Plymouth and Caledonia, WI

The Kohler Co. is located, not coincidentally, in the small town of Kohler Wisconsin.  As seems to have happened quite frequently in years past, a town was created to serve the needs of a large corporation.  The Kohler Company is very involved with town life, and the company is still family owned 100  years later.

      We spent 5 hours at the Kohler Co., touring their facilities, which include the largest foundry in Wisconsin. They do not allow pictures to be taken, so we  of course have no pictures to show.  We toured about 4 different buildings and saw many products being built, including ceramic sinks, tubs, metal fixtures and cast iron products.  We learned the difference between a Pattern and a casting- a pattern is the mold that makes the mold, essentially.  The castings for toilets and ceramic sinks are made from sand, and are broken apart once the product is made.  Then they are recycled into another casting, which means that each casting is only used once before it is recycled.  Very labor intensive!  We also saw enamel painting being done.  Their 3 most popular enamel colors are sprayed on by robot, but the specialty colors are actually sprayed on by hand, and require 3 coats, with a firing in between each.  No wonder these fixtures cost so much!!

  They have a huge machine they call Herman and Herman builds their most popular bathtub.  This tub is never touched by human hands, which is great for the workers since it weighs in at 450 lbs.  From start to finish its a conveyor type system that casts it, fires it, and enamels it.

       After exploring the surrounding towns of Sheboygan and Sheboygan Falls on Lake Michigan, and Fond Du Lac and Oshkosh, which are on Lake Winnebago, we were ready to move on to our next location, Caledonia, Wisconsin.
Caledonia was a brief stopover to meet up with the parents of Jessica's boyfriend.  We didn't know when we decided to stop here that by the time we had dinner with them, they would be Jessica's future in-laws! It did make it very nice that the four of us were together when David asked Jessica to marry him, so when I got the call from her, we all got the news at the same time!

   While in the area we checked out the Jelly Belly "factory".  Its actually just a warehouse, but they have a short tour of the facilities, which drops you off at their retail store, of course.  We did buy a lot of Jelly Belly jelly beans, and some candy corn.  I will say that they do let you sample anything you want, and the candy corn is some of the best (but most expensive) I have ever had.

Jessica

On Friday Paul received a courtesy call from Jessica's boyfriend David, requesting permission to ask Jessica (our 20 year old daughter) to marry him.  Permission was given, along with our concerns about the fact that they are pretty young still.
   Paul and I happened to be in Wisconsin, 30 miles from David's parents' house and were planning on trying to get together with them for dinner anyway, so that call cemented our plans.  Saturday we went out to dinner, and the four of us were together when Jess called me to share her happy news.
Both Jess and David are still in college (David graduates soon) so the wedding will not be imminent.

Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells (9-22-10)





Trumpet Paper is a term I learned that struck a chord with me.  Trumpet Paper refers to the posters that were put up in towns, in advance of the circus coming to town, so it was paper, that "heralded" the coming of the circus.    Baraboo Wisconsin was the original home of  the Ringling Brothers Circus, way back in the 1800s.  There were 5 brothers who started the circus and it made them some of the wealthiest men in the country at the time.  They each took charge of one aspect of the business and never questioned each others' decisions, which gave them all plenty of time to handle their portion of the business.  Over the years they bought other circuses, including Barnum and Bailey Circus. The Ringling Circus was unique in its day because the brothers insisted on honesty in their employees  and value for the customer, which were new concepts in the circus world. 

Baraboo has a museum called Circus World. Everything there is very bright, colorful and has a circuslike atmosphere. Several of the original buildings from the 1800s are still standing.  During the summer there are shows all day long on the museum grounds, but they stop completely once September hits. On the upside, the entrance fee goes down to less than half  in September. We spent a half day learning about the Ringling brothers and the history of the circus-very enjoyable for me!  Once a year, when I was a child, my dad would take each of us kids, individually, on an outing. I remember him taking me to the circus when it came to Boston.  When my kids were young, I took them to the circus- and so did my brother and sister.  Its a great thing to do with kids.




