🍁 40th Anniversary • Maine Bound 🍁

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There is something deeply satisfying about finding a campground that simply gets it right. Castle Rock Campark in St. Ignace, Michigan was exactly that — a well-appointed home base for our holiday weekend in the Upper Peninsula. The sites were generously sized and thoughtfully spaced, offering a sense of privacy that made it feel less like a campground and more like a quiet corner of the woods claimed just for us. The facilities were excellent: clean showers, convenient laundry, and all the amenities one could hope for on the road. If your travels ever bring you to this corner of Michigan, Castle Rock Campark is more than worth a stop.

From St. Ignace, we made our way to Sault Ste. Marie — a city steeped in history and humming with the quiet industry of the Great Lakes. Situated on the St. Marys River at the international border with Canada, it is home to the Soo Locks, one of the great engineering marvels of North America. Watching a massive freighter pass through those locks, rising or dropping dozens of feet in a matter of minutes, is the kind of spectacle that reminds you just how ingeniously human beings have shaped the landscape around them. The city itself carries centuries of history — founded by Ojibway people and later shaped by French missionaries, it remains a living testament to the meeting of cultures along these storied waterways. For those drawn to fishing, boating, or simply gazing out at the breadth of the Great Lakes, Sault Ste. Marie offers no shortage of wonder.

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Watching a massive freighter pass through those locks, rising or dropping dozens of feet in a matter of minutes, is the kind of spectacle that reminds you just how ingeniously human beings have shaped the landscape around them.

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No visit to this region would be complete without Mackinac Island, and I have a small piece of advice for anyone planning to make the journey: before you step foot on the ferry, find time to watch the 1980 film Somewhere in Time. It was filmed on the island and captures its timeless, carriage-and-cobblestone charm in a way that no travel guide ever could. Arriving with that film fresh in your memory adds an almost magical layer to the experience — as though you have stepped not just onto an island, but into another era entirely. It is a quaint, unhurried community unlike anywhere else we have visited, and it left a lasting impression.

And then — because the border was right there and the spirit of adventure was upon us — we crossed into Canada. There was no grand plan, no itinerary. We simply went, took in the sights on the other side, and returned to the US of A with smiles on our faces and another country checked off the list. That is the beauty of life on the road: sometimes the best detours are the ones you never planned.

We are savoring every mile of this journey, and I hope that wherever today finds you, you are savoring yours as well.

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May every road lead you somewhere worth remembering.

Nancy