Munising, MI

Friday, September 5, 2025

This morning we woke up in Peshtigo, WI at the city campground in Badger Park. This was a nice campground, clean and well-kept, but pretty noisy overnight. Rainshowers moved in overnight, and it sounded like someone was dancing on top of our RV as it shook in the wind. The garbage truck came through the park around 4:30am, and there was a loud duly truck idling nearby for a while.

At 8:00am, the Peshtigo High School bell rang from the other side of the park, calling kids to their classrooms. “Do you hear that?” I whispered to Aden, “kids in this town are starting school right now, and you’re still in bed! Pretty lucky to be a homeschooler, don’t you think?”

Andi and I thought was funny to lay in bed and listen to the morning announcements over the loud speaker, and hear the Pledge of Allegiance being recited. Definitely brought back memories of our own high school days.

Around 8:30am, we got up and moving for the day. Andi worked to unplug the electricity cord outside the RV while I cleared the counters and pulled the slide in for travel. The town of Peshtigo’s claim to fame is a deadly forest fire that burned the town (and a good chunk of Wisconsin’s famous Door County) to the ground in 1871, taking 1,200 lives with it. Today, the town is rebuilt and thriving; an idyllic small town to live, work, and raise a family. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here.

Now, it was time to move onto Michigan. Andi drove our RV across the state line toward the city of Escanaba. We enjoyed views of dense forests and the sandy shores of Lake Michigan along the way, map-dotted with a handful of small villages and lake cabins along the way. “Doesn’t take long to find yourself in complete wilderness, does it?” Andi remarked. I bet the winters are harsh on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Today wasn’t a particularly nice weather day with cool temperatures, gusty winds reaching 30 mph, and bouts of sideways rain bursts.

In Escanaba, Andi parked the RV in a parking lot of an Anytime Fitness gym. There, Tory, Aden, and I did school inside the RV while Andi worked on his computer, then went inside the gym to exercise. Inside, he met the friendly gym owner named Marvin who gifted Tory and Aden each a children’s book he authored. He told Andi he owns all five Anytime Fitness gyms on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Unfortunately, this is the last gym on our driving route for a while.

After Tory and finished their school work, it was my turn to workout. I went inside the gym while Andi stayed back in the camper with the kids. While I was there, Andi’s cousin Laura and her husband, Shaun, arrived to meet us. They are traveling with us through Michigan. We couldn’t be more excited about that! They traveled with us last September as well, when we visited Montana and Banff, Alberta, Canada.

With Laura and Shaun in tow, we traveled from Escanaba, MI to Munising, Mi to camp for the night. Andi found us an awesome, free campsite on Hovey Lake big enough for both our campers to fit into. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain as we set up camp, so we had to hang out inside our RV.

Andi and Shaun grilled pork loins for dinner, while I made foil-packet potatoes and steamed carrots from the Sheboygan, WI farmers market. The six of us crowded around our small dinette table, and ate our dinners. Then, Laura and Shaun taught us a new card game called Dutch Blitz. We had such a great time learnin and playing well into the night.

Tomorrow, we plan to explore Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along the Lake Superior coast. I hope the weather holds up! Today was blustery, cold, and rainy. Crossing our fingers for sunny skies tomorow.