Upper Pennisula Michigan

Wednesday, June 28^th   Traveling across the UP of Michigan

Today was a travel day.  We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over Lake Huron and it was surprisingly warm outside.  We started traveling west on Michigan Hwy 2 skirting along Lake Michigan.  The lake was very choppy and the waves pretty big.  We continued west across the Upper Peninsula and soon found ourselves along the southern shore of Lake Superior. We stopped at a rest area and explored the shoreline, the bay was very calm.  All the rocks were too big to bring home.  Darn!

As we passed by Marquette MI we decided to drive downtown.  I remembered years ago when we visited that we watched a train offloading iron ore to a freighter.  This is a picture of the apparatus that they used to unload the iron ore.  They no longer use it, but at the time the numbered chutes were lowered to the ship and each chute would empty a train car  full of iron ore into the hold the ship.  I remember we watched over an hour as the ship sunk lower and lower into the water.  

We noticed Thill’s Fish House next to the pier and thought we would stop in for lunch, thinking it was a restaurant.  It was actually fresh and smoked fish market.  We told the proprietor that we wanted something for lunch and he suggested smoked trout and whitefish along with fish sausage.  Hmm, okay.  Well it was delicious.

Traveling past Ishpeming we delighted in visiting Yooperland!  They had a huge working chainsaw and a truck size gun that they also claimed would shoot.  And of course a Yooper Double Barrel Slingshot.  

The farther west we went the more isolated the area was.  Mostly pine forests and few people and fewer towns.  We occasionally had to slow down for a small town of a couple of houses.  We crossed into Wisconsin and saw less forests and more farms.  The farther we went the weather changed from drizzle to rain.  As we got close to Superior and Duluth the fog set in. 

We had a reservation in Grand Rapids MN, but when we could hardly see 100 feet in front of us we decided to stay put.  We ate a wonderful dinner at the Black Woods Grill. Nan had comfort food of turkey, bread and mashed potatoes, something she doesn’t get in Texas.  While I enjoyed a chicken thai flat bread washed down with a Minnesota Mule.  I needed that after that rainy/foggy drive.  I checked the hotel next to us for a room.  It was much better to drive 262 ft in dense fog than to chance our lives driving another 75 miles to Grand Rapids. We were lucky to get a room and we were in for the night. 
As I walked Bo in the fog I picked a beautiful bouquet of Lupine for Nan.  A perfect ending to a not so perfect day!