We booked Straits State Park Campground because we intended to visit Mackinac Island on our way out of the UP of Michigan. Best laid plans are sometimes stymied by inclement weather conditions, in this case rainy days, and so we spent our time at Straits State Park mostly in Miranda, Melanie working, me catching up on photo processing. Regardless, Straits campground is nearly perfect for a visit to Mackinac Island. It's a well-kept park with sites well spaced, and views of the Makinac Bridge. They have a great shower and bath house that's relatively new in each loop. Our site, and many others in the lower loops of the campground, was level. Recommended.

We left Munising, Michigan and, as we traveled over toward a stay in St. Ignace, we took a detour to see Taquamenon Falls in Taquamenon Falls State Park. For leaf peeping purposes, we could not have timed our visit much better. I've included a few snaps from traveling through Paradise, Michigan and beyond on Michigan Highway 123.

We've been traveling in the UP of Michigan for over a week and, when we were camped just outside of Munising, Michigan, we did something we rarely do during the pandemic, we took a cruise and saw Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from a boat on the waters of Lake Superior. 

Buffalo River State Park and campground is our first Minnesota State Park. Nicely maintained by the State of Minnesota, The Nature Conservancy and Minnesota State University, the park features hiking trails, swimming, picnic area and the Minnesota State University Moorhead Regional Science Center.

We spent a few days camped outside the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. During that time we visited both the North and South Units and the Painted Canyon Visitor Center. The North and South Units are 68 miles apart. 

"Hell with the fires out."-- Brigadier General Alfred Sully, 1864