Lark: We went to stay on the Yooper. Yupper, it was great!
Cory: The “Yooper” is the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. Michigan is divided into two parts by Lake Michigan. The bottom portion looks like a mitten for a right hand with a small finger sticking out about the middle. The upper portion is a long skinny peninsula connected to Wisconsin on the west. We drove onto the Upper Peninsula or U.P. as some people abbreviate it from Wisconsin along Lake Superior.
Lark: But you can also get there from the “mitten” across the Mackinaw Bridge. It is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It was windy and scary to cross. Dad had to work to keep the truck and trailer on the road! He’s a good driver.
Cory: The Mackinaw Bridge crossed the Straits of Mackinaw which connect Lake Michigan with Lake Huron.
Lark: There is an island to the east of the bridge where no cars are allowed! You have to take a ferry over and then, walk or ride a bicycle around the island.
Cory: Wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves. We are supposed to be talking about the Upper Peninsula. I loved our campground in Munising there. We could step right out of our trailer onto the beach! It was so beautiful, and I went swimming there. Mom too. We could go swimming whenever we wanted to.
Lark: Blah, blah, blah. Swimming is all you care about. The lake was too cold.
Cory: Well, you would too if you had my nice swimming coat. I don’t get cold. Neither does Mom.
Lark: Mom’s just a nut. I liked the Upper Peninsula because of the Painted Rocks. I know, I know. I don’t usually like rocks, but these were so pretty. And even though they are in the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore, there were trails we could walk on. And there were a lot of dogs out walking. Some of them were not very kind and growled at me. Then, I got in trouble for growling back. The park was very dog friendly, but the other dogs, not so much.
Cory: There were a lot of pretty waterfalls to hike to. I wanted to swim under them, but the signs said we couldn’t. I think if there hadn’t been so many people there, Mom and I would have snuck under the fence and gone anyway!
Lark: Like I said, she’s a nut. At one waterfall, she got in mud trying to take a picture. The mud was so deep, she lost her shoes! She had to dig them out with her hands and then, wash them off in the waterfall.
Cory: It looked like fun.
Lark: The mud or the water?
Cory: Both. Mud is just wet dirt.
Lark: And they say I’m the party girl. I didn’t know you liked mud wrestling.
Cory: I didn’t say anything about wrestling. Munising was a…
Lark: Don’t say it, don’t say it. Maybe we should have a code, C.L.H.T.
Cory: What?
Lark: Shh. Just whisper, I don’t want Mom to make us go to anymore “Cute Little Historic Towns”
Cory: She’s gonna go. She’s a historian.
Lark: I don’t know why she always gets her way. How many motorcycle museums have we been to for Dad?
Cory: Well, we did go to a motorcycle shop to get Dad a T-shirt in Munising.
Lark: Well, what about me? No one takes me where I want to go.
Cory: And where would that be?
Lark: Hmm. Let me think. I would like to go see the prairie dogs again.
Cory: Michigan doesn’t have any prairie dogs.
Lark: Then, squirrels. How about some squirrels?
Cory: Maybe, tomorrow.
Lark: Or an ice cream shop.
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