Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

September 6, 2012

The most amazing day at the beach!  Jim and I took a trip to another section of the coast of Lake Superior, near Marquette, Michigan, and ended up at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  What a beautiful surprise!  Neither of us had ever heard of it and discovered it quite by accident. 

We started out after lunch intending to just take a ride up north.  When we got to the shore of Lake Superior, we drove east, along Highway 28, until we reached Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  It's a hidden treasure.  We roamed around there for several hours, until darkness forced us to leave. 

 Most of the afternoon was spent taking pictures on the beaches and of the rocks.  I'll post a few here to give you an idea of our "day at the beach".  At one point, we stopped at a roadside park (which are quite nice in Michigan!) and found the "Face in the Rock".  The "Face in the Rock" is a carving in the sandstone rock along the shores of Lake Superior near AuTrain, Munising, and Grand Island in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Face in the Rock

This carving was left by a French voyager in 1820 as a tribute to "Powers of the Air", the only survivor of the peaceful Chippewa band of Indians who lived on Grand Island in the 19th century but were persuaded to battle the Sioux Tribe in a bloody battle fought in Minnesota. The face is still there, but very windblown and eroded.  Still, kinda cool.


Stopped for dinner in Munising at Johnny Dogs and The Barge In Tavern.  They are connected establishments:  one serves food, the other booze.  We ordered food and had it brought over to the tavern so we could have a drink.  Tasty burgers, great prices.  Didn't get back to the trailer until 10:00 p.m., just in time to hear Barack Obama's DNC speech. 

Waves on the beach

Another beautiful spot

Jim at work

Miner's Castle

Miner's Castle Visitor's Center-I like the lines

Scott Falls, on the side of the road!

Uh, Jim, forget something?

Feathered Friend, once we fed him!

County Fair and the Coast

Jim with our Camp Hosts, Pat and Doug

September 4, 2012

Tuesday after a Monday holiday is usually a busy day most places.  For Jim and I, it is just another day, strange as that feels.  We have been in the Upper Peninsula or U.P. for the past two weeks.  We feel like we are on the way to becoming "Yoopers" (U.P.'ers) as they are known.  We even tried the regional food, a "pasty" the other day. (More on that later!)


We've done a few things since we've been here, attending the Florence County Fair in Florence, Wisconsin, being one.

Take home a Goldfish

We went on Saturday, expecting some crowds and excitement.  What we saw was a very small fairgrounds,  a pony ride, 3 midway games and a metal building filled with the traditional county fair fare that had been judged by the Fair Committee:  vegetables, sewing projects, photographs, and art projects.

Prizewinning Rooster!

First Prize!

There was also another barn filled with 4-H farm animals:  lambs, chickens, bunnies.  Very quaint and sweet.  Took us all of an hour to wander around and see the sights.

One of our favorite pastimes is taking car trips.  Around here, there is a lot to see.  There  are so many lakes and rivers, many more than I would have ever thought.  Coming from southern California and living in New Mexico for the past 20 years, this girl is not used to so much water.

Chipmunk Rapids - we never found the rapids

Artesian Well at Chipmunk Rapids

Sure, I had the ocean not far from my house when we lived in California, and in New Mexico, we lived really close to the Rio Grande River, but those experiences are nothing compared with these states we have been visiting lately.  Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are all full of water.  Every car or truck we pass (seemingly) has a canoe or kayak attached to the roof.  We are talking about renting some kayaks ourselves and taking advantage of our surroundings.

Last Friday, we took a trip to the "coast" - the shores of Lake Superior.   Our ultimate destination was Copper Harbor but there are many great towns along the way.  We traveled about 130 miles one way and had a glorious day filled with interesting and beautiful landscapes.  Driving through Houghton, Michigan, we crossed over the bridge spanning Portage Lake.  Houghton is a college town, Michigan Tech is located there.  The main highway goes right through the campus and along Fraternity and Sorority Row.  The frat houses were jumping with partygoers on this Friay night of the new semester.  Fun to watch.

