Camping with Alaska Teardrop in Michigan's UP

[deleted]

http://theflirtyguide.blogspot.com/2013/11/camping-with-fred-in-michigans-up.html

A recap of the five days Fred (Alaska Teardrop) and I spent camping along the UP with his Northern Light Traveler and The Glampette. Even the government shutdown couldn't spoil our fun! We snuck into a couple of sites (Miners Falls and Pictured Rocks) going around the barricades in the roads because Fred reasoned if it was shutdown there wouldn't be anyone there to arrest us

From the blog post linked above:

"When I left Michigan in June (after picking up The Glampette) I realized I hadn't seen much of anything in the whole state except for the inside of Fred's garage, house, and the local grocery store. He said the next time I came back he'd take me camping and at the very least, show me Lake Michigan. Well, he's a man of his word. Not only did he meet me at the Camp-Inn Camp-Outt rally in Mauston, WI in September (http://theflirtyguide.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-camp-inn-camp-outt-tiny-trailer.html), after the rally we headed north and camped along the UP for five days.

The funniest part about the trip (to me) was after it was over Fred told me when I drove away towing The Glampette behind me in June he watched the trailer going down the road away from his house and thought to himself he'd never see it again. But there she was back in his garage just four months later."

There are a lot more pictures in the post but these are some of my favorites:


The good, the bad, and the ugly.


Flowing Well Campground


Hike to Miners Falls


Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore


The Two Hearted River


Mackinac Bridge


South Higgins Lake State Park

[KCStudly]

Very nice photography!

Now off to get caught up on your blog.

[deleted]

Thanks KC! The UP kind of reminded me of Paris (I went there once) that you'd have to try pretty hard to take a bad picture when everything around you is so photogenic

[clermont cubby]

Stacie:

Beautiful pics and enjoyed your blog... keep traveling, easier while your young.

Larry

[deleted]

Thanks Larry!

I'll have to get on that! I have a LOT of catching up to do

[bc toys]

Thanks for posting pics You have a good eye for pretty land scape I want to make a trip to Alaska some day

[deleted]

Thanks bc toys! Me too. I have a friend who lives in Anchorage but thinking I'll need to bring Fred with me as my personal tour guide. LOL I don't think he realizes the UP trip was my way of verifying his tour guide qualifications He passed with flying colors

[S. Heisley]

Great pictures! Thanks, Stacey!

[Shadow Catcher]

The next time you should try the North shore, through Canada, a bit more wild and scenic.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
So how do you like the teardrop, anything you would like different?

[deleted]

Thank you for visiting the thread Sharon

And thanks for that tip Shadow Catcher, though I can't say I'm planning any return trips to Canada any time soon. They almost didn't let me in this time. They were super suspicious of me that I was a woman traveling alone from CA to visit Toronto. Hauled me into (told me to park and go inside) the declarations office and interrogated me for a half hour (just at the counter, not at a table with a single lightbulb over it). The whole experience was terribly unpleasant and they searched my phone's photos, text messages, my calendar, and address book trying to verify I was truly entering the country to vacation and not work. Imagine if I'd had the trailer with me... Fortunately I'd left it with Fred in MI so he could build out my counter and shelves. But, the North shore does sound tempting so maybe it would be worth it even if they give me a hard time again.

What would I do differently? Honestly, not a thing. She's perfect the way she is. Surprising in one way but not in another. I thought through ever detail from every direction morning, noon, and night, for days and weeks before Fred began the build so I was pretty confident she would turn out just right

[alaska teardrop]

Thanks for the recap, Stacie,

I'm reminded again of our happy trip. You're a joy to travel with.

A recap of the five days Fred (Alaska Teardrop) and I spent camping along the UP with his Northern Light Traveler and The Glampette. Even the government shutdown couldn't spoil our fun! We snuck into a couple of sites (Miners Falls and Pictured Rocks) going around the barricades in the roads because Fred reasoned if it was shutdown there wouldn't be anyone there to arrest us

We're busted now.

Fred

[deleted]

Thanks for the recap, Stacie,

I'm reminded again of our happy trip. You're a joy to travel with.

A recap of the five days Fred (Alaska Teardrop) and I spent camping along the UP with his Northern Light Traveler and The Glampette. Even the government shutdown couldn't spoil our fun! We snuck into a couple of sites (Miners Falls and Pictured Rocks) going around the barricades in the roads because Fred reasoned if it was shutdown there wouldn't be anyone there to arrest us

We're busted now.

Fred

I guess we'll have to hope someone here will bail us out

So Fred, Alaska in say 2015? Pencil it into your calendar?

[legojenn]

Thank you for visiting the thread Sharon

And thanks for that tip Shadow Catcher, though I can't say I'm planning any return trips to Canada any time soon. They almost didn't let me in this time. They were super suspicious of me that I was a woman traveling alone from CA to visit Toronto. Hauled me into (told me to park and go inside) the declarations office and interrogated me for a half hour (just at the counter, not at a table with a single lightbulb over it). The whole experience was terribly unpleasant and they searched my phone's photos, text messages, my calendar, and address book trying to verify I was truly entering the country to vacation and not work. Imagine if I'd had the trailer with me... Fortunately I'd left it with Fred in MI so he could build out my counter and shelves. But, the North shore does sound tempting so maybe it would be worth it even if they give me a hard time again.

What would I do differently? Honestly, not a thing. She's perfect the way she is. Surprising in one way but not in another. I thought through ever detail from every direction morning, noon, and night, for days and weeks before Fred began the build so I was pretty confident she would turn out just right

I cross the border the other way 10-15 times a year, often to go camping. I usually go to Tearjerkers gatherings and the crossings are usually uneventful. One time going into Michigan, they were surprised by my little car and trailer. They told me that they wanted to be sure that I was not using it as a moving trailer and was sneaking in for work. I made the mistake of saying something that I should have only thought along the lines of if I were sneaking into the US to work, I would be going to Boston or New York, not Detroit.

I was in the UP of Michigan two years ago and loved it. I wished that I had more time. Hopefully, our Great Lakes Tearjerker friends will organise another crawl of the UP in an upcoming year and we can see more of it.

(forgot to proofread)

[deleted]

I cross the border the other way 10-15 times a year, often to go camping. I usually go to Tearjerkers gatherings and the corrings are usually uneventful. One time going into Michigan, they were surprised by my little car and trailer. They told me that they wanted to be sure that I was not using it as a moving trailer and was sneaking in for work. I made the mistake of saying something that I should have only thought along the lines of if I were sneaking into the US to work, I would be going to Boston or New York, not Detroit.

I was in the UP of Michigan two years ago and loved it. I wished that I had more time. Hopefully, our Tearjerkers will organise another crawl of the UP in an upcoming year and we can see more of it.

LOL yeah, that probably wasn't a good crack to make about Detroit. But, I can see why you would have been tempted. I held my tongue, barely. What I wanted to do was just ask for my passport and phone back and go back to Michigan. But, I was afraid doing that would make them even more suspicious of me then who knows what would have happened.

I hope you do get to go crawl the UP. Push for fall if you haven't been there when the leaves change color. It's gorgeous!

[Shadow Catcher]

Detroit is a fascinating study. My son is doing what is called "urban porn" photographing the decay and and increasingly rebuilding. He also does tours, the photos http://detroiturbex.com and a new feature http://detroiturbex.com/content/ba/feat which has the wow factor new/old overlays.
He now has an international reputation and has been a consultant for a number of documentaries and TV shows.