June 3rd Around Mackinaw City, Mich.

officer's latrine at the fort

Mackinac Bridge-some construction

This exhibit is so cool.  It is like a hologram.  First it shows a building, then how they excavated the site.

66 degrees, very pleasant.  We drove from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City by crossing the Mackinac Bridge, which is about 5 miles long.  It was built in 1957.  Toll is $3.50 each way.  (Editorial:  new bridges are needed in the Seattle area, and I say let the folks who drive across them pay a toll.  People in other parts of the country sure do.) 
According to a sign at the state park in M.C., it is the longest span in the world.  I think that may be outdated, thinking about one I've seen in Scandanavia on the Net.  It is 8614', while the Golden Gate bridge is 6450'.  The foundations are 115' x 135'-1/3rd the size of a football field.  200' above the water's surface.  12,580 wires, eah about 2/10ths inch in diameter are bundled to form the 24-1/2" diameter main cable.  If the wires were laid end to end, they'd circle the earth 1.7 times.  If we had not taken 10 minutes to drive into a state park, we would not have seen this sign nor the great view of the bridge.  We hadn't seen this information anywhere else or in any brochures or travel books.  This is what is neat about this trip.  Want to drive through there?  Sure.

M.C. has blocks and blocks of motels and hotels, too.  We've never seen one advertise campfires, but several offered those on their signs.  One even said bonfire.  Winter activities here include dog sled races and outhouse races.  The brochure said the team must consist of 5 people-one on the hole and 4 pushing or pulling.  Reminds me of the downhill snow canoe races in Anchorage.
The area's Indian name was Michinnimakinong.  When the French arrived they changed it to Michilimackinac.  Fort Michilimackinac - this is the longest running archaelogical dig in America, since they have been working here since 1959.  Over 2 million artifacts have been dug up and over 1 million animal bones from the animals that provided food to the inhabitants.
Mill Creek -2 amateur archeologists discovered this site in 1972.  It was built in the 1700's to provide lumber for area forts.  Two men, sawing all day, could saw 14 boards 20' long.  A small sawmill could cut 140.  A Scottish trader names Robert Campbell built the mill.  So, 200 years ago this area was deforested, but it is a lush forest again.  We took a 30 minute hike on a great path.  There is a longer path, a zip line and suspension bridge where you walk only on a 2' x 12'.  We saw ferns like we see in the Northwest, but other interesting varieties, too.  A sign said "Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints."
On a Michigan license plate, next to the number: In God We Trust
Drove 17 miles to Cheboygan.  Seems like there was a '40's song about this town.  Not much there, but Tom did find a barber.  A tissue plant and a Coast Guard ice cutter that cuts ice in the strait to keep it open for ships.  Play on names:  Bark, Bath and Beyond - a boutique pet bathhouse.  Picked up a couple of things at Walmart.  Tip:  we haven't had to use an ATM yet, because we stop at a WM when we see one, divide our order and each of us can get $100 cash back free.  Seems every town around here with pop. of 10,000 or so has one.

Mackinac Island pictures

Victorian home on
waterfront

part of the hotel's porch

Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel's theme is geraniums-
interesting furniture colors

