9/25/15 The 3 I’s (Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana) and 2 F’s (Family and Friends)

We have completed our exploration of the entire St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes.  It’s time to head south into the heartland of the US….fall and colder weather will be soon upon us.  From Voyageurs National Park on the Canadian border we drove directly south all the way through Minnesota into northeastern Iowa, with a 30 mph head wind the whole way.  Although it didn’t slow us down, our mileage was down for this portion of the trip.   For those who are not familiar with sailing, we found that while cruising no matter which direction we wanted to go, it seemed we always had head winds on our nose - we laughingly called them “noserlies”.  This was the first time we experienced such consistent “noserlies” while land cruising.   



Mississippi Rvr (fore) with backwaters from dams

Our first stop was in Iowa, along the Mississippi River near the confluence of the Missouri River, to visit the Effigy Mounds National Monument.  The mounds preserved here are considered sacred by many Americans, especially the Monument's culturally associated American Indian tribes. The varying cultures of Native North America “Moundbuilders”, from about 3500 BCE until the 16^th century, were found mostly in the Great Lakes, the Ohio River Valley and the Mississippi River valley and its tributary waters. By the time of United States westward expansion two hundred years later, Native Americans were generally not knowledgeable about the civilizations that produced the mounds (their ancestors). Research and study of these cultures and peoples has been based mostly on archaeology and anthropology.     



Aerial View Outlined Mounds (from NPS)

The 200 plus American Indian mounds preserved at Effigy are located in one of the most picturesque sections of the Upper Mississippi River Valley.  The construction of effigy mounds was a regional cultural phenomenon. Mounds of earth in the shapes of birds, bear, deer, bison, lynx, turtle, panther or water spirit are the most common images. These effigy mounds were not used for burial purposes; conical mounds were used for that purpose. Some archeologists believe they were built to mark celestial events or seasonal observances. Others speculate they were constructed as territorial markers or as boundaries between groups.  The animal-shaped mounds remain the symbol of the Effigy Mounds Culture. Along the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa and across the river in southwest Wisconsin, two major animal mound shapes seem to prevail: the bear and the bird.

Conical Mound overlooking Mississippi River

 Mounds were found in the thousands, but most had been inadvertently destroyed by early farmers and settlements before 19^th century archeologists realized what they were in recent years. As we hiked the cliffs, some of the mounds were still in their pre-preservation state (trees and bushes growing in somewhat raised areas); they simply look like the rest of the forest.  We are not sure how the archeologists found them at all.  No wonder they have mostly been destroyed; you simply don’t know they are there.

We finished up our short visit to eastern Iowa with a pontoon boat tour of the Mississippi River at the confluence of the Wisconsin River.  It is surprising how wide the river already is this far north.  It was a raw windy day and the chop on the main river was rough so we motored mostly in the backwaters and marshes that were formed when a lock was built downstream.   We learned about the local history, the local river history and the impact of the lock system on the river and the invasive negative impact on Iowa’s prairie of growing increasingly huge amounts of corn for what?  You guessed it – highly toxic fructose and ethanol. Interestingly to us, we are told it takes more energy to produce ethanol for gas than you save when you use it in gas (our government and the corn lobby at work…where are the environmentalists when you need them?)   We saw bald eagles in action, a juvenile eagle, a blue heron, a deer and other smaller wildlife and birds. The guide stopped to collect several large groups of oyster mushrooms from a log, which we had never even heard of.  He gave us some for dinner. Linda sautéed them in butter and they were great!  If you have the chance to try them, do so.    

We left the rolling hills of eastern Iowa, and headed east to the south shore of Lake Michigan, to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This completed our goal to see all four National Lakeshore Parks.   This National Park is fairly new. The NPS is continuing to enlarge the park carving out portions of the declining industrial area on the south shore of Lake Michigan.  The Dunes, having so many different environments in such a small area, are an ecological gem…so many varieties of plants and animals.  Several are endangered.  The park is not contiguous, but a series of areas of restored dunes along the shore.  One really interesting place was an area that had been reclaimed from acid ponds from a steel mill; an excellent example of what Hundreds of Millions of $$ can do.  It is now a lush dune environment.    

