This was another lovely day, but a little slower paced than yesterday. An observation - in some places the deciduous trees are completely bare, yet in no time at all one moves on to an area where hardly a leaf has fallen, so every vista if different and most are still lovely.
We started very gently but eventually started driving up the peninsula loosely following the same circuit as yesterday, except we avoided Calumet, took the more coastal back road to Eagle River (where we did not stop) and on just a little way to Poorrock Abbey and its "Jampot" jams and baked goods store, where we bought but not as much as we have on previous visits. (Diabetes takes the joy out of some things!) We passed through Eagle Harbor and its intense road construction so didn't stop and look for anything and cruised onwards and then up Brockway Mountain Drive, whose summit we had virtually to ourselves while we all three walked and Marissa took a few pictures.
We dropped back down the other side into Copper Harbor and shopped a little. As in so many past years John got a new pair of heavily discounted moccasins & yet another coffee mug to add to the collection. After a little meandering we went to the general store & bought lunch supplies and once we had satisfied our hunger we went in to Fort Wilkins. This year it was John's turn to have extensive dog detail while Marissa was able to enter all the buildings & see and read all she missed last year. Some pictures were taken, of course. On leaving we again did some browsing, but nothing caught our fancy so we decided to hightail it for the cabin.
We stopped in the impressive IGA in Calumet and bought supplies for a regular meal, since we have a comprehensively equipped kitchen at our disposal for Marissa to cook in and John to clean up. But first we had our "cuppa tea" and then John & Zoe did a beach trek in the opposite direction to yesterday. After we had eaten we again went to the beach, built a much bigger & better fire than yesterday and sat around admiring yet another truly spectacular Lake Superior sunset, that seemed to last for ages. It has been another really good day. Just before bedtime we observed some faint glows in the northern sky that were almost certainly week auroras.
A few more pictures have been added to John's Flickr set, found by going here.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #11
This was the day we really lucked out. The day started gently and unhurried, the usual good breakfast, packing and loading the van, and checking out at mid-morning. The weather continues to be ideal. We cruised up the middle of the peninsula finally turning shorewards and going to Eagle River (whose river is reduced to a trickle after no rain for days on end). We visited the only "shop", North Country Crafts, and renewed our acquaintance with the proprietress and primary craftswoman. As usual we both found several delightful things we couldn't live without.
Then it was the time for which Zoe had been waiting, a long walk on the firm sandy beach, in and out of the water, and generally rushing about at full speed. However, as we neared the van she blotted her copybook by deciding on a unilateral exploration to our temporary frustration (& her subsequent loss of freedom from leashing). We then cruised up to Eagle Harbor, took a short break enjoying the view, but decided pasties for lunch in Copper Harbor were becoming a priority. Once replete we reacquainted ourselves with the locations of the various stores we plan to check out in the next couple of days and only actually shopped in the most remote of them.
By then it was time to cruise back all the way to our lakeshore cabin with private beach. On arrival we discovered the gods were smiling on us. The nice, but not outstanding, cabin had lost its heat so instead we have to "make do" with the 3-bedroom lower floor of the beautiful house (presumably rented to large groups as there is an upstairs too) with every luxury a well-appointed home would have. It truly is just great. After moving in we took a walk on the beach, a bit rocky but quite nice, and later, after we had eaten, we went down and started a beach fire in the large fire ring surrounded by log seating and watched the end of the sunset. It just doesn't get any better than this.
A few pictures have been added to the Flickr set, which may be found here.
Then it was the time for which Zoe had been waiting, a long walk on the firm sandy beach, in and out of the water, and generally rushing about at full speed. However, as we neared the van she blotted her copybook by deciding on a unilateral exploration to our temporary frustration (& her subsequent loss of freedom from leashing). We then cruised up to Eagle Harbor, took a short break enjoying the view, but decided pasties for lunch in Copper Harbor were becoming a priority. Once replete we reacquainted ourselves with the locations of the various stores we plan to check out in the next couple of days and only actually shopped in the most remote of them.
