St Ignace

From the RV park we walked to the beach so Gary could swim in Lake Michigan.  I decided to stay on shore and be the photographer.  That water is cold.
In the evening we drove a short distance to view the bridge after dark.  There are many lights on the bridge and it was a spectacular sight.

Mackinac Island, MI

 The bridge between the Upper Peninsula, Yoopers, and the Mitten, Down below, is called the Mighty Mac.  It is 5 miles long.  Maybe I will try to explain the difference between Mackinac and Mackinaw.  We encountered both spellings and were using different pronunciations.  We learned that Mackinac is the French spelling and has a silent 'c'.  The english spelling is phonetic ending in ah.  So there are 2 spellings but all pronounced the same.

 The Mighty Mac divides the waters into Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  Here we are with our feet in Lake Huron, the 3rd lake for us.

Today we took a ferry to Mackinac Island.  There were light houses along the way.  On the island the only motor vehicles are for fire and police.  All transportation is by foot, horse, or bicycle.  Lots of all 3.  We took a carriage tour so that we could see much of the island.  This man is feeding his team after delivering freight.  He is getting ready to return to the dock for another load.  The top photo was the view from our lunch table.  Enjoyed watching the busy harbor and docks.

Day 12 +118=2470 miles

 Checked into Lake Shore RV Park on lake Michigan near St. Ignace, MI  We got here in time for lunch by the lake.

Waded in Lake Michigan

 Went to the Taste of Upper Peninsula and bought Yooper beer.  Learned that you have to be born a Yooper, someone who lives on the Upper Peninsula

 One of the specialties of this area is pasties.  That is PASS, not PASTE.  They are made with pie crust filled with beef roast, chicken, vegetables, including rutebega.

Wild rice is harvested in these northen states.  Got some to try the next time I cook dinner for the group.  

Drove into town and walked the boardwalk.  Then bought tickets for the ferry to Mackinac Island and a carriage tour.  More about the island tomorrow.  

Day 11 +222

Minocqua WI to Nahma, MI  Started with gas, groceries and our Winconsin quilt shop and licence plate.
Some bumpy roads.  Decided Alaska doesn't have the corner on bumpy roads.
The campground we headed to is called Upper Peninsula Golf and Lake Resort.  Sounds great huh?  Well, turns out their challenging course with lots of water hazards has so much water that they haven't opened the course yet this year.  Gary and Ken were disappointed that they didn't get to golf.  Then as for lake resort, turns out the RV park is built on the sight of an old saw mill.  The "lake" was mill ponds.  The office is in one of the old mill buildings.

Garnet is enjoying a glass of wine after finally getting settled in this lovely spot.  Each camp site has 45 feet of water front.  

This is the burner that was used to burn the unwanted parts of the logs and sawdust from the mill.  Beautiful sunset and moon reflected in the pond.  

We had also been told there was good food at the casino.  No casino, so we had tacos which made for a relaxing evening on the pond.    

Day 10+306

Duluth MN to Minocqua WI
This turned into quite a day,  It was 150 miles from campground to campground.  We decided to add 50 miles and take the scenic route to see the Apostle Islands.  It was a beautiful drive and enjoyed our first sight of the Great Lakes.  We drove along the shore of Lake Superior.  Had lunch at Bayfield at a nice restaurant called Maggies.  It was recommended in the book Road Food that Carol gave us for this trip.  Tried White Fish and really enjoyed my meal.  At the visitors center for The Apostle Islands National Lake Shore the ranger  asked where we were headed.  Turns out there was a lot of flooding in Wisconsin last week and all the roads heading south and east were washed out.  We went back nearly to Duluth before finding a road to continue east.  That added about 100 miles to the day.  We have now learned to check the DOT website each day before heading out.

As you can see, There has been a lot of runoff of red dirt into Lake Superior  

Candy and I put our feet in Lake Superior  

Day 9 +166=1824 Miles

This is a nice slow day.  We drove 166 miles this morning.  This afternoon we spent enjoying the fresh air sitting outside the trailer.  We are parked along the St Louis river south of Duluth, MN.  Some of us napped, others looked at maps.  It is nice to have this respite afternoon.  Too much fun!!!Garnet and I got our Minnesota licence plate at Floodwater.  This campground was flooded last week so there is something to this flood business.

Day 8 Bemidgi, Minnesota

This is Paul Bunyan country.  Bemidji is a pretty town on Lake Bemidji.  We enjoyed our drive through town and spotted Paul and Babe along the lake shore.  This was also our first sighting of the Mississippi River.  Found fresh corn on the cob from a street vendor.  Made for a wonderful dinner.  This is beautiful country.  Lots of other people think the same.  RV reservations are difficult to get here.  We got the last 3 spots tonight and will be in an overflow area tomorrow near Duluth.