Month: September 2017

Uncle John’s Cider Mill       St. John’s Michigan

Sunday was the day we planned to return to Grand Rapids, but we had an appointment to have suspension work done on the ITLDO on Monday. It made more sense to stay out another day so we could drop it off at AB Spring on the way into town. It’s difficult to park it in our back lot; no sense in parking it twice.

Our plan had been to take a two lane through the Michigan farmland, coincidentally taking us right by Uncle John’s Cider Mill where another classmate, Nancy Hemingway lived and worked. We devised this plan while tasting some of their hard cider at the reunion last night!

Nancy and her man, John, were also extremely gracious allowing us a RV site with water and electric hookups, feeding us, and giving us a grand tour of the many facets of this operation. We even got to meet THE Uncle John! it was a lot of fun!

After all that cider, you might feel like this:

That was an action packed fun adventure covering 1211 miles!

 

Penny had hand painted a sign for the main event to be used as a backdrop to photographs, so she wanted to get it hung in position early to not have to deal with it later.

She had classmates to help with the project, so I chose to ride the bike trail from the reunion hall in Columbiaville 10 miles north to Millington and back. It was super hot, so I appreciated the high proportion of shade along the old railroad grade.  I had a great ride!

Penny enjoyed reacquainting with old friends. They all seemed to enjoy the reunion. Her dad and mom were invited since they were teachers at the school. They were mistaken for classmates when they first entered the hall; they are very young looking!

Arriving in Otisville, Michigan for Penny’s 50th HS reunion, we were graciously invited by a classmate, Ina and her husband, Brit, to park in the driveway of their barn. We had a nice flat slab and an outlet for power. They were over the top in the hospitality department.

A Friday night bonfire on their property had already been scheduled at Ina’s. About twenty showed up providing an opportunity to get acquainted with some of the participants. It was so warm there was some debate over whether to light  the fire. But, eventually it did get lit, adding to the festivities.

 

 

Little Bay de Noc in Hiawatha National Forest

There are no lights around here so it was a good night for star gazing, but it clouded over and stormed mightily all night long. By early morning the rain stopped and the wind dried up most of the puddles. Penny made fish hash out of the leftovers from last night, yum!

We enjoyed the solitude and beauty of this park; we’ll be back! But we are on a schedule to reach Penny’s 50th HS reunion this weekend, so we headed for the Mackinac bridge and Penny’s folk’s house to spend the night. On the way, Penny insisted that I try a pasty, which is a traditional British meal. It’s a dough wrapped meat or vegetable pie miners would carry  down into the mines. So, not too far from the bridge, I pulled into a restaurant advertising the dish. I ordered bison; Penny went with beef. It was delicious! Too much, I thought at first, but I ate the whole thing.

Next summer we hope to take more time exploring the UP. I’m told we just scratched the surface.

Little Bay de Noc Campground   Hiawatha NF

Marquette is a really attractive town in so many ways: university town, art, movies, sports, brew pubs, culture, bike trails. I just wonder about the winters? Anyway, we say good bye for now and head south about an hour to Little Bay de Noc on Lake Michigan directly north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Another National Forest Area, we were the only campers other than the camp host. We were tickled to find artisan spring  water to fill our fresh water tank and helped ourselves to the best site of the 38 available. The hosts had some good rules!

We biked through all the camp ground loops and hiked the nature trail on a lovely warm afternoon. We had bought fresh whitefish at the Marquette Co-op (a great grocery store); I prepared it for dinner with some fresh veggies and Pinot Grigio.

Tourist Park Campground         Marquette, Michigan

Penny opted to ride to NMU to explore art galleries; I chose to get in some miles on the bike. She had lots to see and enjoyed the exhibits. I rode south on the lakeshore trail about 8.5 miles and returned by the same awesome route. Arriving back at the ITLDO before her, I took off my sweaty shirt, got hydrated and calories, and sat in the lawn chair enjoying the 74F weather.

