Great Lakes Trip 2018: Lake Superior

January 6, 2020January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

Hi friends… It’s time to play catch up. If you missed the first three recaps of our Great Lakes Trip (or you need a refresher!), you can catch up here:

Lake Ontario

Lake Erie

Lake Huron

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On Thursday August 9, we checked out of Harrisville State Park and traveled from Michigan’s lower peninsula to its upper peninsula. We drove over the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas over the Straits of Mackinac . At 26,372 feet long, it is one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. We tuned in to the suggested radio station and listened to the history and statistics about the bridge while we drove across.

We arrived at Muskallonge State Park in Newberry, Michigan around 3 pm. Muskallonge Lake State Park is set between the shores of Lake Superior and Muskallonge Lake. We were able to book a campsite that had a view of Muskallonge Lake.

Assateague Island 2018

January 24, 2019January 15, 2020 happyherrons1 Comment

We made reservations many months in advance to camp at Assateague Island National Seashore in April, but ultimately decided to change the date of our camping weekend to coordinate better with Carter’s baseball schedule. Assateague Island National Seashore was booked for the weekend we now wanted to visit the area so we booked a campsite at Assateague Island State Park instead.

Assateague Island is a 37 mile long barrier island in Maryland and Virginia. The island is best known for its wild horses, pristine beaches, and the Assateague Lighthouse. The wild horses, who are owned and managed by the National Park Service, are the island’s most popular residents and a popular tourist attraction for the island.

Spring Break 2018: Shenandoah, Part 2

April 9, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

If you missed Part 1, you can catch up on our first day and half in Shenandoah here!

After we finished our lunch, we headed to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. There are almost 70 overlooks on the 105 mile stretch of Skyline Drive with stunning views of the Shenandoah Valley.

We entered Skyline Drive at the Thornton Gap entrance station in Luray at milepost 31.5. Jackson fell asleep on the drive over so he missed out on our first view point, hence his absence from our family picture below. Our first stop on Skyline Drive was Hazel Mountain Overlook at milepost 33:

Spring Break 2018: Shenandoah, Part 1

April 7, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

Two weeks ago, we kicked off our camping season by heading down south for spring break! Our school district always has spring break the week before Easter, which was early this year, so it wasn’t typical spring break weather.

The Shenandoah area was forecasted to receive about a foot of snow a few days before we were booked to stay there, which threw us through a loop. Chris ended up booking a site at Pocahontas State Park in Virginia where they weren’t predicting as much snow as a backup. Luckily, Shenandoah only ended up getting about four inches of snow. Chris called the campgrounds the Wednesday and Thursday before we left to check on the snow situation and help us determine where we were going. We ultimately decided to stick to our original plan and head to Shenandoah as the campground was basically snow free.

A Look Back: Shenandoah 2017

March 24, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

In October, Chris and I did something we hadn’t done in seven years — took a vacation just the two of us! After running in the LLBean 4th of July 10K, we decided it would be fun to run a race in another state and make a camping trip out of it. Chris suggested the Shenandoah area and we discovered the Shenandoah Leaf Peeper 10K in Front Royal, Virginia.

We looked into camping at Shenandoah National Park, however there were no hookups and it was a further drive to Front Royal on Sunday for our race. We choose to camp at Shenandoah River State Park as it had water and electric hookups and was a fifteen minute drive to Front Royal.

A Look Back: Acadia National Park, 2017 | Day 5

February 23, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

On Monday morning, we checked out of Schoodic Woods Campground and headed over to Seawall Campground in Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island for our last night in Acadia National Park. The perk of Seawall Campground is that it is a quick drive to a lot of the desirable attractions in Acadia. Unlike Schoodic Woods Campground though, Seawall Campground has no hookups for electricity or water.

A Look Back: Acadia National Park, 2017 | Day 4

February 22, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherronsLeave a comment

On Sunday, Chris and Carter hiked around Jordan Pond to South Bubble Mountain where they found Bubble Rock! Bubble Rock is a huge boulder that was moved to this cliff edge by ancient glaciers. They hiked up to the summit of South Bubble which led to picturesque views of Jordan Pond.

A Look Back: Acadia National Park, 2017 | Day 3

February 15, 2018January 15, 2020 happyherrons1 Comment

Saturday was Bar Harbor Day! We took the ferry from Winter Harbor over to Bar Harbor. We had planned to take the Bar Harbor Ferry, but we got there early and the Schoodic Ferry was still there, so we climbed aboard. It turned out to be a really cool ferry ride. We were the only passengers and the staff was super friendly. This ferry’s staff consisted of scientists who were researching for the College of the Atlantic. I can’t remember what in particular they were studying, but they were fascinating to talk to and the boys learned all sorts of fun stuff. They also had tons of wildlife books that the boys enjoyed looking at. While on the ferry, we were fortunate to see two bald eagles and a bunch of Harbor porpoises. Read More »

Happy Herrons

Category: National Parks