We always knew our bus would look good at the beach, we just never expected those beaches to be in Michigan!

How have I gone decades without knowing that Lake Superior is home to turquoise-colored water and gorgeous white sand beaches? How?! Oh, right – it’s covered under layers of snow and ice for most of the year…

We were blown away to discover the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and just how beautiful it is. Unfortunately, we aren’t the only ones to have figured this out and our usual ‘blowin’ in the wind’ style of traveling meant that we had some trouble finding available campsites in the park.

Our first night in the area we spent at the Woodland Park RV campgrounds in Grand Marais, where we were able to catch sunrise along the lake and use the available cell phone service to get a bit of work done. Staying here wasn’t intentional, but it was the only place in the area with any availability.

We then headed to a boondocking spot we found through some online RVer forums for a night of free, forest camping. While our boondocking site wasn’t especially scenic – it was just an unused logging road – it had the benefit of being FREE and a short 1.5 mile bike ride from some of the lakeshore’s major attractions.

Our third night in the area, we spent at the Munising Tourist Park. Though not especially scenic, the park did provide direct water access and we were able to kayak out to Grand Island and go for a bracing evening swim in Lake Superior. The park was also a short bike ride away from the Duck Pond Eatery, a neat local beer garden & restaurant. Michigan is definitely a state for beer-lovers and we sampled some region’s finest brews while indulging in the Duck Pond’s Fish-Fry-Friday special. (It was mouth-wateringly good!)

The following day on our way out, we stopped to explore the city of Munising a bit more. We were delighted to discover the Falling Rock Café & Bookstore – a neat little café with a decent book selection to boot. Bellies full of delicious cafe fare, we headed on our way to the south side of Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.

The three places we camped were:

Woodland Park Campground, Grand Marais, MI

Rhody Creek Trail – Boondocking Site on National Forest Land

Munising Tourist Park – Munising Township, MI