Chasm that the dog jumps over

    Wisconsin Dells is actually a town, although most people associate the name with a "thing".  The town is like any other tourist trap town.  Too many T-shirts and trinkets.  The Dells themselves are the valleys between the mountains, which in this case, contain the Wisconsin River. We took the boat tour of the upper dells, and they were interesting I guess, but what was memorable to me was the fact that one of the first photographers in the area, back in the 1800s, invented the instant shutter.  Before that, a shutter stayed open for minutes in order to get the picture- which was, according  to our guide, the reason why no one smiled in old pictures.  Poses had to be held for 4 minutes and who can smile for 4 minutes straight?   In order to prove how fast the shutter was, he took pictures of a man jumping over a chasm.  Nowadays they have a dog jump over the same spot, to demonstrate.
 Yesterday we hiked around Devils Lake, which was a better hike than I thought it would be.  The weather was a bit lousy, almost raining the whole time, but the rock formations were interesting.  Today we moved on to Plymouth WI, on the eastern side of Wisconsin.  Friday we are scheduled to tour Kohler Co.

What a Welcome to Wisconsin!



the hoards begin to arrive



    On our way to Wisconsin Dells, we broke up the long drive by stopping at a campground in a small town along the way.  What a great idea that was!  When we arrived, we could see that the campground was bustling with activity.  As it turns out, they were having their annual Halloween celebration, which included costume judging and campsite decoration judging.  Many of the 240 campsites were all decked out although, we were caught unaware, and had nothing to decorate with. That was disappointing, since Paul was usually right on top of that stuff when we had a house.  We always had one of the best decorated houses in the neighborhood.

   Once we set up, we set out some chairs to watch the "show".  At 3:00,  it was time for trick or treating, and the people across the way from us were ready for kids of all ages.  There was candy for the kids, and Shots for the parents- shots of "eye of newt" (tequila), and Poison #94 (vodka) among others.  The adults picked a paper from a bowl and took a shot of whatever was on the paper.  Many of the parents were dressed up along with the kids.





the search for jello shots...

  Our busy neighbors were staying at the campground with several friends, some of whom have seasonal sites here, so they know a lot of people.  After chatting across the road with them for a bit, they invited us over to join the festivities and we spent the afternoon with them.  Once the trick or treating was done, we women took off in a golf cart to see if there were any left over jello shots anywhere (there were) and eventually came back so we could  head to someone elses site for a casual dinner and a campfire.  Later there was dancing and Karaoke in the pavilion, and we wandered back and forth between the campfire and the music.  All in all we had a great time and met some really nice people!
    Today we are in Baraboo, at Devils Lake State Park.  Once again we have no cell service, and I can get the internet only once in a while.

Two days of adventure in Ontonagon (rhymes with On the Noggin), MI

 Yesterday was a true adventure for me.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it, but in the end, I didn't want to have to say that I couldn't do it....if that makes sense.  Anyway, we went to Adventure Mine, and did their most adventurous tour, which consisted of 2-3 hours inside a copper mine, and rappelling down an 80 ft. shaft, among other things.  As it turned out, we were the only two on the tour, so we basically had a 3 hour private tour of a copper mine.







Our friends, the bats

  

   23 year old Chuck was our guide and he had a surprising amount of knowledge about the mine, the miners and geology in general.  Before we went into the mine itself we took the time to get a helmet with lights (the only lights we had in the mine), our rappelling gear, and gloves.   I am not a happy person when I am underground, but I thought if this tour was active and interesting enough, I would forget I was underground.  Well, I didn't quite forget, but it was interesting enough that it never bothered me to be 200 feet under the surface. 



Chuck showing us pure copper that was left in the mine





     The first item of interest in the cave were the bats.  Paul poked one before he realized what it was (its very hard to see with just helmet lights, especially when you wear trifocals!).  Chuck told us they are hibernating and won't move much even if you poke at them, and he was right.  They just hung there upside down right over our heads.  Paul kept letting me know when there was a bunch of them over my head, so I could look at them, and didn't seem to get the idea that although I knew they were there, I really didn't want to focus on it...
 Chuck told us stories about the mine- it contains some of the purest copper in the world, which made it very desirable for businessmen looking to make a bundle.  Unfortunately, it turned out that pure copper is very difficult to get out of the mine. It was in very large pieces and had to be broken into much smaller ones so that it could be lifted out.  The manpower required to get it to the surface ate up any potential profits, and the mine was closed just a few years after it was opened.