We headed south to Indianapolis to visit the Indianapolis 500 racetrack, one of Bob’s bucket list places to see from his younger car-oriented years.  The Grounds tour was pretty good; we saw much of the speedway, the cars, the media center, the winners circle etc.  We even “kissed’ the bricks at the start/finish line (a tradition).  The museum was also great – an incredible number of very expensive cars….hundreds of millions of dollars of inventory. Car aficionados will love it.  

We continued south to Patoka Lake State Park, in the Hoosier National Forest, Indiana.  From there we toured Marengo Caves National Monument; the tours included walking about 1.5 miles of cave.  The first part of the tour was longer and covered some interesting formations and two large but very shallow underground lakes with incredible light reflections.  It also included some very large cavernous spaces.  The second part was a lot shorter, but included some of the largest and most incredible formations, including the “crystal palace”.  Not as large as Monmouth Cave National Park, where we and Rob went spelunking many years ago, but just as interesting.   

W Baden Springs Domed Lobby

From our Patoka Lake campground we also toured the French Lick and West Baden Springs Resorts – both owned by the same family – the Cook Family (he became wealthy designing and owning a medical stent company).  The 3,000-acre complex includes two historic resort spa hotels, stables, a casino and three golf courses, all part of a $500 million restoration and development project. The location was originally known as the French Lick Springs Hotel, a grand resort that catered to those who came to partake of the advertised healing properties of the town's sulfur springs. The first hotel was opened in 1845 by William Bowles and was an immediate success. The original hotel burned in 1897, but the resort was rebuilt on an even grander scale by the then new owner Thomas Taggart, mayor of Indianapolis and chairman of the Democratic National Committee (now we know where the “smoke filled back rooms” were located).  About 1 mile away is the historic 243-room luxury West Baden Springs Hotel.  This hotel was built in 1902 and claimed the title of the largest free-spanning dome in the world. It claimed to be the largest dome in the United States until the completion of the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1955. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, became a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and is an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 2008 the West Baden Springs Hotel was cited by Condé Nast Traveler readers as one of the best mainland U.S. resorts.  The hotels and French Lick are well worth a look and tour.   

Guests arrived from across the country on seven separate railroads for relaxation and the alleged curative powers of the mineral waters.  Sidewalks led from the hotels to numbered springs, all of which were covered by open wooden shelters. Each arriving guest would meet with a “physician”, to determine their “therapy”.  Apparently the recommended therapy was the same for everyone; take one hot spring water bath a day, drink 2 glasses of spring water before each meal, and take a 2 hour walk each morning before breakfast and each afternoon before dinner.  Some thoughts about the effectiveness of these “health” spas: For those with infectious diseases, the sulfur infused water probably provided antimicrobial action with some relief and cures. For those with consumption (tuberculosis), the fresh air environment and walks would help their symptoms.  For those with aches and pains, the hot mineral water would provide relief (think Epsom salts baths).  For those with intestinal issues, the spring water was a natural laxative (think magnesium)….   The hot mineral laden waters along with the fitness regimen (5-10 miles per day) did everyone good, and they all left feeling in much better health.  No wonder the wealthy flocked to such places, especially when you add the social status for being there.     

Camel Rock, Garden of the Gods IL

We left the luxury of the hotels to go back to our campground reality.  We moved on to Illinois and dry camping (motor home self sufficiency equivalent to anchoring out in cruising) in the Garden of the Gods, in Shawnee National Forest, Illinois.  The incredible rock formations started during the Carboniferous period (circa 300 million years before the present); local geological conditions laid down a thick bed of gray sandstone in what is now southern Illinois. This bed of sandstone was later uplifted, and the Garden of the Gods is part of an uplifted sandstone plateau. Unlike much of Illinois, this plateau was never covered by glaciers; the furthest advance of ice sheets during the Illinoian glaciations stopped just north of Garden of the Gods.  Therefore, the morphology of Garden of the Gods is much steeper and rockier than in much of Illinois. Comparatively dramatic erosion patterns have created hoodoos and other unusual sandstone formations, as well as scenic overlooks from which raptors, scavenger birds, and humans can look out over the expansive Shawnee National Forest.  Several of the hoodoos have evocative names, including Anvil Rock, Camel Rock, and Table Rock.  Shawnee National Forest was created in 1939.  According to a park ranger, the image of Camel Rock will be on the newest US quarter to be released soon.  

