Trip Report #1: The Porkies and Lake of the Clouds

Sadie and I decided to be a bit spontaneous at the beginning of our vacation, and we decided to play each day by ear. We had no idea how often our plans were about to change! Originally we had thought of maybe taking an impromptu trip out west, but then decided against it because the camper was up north. Turns out our odds would have been better catching good weather out there---but oh well! We headed north and west and traveled the two lane highways of northern Wisconsin and Michigan towards the fabled Porcupine Mountains. We lucked out and got a campsite with a phenomenal view of Lake Superior. In fact it was literally 25 feet from our door. The bummer though was the weather-- when we arrived it was a bit on the dreary side. When we went to bed it was a bit on the dreary side. When we woke up it was even more on the dreary side! None of us got a whole lot of sleep due to the wind and a crying Noah (hopefully the sound of the wind drowned out the cries for the other campers!), and after checking the local weather the next morning we decided it probably wasn't going to be feasible to hike around in the rain with a young one. So, we quickly packed up and hit the road again (yes, we kept singing that song! "On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again..."). Before leaving though we did manage to take the brief hike to the Lake of the Clouds (I'm not kidding, it's called that, and there were PLENTY of clouds). Very pretty place, and we'd love to head back to the Porkies some day! My one major complaint though was the thorough lack of coffee in that area. We had to drive almost 4 hours before we were able to grab a half way decent cup! As we started to head towards Mackinaw Island the weather wasn't getting much better. Three hours into the drive I finally got Internet access on the blackberry and we decided to check the weather ("just in case" we said). I felt like crying:

Mackinaw Island: 50's and rain for 4 more days
Traverse Bay: 50's and rain for 4 more days
Chicago: low 60's and rain for 4 more days
Madison: low 60's and rain for 4 more days
Milwaukee: low 60's and rain for 4 more days
Wisconsin Dells: low 60's and rain for 4 more days
Door County: low 60's and rain for 4 more days
Duluth: low 50's and rain for 4 more days
North Shore: low 50's and rain for 4 more days
Twin Cities: 80 and sunny....for 4 more days

We sat on the side of the road with the wipers on full boar as we consulted our game plan. Unfortunately we didn't actually have a game plan. So much for the fun of spontaneity! So, we whipped a U-turn and started back west!