Practicing Rappelling before heading down an 80 ft. slope

   One of the features of this tour is that we got to hike several levels of the mine. There was no fancy trolley to take us there, the entire tour was done on foot, hiking around "rooms" and "hallways".  To get down to the next level, we had to rappel, using a rope and a harness.  I've never done it before, but I was game to try it.  It turned out to be really easy, but I am sure that's because it was only 80 feet.  And yes, I look goofy in the picture but it was pretty cold down there...





Paul taking his turn to rappel down the slope



Paul, working his way down to the next level.



After we made it down to the lower level, we followed along a ledge. Looking off the ledge (which I didn't) would show you yet another level down in the mine.  This time we used ropes to hike down the side of the cavern.  At one point we slid down a slide that was put into the mine.  All in all it was a great adventure and a very unique experience. Rather than a rigid tour, we had a meandering hike, and were able to take all the time we wanted to explore the nooks and crannies.

   Today's adventure was completely different.  We drove to Porcupine Mountain State Park to do some hiking. I really wanted to get some miles in today, since in a few weeks, I'll be hobbling around. We started out the day exploring a different kind of mine.  If you haven't figured it out yet, this area is full of copper mines.  This mine has not been restored at all, so we got to explore the ruins- only the surface buildings though.  The ruins are in a forest thick with trees, and it was about a half mile walk down a path to get there.  As we were looking around, I heard an unfamiliar noise.  Paul wasn't nearby so he didn't hear it.  It sounded a little like a small rumble of thunder, and since it was raining, I assumed that's what it was.  About 10 minutes later I was with Paul when we heard it again. This time it was closer, and really sounded more like an animal rumbling or growling.  Paul thought maybe it was a diesel engine starting, but in any case, he didn't argue when I said "let's get the heck outta here", (especially since there was no parking lot nearby.) We discussed and speculated for quite a while as to what it could have been. On the way out we saw fresh bear scat and weren't sure if  we had missed it on the way in, or it was brand new, but either way, we knew that there were bears in the vicinity.

    We explored the Park for a few more hours- its the largest state park in Michigan, and its right on the banks of Lake Superior.  We walked up to one lookout station, but the fog was so dense we couldn't see anything, so we moved on to a longer hike along the peak.

  We walked along the peak for about a mile and half.  It alternated between woodsy and cliffs overlooking the valley, with some great views now that the rain had stopped.  We were walking along minding our own business when we heard the same sound we had heard earlier, but close, and behind us.  Paul started looking up into the trees, but once again I just said "we're outta here" and we left.  This time there was no doubt.  It was an animal, and we're guessing it was a bear, since there aren't that many other animals around that could have made that sound.  The woman at the visitors center agreed that it could have been an unhappy bear.

Paul wondered why I happily hiked with bears in Yosemite, but today I wanted nothing to do with them.  Well, the bears in Yosemite came onto our trail knowing we were there, ready to peacefully co-exist.  These animals were clearly not interested in sharing space, and therefore, neither was I!

Keweenaw Peninsula- the U.P. of MI (9-14-10)

     When I was mentally composing my blog in my head this morning, my frustration was certainly evidenced in my thoughts. Every where around me, the word Eagle is incorporated into so many names- Eagle Point, Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, Eagles Rest Motel etc.- even the radio station is called Rockin Eagle. But there have been no eagles in sight anywhere! Then, this afternoon that changed. While on a bike ride, we were visited by a Bald Eagle while stopped in a small harbor to absorb the view. There was no way I could get a picture fast enough, especially since I wasn’t willing to take my eyes off him long enough to get the camera set up. Well, at least I got a good look at him this time. In fact, I saw him again later and he flew really close to me- I had the camera out, but when a bird is that close, its impossible to get the camera focused on him in time to snap. I did get a couple of pictures, but from a distance.

        We have been in Copper Harbor Michigan, at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula for the last few days (without cell phone and internet). I thought it would be a bigger town since I heard so much about it, but it’s a very small town. One of the ferries that goes to Isle Royale National Park leaves from here. Paul has been to Isle Royale before, and we were very interested in going there now, but seriously, when we priced it out, between the ferry, the hotel and meals, it would have cost us $1000 for 3 days. Not worth it this time around.

