Michigan Trip, the Final Leg of the Journey
As we left Mackinac Island, this pretty much completed the planned activities. From here on we are just following our noses toward home.
After warming up in the hot tub, getting a good night's rest, and stopping by the laundry mat for some clean clothes, we headed toward home. It is Monday morning and we don't plan to be home until Thursday, so we have a few days to see the sights on the north side of the Upper Peninsula as we meander home.
As we drove toward Lake Superior, we made several observations. 1. Michigan is like a negative of Nebraska...they have as many unforested acres as Nebraska has forested acres. Open areas were few and far between. 2. The same type of trees do not grow in Michigan as we see in Nebraska. Most of them were evergreens but we couldn't identify exactly what they were without a tree book. 3. The land is rugged and beautiful. 4. This is just what we've been told...winters are a beast in the UP, lots of cold and snow, just exactly what we would not like. Snowmobiles become the preferred method of travel during much of the winter.
By mid-afternoon we had wound our way through the forests and arrived at the southern shore of Lake Superior. I'm not really sure what the best word to describe Lake Superior would be...awesome, fantastic, beautiful, none of them truly describe it. I'm not sure if it is called Lake Superior because it is the biggest Great Lake or because it is the most beautiful.
We stopped and walked down to the shore in a couple of places, which is probably the closest I have been to seeing the ocean. It was a warm day so the beaches were busy with sun bathers.
At that point I was just frustrated with my photography skills as I really wanted to be able to capture the beauty and essence of the scenery. But I can still recall the warm sunshine and the wind-swept beaches and feel how it was to be there. Don't tell anyone since it was probably illegal, but we picked up some of the rocks off the beach. They were worn smooth from being tossed through the waters before washing up on the beach.
We finally arrived in Marquette by late afternoon and figured we'd better be settling in for the night. We found ourselves wandering through the town looking for the area where we might find a motel...and happened on the following site:
We were completely stumped us as to what it was, but we were headed for supper and a motel, so we promised ourselves we would come back the next morning to check it out.
After supper, a good night's sleep and some breakfast, we headed out to the shore of Lake Superior to check out the "thing" we saw the night before. Lucky for us another guy was standing there and explained it to us...it is called an "ore dock". It had originally had a railroad track leading to the top of the structure where a train could pull on to it loaded with ore. There were chutes that folded down and barges sitting below. The train unloaded its cargo into the chutes which piled it on the barge to carry the ore to a new location. That would explain why we don't see them in our neck of the woods, no ore and no water to transport it. For some reason we found this so fascinating, mostly because we had no clue such a thing existed...and they are fairly common on Lake Superior we discovered.
After being enlightened and taking pictures, we headed to another lighthouse and museum. This was the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse (aptly named for it's location). We took the guided tour and played the tourist all the while trying to imagine this life.
Another observation we made as we walked along the water's edge: the water distorts depth. There were rocks on the bottom of the lake that looked like they might be 2-3 feet beneath the ultra-clear water. When I mentioned them Mike said they were probably deeper than they looked, maybe 5-6 feet deep. We asked our guide who informed us that the water was 16 deep right off the edge. That would have been a shocked to jump in thinking you would be up to your knees and find yourself in way over your head! (I have had this experience metaphorically many times!)
The rest of the day we headed west, taking a different route than we took coming out. We finally left Michigan, sadly, and entered Wisconsin. We made it a short day, checking into a motel by mid-afternoon and spending some time in the hot tub.
The next day we continued our westward trip, driving through Superior/Duluth, leaving behind our view of Lake Superior. We ended up, once again, in Owatonna, Minnesota where we met our friend with the guns he had worked on for us. We spent the night here, heading out early the next morning on the final leg of our trip. By this time we were retracing the route we had traveled out on so the sites were familiar.
As always, that final leg is the "heading for home" time. We have enjoyed the trip but are most anxious to make it home because "there's no place like home". We were gone for 9 days, which is by far the longest trip we ever took.
It was our first trip to Michigan, but we swore it would not be our last. In 2015 my mother and my sisters and I flew out for a long weekend with Connie. That was a trip for another blog as it went quite differently from the first.
I hope you have enjoyed traveling with me. Maybe I'm the only one who enjoyed this as I was able to relive the experience. Each trip can be enjoyed in many ways. The planning part is always fun to do, to check out the sites available and plan a route to catch the most sites we can. The trip itself is enjoyable, but only once. But the memories can help us to take the trip as many times as we choose by looking at the pictures and recalling the many good times we had. Thanks for reading along with me...and if you ever get a chance to visit Michigan, DO IT! You will not regret it.
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One last view of Mackinac Island |
As we drove toward Lake Superior, we made several observations. 1. Michigan is like a negative of Nebraska...they have as many unforested acres as Nebraska has forested acres. Open areas were few and far between. 2. The same type of trees do not grow in Michigan as we see in Nebraska. Most of them were evergreens but we couldn't identify exactly what they were without a tree book. 3. The land is rugged and beautiful. 4. This is just what we've been told...winters are a beast in the UP, lots of cold and snow, just exactly what we would not like. Snowmobiles become the preferred method of travel during much of the winter.
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A forest and a waterfall on our way to the beach |
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A picture-perfect view of Lake Superior |
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Sun-bathers enjoying a warm summer day on the beaches of Lake Superior |
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Collectibles! |
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A curious site! |
After supper, a good night's sleep and some breakfast, we headed out to the shore of Lake Superior to check out the "thing" we saw the night before. Lucky for us another guy was standing there and explained it to us...it is called an "ore dock". It had originally had a railroad track leading to the top of the structure where a train could pull on to it loaded with ore. There were chutes that folded down and barges sitting below. The train unloaded its cargo into the chutes which piled it on the barge to carry the ore to a new location. That would explain why we don't see them in our neck of the woods, no ore and no water to transport it. For some reason we found this so fascinating, mostly because we had no clue such a thing existed...and they are fairly common on Lake Superior we discovered.
 |
Marquette Harbor Lighthouse |
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Marquette Harbor Lighthouse...again |
The rest of the day we headed west, taking a different route than we took coming out. We finally left Michigan, sadly, and entered Wisconsin. We made it a short day, checking into a motel by mid-afternoon and spending some time in the hot tub.The next day we continued our westward trip, driving through Superior/Duluth, leaving behind our view of Lake Superior. We ended up, once again, in Owatonna, Minnesota where we met our friend with the guns he had worked on for us. We spent the night here, heading out early the next morning on the final leg of our trip. By this time we were retracing the route we had traveled out on so the sites were familiar.
 |
A final look at Lake Superior |
As always, that final leg is the "heading for home" time. We have enjoyed the trip but are most anxious to make it home because "there's no place like home". We were gone for 9 days, which is by far the longest trip we ever took.
It was our first trip to Michigan, but we swore it would not be our last. In 2015 my mother and my sisters and I flew out for a long weekend with Connie. That was a trip for another blog as it went quite differently from the first.
I hope you have enjoyed traveling with me. Maybe I'm the only one who enjoyed this as I was able to relive the experience. Each trip can be enjoyed in many ways. The planning part is always fun to do, to check out the sites available and plan a route to catch the most sites we can. The trip itself is enjoyable, but only once. But the memories can help us to take the trip as many times as we choose by looking at the pictures and recalling the many good times we had. Thanks for reading along with me...and if you ever get a chance to visit Michigan, DO IT! You will not regret it.
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