Long August Vacation - Part 1 - Iron Mountain, Michigan - Summer Breeze Campground

On this trip we stayed in a private campground called Summer Breeze located just outside of Iron Mountain, Michigan. Private campgrounds are a rarity for us but the price was the same and the location was ideal. We did give up the privacy that we are used to in the Wisconsin State Parks but we weren't there often and they had things you don't find in state parks, national parks or even larger private campgrounds. Here we found a spick and span property with SUPER clean bathrooms and shower stalls as well as a nice swimming pool. The owners were present and ready to answer questions, resolve problems and enforce the rules which made for a quiet, pleasant stay. With the condition of our parks deteriorating and the difficulty getting into them I can see our usage of private campgrounds becoming a more common occurrence especially when interstate traveling.

We began this trip visiting where I spent a good deal of time during my childhood, Iron Mountain Michigan. My paternal Grandmother lived here next to my favorite Aunt and her family. I firmly believe it was here that my love of the forest began as we'd spend hours playing in the meadows among the trees of their rural small town property. I learned gardening, cooking and canning from my Aunt Gen who spent much of her time in the kitchen feeding her 4 boys and 1 daughter. I learned to love nature, sleep outdoors under the amazing night sky filled with stars, planets, and northern lights. I learned to climb trees, play among the moss and roots, pick mushrooms and tread carefully through swamps, not fear wildlife (especially the bears who would wander into the yard on the occasional evening after roasting marshmallows)  and that the need for shoes was a waste of time and money in the warmer months.  I learned to love pasties and porchetta and how to cook for an army using the simplest of ingredients and techniques. I learned crafting from my Grandmother; knitting, tatting, crocheting and so much else. I learned aqua net was a great way to preserve wild flowers, namely puff balls which looked like way big dandelions only much more fragile, which would be taken home and placed in baskets before taken to the cemetery, decorating the graves of long lost ancestors. I can remember making really pretty necklaces out of paperclips and contact paper. I can remember shucking peas for hours on end and how easy it was to make a lot of jam from simple ingredients. Though everything changes; Grandma's mobile home is long gone and my Aunt and Uncle's house belongs to someone else and has fallen to disrepair, some things stay the same. There are still trees as far as the eyes can see and we can still find our favorite wildlife in abundance.  I have so many fond memories of this place which, as I look back, had a profound impact on the woman I am today. It was a good way to begin a vacation.

While staying here we took a side trip to the Porcupine Mountains. This park is mostly about hiking, something we can't do very much of especially with our youngest along. We did make the short but steep hike to the Lake of the Clouds which was gorgeous and we checked out the visitors center taking in the movie informing us of the history and current conditions within the park land. We took many shorter side trips along the way there and back as well. Most of them were looking for waterfalls that were on the map but which we never did find. Fair warning to MI waterfall seekers, not all the falls you see on the map appear to be accessible if they exist at all year round. Make sure you have a map that shows just the ones you can access.

We loved it up here with their warm days and cool nights we have no doubt we'll return sooner rather than later. Next time we'll take on the Eastern part of the UP where we really want to see Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island and all places between and around.