My husband has been up north with me this week.  We took a bit of a side trip even further north, into the Upper Peninsula.  For those of you that live far away and wonder what an Upper Peninsula is, check out a map of Michigan, we have two parts!  The lower which is shaped like a mitten, and the upper which is connected to the lower by the 5 mile long Mackinaw Bridge.

I haven’t been in the UP in many years, and it felt a bit like going home to cross that bridge again.  Originally we weren’t sure exactly where we were headed, and I suggested we just get in the car and see where we ended up.  You know, an adventure!  We ended up heading to Tahquamemon Falls, a series of waterfalls known for their root beer colored water.  The redness in the water is caused by tannins leached from cedar swamps through which the river flows.  The state park wasn’t officially open, but we parked where we could and hiked in to see the river.  There are lower falls…

..which flow around an island, usually reached by park owned rowboats.  This time of year the rowboats were stored, waiting patiently for spring and the tourists to arrive.

And the more dramatic upper falls…

We walked up and down hundreds of stairs and enjoyed having the park to ourselves.

After we finished our exploration of both falls we drove up to Whitefish Point, a place just about as far north as you can go in this part of the UP along the shores of Lake Superior.  It was bitter cold and very windy, and we only stayed on the beach a few minutes.  The waves were rolling in and it was beautiful.  I’ll be back some summer when the weather is a bit more tolerable!

We had a really nice time and proved to ourselves once again that we’re not too old to enjoy a good adventure!