July 1 Day 7

We got our first rain on the 29th, so it was lucky timing that we had already decided to stay in a motel that night. Also let someone else cook supper and do the dishes, too!

We drove in the rain most of the next day. I’ve decided I don’t like driving in Ontario. The roads in Northern Ontario remind me of 95 north of Bangor in the late 60’s. Sometimes two lanes, sometimes 4. Here they also throw in some 3 lane sections, just to make it interesting. The lanes also start and stop with very little, if any, warning, so it’s easy to get caught. That, and the fact that everything is in kilometers, just to be a pain.

We crossed the border in Sault Ste. Marie around 1 on Sunday afternoon with only a couple of questions, the most pointed being about beef bought in Canada and brought back into the states (we had none). Going into Canada this past Friday, at Niagara Falls, we had to get out of the truck while they searched it and the camper. Took about 15 minutes.

Tonight we’re staying at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There’s a lot of things we want to see and do here on the Upper Peninsula, so we won’t be putting on many miles over the next few days.

As I write this on Sunday, Cecelia has gone to visit the Falls, and I’m out on a picnic table with my laptop and a citronella bucket. We’re going to have our first campfire later on tonight. The mosquitoes were horrendous last evening, and are back again tonight. Just as bad as anything in Maine, but Cecelia tells me not nearly as bad as Alaska. Oh, Boy.

We had a good day Monday, and did a fair amount of sight-seeing. The weather was cool (45 in the morning) and sunny. We started out at Tahquamenon Falls, both upper and lower, and then visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. Absolutely fascinating! They have the bell from the Edmond Fitzgerald there, as well as some interesting artifacts from other wrecks, lighthouses, and old diving suits.

We then headed west to the Pictured Rocks on the south shore of Lake Superior, colorful and interesting sandstone formations made famous by Longfellow in the poem “Song of Hiawatha”. Last night we stayed in another state park in the west end of the UP.

Today, the first of July, we drove up to the northwestern tip of the UP to visit an old copper mine. We went down about 110 feet, and saw how they mined copper back 150 years ago. The weather has been just about perfect—sunny and near 80. We’re staying in a motel again tonight for the internet access, and tomorrow is another driving day. We’ll leave Michigan and head into Wisconsin, and may make it to Minnesota.

I got some sad news last night when I called the women taking care of my cats. Smudge has escaped and taken off, and has been gone for 3 days. I hope she’s okay and finds her way back.

We’ve pretty much decided not to go to the Grand Canyon, but will continue across the northern part of the US. We could do it if we pushed ourselves, but have decided we don’t want to push! Too hot and too far out of the way. We’ll save it for another vacation, and instead spend more time in Yellowstone, Glacier National, Badlands, etc.

We check the e-mail every three days or so, so keep in touch!

		Tahquamenon Falls 50 feet high
The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald
	Lake Superior (ore carrier)
			“Pictured Rocks”