lilacs below the fort

varigated blooms on lilac bush

June 2 Mackinac Island

We thought this day would be one of the highlights of our trip and it was!  Three cruise lines with several ships each make many round trips to the island from St. Ignace and Mackinaw City daily.  It seems more people leave M.C. to stay over at the island because there was so much luggage on those.  It only takes about 25 minutes to cross from St. Ignace.  The island was made America's second national park (right after Yellowstone), but after WWI there wasn't much money, so the State took it over.
Facts:   1. the only vehicle we saw on the island was an ambulance
             2. bikes and horse-drawn carriages are the mode of travel
             3.there are 500 full-time residents and 500 horses-huge ones like Belgians, etc.  Many of the carriages hold about 17 people and are led by 2 horses, but the ones carrying 35 take 3 horses.  When the weather is hot, they change the horses out midday.  Our driver said it is like at a Nascar race - quick pit stop with the passengers sitting in the carriage.   Most are shipped to a town called Pickford for the winter, which is a lot cheaper than having feed hauled over.
             4. there are 63 varieties of lilacs on the island and they were all in bloom today!
            We took a carriage ride around the island, then walked a lot of area to get a closer look at Victorian homes, etc.  The fringe on the roof hampers picture taking and seeing things higher than eye level.
             5.  The "Lady" of the island is the huge Grand Hotel, built in the late 1800's, by 300 carpenters in 90 days.  The nightly rate is about $300.  We spent $10 each to walk through it in the afternoon and went to the bar at the top and then Tom walked up another flight to take pics, per bartender's suggestion.  I ordered him a front porch ale.  We had just been sitting in the rockers on the porch - the longest in the world.  We visited with the 2 guys working in the bar, since we were their only customers.  One sure reminded me of Brett and is majoring in hospitality at a college in Pa.  This is his first summer working here.  There are 650 seasonal workers at the hotel, mostly college students.  They have quarters and a dining hall, for which they pay $14 per day for board and 3 meals.  One guy said he still pays on his apt in his other town, though.
            6.  The school averages 80-100 kids and the graduating class runs 2-10.  Who wants to be valedictorian?       
            7.  There are no chain businesses allowed
            8.  Horse poop is composted and sold to places like the Grand Hotel for fertilizer
            9.  There are several hills and the police are known to sit on the bottom (on their bikes) with a radar gun and write tickets for speeding by the other bikes.  They call it BUI.
           10.  She told us the 35 person carriage we rode on was made by Jayco RV company.  The only made 17.  16 are owned by a company on the island and one is in Jayco's museum.
           11.  Horseshoes:  since there are so many hills for the horses to climb while pulling the carriages, they wear normal horseshoes on the back hooves and rubber ones on the front-they provide better traction and wear out monthly.  There is one doctor on the island, but 2 vets.
           12.  The drivers are mostly college kids who work 12-16 hrs a day in the summer at $7.40 per hour and no o.t. 
           13.  There are often 1 million visitors a year, mostly from May till the weather turns bad.  They said the sidewalks and stores are shoulder to shoulder.  Today was much more pleasant, though there were several kids' tour groups.  We talked to some from as far away as Dearborn and Detroit.
           14.  Weather - winds often reach 100 mph and temps 20 - 30 below zero
           15.  Electricity is brought to the island via cable under the lake
           16.  St. Anne's Catholic Church maintains baptism records since 1695
           17.  It was interesting to watch all the stuff being hauled around town on bikes and horse drawn trailers, and the large luggage racks like hotels use.  There are many hotels and guys working for the smaller ones ride their bikes to the boats, pile their baskets as high as they can with small suitcases, hang up bags and golf clubs and pedal up the hills to their hotel.  Two guys were loading the hotel carts and we didn't see any way for horses to be connected, so presumed they'd push them to the boat.  Carriage drivers said pedestrians are stupid about walking right in front of the horses to cross somewhere.  We can relate.  Some drivers must think Tom could stop this 50' of machine on a dime and even 2 motorcycles passed us on a 4 lane interstate, but had to pull in right in front of us going 60.
State Park and Fort Mackinac
           1st in Michigan.  The carriage tour took us through it and then we opted for the fort tour, which was interesting.  Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts alternate weeks all during tourist season, raising and lowering flags and greeting visitors.
           Cemetery in the park:  in order to be buried here you must have been born on the island, lived there 15 yrs or owned a business there for 15 yrs.
           We walked through buildings and watched the rifle firing demonstration.

We ate lunch at an Irish pub, but Tom didn't feel like a beer.  I told him Dave would be ashamed.  It must be a tradition for kids to buy funny and outlandish hats because there were all kinds, even coonskin ones (remember the fur traders in this area's history) and those like the soldiers wear.  Many fudge stores.
          We are tired and sore tonight, but had a great day!   

Pictures from June 1 - driving to St. Ignace, Mich.

Castle Rock - lots of steps to climb then out onto the rock.  The first  photo was taken from the rock towards Mackinac Island.

June 1 Driving to St. Ignace, Mich.