By then it was time to cruise back all the way to our lakeshore cabin with private beach. On arrival we discovered the gods were smiling on us. The nice, but not outstanding, cabin had lost its heat so instead we have to "make do" with the 3-bedroom lower floor of the beautiful house (presumably rented to large groups as there is an upstairs too) with every luxury a well-appointed home would have. It truly is just great. After moving in we took a walk on the beach, a bit rocky but quite nice, and later, after we had eaten, we went down and started a beach fire in the large fire ring surrounded by log seating and watched the end of the sunset. It just doesn't get any better than this.
A few pictures have been added to the Flickr set, which may be found here.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #10
This was a gentle and pleasant day. The weather is still ideal and Marissa continues to feel better and better. The hotel must be full for the weekend as the breakfast room was crowded & the hot food was going as fast as the server could put it out, but we did well before embarking.
In some ways it was a sentimental journey for John as we had not done this little excursion last year and it had been the last exploratory drive that Maria & John had made together to somewhere new. Mostly on paved roads and partly on well maintained unpaved roads we went to the very bottom of the top of the Keweenaw, in other words over the channel and then down to where it first starts from the giant bay on the east side of the peninsula. There is a small park and a long beach there and once again Zoe was able to run and run and frolic in and out of the water.
After running back up alongside the channel we diverted and went to Calumet where we stopped and tourist shopped, but not to excess. Then we found the main regular shopping plaza and bought fast food. Heading away and looking for a nice place to eat it we noticed the road which will take us to the cabin tomorrow and followed it to its end, eating next to where we think the cabin is, twenty feet from the lake. After that we took a pretty road in a semi-circle back to Hancock, across the bridge and up to the hotel for a leisurely period of R & R (or was that Z & Z).
Later we went down to the shoreline & all three of us did the same walk as Zoe & John had done yesterday before heading back up to the Super Wal-Mart near the hotel to stock up our traveling pantry ready for moving in to the cabin tomorrow. Back at the hotel we reorganized the van, after mopping up from the result of the cooler's drain having come open, and are ready for leaving here, touring around and ending up at the cabin tomorrow afternoon.
Just a couple of pictures were added to the set that covers the trip and that may be found here.
In some ways it was a sentimental journey for John as we had not done this little excursion last year and it had been the last exploratory drive that Maria & John had made together to somewhere new. Mostly on paved roads and partly on well maintained unpaved roads we went to the very bottom of the top of the Keweenaw, in other words over the channel and then down to where it first starts from the giant bay on the east side of the peninsula. There is a small park and a long beach there and once again Zoe was able to run and run and frolic in and out of the water.
After running back up alongside the channel we diverted and went to Calumet where we stopped and tourist shopped, but not to excess. Then we found the main regular shopping plaza and bought fast food. Heading away and looking for a nice place to eat it we noticed the road which will take us to the cabin tomorrow and followed it to its end, eating next to where we think the cabin is, twenty feet from the lake. After that we took a pretty road in a semi-circle back to Hancock, across the bridge and up to the hotel for a leisurely period of R & R (or was that Z & Z).
Later we went down to the shoreline & all three of us did the same walk as Zoe & John had done yesterday before heading back up to the Super Wal-Mart near the hotel to stock up our traveling pantry ready for moving in to the cabin tomorrow. Back at the hotel we reorganized the van, after mopping up from the result of the cooler's drain having come open, and are ready for leaving here, touring around and ending up at the cabin tomorrow afternoon.
Just a couple of pictures were added to the set that covers the trip and that may be found here.
Friday, October 8, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #9
This was the day Marissa had been dreading would occur - the migraine from hell, requiring many hours in a darkened room and even after some improvement further gentle rest. Previous migraines had been warded off, but this one was out of control.
