full disclosure. at this point in our trip, we were struggling a bit. the upper peninsula wasn’t as epic as we thought it would be. everyone was sort of over it. but. we had some cool things scheduled that couldn’t be moved, so there was nothing to do but stick it out.
derek did a little research and found some local waterfalls, so we all begrudgingly dragged ourselves out for a little adventure. the first falls (dover falls i think?) were pretty cool. the hike was meh, but short. and we were all grumpy. you would never know it.
our second stop, houghton-douglass falls, was pretty fantastic. we weren’t really sure what to expect and our initial views were sort of disappointing. but then we spotted a climbing/guide type rope extended down a very steep washed out hill. seemed like we should see what was down there.
not too shabby. at first only ike and anna and i went down. hazel was hesitant so derek stayed with her at the top. it was pretty great down there.
after we snapped a sufficient amount of photos, we hauled ourselves back out. it was pretty strenuous. then it was derek’s turn to give it a look. and then, somehow, ike convinced hazel to go back down with him. amazing.
a million more photos were taken.
and then they returned. champs.
these falls were definitely a pleasant surprise. it brightened our mood for sure. we grabbed some lunch in the little town of hancock, just across the bridge from houghton, before checking out a little local toy store and coffee shop called kc bonkers. we all got delicious drinks and wandered around, checking out the toys and games and gadgets, absorbing the backstory of the place, and chatting with the owner/visionary about how this store even came about. we would be back…
back in our 80s airbnb, i continued to plow through my stack of books. the other kids read some too even. weird how it goes when there’s limited internet and screens.
we survived another day. it was starting to feel miraculous.