Roger here.... The opening picture is obviously of the Mackinac Bridge -- The Mighty Mac. It was taken from one of the scenic viewing areas at Straits State Park in St. Ignace, MI, where we have spent the last four days. Since we are driving over that bridge tomorrow on our way to the Traverse City area, posting about our current home is long overdue.
Where do I start? There are several trails through the very dense woods where we can walk the dogs. Dianne took this picture of a new pine tree growing out of the stump of an old one. Many of the trees and shrubs near the lakefront have some very nice labels. I smiled when I spotted the placard below in front of a very healthy stand of poison ivy:
Our 50 amp (no water or sewer) campsite is nestled in the trees, but there is plenty of sun to enjoy. A minor miracle -- we found a hole in the trees large enough for our satellite to work. The site is large and comfortable. We can see Lake Huron through the trees from the sitting area outside. Very pleasant.
Dianne here: Bandido especially likes the cedar trees here at our camp site. His breath is now Piney-fresh!
The sign to the right is directly across the road from our site and visible through the windshield. Cool.
Fifteen yards past the sign is a bench with a view.
Very nice.
And then.... 15 more yards and you are on the beach!The muddy and overgrown beach -- not quite like the pristine beaches we left on Lake Superior. No long beach walks here. Oh well, you can't have everything. Still, a really nice setting in a great location.
Dianne here: An added perk of staying right next to the bridge, with a view within a few steps of our motorhome, was being able to look at the bridge at night. Wow, covered with multicolored lights, it looked like Christmas!
A word of warning to anyone contemplating a stay in a Michigan State Park. It is not cheap. $28 per night is a little high, since there are no water or sewer hookups, but considering the location and setting, that doesn't seem too bad. However, there is a kicker: There is an additional fee of $8 to drive your motor home into the park (not unusual), but in Michigan, you pay the $8 for every night of your stay. For us (five nights) that would have been $40. We opted to buy a $29 annual pass to save $11. In addition, there is an added charge of $6 for our towed vehicle. So, in reality, our site (without water or sewer) cost us $35 per night. Again, the setting is very nice, the park is well run, and we enjoyed our stay -- just a little salty.
The pre-dinner entertainment was unique and memorable: Bob arranged for us to have our own private wine tasting. Let me rephrase that -- our own private boxed wine tasting. Bob brought four different boxed merlots. We added a fifth box and some crackers to cleanse the palate.
We managed to attract some attention from our fellow campers. Lots of grinning.
After the tasting we rated the wines. The results are posted at the side. We did learn a few things: The more expensive boxes did tend to be better. Pouring the wine through an aerator improved the taste of all of them. It was fun doing something that was a little silly.
Last evening, Bob and Linda stopped by and joined us around our campfire. They left for Sault Ste. Marie this morning. They brought a small sample of Four Roses bourbon for us to taste. They had gone on a bourbon tasting tour in Kentucky recently. We had never really had bourbon before, so it was another new experience.
The pet picture of the day shows Bandido posing on his way to the top of the picnic table. Mr. Fiesty likes to climb.
Roger here.... The opening picture is along the bike, pedestrian and horse-only road on Mackinac Island. Pretty, huh?
Yesterday, we traveled from Sault Ste. Marie to St. Ignace, a short, hour-long drive. We are still in the Upper Peninsula, but just a bridge away from the "mitten" of Michigan. We are staying at Straits State Park and will write about our campsite in a future post.
The main purpose of our stop here was a visit to Mackinac Island. Since the weather forecast was mid-seventies and sunny, after taking the boys for a long walk, we did that today.
The drive to the ferry dock was a short one. It took more time to unload our bikes (which we took with us) from the car rack, than it did to drive to Shepler's Ferry Service. Dianne snapped a quick photo of the St. Ignace Lighthouse as we left the harbor.
Shepler's Ferry Service was extremely well-organized and customer-friendly. An agent met us in the parking lot to make sure that our bicycles made it to the ferry -- an amazing absence of hassles. The boat left on time and took us on a quick side trip underneath the Mackinac Bridge. The fifth largest suspension bridge in the world is pretty impressive from this angle.
We encountered a parasailer along the way.
On the way into the harbor at Mackinac Island we were able to take a pic of the Grand Hotel ($10, just to walk on the grounds -- not for us), really nice houses on the hill, and yet another light house.
Our main activity was to be an 8.2 mile bike ride around the perimeter of the island. Since no motor vehicles are allowed on the island and the ride was billed as flat, the trip fit Dianne's criteria for the perfect ride. But first, lunch.
We searched the main street for quite a while to find an open space to park the bikes. As you can see, the hundreds of bikes allowed for very few open spaces. It reminded me of trying to find a space to park our car when we visited our daughter in Chicago.
When we finally snagged a space, we were in front of the Chippewa Hotel and the Pink Pony Bar & Grill -- love the mural behind the bar. The menu looked good, so in we went.
We picked well. Our whitefish sandwiches were delicious. Our table was right by the street so we had a view of the street traffic -- The Grand Hotel Carriage, and an actual beer wagon pulled by horses, heaped with boxes of various brands of beer.
The main street experience on Mackinac Island was reminiscent of the Main Street area of Disney World (including the crowds). The difference... these buildings were more than facades.
Okey Dokey... on to the bike ride. I already laid out Dianne's bike riding criteria: flat, no cars, etc. The ride had other attributes -- perfect weather, no wind, beautiful landscaping and amazing seascapes (as seen in the opening photo). Dianne was happy. I was happy.
I REALLY enjoyed all the cairns that hundreds of people have erected along the rocky coast over the years. This is usually Dianne's domain, but after a few miles I decided that we must leave our mark.