We decided to leave our motor home coach in Kentucky at Linda’s sister’s and brother-in-law’s farm and travel only in our Jeep Cherokee while we visited friends and family in KY, MS, AL, FL, and GA.   We had two wonderful visits with Karen and Wayne Scott, Linda’s sister, gracious hosts with wonderful time spent together.  We also had the opportunity to have lunch with Bob’s high school friend, Louis Heath, and his wife, Ann as we drove through Decatur, AL on our way to Red Bay Alabama.    

Red Bay AL is the home to Tiffin Motor Homes, the manufacturer of our own motor home coach.  We took a 2-hour tour and saw how the coaches are made including the assembly lines. They buy the frame and chassis from Freightliner, all with Cummins diesel and Ford gas engines. Then they add all the components on two assembly lines including the fiberglass bodies.  We toured various shops such as the carpenter building and wiring shop.  They cut their own lumber and build all the cabinetry. They fabricate miles of wiring harnesses for each coach.  Incredibly, they are currently producing 10-13 coaches per day off their assembly lines. It was very interesting and informative day.  

We took the opportunity of being in north Alabama to show Linda the former Masterson family farm near the Tennessee River.  In the 1960s when Bob told his father that he did not want to be a farmer, his father sold the 532 acre cotton farm to a nearby farmer.  Over the years he has grown to be a mega farmer with thousands of acres and his own cotton gin.  He is still the owner and even with his mega farm, he refers to the land as “The Masterson Place”.  Bob’s dad is smiling in his grave at that news.  

Bob sailing near Panama City

We had a fabulous dinner with Bob’s aunt Mildred Whitlock in Tuscaloosa, AL.  From there we traveled south to spend several days with our good friends Marina and Marcello Borzatta; friends from our California yacht club days. Our visit included 3 days on their beautifully appointed and equipped 42 ft center cockpit Beneteau sailboat.  We enjoyed a couple nights of calm and one blustery night anchored in St Andrew’s Bay and some light and robust offshore sailing near Panama City Beach, FL.  Bob was reminded (fondly??) of wet and wild dinghy rides when Marcello and Bob took the family dog (theirs, not ours J) to the beach for his nightly business.  After the

 

Sunset over Shell Island while Anchored,  FL

wet return trip to the boat to windward and in a 2 ft chop, they were rewarded with a hot fresh water shower on the swim platform. Ah yes, the good old times on a boat. It was great.    

Our final visit was with Gary and Janice Whitlock, Bob’s cousin, in Winder GA.  We enjoyed BBQ from Gary’s green egg grill and a day at the University of Georgia campus (Janice’s alma mater).  Bob learned a little about Gary’s dog training techniques when we took Otis out for his daily retrieval lesson.   

We were blessed to spend these three fabulous weeks sharing good times and memories with long time friends and family.  It is always wonderful to see and spend time with people you love and don’t get an opportunity to see very often.  As Bob’s mom would remind us: “we are making memories now.”  

We drove back to Frankfort, KY to pick up our motor home and continue our adventure…next stops Tennessee and North Carolina before returning to St Augustine for December and Christmas.

9/15/15 Wisconsin and Minnesota

We have now enjoyed 3430 safe and incident-free miles along the St. Lawrence Seaway rambling west in our motorhome from our easternmost start in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada (Thank You Lord!) finishing our St Lawrence Seaway/Great Lakes journey at Voyaguers National Park near International Falls, Minnesota.(our northernmost and westernmost points of our 2015 trip).  Additionally, we traveled 1272 miles in our Jeep Cherokee exploring the local areas from each of our campgrounds. This following portion of our voyager’s sojourn includes our stop along Lake Superior in Wisconsin and then northwest into the 10,000 lakes area of Minnesota.   