We drove through Hancock, Calumet, Eagle Harbor....all picturesque towns with tons of historic footprints.  This area had a huge mining industry at the turn of the 20th century.  Everywhere you look there are old mine shafts and tailings.  Most were copper mines, with other minerals mined as well.

The ride up Highway 26 into Copper Harbor was so reminiscent of driving up Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach.  I knew we were in a "seaside" community, down to the types of architecture of the cottages and bungalows on the shore.  We stopped many times to take photos and check out the rocks in the surf....yes, there are actually waves on Lake Superior. Probably not surf-able, but waves nonetheless.

The "Coast"

Great background!

Steps to the beach

Restored Sutler's Store at the Fort

Near Copper Harbor there is a Michigan state park, Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, which we decided to visit while we were there.  The fort was originally built in 1844 and went through many incarnations before it was abandoned and then bought by the state and restored.

Parade Ground on the Lake Fannie Hooe

Enlisted men's quarters

 Jim and I wandered around in the fort for several hours, and I was very impressed with the restoration efforts.  Many of the items we saw displayed were unearthed on the fort site. Some of the buildings were totally recreated, but the builders tried to maintain the integrity of the originals.  Enjoyable day all around.  Got back to the trailer very late.

This past weekend we were going to go searching for waterfalls in our vicinity.  According to the internet, there are many close by.  We took Highway 2 toward Iron River in search of a waterfall by Long Lake.  As soon as we got in the truck, it started to rain.  By the time we got to Long Lake, it was pouring so we aborted that plan and decided to go do our grocery shopping at the Walmart in Iron Mountain, 20 miles away. 

When we got to Iron Mountain, both of us were ready for lunch.  Jim had been wanting to try the local food specialty, the Pasty (pronounced "pass-tee").  We had seen them advertised everywhere, in restaurants and grocery stores.  We had asked our server in a restaurant one time where the best ones were served and he told us to go to Dobber's in Iron Mountain.  So, we did. Jim ordered the beef pasty and I ordered chicken, thinking they were going to be like pot pies.  Well, they're not.  They have the basic same ingredients:  crust, meat, potatoes, veggies, but NO moisture whatsoever!!  These pasties were the driest, blandest foodstuffs we've ever eaten. Jim doused his with pepper sauce and I tried mustard.....no help.  Never again.  Ugh.  These people have never eaten tasty food and don't know what spices are.

The leaves are starting to turn.  We see a little more color every day.  We're told the prime color will happen around the end of September, beginning of October.  We are patiently waiting. 

Color is coming!

Crystal Falls, Michigan

August 20, 2012

Here we are in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or the "U.P" as they call it.  We've been here a few days, since Friday night.  We left the Sioux Falls area on Thursday and spent the night in Minnesota, at a lovely campground called Peaceful Valley...and indeed, it was.  The campground was nestled in a small valley, just outside of Le Sueur, MN, surrounded by woods.  We arrived in the late afternoon, dropped the trailer in the park, and immediately left to find the Costco, which was about 40 miles away, in Burnside, MN.  We needed our Costco fix - paper towels are important!  We also found a Pei Wei for dinner which was a nice change of pace.

Friday morning we were up and out of there by 8:30 a.m., as we decided to do the entire 367 miles in one day.  We normally go about 200 a day when traveling, but we wanted to get to the U.P.  Let me tell you, it was a long day.  By the time we got to our campgound in Crystal Falls, Michigan, we were ready to be out of the truck.  On top of a long travel day, our campground was impossible to find from the directions on the internet.  We got lost following the GPS coordinates posted on the website.  Finally called the camp host.  We were not happy campers Friday night.

Paint River Hills Campsite

View from our front window

Saturday morning was another story - this campground is situated in a small township, population 1,466.  There are very few people other than us and the camp hosts (people probably can't find it!) and it is nicely laid out in the middle of the woods.  Saturday and Sunday we stuck close to the trailer.  Jim did some software work and I started a new book.