Fortuitously we had built in a "spare" day in this phase of the trip in our planning two months ago so nothing was lost. It was a good day to refill the van, replenish the wallets, and clean several pounds of bugs off the windshield. After taking Zoe for a good long walk, John left the two of them in darkened peace and went across the river and up the hill to the Quincy Mine to take the above ground tour, primarily of the largest steam powered winch ever built - interesting to an old engineer, but not something seriously missed by a librarian! The underground tour option was passed up on the grounds of "been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt" many years ago.
After getting lunch for all to eat in the room and then some relaxation time a second burst of energy resulted in a grampa/granddog excursion down to the waterside on the Houghton side of the channel and then a very, very long walk all along. It is all very pretty down there, especially at this time of year, and (sadly for Marissa) was the absolutely most pleasant day of weather with sunny, balmy light breezes that we have had so far. Even so, Zoe has rarely shown more enthusiasm for getting into the van and settling down in her bed between the front seats, so obviously she was well exercised.
A few pictures were taken from either side of the channel as well as at the mine and they may be found, as usual, at the end of the Flickr set located here.
Fortuitously we had built in a "spare" day in this phase of the trip in our planning two months ago so nothing was lost. It was a good day to refill the van, replenish the wallets, and clean several pounds of bugs off the windshield. After taking Zoe for a good long walk, John left the two of them in darkened peace and went across the river and up the hill to the Quincy Mine to take the above ground tour, primarily of the largest steam powered winch ever built - interesting to an old engineer, but not something seriously missed by a librarian! The underground tour option was passed up on the grounds of "been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt" many years ago.
After getting lunch for all to eat in the room and then some relaxation time a second burst of energy resulted in a grampa/granddog excursion down to the waterside on the Houghton side of the channel and then a very, very long walk all along. It is all very pretty down there, especially at this time of year, and (sadly for Marissa) was the absolutely most pleasant day of weather with sunny, balmy light breezes that we have had so far. Even so, Zoe has rarely shown more enthusiasm for getting into the van and settling down in her bed between the front seats, so obviously she was well exercised.
A few pictures were taken from either side of the channel as well as at the mine and they may be found, as usual, at the end of the Flickr set located here.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #8
This lovely sunny day was a day of travels. Now that we are in Houghton we have added some 600 miles to the odometer since leaving St. Ignace and are at 1825 trip miles so far. We started slowly and did not make a hasty departure. Our initial ambitions for the day were not too severe, and were expected to be somewhat boring, apart from enjoying all the delightful colors, although in places we could see a lot of leaves were already off the trees.
To break up the pretty but rather boring inland cross-country section of the drive we made a couple of side trips. We turned off along the pretty lakefront/shoreline of Marquette & ran down to Presque Isle, but like last year we disappointed insofar as there was no ore freighter at the dock being loaded (although there was rail activity on top of the pier) plus the road around the park was closed & wouldn't open for some hours and this park does not allow pets to even be out of vehicles. We let Portia skillfully guide us back to the highway completely avoiding the commercial section of Marquette and carried on. Next we made a pit stop at one of the chain of aptly named "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap" which was interesting. Marissa resisted temptation but John bought a bird feeder in the form of a lighthouse, a U.P. tee shirt and a Christmas doggie coat for Zoe.
John's misconception that Canyon Falls was in Baraga state park were happily resolved by Marissa's sharp eyes and with just enough time to slow & turn off into a major "Roadside Park" area. We started down a trail that led after a 1/4 hour's walking, mostly beside a pretty stream (river?) with occasional little falls and/or rapids, but at the end were most impressed by the Canyon falls. Like most flowing water up here the water is clear but stained brown by tannin from the peat covering much of the area. The falls are impressive, but it was difficult to get a good angle for still photos, although a video clip was rather better.
We made our way back, tossing Zoe into a couple of feeder streams after she found a nasty muddy spot to slog through in order to wash her off a bit! We picnicked and recast our plans since we didn't want to be in Houghton too early. We elected to go to the Porcupine Mountains (or Porkies). By the time we reached the Visitors Center & talked to staff there we decided an extra 50-some miles round trip to see more waterfalls was more travel than we wanted, so we made our second trip up to the Lake Of The Clouds, which was just as lovely as last year. After enjoying the views and a bit of walking we then headed to Houghton which will be our base for three nights before we head further up to the cabin.