Our only camping stop in Wisconsin was in Bayfield on the western shore of Lake Superior to visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. We camped in an Indian reservation in Red Cliff north of Bayfield (with its Native American casino).  The area is beautiful and the weather could not have been better.  From Bayfield we took a 4-hour boat tour to the outer Apostle Islands since the only way to experience and see the islands is from the water; fortunately, our cruise was on a beautiful sunny day.  Our cruise provided views of most of the islands, as well as close looks at dramatic sandstone cliffs and historic

Devil's Is Lighthouse, Apostle Island Nat Seashore

lighthouses (similar to, but not as dramatic as the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore we saw in Michigan).   The tour of the 21 islands and 12 miles of mainland provided a unique blend of history, culture, and natural resources. Several historic lighthouses shine over Lake Superior and the then-new wilderness areas. All but one of the islands are  not inhabited by people, but are full of bears, deer, and other mammal, which get out to the islands, in the winter, over the frozen ice (as do many ice fishermen).  There are some good hikes on some of the islands, but we just took the boat trip.  We ended up at Devils Island, and the spectacular lighthouse, and came very close to the many sea caves which have eroded into the sandstone cliffs.  

Tourist activities are winding down in northern Wisconsin after Labor Day. We tried to rent kayaks to see up close some of the sea caves on the mainland, but there are very limited tours after Labor Day – the few operating were already booked for the day.  Interestedly, no company would rent kayaks without being on a tour.  So instead of kayaking, we went sailing in Bayfield.  (Bob was quite happy the kayak tours were all full).  We ended up being the only passengers on the 33’ Pearson, made in the 1980s.  Captain Terry was very pleased to have just the two of us aboard.  He said we were “real” sailors (as opposed to the usual tourists) so he just sat back and let Bob do all the sailing;  He enjoyed the ride with us so much, he extended our trip until nearly sunset. Bob was happily at the helm the entire time and had a great time sailing as the winds picked up.  Not a fast sail, but a fun sail nevertheless.   

Split Rock Lighthouse, WI

 

 

Continuing our travel north, we visited Split Rock State Park in Minnesota; it has great scenery overlooking Lake Superior, including Split Rock Lighthouse, billed as the most photographed spot in Wisconsin (we believe it could be).  Constructed and supplied solely from the Lake up a 150+ foot vertical diabase rock cliff in 1910, long before any road to the area and helicopter-supported construction, the lighthouse is one of the prettiest we have seen.    

 

 

Our last stop along the Great Lakes journey was Grand Portage, Minnesota. We camped in another Indian Reservation campground overlooking glorious Grand Portage Bay, Grand Portage Marina (not so glorious but functional for the fisherman who catch walleye, pike and other lake fish), and the Grand Portage Casino which is being remodeled and hugely enlarged – guess those Minnesotans have money to lose.  Grand Portage was so named because it was the landing spot on Lake Superior from which the 8.5 mile portage (trail) allowed canoes, for the first time, to access waters and land west and north of the Great Lakes.  The portage allowed fur traders to get around 22 miles of rapids and waterfalls on the Pigeon River where it flows into Lake Superior.  Once around the falls of the Pigeon River, Voyageurs (French Canadian boatsmen) who worked for the large fur trading companies, could then canoe and portage goods all the way to the Pacific and the Arctic. They linked Montreal and then ultimately Europe with the Canadian northwest.  It was over this route that the Voyageurs first hauled furs (initially beaver furs and pelts and later others as well) east to Montreal to ship to Europe for men’s beaver top hats and women’s hats and high fashion. Goods were returned from Europe to Grand Portage and the Great Northwest of Canada.  These voyageurs and fur trading companies worked closely with the local Indians which helped open up the west to the white man.   