       We’ve managed to keep ourselves busy in this small town. We are staying in Fort Wilkins State Park, and the Fort has been partially restored, so we spent half a day exploring it. It is very well done, with lots of tidbits of interesting information about the people who lived here, the history of the fort, and what daily life would have been like back in the mid 1800s, when the fort was built. My favorite display had buttons that you could push to play “calls”. All the tunes that were used for various purposes during the day such as Reveille, breakfast call, etc were represented. There was a drum pad there, with 2 drumsticks, so you could play along on the drums, although for some reason, Paul wasn’t thrilled when I did that.
     We have driven up to the top of Brockway Mountain several times. The first time we did it during the day, so we could see the incredible views from the top. As a bonus, I discovered that I have cell reception up there, so I called the kids to make sure there was no crisis going on in anyone’s life.
     I had seen on a Space Weather website that the Northern Lights might make an appearance, so we drove to the top of the mountain again that night, at sunset, to see what we could see. Well, we saw a beautiful sunset, but that’s about it. We waited a couple of hours, then left. After talking to several local people, we have learned that the aurora borealis is usually seen later in the night, so last night we trekked up there again, but later this time, and stayed until after midnight. That’s about all Paul could handle, so we left again, after having seen nothing but a sky full of stars and a very prominent Milky Way.
      Today we actually got the bikes out and went for a ride to a forest Sanctuary. I was not pleased with how out of shape I am- we only rode 4 miles there and my legs were like rubber. Once there, we walked a couple of miles or so around the woods, and then biked back to the trailer. On the way back I realized that I hardly had to touch the pedals, since it was all down hill, so it made me feel better to realize the trip there was all uphill.   This afternoon Paul rotated the tires on the truck, and relaxed while I took the bike back to the harbor where we had seen the eagle, but apparently he had caught all the fish he could eat, since he was gone.

       Before arriving in Copper Harbor, we spent several days in Houghton, home of Michigan Technical College. Nearby is Quincy Copper Mine, which opened in the 1800s and closed in the mid 1900s. We’ve been in a silver mine and a coal mine, and Paul wanted to check out a copper mine. This mine went down 9000 feet and had about 90 work levels. Most of it has flooded since then, so we only went down to the 7th level.



Cable hoist-powered by steam



    Communication between people at the surface, and those down in the mine was difficult at best so a phone system was put in place back when telephones were a new invention. Unfortunately, most of the miners were immigrants from many different countries and did not speak each others languages, so the phones were useless, and instead, lights and horns were used to communicate. Hauling copper out from those depths was not an easy task either, and this mine used the largest steam driven hoist ever built to haul the copper (and also the men) up to the surface.

 

        In later years the mine was used as a school room for mining majors at Michigan Tech. There is an actual underground classroom, and the students practiced their techniques on the walls of the mine. I’m glad I didn’t have a class in that mine. The air temperature was 43°.





Autumn arrives in the U.P.

Brrr......The leaves have started changing colors up here, and the  last few days the temperatures have been in the 40s at night and the 50s during the day.  Maybe that wouldn't be so bad if the wind wasn't whipping as well.  One perk is that we have a chance to use our "winter" recipes- meatloaf, soups, Chili, etc.  instead of cooking the same old things on the grill. 
        We have been in the town of Thompson,  in Indian Lake State Park, exploring this area of the U.P.

Our first stop was " Big Spring"  which is the biggest fresh water spring in Michigan.  10,000 gallons of water a minute gush out of this spring, and you can see the constant swirling of the sand on the bottom of the pond.  Access to the spring is really cool.  There is an operator powered raft- so I cranked a huge wheel and that propelled the raft along a cable, out into the pond.  There is an observation "hole" in the wooden raft where you can look down and watch the water bubble and swirl.  The water is 45 degrees and crystal clear but appears bright green...

