Week 62: the one with all the lakes!

Swimming from Lake Superior to Lake Michigan

Aug 18, 2025

Hello, hello! Hope this post finds you well. It was a busy week for us as we traveled from Buffalo River State Park, Minnesota, across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and over to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore — with lots of swimming along the way!

We’re not used to this much driving — we usually like to go off-grid for two week intervals so we have plenty of time to hike and explore an area. This faster pace is hard to keep up with — but thankfully we only have to maintain it for one more week — whew! Then we’ll get to have a relaxing time visiting family at that orange marker in Ohio. Can’t wait!

Spoiler alert: we made it to Ohio! We were driving so much I got super behind on posting, and several of you wondered if we were okay. So sorry to worry you!

Let’s get to the recap!

Monday: Mabel Lake Campground, Minnesota

Monday we said farewell to Buffalo River State Park (catch up on our time there in last week’s post) and the tallgrass prairie and headed for Mabel Lake Campground in Minnesota. It was raining when we got there and raining when we left, so I didn’t get any photos, darn.

Then it was on to…

Tuesday: Perch Lake Campground, Chippewa National Forest, Wisconsin

We got to the campground late in the afternoon, and when I hopped out of the van to help J with getting the van level I was swarmed by mosquitos! Aaaaaaahhhh!!

We went for a walk to stretch our legs and almost got carried away by mosquitoes!

We doused ourselves in bug spray and put on long sleeves and pants but it didn’t make a difference — the mosquitos just laughed at us and bit us anyhow. I got some bites through two layers of shirts!

To make things worse, I’m one of those people who can feel mosquitoes biting me — it feels like getting stabbed by a pin — and it really hurts. So I hid in the van — which was better than being outside, but still not great because tons of the little buggers still got in. The worst time was at night when they seemed to come out of nowhere to torment us in our sleep.

The original plan was to stay at Perch Lake for 3 nights, but we decided to roll on to…

Wednesday-Thursday: Little Girls Point, Lake Superior, Michigan

It was hard to find a camp spot that wasn’t already booked — but J came through and found one at Little Girls Point, a county park on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The beach was just a short walk from camp and wow! The views didn’t disappoint! We loved swimming in Lake Superior, too. The clear, cold waters felt so good.

We later learned from a kiosk we spotted at Pictured Rocks Natural Lakeshore that Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Wow!

We spent a whole day on the beach reading books, swimming, and unwinding from all the travel of the last few days. It felt so good.

When we were researching about the area we learned about yooperlite — and couldn’t wait for the sun to go down so we could look for some.

I wish you could hear the seagulls and the waves crashing on shore. So peaceful.

What is yooperlite, you ask?

According to the Pure Michigan website, they’re “syenite rock rich with fluorescent sodalite, also known as Yooperlites^®… These seemingly normal, gray rocks are rich with fluorescent sodalite and glow a vibrant orange and yellow under a UV light.”

We happened to have a flashlight with a UV light as one of the settings in the van — we use it to look for scorpions — so the hunt was on!

The UV light made white rocks seem to glow, and I kept picking them up and wondering if they were yooperlite. Then I spotted this rock glowing orange and I knew that had to be it!

I felt really lucky to find this big specimen that’s about 2 inches across at the widest point. We searched and searched but only found 3 other tiny ones. They glow even more in real life — the photos don’t do them justice!

Also! Some of my watercolor friends may recognize sodalite from Daniel Smith’s sodalite genuine paint — I just had to order a tube to see if it glows too — will keep you posted.

Friday: Woodland Park Campground, Grand Marais, Michigan

Our next stop was Bay Furnace Campground, but all the first come/first serve campsites were taken, darn. So on we drove through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (and did a few hikes along the North Country Trail) until we got to Woodland Park Campground, a park run by the township in Grand Marais, Michigan.

This park was way more crowded than what we’ve been used to, so we took a walk around the charming town and checked out the pickle barrel house, the old post office museum and the bay. A music festival was going on right next to the campground so we got to hear some good music, too!

Then we went for a sunset swim in Lake Michigan — it felt so good after a long, hot day!

A bunch of people were out looking for yooperlite — so we looked for a bit too but didn’t find any. We got back to camp in the dark and slept like logs.

Saturday: Crossing the Mackinac Bridge

Saturday we left camp and made our way across the Upper Peninsula, stopping at two farm stands to get Michigan blueberries, black cherries, green beans, and sweet corn.

We just had to stop at an overlook to see the Mackinac Bridge — also known as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac — before we drove over it.

At 5 miles long, the Mac is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere — and it took us 7 minutes to cross!

It had been a while since I’d been across a bridge anywhere near this length — and the first time in the van! It was both really cool being high up in the van to get a view — and mildly terrifying all at the same time! I was glad J was driving!

We had to go for a walk when we got to the other side. Whew! And we got to touch Lake Huron, our 3rd Great Lake of the trip.

Saturday-Monday: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

Then it was on to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where we scored a camp spot with 5 minute walk to Lake Michigan. After we got camp set up we just had to go check out the beach — and watched these storm clouds roll in!

It seemed like it was about to start pouring at any minute so we didn’t stay long.

We made it back to camp just in time — it started pouring!

Sunday we slept in and then went swimming the rest of the day — we really needed that.

Monday: Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes

Monday was our last day at Sleeping Bear Dunes and we made the most of it! First we stopped by the Visitor Center so that I could stamp my sketchbook — more on that in an upcoming post — and then we did the Dune Climb: