78 Michigan Parks: Straits State Park #17

Stop 1. [Begin day 1]

Last December, I sat down and planned a 3-night trip, which would hit each of the upper peninsula state parks!  I tried to keep driving time to around 8 hours a day, but knew that Alice and Emily would both have permits and could help with the driving, so this was not as intimidating.  

My budget was $1200, so the location of the Airbnb might have been a little further away, but was factored into the drive time.

Two weeks before our trip, our final Airbnb cancelled!  I did not feel comfortable at all with their offer of booking by phone, so I scrambled to find a new Airbnb, just two weeks out.  I did find one, but it was an additional $200. = /  I guess it was better than getting my identity stolen!

We got my car back, with its new motor a mere three days before embarking on our journey, and were told that we would have to get an oil change while on our trip! = 0  

A quick note about pictures from this entire trip, most of the pictures are mine, but some of them were pulled from the album we set up after we got back.  I probably won't interrupt the flow of the narrative to explain whose photo it is, unless there is a story to be told.

When the day finally arrived, we set out as close to 8am as possible, but luckily the summer days are lovely and long!  Our first stop was at a left exit rest area, which had dozens of miniature versions of points of interest in Michigan, but primarily the UP.

Grace posed by the waterfall installation.

"Grace, watch out for that bear!"

The mine diorama was very cool!

After about 3-4 hours of driving, our family finally crossed the bridge and made it to the UP!  Our first stop was straits park.

A very kind bicyclist stopped and took a full group picture for us!  Aside from selfies, it's the only one with all 8 of us!

It's a "tree star!" or not.  The ground was really wet in the shade, but the skies were clear for us!

Our first picnic lunch in the UP!  This one we brought from home.

My mom kept suppling quarters so that all of us could take a turn!  Thanks Avia!

There were stairs that lead down to the camping area.  I think we all took them, despite the number, because we were so happy to be out of the car!

This park was supposed to have beach access, but I think it must have been accessible only through the camping area, and we didn't have time to track it down.  The vista was pretty though, and it was a good first stop!

later days

A list of our previous visits:

Tahquamenon Falls #15

Keith J Charters #33
Sleeper State Park #46
Port Crescent State Park #47
Silver Lake State Park #49
Muskegon State Park #50*
Newaygo State Park #51
PJ Hoffmaster State Park #52
Grand Haven State Park #53
Ionia State Park #54
Sleepy Hollow State Park #55
Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area #56
Lake Port State Park #57
Seven Lakes State Park #58
Holly Recreation Area #59
Algonac #60
Holland State Park #61
Island Park State Recreation Area #63b
Highland Recreation Area #64b
Pontiac Lake Recreation Area #65
Dodge #4 State Park #66a
Bald Mountain State Recreation Area #66b
Maybury State Park #67
Saugatuck Dunes State Park #68
Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
WJ Hays State Park #71
Belle Isle Park #72
Van Buren State Park #73
Grand Mere State Park #74
Warren Dunes State Park #75a
Warren Woods State Park #75b
Lake Hudson Recreation Area #77
Sterling State Park #78
Port Austin State Harbor #Bonus 1
Kal-Haven State Park #Bonus 2
Yankee Springs #Fail