    Yesterday we headed to the ghost town of Fayette.  (Several pictures of it and of "Big Spring" are in my "Recent Pictures".) Fayette was a thriving Iron smelting town,  in the late 1800s. Unfortunately it only thrived for about 24 years, after which the company who built the town decided that it wasn't cost effective to remove the iron, so they closed up shop, abandoning the town.  In the late 1950s the state bought the land and have been slowly restoring some of the buildings.  So many of the buildings are still standing that it really gives a snapshot of what a small town would have looked like back then.  We enjoyed poking around and learning about the people who had lived there. The town has a small harbor, and the weather was so lousy, there were several boats tied to the dock waiting for the wind to die down.  We talked to one of the owners, who was anxious to leave, but not anxious to brave the waves out on the lake.  Eventually he did leave and we watched him bounce around for a bit- but he made it fine, as far as we could see.
  I also saw my first Bald Eagle yesterday but of course I didn't have my camera with me.  He was flying around our campground, which is right on a lake.  As soon as I saw him, I knew he was an Eagle, not an Osprey.  I looked for him later, and several times today, but no luck. I'll look again tomorrow before we leave, but we are headed to Copper Harbor, MI so maybe I'll have better luck there.
    Last night we looked at our schedule for the next few weeks and since we only have 3 weeks before we need to be back in MI for my surgery, we are unfortunately going to skip Voyageurs National Park in MN- its even further north than here, and will probably be pretty cold, especially since most of the park consists of  lakes.   Instead we are going to head to Wisconsin once we leave the U.P.
   Today we went to Seney National Wildlife Preserve.  They have a visitors center that was very well done and informative about the various wildlife.  However, we learned we were 2 days too late to see the loons, who have apparently all just left  due to the cold weather.  Ugh.  We did the 7 mile drive through the park, but elected not to hike or bike because the wind was still whipping and its just raw outside.  From there we drove through the small town of Curtis and then just headed back home after doing a little food shopping.
  We have no TV stations at this park, so we rented movies for the past two nights.  Not tonight though, so Paul is prowling around looking for things to do.  He just managed to fix our favorite pair of binoculars.  We have no idea how the eyepieces got out of alignment, but they are fixed now!

The U.P (9-6-10)

     Once we made our way back to St. Ignace, our first destination was Sault (pronounced Soo) Sainte Marie- home of the Soo Locks.  The Soo locks were first put into place back in the 1800s.  Prior to that, any ships that wanted to travel from Lake Superior to Lake Huron had to be portaged because Sault Ste Marie is also home to some major rapids.  In fact, the name Sault Ste Marie means "Rapids of St. Mary" in French. The water level of  Lake Huron is about 20 feet lower than the level of Lake Superior.

Two freighters approaching the locks- the docked freighter
a museum.

     In the 1800s, no one was too concerned that boats had to go around the rapids.  People in the lower peninsula of Michigan didn't really feel that the upper peninsula had anything of value that they needed, and it was mostly wilderness at that point.  Aha, but then Iron ore was discovered in the U.P, in large quantities, which made the building of the locks worthwhile.  All through the 1900s, "Lakers" carried iron ore, limestone and coal through the Locks.  Lakers are freighters that mostly stay on lakes, and "Salties" are larger, taller and heavier freighters that frequent the ocean.   In recent years the number  of freighters here has diminished considerably. 

      We started the afternoon at the Tower of History.  It turned out to have a great view of the city, including the locks, so it was worth the investment.  It also doubled as our exercise for the day since I insisted on walking up the 296 steps to the top.  That gave us a great overview, and from there we headed to Valley Camp, a museum that is actually inside a freighter.  That had interesting information about the area, the freighters and the people who have lived here through the years. Since it is an actual freighter, we also got to peak into the cabins where the crew would have lived and the engine room.  All in all it was very well done.   
    The locks themselves have an observation deck and museum, so we headed there next to see if we could watch a freighter come through, but they move so slowly we gave it up.  There were 3 or 4 waiting to go through the locks but we found out afterwards that only one of the locks is large enough for most freighters,  so Poe Lock handles 79% of all the lock traffic.  We elected to eat dinner instead, choosing a restaurant with a view of the locks.