Double Rainbow over RV in Grand Portage

We had planned to visit Isle Royale National Park, accessible only by boat from Grand Portage, but unfortunately, the boat trips had stopped on Sept 5 (before Labor Day).  This was a big disappointment because one of our goals is to visit as many of the 59 US National Parks as possible (since we have been married we have already been to 36 National Parks and all the National Lakeshores and  National Seashores).  We are not confident we will come back up this way just to go to Isle Royal. Instead of Isle Royal, we hiked to three waterfalls; one falls near Thunder Bay Canada (a one-hour drive into Canada from Grand Portage) and the two falls on the Pigeon River that blocked early transit west and north to the thousands of lakes and marshes that form the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota. 

Devils's Kettle from Above

We also hiked to Devil’s Kettle, a very interesting falls (see picture).  The falls splits into two, with the left section falling into a “Kettle”, a pot hole scoured out by rocks in the raging waters over eons.  This particular hole is quite big; the left side of the river flows into an underground river system that no one has yet figured out. Logs, ping pong balls, dyes, GPS transmitters,  etc. have been thrown into it in an attempt to find out where the water goes. But still nothing.  It is believed it goes through a series of underwater tubes and eventually comes out in Lake Superior. Rumor has it someone sent a VW down it in the 60s and it too never came out.  

 

Surveyors test Devil's Kettle (shows how big)

 

While traveling the coast of Lake Superior in three states, we learned a lot about it.  When you look out over the water, even on a very clear day, you cannot see the opposite shore. It is like looking out over an ocean. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume. The “first nations” (native Indians), called the lake gichi-gami  meaning "great sea.".  Gordon Lightfoot wrote the name as "Gitche Gumee" in his song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".  Its average depth is 483 ft with a maximum depth of 1,333 ft; Lake Erie, by comparison, has a maximum depth of 210 feet and average depth of only 60 feet.

We have seen Lake Superior when there were no waves and flat as a pancake, but also, we have seen it in a very short time period with strong winds develop large, steep waves quickly. Annual storms on Lake Superior regularly feature wave heights of over 20 feet and waves well over 30 feet have been recorded.  (It was such a storm and huge waves that sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald.)   The water at Grand Portage is only 40 degrees at the surface, and 10 feet down is only 34 degrees.  During winter, the Lake freezes solid and shipping stops (as in all the Great Lakes). Bottom line, it is COLD.  Many summer kayakers wear wet suits, but if you were to fall in and not be able to get back into your kayak, your time to reach severe hypothermia is only extended to 25 minutes with the wetsuit!   There have been quite a few deaths of healthy, young adult kayakers, which is why the tour outfitters will not rent a kayak without a tour guide (liability issues).   Bob would like to go sailing here, amongst the islands and pretty good anchorages and the daily goods winds, but Linda likes sailing in WARM water, where you can go swimming.

Granite Cliff with Black Shist Inclusions

Bob is loving the geology here; it is quite complex and old.  The rocks of Lake Superior's northern shore date back to the early history of the earth. During the Precambrian (between 4.5 billion and 540 million years ago) magma created the intrusive granites of the Canadian Shield; the heart of the North American continent.  These ancient granites can be seen on the North Shore today. The mountains steadily eroded, depositing layers of sediments that compacted and became sandstone, limestone and shale.  The continent has later risen, creating one of the deepest rifts in the world. Lake Superior lies in this long-extinct rift valley, the Midcontinent Rift. Magma was injected between layers of sedimentary rock, forming diabase sills. This hard diabase protects the layers of sedimentary rock below, forming the flat-topped mesas along the shores, which cause the picturesque  high dramatic cliffs, sea caves and unique columnar formations along much of the coast (Pictured Rocks and Apostle Islands for example).  Lava then erupted from the rift and formed the black basalt rock of several of the Lake Superior islands. Finally, during the Wisconsin ice age glaciation 10,000 years ago, ice covered the region at a thickness of one to two miles.  The land contours familiar today were carved by the advance and retreat of the ice sheet. The retreat left gravel, sand, clay and boulder deposits (glacial drift). Glacial meltwaters gathered in the Superior basin creating a precursor to Lake Superior.  Without the immense weight of the ice, the land rebounded, and a drainage outlet for Lake Superior formed at Sault Ste. Marie, which would become known as St. Mary's River.  Sorry for the long geology discussion, but it really can be seen in its entirety here.