As we pulled out of the campground, a doe and her tiny fawn were standing in the woods, watching us.  They didn't move, thankfully.  They were the first deer we'd seen in this area and then saw our secnd wild turkey around the bend.  Drove through town and there were a dozen motorcyclists with flags going through.  It was nice to see so many flags for our 6 hour drive today.  It took longer than we had anticipated, and was the longest driving day yet, because the little towns are so close together and hiway speed limit is 55.  Soon we were in Wisc. for only about 10 miles, then back into Mich.  Saw a bright royal blue barn that was big and in good repair.  Even "rural" homes here have recycling bins out on the highway.
Norway, Mich.-huge Victorian home is a quilt shop.  Went through a stretch of miles with lots of barns and one big one had Miller High Life painted on the end, though it is faded.  Then saw Ev's Country Kitchen, Bessie's Pasties, and Krause's hardware!  There are interesting lights at rural intersections in several areas.  A wire hangs out over the highway and has a metal frame with a bulb in it.
Escanaba-1st view of Lake Michigan and back on eastern time (some of Mich is and some is central). The lake starts at St. Ignace and goes all the way to Chicago.  We drove through a town called Rapid River which had the Rapid River knife works - maybe knife lovers know that name.  Then the highway cuts through the Hiawatha Natl. Forest.  Dog sled rides are offered at one place and a ways back we saw signs for sleigh and covered wagon rides.  We lost sight of the lake again, but can still feel the wind on the camper.  Soon we stopped for lunch next to the lake, but it was so windy we ate inside.  Lots of new homes being built lakeside.
A town has a lot of moose statues.  The one in front of the Big Boy restaurant is painted with white shirt and red and white checkered pants like Big Boy.  One has a tuxedo on and a cow one has a pink blanket.  We have passed so many pastie shops today.  This lake must be warmer than Lake Superior because we've seen a lot of cars pulled off the highway and people wading in it.
St. Ignace ("nus") - some strange pronunciations here
Drove past several tourist spots, including the "Mystery spot", which is still a mystery to us.  Now we saw a moose with a flag painted on it.  Got set up at the campground and drove a couple of miles to castle rock which we saw on the way into town.  It is 200' above Lake Huron.  A strait divides Lake Huron and Lake Michigan here.  Mackinac Island is in Lake Huron.  We walked up 169 high and deep steps to the top, where we could see miles of pine or spruce type trees.  More than we've seen anywhere in Mich.
Bumper sticker:  there's room for all of God's creatures -- right next to the mashed potatoes.
Sweatshirt:  A man needs a woman who makes lots of money, can skin his deer and cook.  And a woman who can clean his fish and dig his bait.  Just don't let them meet.
Blocks and blocks of motels and many list $39 a night right now and some say people over 50 can stay a second night free.  This is one of 2 places where people stay and then take one of the 3 ferry and boat lines to Mackinac Island.  That is where we go tomorrow and is one of the highlights of the trip that we have been anxious to do.  Whether Mackinac is spelled ending with a c or w, as in Mackinaw City, it is pronounced Mackinaw.  If you say Mackinack, the locals know you are a fudgie- a tourist.  There are countless fudge stores and it averages $16.95 per pound.  They want you to buy 1/2 or a whole pound, not small pieces.
We looked at pics at a real estate office and they don't seem unreasonable.  Of course lakeside are more expensive.  But one pic showed a 3 bdrm home, 10 unit motel and 9 cabins - looked decent-for $299,900.  Who knows about location.
Books-finished my 9th one tonight, though I seldom read in the car since it is all new territory.  We can't believe we've been gone a month.

Pictures from Crystal Falls and Iron River area

loved sitting on deck
in the trees-could see
lake.  Garage is on the
side of the driveway as
you come in

Catching up!! May 26 Thursday and Friday of Mem. Day weekend

We were in a state park with no wi-fi for 5 nights and terrible connection in new one the last 2 nights.  May lose it tonight before I finish.
I had a toe on my other foot that felt was ingrown and I didn't want to touch it after the staph experience, so I got into a podiatrist Thursday in Marquette before we headed down the road.  He said a slight infection had started, so I am on 10 more days of antibiotics.  I knew I didn't want to mess around with it!