This morning we decided to follow the hiking trail into the woods adjacent to the campground.  The trail runs along the Paint Hills River (the name of the RV park is the Paint Hills River Campground) and is really beautiful.

Paint Hills River

Leaves are already turning

Thoroughly enjoyed that walk and will definitely do that again.  Up the road, on Highway MN-69, is an actual boardwalk on the river.  I would like to explore that as well.




These pictures were taken with my Motorola Razr Maxx, so are not the best quality, but you will get an idea of the place we will be staying for the next few months.  I'll take my Nikon next time and take "real" photos.

Don't forget...if you click on the photos you can enlarge them.

Corn Palace

August 14, 2012

Today we had a "free" day - yesterday we spent all day shuffling back and forth between agencies helping us become residents of South Dakota.  We had to jump through a few hoops in order to get vehicle insurance, health insurance, vehicle registrations and voter registration.   Last Friday we were able to get our SD driver's licenses with very little inconvenience.  We just had to wait about an hour total and provide three types of identification.  We needed the driver's licenses to get the rest of the transition done.  Now we are officially South Dakota residents.

There are few "tourist attractions" in this area so we had little from which to choose.  We decided to take a ride out to see one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood homes, in DeSmet, SD.

Ingalls' Homestead

It was about 50 miles from where we're staying in Salem.  The ride out there was really nice, strictly corn, soybean and hay fields.  I never realized that South Dakota is mostly farmland, having never been here before.  The western part of the state has the Black Hills but the rest of the state is rolling prairie.

When we got to DeSmet, I was really disappointed to find that the Ingalls' Homestead was so commercialized that I didn't want to pay to walk around in it.  I took a few photos and then we went to find a place for lunch.

DeSmet, Kingbury County Courthouse

 The town of DeSmet was founded in the 1800's and has some great architecture.  The county courthouse is dated 1898.  I enjoyed our ride around town, snapped a few pictures.

With the rest of the afternoon ahead of us, we picked another destination, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, about 30 miles from DeSmet, and on our way home.  We really had no idea what to expect, so were pleasantly surprised when we got there.

The front of the Corn Palace

 The original Corn Palace was built in 1892. (www.cornpalace.org) The corn murals are very intricate and well done, changed out each year. We spent about an hour looking around.  Those of you on FaceBook, don't let Jim's comments fool you...he was a little impressed!

Outside Corn Murals

Inside Corn Mural

"Cornelius" the Mascot

It was a relaxing day, just riding around.  Jim and I enjoy driving, even without a destination.  We often ponder how the people in these rural areas make a living if they are not farmers.  Small town life is definitely different from the way we've lived.  I am enjoying  seeing this part of the United States.

Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, SD

August 6, 2012

Monday morning dawned clear, with blue skies.  Once we were on our way to Hot Springs, however, a nice cloud cover developed overhead, making our drive a little more comfortable.  We decided to have a "partial" excursion day - we didn't leave the trailer until after we had lunch. I've been wanting to see the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs and this seemed like the right day to do it.
 
We arrived at the Site just in time for the 2:30 tour.  This place is an actual active archeological site, which was discovered in 1974 when a real estate developer broke ground for a new housing development.  They didn't get very far....one of their bulldozers nicked and uncovered a mammoth tusk.  Once the find was verified, the site became a dig, which is still ongoing.

Entrance to the Mammoth Site

 So far, they're only down about 22 feet in what was once a mud hole.  Their preliminary core samples, down to 67 feet, found evidence of bones all the way down.  They have built a museum over the dig site and conduct tours around the actual workers.  Weird.

