Teaching Family Homes - Tour Da U.P. 2007 Tour

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If you enjoy cycling on forested roads, water falls, secluded beaches, open roads through meadows and awesome hilly terrain then you would have loved the 2007 tour of the Western U.P. Our route last year was a 5 day loop tour that began and ended in Watersmeet, MI. This part of the Upper Peninsula has some of the most varied terrain in all of Michigan and is home to Ottawa National Forest as well as the Porcupine Mountain State Park.

A pre-tour event of canoeing and kayaking on the Ontonagon River kicked off the week of cycling. Despite the low water levels the scenery was fabulous and an eagle was even spotted along the river. Once again Mother Nature had mercy on us as the week was marked by sunshine, clear skis and comfortable temperatures in the mid 70’s. With a nice tail wind the tour traveled north from our staging and loading area at the Lac Vieux Desert Casino to our first stop and photo op at Bond Falls.

Group Homes A nice short hike to the falls and our first ice cream stand later the group continued along the route to the second falls and ice cream stop, Agate Falls. After lunch it was cruise through the rolling farm land into the town of Ewen and the Ewen Trout Creek School.

The neat thing about TOUR da U.P is the friendly locals you meet along the way and how they love to make your stay more enjoyable. That was the case with the staff at Ewen-Trout Creek Schools. Home made pizza and a breakfast that was top notch that fueled the group up and over hills to Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains. The Union Bay Campground was our base for two nights, giving everyone ample time to hike the many trails, bike different trails and quite roads and even try a little kayaking on the lake. The ‘Porkies’, as the locals say, is the largest state park in Michigan and is home to it’s own Park Naturalist, who led groups of visitors on interpretive hikes throughout the park.

The morning of day 4 came quickly and it was time to pack-up and ride towards Lake Gogebic and our overnight at Lake Gogebic state park. The state park campground offered an awesome beach, volleyball and hot showers. Each year we also have a talk about what our mission at Teaching Family Homes is and how others can help. We were fortunate to have a nice setting on the lake and dinner catered by Lake Gogebic Lodge. This allowed a chance for all to socialize and ask questions about our programs. Several participants had a great time on the pontoon boat rides. Our fearless Captain was not real good with math and apparently left the dock under stocked with life jackets for the amount of passengers. Well, DNR Officer Friendly was on patrol and he quickly informed us of this oversight after a safety check. We all made it back to the dock safely and retrieved another PFD. The excitement was too much to handle!

Day 5 was our last day of the tour. With a simple continental breakfast and a flurry of packing to get everything on the truck, it was back on the road for one last push back to Watersmeet via US-2. After a quick 35 miles most cyclists finished the days ride by 1pm. The end of the tour is always marked with a goodbye lunch and farewell awards. After hot showers at the nearby school we all sampled pasties from a local baker. If you have never tried a pastie (similar to a meat pie) you should just once. You might find that you like it, despite being a bit bland and void of any gourmet status in the circles of advanced cooking. Any way we have come to include this Yooper delight as part of the last day celebration.

Hope to see you this year when we travel to the southern U.P. tour “ALONG THE RIVER AND THRU THE WOODS”

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