Storm Front

We left Munising and drove west through Marquette on our way to the western edge of the Michigan UP. Predictions of violent T-storms, damaging winds and possible tornatic conditions were broadcast on the radio all day. Our destination is River Pines RV park in Ontonagon, Mich. We checked into our site and found that the owner had just baked fresh Pasties for sale. Pasties are big up here. A pastry crust is filled with ground meat, potatoes and anything else left in the frig. We set up and then drove up the Keweenaw Pennisula (don't you love those Indian names) as far as the road went, Copper Harbor. Fueled up out of fear of wide spread power outages, and while doing that, Dana walked across the street to a cafe. By the time I got there, she had established a relationship with the owner. He roasts his own beans, and we enjoyed a great cup of coffee and bought a bag to go. It was almost as good as CozyCabinCoffee, my tour sponsor (Klondike Bars rejected my recent offer of co-sponsorship). Once again, the tour was longer than it looked, and we got back in time to make dinner and wait for the storm. It came through like a wall and for a while it rained White Pine limbs. When it passed, nothing was worse for the wear and things cleared up.

Yesterday we left western Michigan and the Eastern time Zone, and drove along the coast of Lake Superior into Wisconsin. Our stop was in Bayfield near the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Met some real friendly people, then headed downtown to catch the afternoon boat cruise to the islands. Since it is still "off season," there was no tour, so we bought tix for tomorrow morning and started looking around town. Found a fish shop selling fresh Whitefish, Brown Sugar Smoked Trout, and Trout dip. Will stock up tomorrow. Next door was Oley's barbarshop, so I popped in for a trim. Oley turned out to be the head of the local Chamber of Commerce, so it was an informative trim. We stopped in some great craft shops and then headed back into town to catch a ferry to Madeline Island, a little upscale ,off shore enclave. Just about everything was closed, so we took a walk and came back. It was beautiful out, so the boat ride was worth it.

We got home, cooked dinner and then started chatting with the people next door. They're from Ventura County, California, and doing what we're doing, but backwards. It was nice because we could share notes on where we'd stayed and gone. As we spoke, a group of younger campers approached us about participating in a bean-bag toss game. That was a hoot. Then it was over to some other folks spot to compare notes on campgrounds. He was a sports trainer for clients at the Mayo Clinic and she is a young Mom who runs marathons. I was tired talking to them. It was after 10:00, finally dark, and way past my bedtime. Chao