On the way north to the 10,000 lakes area of Minnesota, we stopped at the Three Way Continental Divide.  Most of us American learned of the Continental Divide for the US, the line along the Rocky Mountains where the all the water to the east flows east into the Atlantic and everything to the west flows to the Pacific Ocean.  At this particular Three Way Continental Divide in Northern Minnesota the waters flow into three distinct directions:  South to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, east to Lake Superior and ultimately down the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic (the way we have rambled on this trip), and North to the Boundary Lakes and Lake Kabetogama where the water eventually flows into Rainey Lake and the Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. 

We spent a few days in Voyageurs National Park, near International Falls, Minnesota. (yes, there are falls and a hydroelectric dam at International Falls). It was our most northern and most western points on this years RV adventure.  The park's name commemorates the voyageurs, the French-Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area as discussed above. Our campground was on the south shore of Lake Kabetogama – a walleye fisherman’s paradise.  We had walleye for lunch and dinner –our first time to eat any. The Kabetogama Peninsula, which lies entirely within the park and makes up most of its land area, is accessible only by boat. To the east of the National Park lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  Like several other national parks we visited, this is only accessible by boat. 

Bald Eagle after fight in water with 2nd eagle

This time we were lucky; we were able to enjoy a full day boat tour through the park.  Our tour crossed the USA/Canadian international border a dozen times and included a great lunch at a 90-year old fur trader’s hotel. It was the last week of park operation (definitely time to head south).  The area is almost all wilderness, and the wildlife reflected it.  We saw at least 10 bald eagles, several as a mating pair (they mate for life), and juveniles.  The bald eagle has been a comeback success here.  Although we did not see them, the wolves also range here. Linda is still looking for that beloved elusive moose (she has been looking since Maine!).

We have enjoyed our time in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but the leaves are starting to change and the temps are in the 50 and 60s during the day and 40s at night.  We are thankful and truly blessed to be able to make this trip and to enjoy life this way and this great country. We will be heading south in the Central States…first stop Iowa. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/5/15 Michigan

We are continuing our sojourn along the St. Lawrence Seaway.  So far, we have visited:  1) Prince Edward Island, Canada, in St. Laurence Bay, which is at the end of the Seaway; 2) the Thousand Island region of upstate New York and Quebec Canada, at the end of the Great Lakes, where Lake Ontario exits into the St. Lawrence River; and 3) Niagara Falls NY and Canada where the Niagara River flows north to join Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.  We have recently spent wonderful time along the coast of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior.   

Our time in Michigan included the northern part of  lower Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Detroit probably will not be on next trip either).  A lot of geography to learn since the weather patterns are very different.  Michigan touches three of the Great Lakes; Lake Michigan on the west, Lake Huron on the ease, and Lake Superior to the north.  We have been very pleasantly surprised by Michigan; in the upper parts, it is mostly undeveloped (lots of protected forests), with some rolling agricultural land, and even some mountains with small ski areas.  The Michiganders (58% of residents prefer this name) or Michianians (only 12% prefer this name) are friendly and a fun loving people.    

The geology continues to be dominated by glacial history (the great lakes were carved by the ice age glaciers), but surficial Michigan is predominantly sedimentary in nature. There are lots of sand dunes and high spectacular sandstone cliffs along the Great Lakes shoreline.  The summer here is beautiful, and we are enjoying it immensely; however, according to the locals, winters are brutal and we are glad we will miss those.  The past several years have either been exceeding cold, or have had greater than normal amounts of snow (it seems to be warmer with a lot of snow). We have met a lot of southern RVers who spend their summers in Michigan.  

