Day 33-August 13

Photos from Days 33

Wawatam Lighthouse, St. Ignace, Michigan.  Mackinac Island is in the background

"Mighty Mac is the world's 24th-longest main span and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere.

Photos from Days 34

The Mohawk River

Photos from Days 35

Joni and the Red Lion

Home

Comments for Day 32-35

For our last day in the U.P. we decided to just take it easy and minimize our driving.

Wendy made a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, pan fried Taylor pork roll, and English muffins.  We then packed a lunch of PB&J sandwiches, chips, and drinks, and headed back to one of the nearby beaches on Whitefish Bay where we spent the afternoon enjoying the serenity of the Great Lakes. 

For dinner we returned to The Inn in Paradise where we had lunch on the previous day.  There aren't many dining in the UP, but this is a good one.  Joni and I shared poutine for an app,  and followed it up with a turkey BLT for Joni, and a Yooper Dip ( a hot roast beef sandwich with gravy for me).

During our dinner the skies opened up, dumping buckets of rain on the UP.  Fortunately the downpour ended quickly and on our drive back to the campsite we were treated to a full rainbow.

Returning to our campsite we sat by the river enjoying a spectacular and constantly changing sunset.

On Friday morning we packed up our gear and headed 330 miles south, to West Bloomfield, Michigan, where Carl and Wendy live.  The highlight of that drive for me was crossing the Mackinac Bridge. I do not like heights, and I especially do not like high bridges.  In 2016 when we last visited the UP, Joni drove our van across the bridge, and I sat in the back with sheet over my head, and music blaring in my earbuds.  

However, I was determined to overcome this fear and I did!

We arrived at Carl and Wendy's home around 5:30 PM, took quick showers, and were ready just in time for dinner.  Wendy's son, Scott, and his two sons, Ryan and Evan, joined us for dinner, which was Detroit style pizza.  We have not seen Scott  for 4 years, and we have not seen his boys since June, 2013, so it was a thrill to see them all. 

On Saturday morning, Joni and I said farewell to Wendy and Carl, and hit the road just after 7 AM.  We had campsite reservations at Caroga Lake State Park, near Gloversville, NY, 632 miles away.  Most of these miles were on interstate highways, but the last 20 miles took us through the verdant rolling farmlands of central New York.  We arrived at Caroga Lake, which is in New York's Adirondack Park, around 7 pm, with enough time to set up our campsite and prepare a yummy dinner of hot dogs and beans.  Being a Saturday night, the campground was jumping with lots of weekend warriors who partied well into the night.  We were just happy we were able to get a campsite.

Our final day of travel on this odyssey was an easy one.  We left the campground at 7AM, stopped for an elegant breakfast at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, and arrived at our home in East Sandwich at 1 pm.  

We travelled 8,415 miles in 35 days.  

We witnessed the effects of climate change every day.  We endured early morning temps in the 40°'s and afternoon temps as high as 100°.  The blue skies of Montana were continually filled with smoke, and like the presence of sharks on Cape Cod, I'm sure forest fires will be with us for years.  

We also shared the joy of camping with so many of our fellow Americans who were thrilled to be able to escape the restrictions of the pandemic.  

We love to travel, it is so enlightening. Mark Twain said it best, 

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Day 32-August 12

Photos from Day 32

Comments about Day 31

After a relaxing breakfast of bagel, egg, and cheese sandwiches we headed north to the Whitefish Point lighthouse and Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  With over 500 shipwrecks on Lake Superior alone, the museum provides a fascinating look into many of the shipwrecks that have haunted this coast for centuries. 

Leaving Whitefish Point, we headed toward's Carl's cabin that originally his grandfather built with four other hunting and fishing enthusiasts. The cabin sits on 100 acres that borders the East Branch of the Two Hearted River.  It's Carl's happy place.

On the way to the cabin we visited the Crisp Point Lighthouse and then the mouth the Two Hearted River both of which are located along the shore of Lake Superior.  

All of these locales are completely isolated; miles and miles from any town or service.  If you want to get away from it all, this is the place.

Leaving Carl's cabin, we headed south, and stopped for an early dinner at the Pine Stump restaurant in Pine Stump Junction, a favorite locale for snowmobilers.   The menu was simple but satisfying.  

Day 31-August 11

 Photos from Day 31

The Whitefish Point Light and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  It is estimated that there are about 550 wrecks in Lake Superior, most of which are undiscovered.

Immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot, the 728 ft. Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great Lakes.  She sank in November, 1975, with all of the 29 member crew dying.  The cause of the wreck is uncertain.

A Lego model of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The rudder from the S.S. M.M. Drake, at 200 ft long which sunk in 1901.

A model of the 603 ft. freighter Daniel J. Morrell, which sank in 1966 in Lake Huron.  Only one member of the 29 man crew survived.  

Crisp Point Lighthouse

Mouth of the Two Hearted River.  Hemingway's "The Nick Adams Stories" take place on the Two Hearted, although in reality Hemingway fished the Fox River, near Seney, Michigan.  He liked the name of the Two Hearted and used it in his writings.

With Carl in front of his cabin on the East Branch of the Two Hearted River.  

some of the artwork in Carl's cabin

Comments about Day 30

Our route on Day 30

Our first full day in the UP was a good one.  After a leisurely breakfast of eggs, bacon, & toast, the four of us got in Carl’s truck and headed toward Sault Saint Marie, following  a coastal road along Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay.

We made several stops along the way, discovering beautiful beaches with crystal clear lake water.  It was so inviting, hopefully we’ll get some swimming in the lake before we leave.

We pulled into Sault Saint Marie around 1 PM, and headed for Karl’s Cuisine where we dined in 2016 when we first visited the UP.  Karl’s overlooks the locks which are very busy with huge freighters passing between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  

I ordered a beef pasty, a sandwich unique to the UP.  Wendy, Carl, and Joni all had more common dishes, all of which were very good.

Leaving "the Soo", as they say here, we visited Walmart, purchasing a variety of staples for our trip  and then returned to our campsite.  Our dinner was simple, hot dogs.  

Day 30-August 10

 Photos from Day30

Point Iroquois Lighthouse

Now that's clear water!

Comments about Day 29

We got off to a slow start, knowing we didn’t have to travel as far as most days; we were only going to Paradise.  Paradise, Michigan that is, which is on the eastern edge of the Upper Peninsula, where we were meeting my sister, Wendy, and her husband, Carl, with whom we would be spending the next four nights at the Rivermouth Campground in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park.

Having run out of water in our van, we didn’t make coffee, so we satisfied our coffee fix at Antonio’s, a small immaculate restaurant in nearby Bergland.  I also picked cup some slices of banana and pumpkin.

Continuing out drive across the UP, we stopped in Munising to purchase some wine, and then continued on to the town of Marquette, a prosperous  small city on the coast which is  also home to a state university.  We had a delicious lunch at the  Vierling Brewery pub.  Joni had a pulled pork sandwich and I enjoyed the local cuisine with a cup of Whitefish chowder and fried Whitefish bites.  

Leaving the restaurant we took a brief driving tour around Marquette before returning to our drive to Paradise.

We arrived at the campground in Paradise around 4 pm.  Wendy and Carl were already there; our adjacent campsites faced west and  overlooked the Tahquamenon River.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying each other’s company.  We had not seen Wendy and Carl since April, so we had lots of family news to share as we watched the sunset over the river.   

The late sunset, 9:15 PM, allowed us to have an even later stake dinner which Carl grilled.  Despite the dark, the steaks were cooked perfectly.