    Today was the reason we came back to this area.  The annual Labor Day Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge Walk.  The bridge is 5 miles long, and for many years it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  Walkers can start at 7 am, but must start walking by 11 am at the latest.  We wanted to get there early to make sure we could park our beast of a truck.  When we woke up, it was in the 50s outside, so we weren't thrilled, but we layered up and headed out.  It turns out the weather was actually perfect, especially since the wind behaved itself today, and the rain held off.    It took us about an hour and a half to walk the bridge, which ended in Mackinaw City.  Some people walk it twice in the same day, but we felt no need to do that.  Once on the other side, we did some shopping.  Mackinaw City is the jumping off spot for the ferries to Mackinac Island, so it has a lot of tourist shopping and restaurants.  I bought a new sweatshirt that advertises the fact that I "walked the bridge in 2010."   For $5 per person you can catch a trolley or bus back to St. Ignace and we caught the trolley..  This event is very well organized! 

  It was a fun time and I am glad we came back to do it.  Tomorrow we head out, but we aren't sure exactly what town we'll land in. 

---SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT---

..STRONG WIND GUSTS NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR CONTINUE THIS MORNING-

USE CAUTION...ESPECIALLY IF NEAR THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHORELINE THIS MORNING.

Lake Superior-notice the start of the rainbow

That was our weather yesterday, last night, and this morning.  Wind gusts were up to 65 mph, with a steady wind between 40 and 50 mph. The seas on Lake Superior went from calm to 20 feet, in a matter of hours.   It was a new and different experience for us, feeling a wind, inside the trailer, at 60 mph.  Usually when we have a wind of 60 mph we are on the highway.  This wind was never ending.   Trees were swaying and the trailer was rocking.  All night.  Paul insists that it's similar to sleeping in the bed of a pick up truck while driving down an old country road.   I can tell you that we did not sleep well last night.  Several campers up and left, some in the middle of the night.  The tenters were first to bail, then the pop up campers, but even some people in 5th wheels left during the night.  We didn't leave, but, we did think about it, and we did pull our two largest slides in,  to protect the awning material, and to keep the rocking to a minimum.  We thought for sure the antenna was toast, but apparently it survived.   .  

       In the morning, there were branches all over the place, the wind was still blowing, and the rain was still falling.  We are really used to that kind of wind when a storm front, or squall line comes through, not for an extended period of 20 hours.   We drove around in the morning looking at waves and beaches before leaving for our next destination- St. Ignace, which is on Lake Michigan, not Lake Superior.  When we got here, we found out that they had a hell of a night too, and the campground lost 3 trees (one of which landed on a trailer).

        Last night really reminded us both of boating- sitting on a mooring, waiting for a storm to pass.  We both remembered one of our worst storms on the boat.  We were in a small cove, tied to a mooring ball, when a major thunderstorm came through.  Lightning was everywhere, and the sailboat next to us was hit.  Waves went from non-existent to 3-4 feet in minutes- even inside the cove.  Other boats lost control and started to crash into each other.  We rode it out, with the kids, watching and listening to the mess all around us.  We heard 4 Maydays on our radio that night- one was from a child, whose dad had fallen in the water  trying to get their boat off some rocks,  and one Mayday was from a woman who had no idea where she was, but had lost all power on the boat.  The Harbormaster called her on the radio, and we watched lightening strike near his boat as he tried to reach her.   We thought about leaving the safety of our mooring to go help, but we knew that  once we left, we could have easily been one of the ones seeking help.  After that night, Paul bought a  new marine radio  that could send out an automatic Mayday in conjunction with our GPS that would automatically give the position of the boat.

       So, we are tired tonight, and hope to sleep well.

from Salad to Soup weather in one day....brrrr......(Munising, MI)

Today felt really cold.  It was in the 60s, but the wind was whipping and the rain was falling, which was a very cold combination.  The day started out OK, but the forecast called for rain by 2 pm.  We were planning on  biking on Grand Island for the day but made a last minute decision to take the bus tour instead.  Good Idea.

Grand Island "ferry"

   Grand Island is a National Recreation area just off the coast of Munising Michigan.  Come to find out, there isn't really much of interest on the island, but as I said to Paul, we wouldn't have known that if we hadn't gone there! It would have served a better purpose if we could have gotten some exercise while touring it, but driving around in a bus (in the rain), there wasn't much that was worth seeing.  The island was sold to the Government in the 1980s, but several families still have summer cottages on the island.  They are still private and inaccessible.  There was only one building we could get into, a small  one room cottage built in the 1800s.  About halfway through the 2.5 hour tour, the rain started and didn't really let up until the tour was over.  We still got out to look at the "views" but really, there wasn't much there.