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Our first long stop was at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore northwest of Traverse City; an area of high dunes and cliffs along the northeastern shore of Lake Michigan.  Lots of small lakes and forested areas, this is a vacation area or second home on a lake place for many people living in the central states.  The smaller lakes are warm enough to swim in (and lots of small sailboats abound), but Lake Michigan itself is pretty cold.  Surprisingly, this is a mecca for foodies….a lot of good restaurants that focus on natural and local ingredients.  This is the land of cherries, and we took advantage of a friend’s recommendation to get a whole homemade cherry pie from a local roadside stand.  We met the grower of the cherries and the baker of the excellent pie. HE was an interesting guy and grows cherries and bakes in between his AA meetings.  He also sells wine (mostly cherry wine but some grape too) from the many local wineries.  The delicious pie is much better than the wines (Napa wines are safe from this competition).   

The dunes along the coast were at least 200 – 300 feet, and in several locations you could climb (roll, fall or run but not walk) down the dunes to the beach.  Thankfully there were signs warning that the few minutes trip down usually resulted in a strenuous, several hour climb up, AND  if you required “rescue”, it was costly.  After watching young, athletic people struggle to climb up the steep slope of soft, sifting sand, we decided not to try it.   We did climb up a much smaller and less steep sand dune further in the park, up about 110 feet, and that was enough for us.    

Bob with Mackinac Is Transport

We camped in Mackinaw City but also spent one night on Mackinac Island; the French spelling is Mackinac but the English spell it the way but it sounds in French, Mack-in-aw.  The island is unique in that no motorized vehicles are allowed.  We took our bikes over on the ferry so we could ride around and not have to use the horse drawn, rubber tire “carriages” (wagons full of tourists).  Overlooking the small harbor is Fort Mackinac. It was captured by the English as the first volley in the War of 1812 in England’s attempt to recapture/keep American territory from the Americans.  After the 2 year War of 1812, the fort reverted back to the Americans as part of the territory settlement from the war.  The US fort remained active until 1895 and has been restored to the timeframe.  Re-enactors dress in the distinctive Prussian inspired uniforms from that time.  Fort Mackinac was designated a US National Park in 1875 and the US Army soldiers served as the first park rangers.  In 1895, the Army closed the fort as it was no longer useful in the expanded USA.  The National Park Fort was transferred to the state and became Michigan’s first state park. Now, about 80 percent of the island is in a State Park.   

Mackinac Island High Style Transport

 

 

Not surprisingly, soon after they were available, the first automobiles showed up on the island. The noisy contraption frightened the horses. After receiving a petition from the carriage trade tour operators, the village council quickly banned “horseless carriages”. This simple act helped to preserve Mackinac Island’s late 1900 century atmosphere.  Today, only horses, bikes and walking are allowed.   



Eastern Half, Grand Hotel Porch, Mackinac Island

Like many of the beautiful places we have been to with comfortable summer temperatures, Mackinac Island became a summer resort destination at the end of the 1800s (still only 300 full time residents).  The Grand Hotel, one of the islands landmarks, was built in 1887 to accommodate the large influx of tourists. In the early days of the century, wealthy patrons dressed for tea and promenaded on its 660 foot long porch in their annual summer long escape from the heat in the cities. The Grand is still grand; dinner starts at $80 and gentlemen must wear jackets. The Grand still serves tea, for $30, but it includes champagne if you wish.  We had an expensive glass of wine ($15 each – but it was a nice Cakebread) on the porch and enjoyed watching the people and carriages coming and going.  We also walked along West Bluff Road and looked at some of the “cottages” that were built by the wealthy summer residents of the island.  Their gardens are large and beautiful, obviously designed and cared for by professionals.  We saw lots of Monarch butterflies in these gardens…sometimes 20-30 at any time.  Guess they like Michigan summers too.   

