June 7th 2012

Our last night on the road.  We will be returning to Portland, ME tomorrow after a somewhat short drive from here in New Britain, CT.  We've decided to do a motel room and pizza tonight to "celebrate."  From Appleton, WI we made the drive north towards the Upper Peninsula in Michigan.  We had heard many times over the course of the trip whether we were going to try and make it up to the UP.  Well, we figured after another couple from Wisconsin mentioned it again to us at our campground in Oakdale, WI, it would be smart to see what all the talk was about.

Definitely a secluded feeling came about while we approached the peninsula.  Long two-way roads fed from neighboring towns along newly paved roads.  Apparently a very popular place, especially during the winter, for it's miles and miles of snowmobile trails.

We made the decision to try the "12 Mile Campground" along the edge of Lake Superior.  It was a good choice.  Not only was it not busy (maybe because of the time of year), but it was also literally right on the water.  Other than the rainy weather, there wasn't much to complain about, so we actually decided to stay for a few days to check out the area.

 There are a lot of waterfalls in the Munising/Upper Peninsula area.  So we took the dogs along and made a few walks along the paths to a few different falls.

(Harbor has a really tough time staying still for pictures)

After a few days, a few hikes, and a few bouts of heavy rain, we decided to start our way south down towards Cleveland and essentially home.  Crossing the bridge from the Upper Peninsula was pretty great.  

 That night after crossing the bridge we stayed at a KOA around Cleveland.  A small pond with bass and sunfish provided some novelty fishing.  LOTS of geese and ducks around too.  Oh, and a friendly raccoon visited us (our trash) that night as well.  From Cleveland we then made the decision to head towards Bellefonte, PA where we had stayed early on in the trip.  We were even able to get the same cabin we had slept in previously.  Pretty cool.  The weather was really nice in Bellefonte as well so we were able to hang out for part of the day along the local pond and watch the horses in the neighboring farm run around and chase each other.

(Annie keeping the fire going for cooking dinner) 

 So now here we are.  Last night in paradise, and guess what??? We got a flat tire today!  Yes you read that correctly and the irony (of this blog) has come full circle.  About halfway through our drive today I noticed that the tire pressure was dropping really quickly.  After pulling over and hearing a loud "sssssssss" noise and seeing a pin sized hole in one of our back tires, we got it patched up and were back on the road within a couple hours.  Thankfully we were near a service station and tire place.  

Tomorrow we will be landing back in Portland...tired and ready for our own bed.  We couldn't be happier with our adventure around the country.  We saw more in two months than many people see in a lifetime.  Our trip will bring us right back to where we started, but we hardly feel that way.