Miserably wet on the ferry ride

    The only way to get to the island is by private boat or "ferry".  The real ferry isn't functioning, so we were carted over on a small pontoon boat  that holds 6 passengers.  That was fine on the way there, but after the tour, there were 12 of us waiting in the rain for the "ferry" to arrive to get us.  By now, the waves were kicking up, and by the time the ferry got there, the operator said the seas were so rough, he would only take 4 people at a time.  The first 4 went, and the rest of us went back and waited in the bus (until the bus driver had to leave with the bus.). Along came 10 more people, 6 of them extremely wet and muddy bike riders, who also needed the ferry. 6 of them grabbed the next ferry before any of "our people" could get out there.  It was really comical.  It felt like a "survivor" game where the lucky people got voted off the island first. In the end, Paul and I were in the last batch to go, because we weren't as wet as some as the others, and I was enjoying watching the ferry struggle to get across the bay.  Plus, most people were jumping over everyone to get onto the ferry.  We were so chilled by the time we made it home, we made Tortilla Soup for dinner.

   Yesterday we weren't sure what the weather would be and we were still tired from hiking, so we drove to the nearby town of Marquette and through Presque Isle Park.  Marquette is a lakeside town, but more just a regular town that happens to be lakeside.  We had lunch at a great restaurant, and afterwards watched a freighter leave the dock and turn around.  Not very exciting, but not every day has to have something  fabulous to do! 

On the way home we stopped at a cool park.  Its a park with 66 sculptures made of welded scrap iron, all made by the same man.  Its free to drive through and look at all of his artwork.  The park is called Larkenenland,  after the owner Tom Larkenen.  The town has given him a lot of grief over zoning and permit issues, so at the entrance of the park, he has 

custom  No Trespassing signs addressed to the town Board Members.  There is a well traveled snow mobile path across his property and he maintains a fire pit and supplies firewood for all of the snowmobilers to use if they want to take a break.  Pretty cool.

Hiking to Mosquito Beach

Miner's Castle

Hiking Lake Superior

     I almost got to say that we didn't get eaten alive while hiking to Mosquito Beach.  And then the wind died. It went from windy and no mosquitoes to no wind and being swarmed in the matter of about 10 minutes.  Luckily we had mosquito repellent  and the legs to our hiking pants with us.

     Yesterday's hike was a little longer than we had planned on. We accidentally got on the trail at the wrong trail head, which not only added about 4 miles, it meant that there was no way we could make it to the waterfalls that we wanted to see.  We started at Miner's castle, where the resident Bald Eagle hangs out.  Much to my disappointment, he wasn't around.  We did make it to Mosquito Beach, on a trail that  alternated between woodsy and open areas with amazing views of the water.  I was glad I took a lot of pictures on the way to the beach, since by the time we left there, the clouds were building up and the sun was pretty much gone, which changes the color of the water drastically.

    Once we got to the beach, it wasn't mosquitoes that were the problem, it was biting Stable flies. Insect repellent does not work for them, unfortunately.  We had our swimsuits with us, so we cooled off in the water for a while before eating our lunch and exploring the area a bit. I was so gooped up with sunscreen and insect repellent that I couldn't wait to get in the water.  With temperatures in the mid 80s, it felt pretty sultry. 

Mosquito Beach

      After frolicking in the water for a while we started the trek back to the truck. It was a 10 mile hike, all in all, which was a little longer than was comfortable for either of us, since we haven't seen a hiking trail in about 2 months. Walking on sand takes a bigger toll on my feet, and I hate to admit it, but I let Paul walk the last mile on his own and come back to pick me up.  While I was waiting for him, two kayakers pulled their kayaks out of the water, and attempted to bring them up the two sets of stairs to get to the parking lot. The woman dropped her end of the kayak 3 times and another couple offered to help carry it.  The kayakers admitted that they had been out on the (rough) water for 7 hours and were completely exhausted.  They welcomed the help. 

Upside down tent- they gave up and
packed everything into the car and left.

    We knew a change in weather was on it's way, since the temperature has been running 15 degrees above normal, and rain was in the forecast.  This morning it happened.  We woke up to driving rain and winds that had to be about 50 MPH.   I sure am glad we aren't in a tent.