For a few the day's pictures please see the end of the set of pictures on Flickr, found by going here.
To break up the pretty but rather boring inland cross-country section of the drive we made a couple of side trips. We turned off along the pretty lakefront/shoreline of Marquette & ran down to Presque Isle, but like last year we disappointed insofar as there was no ore freighter at the dock being loaded (although there was rail activity on top of the pier) plus the road around the park was closed & wouldn't open for some hours and this park does not allow pets to even be out of vehicles. We let Portia skillfully guide us back to the highway completely avoiding the commercial section of Marquette and carried on. Next we made a pit stop at one of the chain of aptly named "Da Yoopers Tourist Trap" which was interesting. Marissa resisted temptation but John bought a bird feeder in the form of a lighthouse, a U.P. tee shirt and a Christmas doggie coat for Zoe.
John's misconception that Canyon Falls was in Baraga state park were happily resolved by Marissa's sharp eyes and with just enough time to slow & turn off into a major "Roadside Park" area. We started down a trail that led after a 1/4 hour's walking, mostly beside a pretty stream (river?) with occasional little falls and/or rapids, but at the end were most impressed by the Canyon falls. Like most flowing water up here the water is clear but stained brown by tannin from the peat covering much of the area. The falls are impressive, but it was difficult to get a good angle for still photos, although a video clip was rather better.
We made our way back, tossing Zoe into a couple of feeder streams after she found a nasty muddy spot to slog through in order to wash her off a bit! We picnicked and recast our plans since we didn't want to be in Houghton too early. We elected to go to the Porcupine Mountains (or Porkies). By the time we reached the Visitors Center & talked to staff there we decided an extra 50-some miles round trip to see more waterfalls was more travel than we wanted, so we made our second trip up to the Lake Of The Clouds, which was just as lovely as last year. After enjoying the views and a bit of walking we then headed to Houghton which will be our base for three nights before we head further up to the cabin.
For a few the day's pictures please see the end of the set of pictures on Flickr, found by going here.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #7
This was the day we finally slowed down a bit. The morning was bright and sunny but the middle part of the day was quite overcast and much more breezy, making us very glad we had taken our cruise yesterday. The clouds eventually left but the wind stayed, stirring up the lake nicely by the evening.
With pressure absent we took the start of the day very gently and eventually boarded the van and cruised along to the traditional Miners Castle viewing platforms, arriving at the same time as the boat we had been on yesterday. We looked from both platforms, getting a good start to the day's exercise, then we headed on down to the beach, going to the left this time, to where the very clear but very brown Miners River finally enters the lake up against the cliffs at the end of the beach. Once Zoe was suitably exhausted (not a quick process) John fetched chairs from the van and we settled down to sit and read.
After a while the clouds moved overhead and the wind kicked up, so we retreated and to get away from some noisy site improvements at the parking lot returned to Miners Castle area to sit & picnic. Eventually we returned to town, visited a couple of interesting gift shops, then went back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon of reading & snoozing.
In a repeat of yesterday we bought pasties for supper and drove a little way out of town to a lay-by and associated beach where we ate and then walked, and walked, while Zoe raced about roughly alternating between lake shore shallows, wet sand, and dry sand. As we ran out of energy luckily so did she so we were all ready to return for a restful evening.
As usual pictures & a video make be found here on Flickr.
With pressure absent we took the start of the day very gently and eventually boarded the van and cruised along to the traditional Miners Castle viewing platforms, arriving at the same time as the boat we had been on yesterday. We looked from both platforms, getting a good start to the day's exercise, then we headed on down to the beach, going to the left this time, to where the very clear but very brown Miners River finally enters the lake up against the cliffs at the end of the beach. Once Zoe was suitably exhausted (not a quick process) John fetched chairs from the van and we settled down to sit and read.
