August 14th - 20th, Manistique MI and Apostle Islands WI

Aug 14-16 Wednesday-Friday Manistique, Michigan - Upper Peninsula 

It has been a few years since we have crossed the "Mighty Mac" into the Upper Peninsula so we are looking forward to seeing the awesome structure and views from the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It is just 28-ft shy of five miles long and really impressive! Crossing the Straits of Mackinac looking out over sparkling Lake Michigan, seeing Mackinac Island is always beautiful. In St. Ignace just across the bridge we stopped for fuel and to refill the DEF fluid that new diesel engines require. Tony attempted to fill the reservoir from the pump (like gas pumps) and something went wrong and fluid splashed all over his face and clothing. Knowing DEF is somewhat caustic I grabbed a water bottle from the truck and poured the whole thing over his head and face. Luckily he wears glasses!! What a fiasco! Well we bagged that idea and refilled from our 2.5 gallon containers in the truck. I got a bucket of water from the store and poured over the engine compartment to rinse it off and Tony cleaned up in the bathroom. Not sure I am liking this DEF refill stuff.

We motored on along Route #2 which is the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route aka Top of the Lake Circle Tour. We had been on just a portion of this road years back when we went to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. After passing along the coastal dunes near the road and enjoying the beautiful lake views we came to the Cut River Bridge. It is one of Michigan's largest historical bridges crossing over the gorge down to the 

mouth of the Cut River, and has just been refurbished in the last year. With a large roadside park big enough for RV's it was the perfect spot to stretch our legs on a warm sunny afternoon. We definitely got our stair climbing in also. There were 264 stairs down to Lake Michigan (Tony and Karen counted) and the mouth of the Cut River, and of course that many back up!! With no specific plans once we get to Manistique today it was a great interlude.

The Manistique Lakeshore Campground was one of the nicest we have been in all summer, maybe two summers. Long fully paved, pretty level sites. The breezes off of Lake Michigan and cooler temps (74) of the UP were quite refreshing. The sites were clean, mowed, relatively wide, and the bathhouse was new and very clean. All this niceness and newness (only open three years), adds up to a campground has very few openings for next summer already because we checked! We are not into fishing but there are a few other sites worth seeing in the area. The Seul Choix ("only choice") lighthouse in Gulliver was the last harbor available before getting to the Straits of Mackinac for Native and early American paddlers and French fur traders. 

The Big Spring (Kitch-iti-kipi) at Palms Book State Park was unusual and interesting. It is the largest freshwater spring in Michigan. With over 10,000 gallons of water a minute bubbling up through the limestone floor of the 40ft deep spring it us truly a phenomenon. As you gaze through the perfectly clear water down to the bottom you can see the water bubbling and the various kinds of trout in the spring. Swimming is prohibited, but you can load onto a raft that park employees pull out and back with a rope system as you take in the beauty.

While we were here we walked the 2 mile local boardwalk with Noel and Karen, along Lake Michigan one morning and had some fun with the local Moose population. We visited the historic Roman Revival style, Old Water Tower (1923), and wandered in the gift shops and local stores like the Ben Franklin 5 &10 while enjoying the beautiful landscaping around the businesses in town. Of course no trip to the UP is complete with out the 

Pasty (PASS-TEE), the traditional meat hand pie the miners carried with them to work.  The Three Seasons Cafe was highly recommended and did not disappoint! Our pastys were so big we only ate half and took the rest for another time. We now wished we had gotten a few more to go for the freezer !!

August 15 was the Feast of the Assumption of Mary so we went St. Francis de Sales church for evening mass. The Priest was dynamic, outgoing, forthright and engaging. I gather that the priest used to be a motorcycle rider,  and either worked in or was incarcerated, and has no problems calling himself one of those "Hail Mary" types, he said. Because, as he put it, without Mary's agreement to be the mother of Jesus there would be no us...meaning no Catholics or Christians. It was a great sermon paying tribute to Mary. It was nice to get to see the blue accented vestments and the music was beautiful with all the songs in honor of the Blessed Virgin. If we lived locally this would be a great parish to belong to.

Saturday-Tuesday, August 17-20, Bayfield Wisconsin - Apostle Islands National Seashore Area

Saturday- The drive from Manistique to Bayfield was not very long, had a fuel stop with Yooper Candy, and we were at camp early enough Saturday evening so mass at Holy Family Catholic Church was on the agenda. Today was the start of the annual diocesan appeal for funds to support the service works throughout the year.   There was a video from the local bishop at church. It had feedback from groups and individuals who have benefited from these charitable outreach programs in the past years. Thankful for the video because the priest does not have a great command of English and even the common parts of the mass and prayers were hard to understand. A lot of personal, reflective prayer goes on in these instances. On the way to town we had to pass the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Visitor Center so we popped in for some literature to plan for tomorrow.