"Murray Antoinette" (mammoth without a head)

Tools of the Digging Trade

 The bones and fossils they are finding date back around 27,000 years.  Since the bones were submerged for so long in water originally, there is no DNA left in the bone material so they can't match complete skeletons, but so far, 120 tusks have been found, which leads the scientists to conclude that they have found 60 mammoths so far, Woolly Mammoths (57) and Columbian Mammoths (3).  The Exhibit Hall was interesting as well.  Nice excursion.

Tour Information Sent Via Phones

We headed back to Custer to walk the streets that are full of bikers. Wow! There's nothing else like the sight of hundreds of motorcycles lined up and down the road.  And the people were great people-watching fodder.

Bikes Galore!

 Jim and I took a front window seat at Bitter Ester's Brewhouse for dinner and watched the people go by.  I had my first buffalo burger!  It was really tasty.  I couldn't leave Custer without trying one.  This is, after all, buffalo country!  I would definitely eat buffalo again.

Jim, Pondering

"Hiking Day" (or so we thought)

August 5, 2012

We started off this beautiful Sunday morning by eating breakfast at the RV park restaurant, the 7th Cavalry Cafe.  Only our second time eating here, as the portions are so big as to be obscene.   We don't need the calories!  The place was so crowded that we were seated with strangers at a large table.  Jim had a little trepidation about being able to converse on common topics with these folks, but in the end, we had a marvelous time. These folks were locals, had some nice recommendations for us.  Food took forever as the restaurant was soooo busy.  By the time our food arrived, our seat mates were done and gone and a new set of people sat down.   They were from Louisiana and happen to be in the trailer parked next to us.  Again, we had plenty to talk about.  All in all, a fun experience, including the food.

French Creek

Trail Riders

Our intention was to find a beautiful place to hike, so we drove through Custer State Park, cruising "Lame Johnny Road".  Along that way, we came to French Creek (where gold was discovered in South Dakota Black Hills for the first time, right down the road from our RV park) and there was a rutted, dirt track along the creek.  We stopped near the bridge across the creek and parked the truck.  We walked along for about 10 minutes and were overtaken by a batch of horses and riders on a guided trail ride.  So much for a nice, quiet hike!  After they passed, we followed the trail a while longer and had to stop.....the trail crossed the creek and us with no water shoes....oh well.  Got back in the car and drove along.

End of our hike

 Further up Lame Johnny, we came across a small body of water, a pond really, and stopped to take a few pictures.  It was quite pretty, situated with a few pine trees.

The Pond

After we joined the main road again, we came across a really large herd of buffalo surrounded by a large hoard of bikers.....it was quite a sight to see.  Took awhile to work our way through the throng.

The Herd and the Hoard

Bismarck Lake

After dinner, we stopped at a place we have passed numerous times, Stockade Lake, just to check out the shoreline for early evening photos....also hiked up a hill and checked out Bismarck Lake.  Both were beautiful, but didn't thrill either of us enough to come back for photos.






We continued on to the Gordon Stockade historic site.  This was interesting, a "fort" built by a group of people who defied the Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868) to come to the Dakota Territories to seek their fortunes and look for gold.  Eventually, they were caught and forced to go back East to their homes.  None were procescuted.

Original Part of the Stockade

Half of the Stockade is original construction, the other half was rebuilt to complete the site.  The Treaty of Ft. Laramie gave the Dakota Territories (which included the Black Hills) to the Lakota Indian tribes.  Therefore, the white people who wanted to travel through it or stay needed the Indian's permission to do so.  (There are still lawsuits pending regarding this treaty.)

For a day that started out as just a hiking day, this one was pretty busy!  We made one more stop in Custer State Park today, up a long, winding road to see the Mt. Coolidge Lookout.  It is a fire lookout built on one of the highest points in the surrounding area.

View From Mt. Coolidge Lookout

The Tower at Mt. Coolidge

The views from the tower base were incredible, even though there was a lot of haze on the horizons.   I can only imagine what a clear day would have looked like.  As it was, we could see forever.  This lookout is credited with discovering the 1988 Galena fire that burned over 16.000 acres in Custer State Park.


Nice day all around.