Left Ischpeming for Crystal Falls, Mich. to spend a lot of the weekend with Marie and John Brunswick.  She was Tom's secretary at King Salmon, Ak. 25 years ago.  Since it was a remote assignment, I had never met her and she was single at the time, so meeting John was neat for both of us.  He was in the AF 20 yrs and her 22 yrs and moved to within 5 miles of his hometown and the daughter attends his old high school.  It is a wooded area on lakes, much like her home state of Connecticut.  They had a beautiful log home built by his uncle - 2 stories and a full basement, plus a detached 3 car garage of logs.  It is on  100 acre lake called Indian Lake, where only 10 people live ful-time and others come often during the good weather.  We stopped at the Post Office to surprise her, but she was already off.  We had actually arrived about 2 days earlier than planned.  So we headed to Bewabic State Park where we had a very nice spot in the woods.  We drove down to the lake (Fortune) in the park a couple of times for walks and/or a picnic.  This was another park where CCC men worked in the 1930's.  They built a log bath house in 1936 and moved huge trees from one area of the park to the new picnic area.  In Mich. they built 546 bridges, 222 bldgs and planted 426,000 trees in 5-6 years.

Sign at a cemetery marker store:  Drive carefully - we can wait for you.

Recycling bins for all types are next to the dumpsters in the Mich. state parks - we hadn't seen that before.  Most deposits on bottles and cans is 10 cents each here and there are machines at the groc. stores where you deposit them one at a time and it tallies your money.  It knows whether it was bought in Mich.

All fire hydrants in this area have a 3-1/2' pole with a plastic flag on top so the firemen can find them in the winter.  It was a very mild winter here, people told us, since it "only" snowed 200" instead of the normal 300!  It has been very dry for the last 3 months all around where we've been in Mich. and the temps in the 70's and 80's that we've had don't normally arrive until the end of July.  We're loving it.

We never saw it, but it sounded very big - an owl that sounded more like Santa each afternoon about 4 and again in the middle of the night.  In the lake at the park was mama duck and her 3 babies and 4 adult geese and a dozen goslings.

We heard that the courthouse site in Crystal Falls was won in a poker game.  Iron River and C.F. argued about where the county seat should be and a poker game decided it.  Friday we were returning from driving around the area and caught her walking a route that day.  She started giving us directions for getting to their house the next day and we told her we accidentally drove by it if it was the log house with a Brunswick Ave. made up sign in the driveway.
Saturday
Stayed at park until mid afternoon because she was working.  Then to an early burger dinner and to the American Legion with them.  She wanted Tom to sing but there was a huge graduation party going on there and they stayed late and then no one could get the PA to work right.  He played a few songs but people who had been drinking a long time weren't quiet since they couldn't hear him.  We drove home at 10 through a very dark wooded area where the trees are about 80' high and create a canopy over the road.  We had our eyes peeled for deer.  John's brother counted the days for 2 years for John to retire and come home to work for him in his body shop.  They sometimes are months behind, though there are 2 other shops in this teeny town.  Basically damage is from hitting deer and hailstorms.  John has hit 3 since he moved back 5 yrs ago and he said the last 2 times he didn't have time to hit the brake at all.
Sunday
Their Am. Leg. group was putting 678 flags on the graves of veterans in their town's cemetery that morning, so we relaxed in camp before going over at 1:00 to watch part of the race and bbq.  Then they took us out on their pontoon boat, which his uncle sold to them for $1 dollar.  We saw one of the bald eagles that lives on the lake.  They said many times they've seen them swoop down over the water and in seconds pull up a big northern trout.  We returned to camp early evening and a family was walking.  A girl about 3 saw the flag Tom had attached to the back window and said "Mommy, that's the flag I like."  Mommy said "Yes, honey, our whole family likes that flag."
Monday-Mem. Day
Their Am. Legion chapter put on the memorial service at the cemetery, which was very moving.  No one had taken pictures of their honor guard or anything for years, so Tom made a disk full and we mailed it to them a couple of days later.  Went to the hall for lunch with them and took pic of the officers for the newspaper.  Said our goodbyes and went to the laundromat in the afternoon and back to camp.  They are neat people.  Tom gave me a card today that talks about life's journey and one of the signs is a long road trip.  It's cute.  He went through and checked off almost everything on it, as it applies to us.