After a while the clouds moved overhead and the wind kicked up, so we retreated and to get away from some noisy site improvements at the parking lot returned to Miners Castle area to sit & picnic. Eventually we returned to town, visited a couple of interesting gift shops, then went back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon of reading & snoozing.
In a repeat of yesterday we bought pasties for supper and drove a little way out of town to a lay-by and associated beach where we ate and then walked, and walked, while Zoe raced about roughly alternating between lake shore shallows, wet sand, and dry sand. As we ran out of energy luckily so did she so we were all ready to return for a restful evening.
As usual pictures & a video make be found here on Flickr.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
U. P. Trip - Fall 2010 - Day #6
This was cruise day. With bright sun (actually a bit of a nuisance as we didn't realize that this far north the sun stays very low in the sky) and the lake like a millpond we elected to take the morning cruise, so by 9:45AM poor Zoe was caged in a basement and we were in line to board. We chose the cabin over the top, for which we would have needed eskimo clothing to be comfortable, and were able to move about and go onto the rear deck as the mood took us. The cruise was all of 2 1/2 hours and most enjoyable and interesting. The whole lakeshore is fantastic, but surprisingly different place to place. Outbound we took a lot of pictures (far too many actually) despite the sun glare, but homebound we largely just sat and enjoyed the experience. One could rave on about it indefinitely - but I won't! This was definitely something we would recommend to others.
With Zoe retrieved we headed to Munising Falls and promptly picnicked in the parking lot. Then we walked up to the falls. Like yesterday, all falls have benefited from the wet summer and are much prettier, and the colors around them are lovely. Feeling Zoe needed a break we went to Sand Point and let her loose for her favorite activity, rushing freely along the waterline at high rates of speed. By separating and having her run from one of us to the other and back we exhausted her quite quickly.
Our next actual stop at a falls was at Wagner Falls, also prettier than last year. Last year, in the rain, it seemed quite a long walk, but this year in the sunshine it seemed shorter! We then made a run back to the Shell station for multiple reasons and followed that by a trip to the hotel for a period of rest. Later we went out for pasties, which we took along the road west out of town and found a delightful scenic "roadside" with a big beach well away from the highway. We ate our pasties and yet again walked along the water line, we at a steady plod in the soft sand and Zoe like an out-of-control rocket. Eventually she tired and quite literally led us back to the van. On our way back to the hotel we went up to another scenic overlook and looked at our hotel, scenery and Grand Island all bathed in the glow of the setting sun. The day was pretty much complete although swimming & hot-tubbing was a lot more pleasant without a bunch of rowdy inebriates as had been the case the evening before.
Marissa has included some pictures in her blog, so I will once again direct you to Flickr by going here.
With Zoe retrieved we headed to Munising Falls and promptly picnicked in the parking lot. Then we walked up to the falls. Like yesterday, all falls have benefited from the wet summer and are much prettier, and the colors around them are lovely. Feeling Zoe needed a break we went to Sand Point and let her loose for her favorite activity, rushing freely along the waterline at high rates of speed. By separating and having her run from one of us to the other and back we exhausted her quite quickly.
Our next actual stop at a falls was at Wagner Falls, also prettier than last year. Last year, in the rain, it seemed quite a long walk, but this year in the sunshine it seemed shorter! We then made a run back to the Shell station for multiple reasons and followed that by a trip to the hotel for a period of rest. Later we went out for pasties, which we took along the road west out of town and found a delightful scenic "roadside" with a big beach well away from the highway. We ate our pasties and yet again walked along the water line, we at a steady plod in the soft sand and Zoe like an out-of-control rocket. Eventually she tired and quite literally led us back to the van. On our way back to the hotel we went up to another scenic overlook and looked at our hotel, scenery and Grand Island all bathed in the glow of the setting sun. The day was pretty much complete although swimming & hot-tubbing was a lot more pleasant without a bunch of rowdy inebriates as had been the case the evening before.
Marissa has included some pictures in her blog, so I will once again direct you to Flickr by going here.
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