"Laker" going thru Narrows, Mackinac Is

Mackinac Island is right on the “Narrows” at the intersection of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  The Mackinac Bridge (“Big Mac”) crosses the narrows.  On the Lake Huron side of Big Mac, Mackinac Island sits right on the north side of the narrow passage with another island directly to the south; two lighthouses mark the passage on either side.    Large 1000 ft long iron-ore cargo ships pass through the passage which was less than a half mile wide…..that requires some navigation, especially since you are on a slightly curved course going through the narrows, either to or from Big Mac.  It was awesome to see those huge ships slide right by the island. …imagine it in a dense fog.

Pictured Rocks, MI

To the north and west of Big Mac, across the water, is the Michigan UP. One of the most beautiful places we have been to is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, near Munising on Lake Superior.  The park offers spectacular scenery of the hilly shoreline with numerous rock formations like natural archways, waterfalls and sand dunes.  Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 15 miles of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising.  The cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, columns, formations that resemble castle turrets, and human profiles, among other man-like descriptors (please, enough from the tour guides). 

 

Kyakers at Pictured Rocks

The colors in the cliffs are created by the large amounts of minerals in the rock. The cliffs are composed of 500-million-year-old Cambrian-period sandstone, which sits atop Precambrian sandstone, the oldest rock in the park. On top is the younger hard sandstone and acts as a cap over the other layers.  Streaks on the face of the cliffs come from the groundwater leaching out iron (red), manganese (black-white), limonite (yellow-brown), copper (pink-green), and other minerals. As the water evaporates, these minerals leave streaks of color.  The varied colors and designs make many of the cliffs look like a picture painting…hence the name.  The cliffs can best be seen from the water so we took a 3 hour cruise along the cliffs in late afternoon to get the best light for Linda to take pictures.    

Our last stop in Michigan was in the Porcupine Mountains in extreme western UP to see the Lake of the Clouds.  The lake is situated in a glacial valley between two ridges in the Porcupine Mountains. Surrounded by virgin wilderness and stunning vistas, the lake is a popular destination. It was very beautiful and worth the 1 hour detour to just go and see it from an overlook.  Unfortunately, we did not allow enough time to explore the upper Keweenaw Peninsular to explore the rich copper and other mining history of the area.  Maybe another trip is in order.   

As with Nova Scotia and Maine, fog continues to haunt our travels.  The cold water of the Great Lakes, mixed with warm air results in foggy mornings.  We are often driving in fog along the coast in the mornings until the sun burns it off.  That kind of fog and the often reckless captains of the many coastal-hugging sailboats of yesteryear (first ship to the destination got the most money) required many lighthouses and Life Saving Stations along the great lakes coasts.  A lot of commercial traffic used (and still uses) the great lakes, and with the huge fetch (distance wind travels over water), the sudden Midwest storms can bring intense winds and huge waves (similar to the ocean).  Before modern navigation, shipwrecks were a common occurrence.  We visited an excellent museum at Whitefish Point, MI, on the UP.  It included many shipwrecks but focused on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – the bonus is that you get to listen to Gordon Lightfoot while at the museum.   

The history of this area continues to that of the power struggle between the French and the English for control of the New World, with the newly formed US American “Rebels” also a factor in later years.  As settlers moved west, so did the struggle for power and control.    Interestingly, the history museums in Michigan are much more oriented to the French side;  many of the forts and settlements were originally French and then acquired by the English after the Seven Years War.  An interesting observation;  the French tended to cooperate and work with the local Indians, the fur traders, the priests, and the soldiers, and this made for a somewhat peaceful coexistence among the various “constituents”.  However, when the English “took over” after “winning” the war, they often tried to rule rather than work with the various groups, and this was one of the major causes of continued unrest among the native Indians in the various areas.  Ultimately, this led to an Indian uprising by Chief Pontiac, which failed when winter set in.  

 

Monarch Butterflies Everywhere

We have enjoyed our time in Michigan and are looking forward to our last visits along the Great Lakes in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Some of the leaves are already turning here. The season for tourists is winding down (things to do are sometimes already closed or will close after Labor Day weekend), and it is getting cold at night. Break out the blanket!!  Almost time to head south but two more states to enjoy before we leave.