Sunday- Another Bright, Sunny, Midwest, Summertime afternoon. Back at the visitor Center with Noel and Karen we watched the 20 minute video about the National Seashore Area and checked out some of their interpretative displays. At the marina we bought tickets for the Grand Tour of the Apostle Islands for Monday. There were several empty slips along the pier and we jokingly texted with our AZ friends Bob and Judy that

we would wait for them to bring their boat and take us for a ride, but they never showed up! I guess that Seattle was just too far away! Karen and I wanted to browse in some of the quaint shops in the lake side town of Bayfield and the guys were not into it. They opted for a cold beer at a local establishment and we shopped. An hour or so later we were on our way back to camp. We did enjoy seeing the well maintained houses and several mansions in town. Bayfield was obviously a booming, well heeled town in its heyday around 1883 with rail accessibility, and is still quite popular as a tourist town. It has a similar feel as Petoskey or Cheboygan in Michigan though maybe a bit smaller. Just outside of Bayfield in the town of Red Cliff is native reservation area. We cruised down one of the roads searching for adventure and found it rough, not as well maintained and very rundown so we cut that side trip short.

After we got back to camp Tony and I headed out to fuel up and drive another local scenic route "The Fruit Loop". Not feeling the wine tasting vibe this afternoon we stopped at several fruit and farm stands instead. Tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and peaches were in our bags when we got home. The peaches were from Colorado, not local, but were very ripe and quite tasty. I picked up a couple of whitefish fillets at a local fish market to freeze for later in the trip. Neither of us are fans of smoked fish though there was plenty to choose from.

Monday - Our morning Grand Tour boat-ride is among the most popular cruise through the Apostle Islands. Scheduled to depart at 10 am we were waiting in line by 9:30 to snag some prime viewing seats. The tour was only half full being a weekday and near the end of the season so seating was not a problem. We started out on the lower level in the back but engine noise kept us from hearing the commentary and the morning air once we started moving was a bit cool out on Lake Superior, so we moved indoors. For 2.5 hours we enjoyed the sights around the 21 Apostle Islands (no good stories on the name!). It was relatively calm until we approached the outer most island, Devils Island. Originally we were to go around the outside of the island but the captain skirted to the inside to make the voyage more pleasant.

Our route took us in and around most of the islands and the captain pointed out others in the distance.  The Sea Caves at Devil's Island were the highlight of the trip and look very much like those at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in MI. We were able to see the lighthouses on Devils Island and Raspberry Island. Also visible were the brownstone quarry site and a historic fishing camp (staffed by the park service in the summer).

Several Bald Eagles were spotted as we cruised along the shoreline of one of the islands. Madeline Island is the only inhabited island in the archipeligo (a chain of islands), and is not part of the National Seashore. It would have taken too much money to buy out the residents when the National Seashore was established in 1970. Madeline (pop. 302 up to 1500 summertime) contains a state park and has ferry service much like Mackinac Island is great for outdoor recreation and is a tourist mecca. In 2004 over 33,000 acres of the National Seashore was also dedicated as Gaylord Nelson Wilderness (former Wisconsin governor, senator and Father of Earth Day). Camping

and hiking on the islands definitely would be a wilderness adventure. Our tickets included 10% off at one of the marina restaurants (Pier Plaza Restaurant) so we hustled to beat the other departing passengers all looking to take advantage of the discount and were able to score good seats without waiting. Lake Superior Whitefish tacos, burgers, Whitefish patties, and nachos all were delicious.

Tuesday- HMMM I seem to have lost a day! I can not remember what we did this day if anything. That is why I try to make notes. For the record, Tony can't remember either!! It may have rained that day? Who knows?! Side Bar-we have enjoyed listening to Sirius XM radio most of the summer. We usually sign up for the special ($36 for 6 months) which makes it easier than trying to fiddle with finding local radio stations as we travel cross country. The 70's station is easy listening & we also like hearing the top 40 countdown on various XM stations if we are traveling on weekends. Searching my notes from a previous day I had spotted a clever real estate marketing sign for some vacant land in the area advertised it as a "HUNTER's Special", and another sign at the Crystal Falls Lutheran Church that invites people to "Come as you are, Change Inside", great wordplay.