Going domestic, project vanilla aka the family tankster, 2004 Suburban 2500

[02TahoeMD]

Something about white sand beaches and no people.

Could not agree more! Great photos, guess I am gonna need to go visit the U.P. on one of my journeys. Thanks for posting such great photos.:Wow1:

 

[rayra]

Lovely pictures. Technically, too.

 

[Tiki]

Very jealous.

 

[Bojak]

Thanks for your awesome update. Pics look great. I really enjoy those low key get aways myself. Love all the shots of the rigs too.

 

[upcruiser]

Great pics. This is all in the UP? Whereabouts? My wife's family is all from up there. She came from a big Catholic family (Belgian on her mother's side, Polish on her dad's) and most of them are still up there in the area between Menominee and Powers.
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Back in 2015 we happened to be passing through on our way to Canada and Niagara Falls. I said to my wife "we'll be passing through the UP, do you want to stop and visit family?" (we had last been there for a big family reunion in 2009.) She said "sure" so we emailed her cousin, who owns a breakfast restaurant in Powers, and asked if we could visit. I figured a few hours to visit family and then we'd get back on the road.
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Well, I should have known better! First her cousin insisted that we stay with them at their house, and then she actually closed the restaurant early and invited - not kidding - probably 60 or 80 people, all of whom were relatives of some kind, to a big party at the restaurant. And all because we just happened to be passing through from Colorado on our way to Canada!
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The UP is actually the only part of Michigan I've ever seen - I've never been down in "the mitten." We crossed into Canada at Sault-Ste-Marie and drove around the East side of Lake Huron to get to Niagara Falls. I thought the UP was beautiful and seemed to be very "wild" and sparsely populated compared to even Minnesota or North Dakota.

The Land Cruiser shots were in the Keweenaw peninsula and an area close to Whitefish Point, two different outings. The Keweenaw is one of my absolute favorite places in the world. A very special area unspoiled by progress or people for that matter. Though you could say that about a lot of the UP I suppose. The Suburban shots were from
a bunch of areas but the sunset and fall shots were from Silver Lake and the Mulligan Plains, a pretty remote zone south of the Huron Mountains, camper shots were from Copper Harbor, Hiawatha National Forest, and the beach shots Bete Gris. If you ever get up this way let me know. I can give you some beta over some beers and get you pointed to some cool spots.

Northern lower is pretty cool too but a totally different experience. The northwest portion from Frankfort to Petoskey is the best, including Sleeping Bear Dunes area where we both grew up. It's a little out of hand with tourists in the summer and it's a bit too cool for school since getting a lot of national attention lately. It is pretty though. The UP is 33% of the states land mass and 3% of the population which says a lot. We have 3 National Parks, a dozen or so wilderness areas, 1 national monument, and something like 1,300 miles of coastline in three Great Lakes. It's pretty cool on a bunch of levels and probably best of all off the radar still.

 

[upcruiser]

loving your truck and adventures man. Always excited when this thread updates

Thanks man! Was just reading your review of the Duramax Colorado ironically, came up in a Google search. Just bought my wife one for Valentines Day. Pretty stoked about it, picking it up tomorrow. Sounds like you really liked it.

 

[upcruiser]

Could not agree more! Great photos, guess I am gonna need to go visit the U.P. on one of my journeys. Thanks for posting such great photos.:Wow1:

Thanks! If you ever get up this way let me know. Myself and the Roam guys are always willing to share the good spots to good people. Haha.

 

[upcruiser]

Yeah so I mentioned it above but we just bought a new Duramax Colorado crew cab with the long bed. Might have to start a new thread for it but we are pretty stoked. What a great rig. It's got the G80, integrated brake controller, towing package, the full optioned integrated touch screen stuff with apple car play. It also has the collision avoidance and lane assist package. We are replacing Julie's trusty old Outback which has been an incredible car with ZERO problems. The fact that this Colorado can beat the Subies mileage and yet still tow 7,600 lbs is just amazing, let alone ride so nice. Here are a few pics.

 

[boss324]

Those pics best describe my feelings on the Burb. It's the ultimate take your family and all your gear, with no cares, and have an adventure.... mobile.

That said we also did some camping and adventures with the Land Cruiser this summer as well. It definitely covers rough terrain at a quicker clip than the Burb but other than a couple of super tight spots, we likely could have gotten the Burb everywhere we took the Cruiser. We love getting out to some of the remote beaches of the UP. Something about white sand beaches and no people, it's the best of summer. Since I don't do trip reports anymore I will just share some pics here as well.

]

Couldn't agree more, time and time again this thing has paid off. Can haul everyone and all their gear plus tow 7-8k lbs worth of additional gear. Went up to Tahoe twice the past couple months and had her fully loaded down with 8 passengers and all our gear.




Now Ill see how she does in the Desert! heading to the Mojave Road in March!

 

[upcruiser]

Couldn't agree more, time and time again this thing has paid off. Can haul everyone and all their gear plus tow 7-8k lbs worth of additional gear. Went up to Tahoe twice the past couple months and had her fully loaded down with 8 passengers and all our gear.




Now Ill see how she does in the Desert! heading to the Mojave Road in March!

That's a great looking truck. 3/4 ton? Nice stance on it.

 

[upcruiser]

Thought I would add some more pics from warmer weather adventures last season. As anyone can tell we do a lot of mountainbiking. After wanting to get into bikepackimg for a long time I finally got a setup for my bike to do so. This is turning out to be my favorite way to experience the backcountry these days. It's a good mix between backpacking and moto touring. You cover more ground and see more than backpacking but it's still at a slow enough pace to really take it all in. I only managed to get out twice but hoping to do more this year.

First outing in June was a 4 day solo trip. I rode from home in Marquette and wandered east into the Hiawatha National Forest on a series of trails, dirtroads and singletrack. Covered quite a bit of ground but still had pretty leisurely evenings and mornings.


Rolling out of Marquette along the water




Autrain


Beach house








Cheers to the morning
















This was a sweet little spot along an 11 mile stretch of singletrack, never saw another person.


Making dinner as a thunderstorm approaches. Had a stormy/rainy night but it made for great sleeping


Foggy morning but great place to swim and bathe before packing up

 

[bigskypylot]

You forgot a set of TruckNutz

 

[Chris Cordes]

Now im just becoming more jealous! I seriously need to rack up more time on fatbikes. Also that area looks stunning

 

[upcruiser]

Home is where you lean it.


This is along a great area called Widewaters along the Little Indian River. Tons of small Lakes and cool trail.






Crashed at some friends' camp. Probably the nicest off the grid camps you will find.




The town of Rumley in its entirety


Preferred mode of travel for 6 months of the year


Laughing Whitefish Falls


Solar charging and airing out the dirty laundry... multi tasking





The payoff rolling back into Marquette.

Will post up the other trip later when I find some time.

 

[upcruiser]

You forgot a set of TruckNutz

For the bike? Heck yeah!