Penny had one more gallery she wanted to see, so we drove into town to see it 30 minutes before they closed. There was lots of different media on display. Just across the street was Black Rock Brewing where we each sampled a beer and played a ring on a string toss game with a few of the other patrons. It took me at least fifty tries. Penny did it in under ten!

Our plans to attend a presentation on the Depression Era CCC program which helped so many young men off of the streets and into work programs, It was at 7:30 PM at the Ore Dock Brewery; we assumed they would serve food, but no. They had carry out menus from many nearby restaurants. We chose pizza which arrived at 7:25, just in time for the show!  The presenter was a well versed, confident speaker and singer who spoke and sang for about 1.5 hours. We were very lucky to have noticed this event in the local newspaper.

 

Tourist Park Campground             Marquette, Michigan

This day we drove to Marquette, home of Northern Michigan U. It was about an hour drive through the trees and along the shoreline. Finding a waterfront site, we got set up quickly to check out the myriad bicycle trails here. The lakeshore in Marquette is a greenbelt having no development along the water. The multi-purpose trail, picnic areas, parks, playground and beaches are splendid.

We rode to Presque Ilse, at the north end of the greenbelt and stopped to explore the park. I walked way out on the breakwater since the winds were calm; others have died out there in bad weather. I stopped where the cement ended and the boulders continued; too easy to slip in bike shoes. I later took a picture of the breakwater to show how long it is.

After riding around the small island, we headed home to a quiet dinner of fettucinne carbonara.

 

Bay Furnace Campground       Munising, Michigan

After an incredible yesterday, we slept until 10 AM; that’s highly unusual! But, a Sunday is made for rest. After all, we didn’t get home until after 10 PM and were so wired we spent the evening looking at the many photos we snapped.

By mid afternoon, we decided to check out the Bay Furnace. Below is all that remains of that furnace.

Later in the day, we went into town to find out more information about the iron ore furnace. There used to be a platform above the rock structure where men would wheel barrow stock piled ore and lime pouring it into the super hot fire below. The stone arches on three of the faces have been walled off to keep people out. The ore would trickle out into sand trenches where  it would cool into small bricks called “piglets”.

Penny’s sister-in-law recommended we visit the “Barge Inn”, a downtown drinking establishment. So, we did! I was glad to see the Seahawks on the TV;  we had a couple of beers and some jager schnitzel. Hawks won. Very nice place; it’s on Superior St.

Bay Furnace Campground                 Munising, Michigan

This morning, we hiked around the lower falls. Not quite so dramatic as the upper, but Penny and her brothers used to play in the water in and among the lower falls!

The next destination was Munising, a lovely tourist town on Lake Superior where we were treated to a cornicopia of visual delights. We stayed in Bay Furnace NF having a large secluded site without utilities (as are most national facilities). We had plenty of water and battery power for sure. The name refers to the ruins of a furnace used in the 1870s to melt iron ore into pig iron.

The fun was just getting started! We went into town to take the afternoon Pictured Rock National Lakeshore cruise, but the warm weather had brought folks out in droves and we could only get sunset cruise tickets. Meanwhile, we went exploring one of the many nearby waterfalls. This one happened to be Munising Falls.

From the waterfall, we drove a short bit to Sand Point, a long expanse of beach along Lake Superior where we walked ankle deep out to the promontory.

The main event is next. Absolutely amazing landscape painted by a divine artist on the 100-150′ cliffs starting about 12 miles north of Munising extending for about 40 miles of nationally protected lakeshore.

Lower Tahquamenon Falls Campground        Paradise, Michigan

I finally made it to the UP of Michigan! The Mackinac Bridge was stupendous!

We had excellent weather heading for the Lower Tahquamenon Falls campground not too far from Paradise, Michigan where Penny lived when she was a very young girl.  After setting up our travel trailer, the ITLDO, we visited Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, then had a dinner of fresh caught whitefish at Brown’s Fish House in Paradise. Next, we had a beer at Tahquamenon Falls Brewery (in the state park!) and Penny and I took the short walk to view the Upper Falls in the perfect evening light.

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