As we neared the end of our ride and re-entered the town area we passed some amazing Victorian houses. (Our last house was a 1902 Victorian house, so these magnificent houses had an impact on us.) Here are a few shots:
Before I leave this part of the blog we did, indeed, buy some fudge :-). We also bought some American Spoon Mango-Habanero salsa and some Sour Cherry Preserves that we sampled in one of the shops (thanks, Steve).
Back at the campsite. Bob and Linda, our friends and neighbors at Retama Village, are also staying at Straits State Park. We had a delicious dinner at their place last night. More about that in the next post.
We took the pet picture of the day at the Aune-Osborne Campground in Sault Ste. Marie. Dianne ran into a couple walking FOUR whippets. (It is hard to have just one.) Dianne took Chaplin to meet the four female whippets the next day. He was very excited to meet the pretty girls!
Roger here... First some fun news: Last night when we returned from taking the dogs on their daily long walk, we found a note on our door. It seems that Jim and Dee, who we met briefly at the April, 2010 South Carolina RV Dreams Rally and who write the blog Tumbleweed, are parked directly behind us. (We are actually blocking their view of the river!) We had such a great time at that rally, so all connections to it are wonderful news.
Mutual friends Nancy and Bill (Our Road to Retirement) as well as Margie and Roger, (RV-Adventure of Margie and Roger) emailed Jim and Dee (and us) to let them/us know that we were in the same RV park. Dee went to the office to figure out where we were, and.... discovered that the view from the large back window of their fifth wheel is the back end of our motor home :-) four feet away. Such a small world.
We both had plans for today, but tomorrow should give us a chance to get to know each other better.
OK -- Today -- I knew that Sault Ste. Marie would be the home base for finding Tahquamenon Falls and Whitefish Point. I also knew that both places were dog-friendly, so Dianne tied the red kerchiefs on the dogs and off we went. The drive to Paradise (the closest town to our destinations) was a little more than an hour. We opted to take the back roads next to Lake Superior instead of the state roads -- a pleasant road, lined by the ever-present pine trees. We hoped to see a moose, but not this day.
Our first stop was the upper Tahquamenon Falls (pronounced like phenomenon). After paying the state park admission fee, we found a picnic table to enjoy the lunch that Dianne packed.
We then headed for the trail head. After a short walk on the paved trail, we began to hear falling water. And then we were able to view the largest waterfall east of the Mississippi! (Except for Niagara)
Definitely the largest waterfall that looks like a root-beer float. The tannins in the water are responsible for the color -- sorry, can't help explaining -- the old science teacher in me!
(Dianne here: Just a FYI for our dog-lover friends, there is a 94-step stair section down to the falls, which would not be an issue for a dog except that it is open metal grating. If you have your dog with you, prepare to either carry it down or take turns like Roger and I did.)
We opted to take a more undeveloped nature trail back to the parking area. Dianne got some great pictures of the daisies (that grow like weeds here, like the lupines in MN) and other wild flowers and her favorite, the fungus.
My favorite photo is of the ferns -- that also grow like weeds. Wow, look at that bright, bright green color.
Back in the parking lot area we took turns (one of us entertaining the dogs) walking through the gift shops and the microbrewery ??? This is not something you would see in Indiana, the place we grew up. Absolutely amazing. Behind the totem pole is the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery. I did not imbibe because there were miles of driving ahead, but I was fascinated, nonetheless. There was a sign indicating that you were leaving the state park just before walking up the steps into the brewery. However, you could not enter the brewery without entering the state park. Amazing discovery for a small town Indiana boy.
We skipped the lower falls, four miles down the road, because we wanted to spend time at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at the historic Whitefish Point Light Station. (Also, because the lower falls are best seen from a canoe -- difficult for two dogs, and especially for an active Blue Heeler puppy.)
Back to Paradise and then eleven miles to Whitefish Point. The attraction here is the lighthouse and museum that is dedicated to the lost ships of the Great Lakes.
The admission to the museum was $13 per person. Kind of steep for two people. We decided that Dianne should go inside while I entertained the doggies. It was not difficult for me because, though interested, I would probably not get $13 worth in the museum, AND the rocky beach of Lake Superior was our playground. Bandido loves plunging into the water and digging in the sand. Chaplin likes the walking part, but would not consider getting his feet wet. Needless to say we added more weight to the motor home with new Lake Superior Rocks. (Dianne had a hand in this.)
I will let Dianne tell you about the museum...
Dianne here.... I'm sure many of you remember the Gordon Lightfoot song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I remember the song, but always just assumed it was about a fishing boat. The Edmund Fitzgerald was not a fishing boat, it was a huge freighter, just like most of those we've been watching these past weeks. Interestingly, I've recognized at least one ship pass our RV in Sault Ste. Marie that also passed our RV in Duluth a few weeks ago.
Here are two placards which I found particularly interesting,
because the ship Arthur M. Anderson, the last ship to have contact with the Fitzgerald, sailed right in front of our motor home yesterday afternoon,
and I managed to get a photo of it through our windshield. Of course, that photo just shows one small part of the ship... the rest can be seen here:
As I mentioned, these ships are huge!
The museum contains artifacts from that shipwreck, as well as others dating as far back as the early 1800s.
The way the museum is arranged typically showed a scale model of each ship, an underwater photo (if available) showing divers retrieving the same artifacts in the display, along with informational placards and a pinpoint map showing the shipwreck location in the Lake. Many of the ships were lost right near Whitefish Point due to the severe storms that develop on Lake Superior in this area.After taking in all the exhibits, I found Roger and the dogs on the beach where we did a little rockhounding. Back to Roger....
The pet picture of the day depicts Bandido enjoying a drink of water (especially for dogs) at the entrance to the Tahquamenon Falls trail, compliments of the park rangers. Some places are so-o-o much friendlier to dogs than others. Obviously we like and support the ones that are friendly.
