Day 3 (6/22/21): The Upper Peninsula

The next morning I woke up early again at 6:00 with my goal to be on the road by 7:00. I woke up, got ready, and then used their (the boondockers hosts) dump station before hitting the road. Before leaving, I also decided to check my oil, which I try to do everyday. Especially when I have really long trips ahead of me. However when I checked my oil, it said "A" - as in add, like it was empty. This definitely freaked me out. However, I didn't quite believe it. I looked up online and it was mixed responses as to why this could be or if you should check your oil warmer cold. So I decided to check my owner's manual. Every other time that I've checked my oil it's been fine and showed full. However, when I woke up this morning it was about maybe 40 degrees, high 30s. In addition diesels, take a low viscosity oil. So I was wondering if it was all kind of pooled or was two congealed on the bottom. In the owner's manual, it said to check the oil when warm. My other thought was that I just didn't believe it, because my truck takes about 13 quarts of oil. I had checked it when I was in Portland, granted that was a long time ago. But it would be very obvious if I had lost 13 quarts of oil in only a few days. Even though it was hundreds of miles. I would have seen it leaking and I check under my truck for leaks every day before I leave as part of my walk around. Therefore, I was skeptical of it showing as empty - even though I checked it about three times. So when I saw the owner's manual that it said to check it when warm I thought aha, this might be why. So I added about a quarter of a quart, granted for a diesel truck that takes 13 quarts, this is nothing. But it made me feel better about driving a little ways for it to warm up so I can check it again. So I got on the road, and at the next rest stop, about 20 minutes away, I pulled over to check the oil. I waited for it to cool down for about 10 minutes and checked it again. This time it showed being full. So I went on my way!

On my way up it was a beautiful drive through Michigan, although it was slow. I did a quick stop at the Mackinac bridge to get out stretch the legs and break up the drive. However, when I got there was pouring rain and then started hailing! So it was a very quick break. 

I was back on the road again in a few minutes. Once I got on the upper peninsula, it was beautiful. It was like another world. With short pine trees, mom and pop shops everywhere, and just the beauty of Lake Superior. I was on my way north to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where I was going to spend my lunch break. It was mostly on my way to my campsite for the night. There, I went and saw Munising Falls. 

Then, I drove over to Pictured Rocks. This was absolutely gorgeous! I ate a quick lunch and then did a hike down to look at the rocks. This is definitely a place I could spend an entire day and want to come back to. 

After my lunch break and reveling in the beauty of pictured rocks, I hit the road again. I still had a few hours in front of me and I wanted to make it to my campsite tonight at a decent hour so that I would have some time to relax and enjoy it. On my way, I stopped to figure out what a Pastie is! I had seen signs all over the UP on my drive but didn't know what they were. So I found a bakery called "Roy's bakery & pasties". It turns out, they're a meat pie! Having a hot meal ready when I got to camp sounded perfect, so I got one for dinner. It was a chicken and broccoli. When I got to my campsite, at McLain State Park, it was about 6:00. I setup camp, and enjoyed my pastie for dinner. 

 After dinner, I decided to go for a long walk to stretch my legs after a long day of driving. I walked all the way down the beach from my campsite into the public area of the state park. By the time I got down to the pier, it started to sprinkle. So I made my way back. It was a great long walk. I was going to do some yoga; however, by this time it was raining, so I decided to yoga in the camper. It's a little cramped, but doable. Then, I cleaned the camper and took advantage of having a hot normal shower at the campsite facilities. I decided to shower earlier rather than later, because I looked up the sunset which I wanted to watch, because I was facing west on the lake; however, the sun didn't set until 9:53 p.m.! Therefore, I decided to shower and then watch the sunset. When I returned from my shower, I hung out outside for a bit as I watched the sunset. It was a beautiful way to end of the day. I headed to bed, as I had another long day ahead of me tomorrow. I would be driving another 7 or 8 hour day to Northern Minnesota.