.

Six months later I made campground reservations at McLain State Park for this past July. As it turned out, Himey got a new job the first of June and wasn’t able to get time off work. I waited until the last minute to cancel the reservations; I just didn’t want to give up the dream of another idyllic vacation on Lake Superior. The day I made that call, I stumbled upon the annual Rhinelander School of the Arts, which is a week’s worth of workshops on writing, painting and other creative ventures. I had always thought about signing up for it and this year it just so happened I was on vacation that week with nowhere else to go. Hmm? A sign from God?

Camping, finally

Monday, July 26, 2010

I had had a migraine Saturday, my back went out on Sunday, and then I found my beloved Bam-Bam dead by the doghouse on Sunday afternoon. As we were getting ready Monday morning for our camping trip, I had a sudden premonition that those were all signs that we shouldn’t go, that something even worse would happen.

Then I remembered how much Lake Superior meant to me, how I swear its water runs right through my veins. If ever there were a place on this earth for me to feel at rest, it is Gitchee-Gumee.

As it turned out, we arrived at McLain State Park in Michigan’s UP by mid-afternoon and put the camper up without incident.

It was Dino’s first camping trip, but he again proved himself to be the Wonder Dog. He barked a few times until he got the lay of the land, but settled down as soon as he realized that this was his yard now.

Once our home away from home was set up, we headed back into town to buy the things we forgot, an extension cord and a fan. Himey was ready for the camping experience, but decided quickly that as long as we had electricity, we might as well have a fan. But we couldn’t get electricity until we got a long enough extension cord.

After dinner of hot dogs and mac-n-cheese, we took a walk around the campground. Of course, it is all beach along the Lake, so no dogs allowed. Dino didn’t feel bad about that though, instead he just pooped along the road next to someone else’s campsite. Good thing I had brought along the plastic bags.

Dreaming of my Dream Vacation

Summer Vacation 2010

I had wanted to go camping in the pop-up trailer for a very long time, and I finally convinced Himey to give it a try. He has been more than willing but I kept hesitating, just not picturing it happening and not wanting to get my hopes up. In the spring of 2010 when we started talking about where to go on vacation, the biggest stumbling block was the cost. No matter where we went, with the price of gas, hotels and meals, we would be looking at a thousand dollars for a week.

When I figured the cost of a camping trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it came up at around $300. If we took the dog with, instead of boarding him out, that would save money too. So I started making plans.

I’d always wanted to stay at McLain State Park up past Houghton, and thought it would be friendly towards Himey as they have electricity at all the sites and hot showers. I’d stayed there a lot when I was a kid (which you know if you have been reading my blog from the beginning). Himey really liked the UP when we were there the year before and wanted to go back. It seemed as though it was all falling into place. I was finally going to get my dream vacation – camping in the UP. Or was I?

You’ll have to check back on Wednesday to see how it turned out. Also, this is the last back-log trip I will be writing about. The countdown is on - two more weeks and I am totally revamping my blog! Stay tuned.

Water, waterfalls, and a jar of jam

August 17, 2009

From our hotel under the lift bridge in Hancock, Michigan, we took Hwy 41 to 203, which snakes along Portage Lake to McLain State Park.

We spent a lot of time wandering the beach, walking around the many picnic areas and recreation areas, drove through the campground. I think I convinced Himey that we need to try camping here next year. They have running water, electricity and hot showers, for Pete’s sake. It’s just like being at home only with fantastic views of Lake Superior. They even have mini-cabins for rent if the camping thing is too traumatic.

After McLain our next stop was the Calumet Township Park. Again, it was right on Lake Superior, had a beautiful beach, some sand and some rocks to pick. I almost lost my sandals in the water when I had to go wading in to rinse off some rocks. Himey was waiting for me to fall in.

The weather is beautiful, a little warm inland in the sun, but on the Lake, there was a little breeze keeping it comfortable. Not a cloud in the sky.

After getting gas in Calumet, we next pulled over at Eagle River Falls. The falls is over an old abandoned dam and really pretty. This is one of the few places that I have a picture of from when I was a kid. That picture turned out really well, the water was higher than. The neat thing about the falls in Eagle River is that you can practically see it from your car; nice for people who can’t hike some rabbit path through the woods, but not a good thing for me, because I like to explore.

Jacobs Falls was twenty minutes later. Again, you can see it from your car, and I mean right from your car, because the falls is twenty feet from Hwy 26 and then the stream goes under the road. There really isn’t a good place to park right there, but just a hundred feet or so down the road there is a parking lot for Jampot, the gift shop of the monks of the Society of St. John. I don’t remember it being here before, but their newsletter says that they have been there for 25 years. I will have to study my notes from previous trips and see if I mention it at all. We naturally had to buy goodies from the monks.

The Lake Superior shoreline at McLain State Park

Eagle River Falls in lovely downtown Eagle River, Michigan

Jacob Falls, just down the road from the Jampot