BAY FURNACE NATIONAL PARK, CHRISTMAS (MUNISING), MI

July 29 – We left Rivermouth Campground and headed for Munising, MI with no reservations. We called several places but they were all filled up!! Finally, we called Bay Furnace National Park Campground. They were basically filled but had a few first come first served sites. We were soooo lucky. Got the last spot!! This is our view from our front step!!

The campground was very conveniently located near all the tourist activities in Munising. In fact, the Kewadin Indian Casino was located right across the street from the Park entrance. The Casino itself had about 8-10 electrical hook-ups for RVers and it was FREE!!

The National Park had various activities each afternoon. One day we saw the Indian Dance program. The “chief” explained the Indian heritage and dances and did several dances and Indian chants. The mature woman performed the Traditional Woman’s Dance, which was basically bending and straightening the knees in a rhythmic manner. The teenage girl did the Butterfly Dance. A very interesting program.

We had a fire ring and stack of wood on the site. That made Ken decide he wanted to have Some Mores. (He claimed he was so deprived that he had never had Some Mores.) I bought all of the ingredients – Graham Crackers, Hershey Bars, and Marshmallows!! That day it rained, but Ken attempted to make a fire anywayfor Some Mores. Without a supply of kindling, it was impossible to build a fire. We had No Mores instead of Some Mores!! HA HA

The next day was our last so I went over to the Campground Host across the road from our site to tell them what a good time we had had. They mentioned that their grandchildren planned to have Some Mores that evening. So, I told them Ken’s story, and invited them to come and get our unused wood. Later, we were surprised by a knock on the door and an offering to two Some Mores!!!

TAHQUAMENON FALLS STATE PARK, MI UP

July 27 – We arrived at the Rivermouth Campground in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park at about 4 PM. We were shocked when we found that in addition to the campground fee, we also had to purchase the non-resident daily pass for the auto AND the RV!! That was rather expensive for a state park with electric hook-up only!! But we soon got over it. We just stayed away from Michigan State Parks after that!!


As soon as we had set up, we drove to view the Falls – about 15 miles from the campground. Our first stop was the Upper Falls. They were more cascades than falls. We decided they were not worth walking the 1.5 – 2 mile trail to get a closer view.

So we drove to the Lower Falls. Now they were really impressive!!

I decided to walk down the trail to get a closer view.

Stan told us that his Uncle designed the stairs down to the falls. Sorry Stan. I didn’t think to take a picture of those amazing stairs!!

Along the road to the Falls, we discovered a Fish House advertising Fish and Chips!! We stopped by to see if they would be open for dinner. The sign said they were open until 8 PM; however, the waitress said she expected they would be out of the Whitefish between 4 and 5. And, when they ran out of Whitefish, they closed!!

We arrived at about 4:05 PM and got our Whitefish and Chips!! They lived up to their reputation!! UUMMMM!!

POINT IROQUOIS LIGHTHOUSE, WHITEFISH BAY, MI

July 27 – On our way from the Soo Locks to the Tahquamenon Falls, we passed by our first of many lighthouses -- The Point Iroquois Lighthouse. It was a beautiful old lighthouse.

I climbed to the top. What a spectacular view of Lake Superior!!

Here is the view looking down!! Don’t forget, I had to climb UP all those stairs!! I’d never make a Lighthouse Keeper!!

TRAVELING THE MICHIGAN UPPER PENINSULA

July 27 – August 2 – The plan was to take a couple of days to explore the north shore of the Upper Peninsula on our way West. Were we surprised!! No way could we see such a fascinating place in just a few days!! Here’s a brief summary of some of the sites we saw!!

We had reservations at the Rivermouth Campground of the Tahquamenon Falls State Park for July 27-29. But, decided to make a 50 mile detour to see the Soo Locks in Sault Saint Marie, MI. We are so glad we did!!

SAULT SAINT MARIE - FIRST STOP IN THE MICHIGAN UPPER PENINSULA

July 27 – Oh My Gosh!!! We were sooo lucky!! First, The Welcome Center at the last exit before entering Canada was the perfect place to park the RV while we toured the Soo Locks. We drove the short distance to the Locks Welcome Center. As we walk in, they were announcing that a northbound ship was entering the locks.

We dashed out to the viewing platform just as the Herbert C. Jackson was just entering the locks.





When I saw the front of the ship, I thought it was the entire ship because the water level was so low that we could not see the middle section. Then the stern appeared!!

"The water level was so low that we could not see the middle section."

When the boats were within the locks, The water level rose quickly as you can see behind us!!

The lock gates were opened and the boats from Lake Huron to the South were ready to go to Lake Superior to the North. Facinating!!!

We had seen working locks before but never at such a large scale.

After viewing the locks, we browsed the street. I stopped to buy a Soo Locks tee shirt. While Ken was waiting outside for me he observed the markee on the Ramada Hotel – Every Tuesday 99 Cent Tacos!!! We knew where we were going for lunch – it was Tuesday!!

(Click on the picture to enlarge it. You may be able to read the Taco markee! Click the back arrow to return to the Blog.)

We discovered they not only had 99 Cent Tacos but 99 Cent Drafts as well!! We were very happy diners.

If only every quick stop-over could be as successful!!

WE MOVE TO BEAVER CREEK ROD, GAYLORD, MI

July 25 – Although there seemed to be a million sites available at Lake Shores, they did not have a single ROD space available for us to extend another day or two. So, we moved to another ROD park about 80 miles north – Beaver Creek on Otsego Lake. It was a small park and so peaceful and quite!!


Backing Up!! -- While we were at Lake Shores, we had to make a trip to Best Buy in nearby Flint, MI. My computer has been acting up for a while now, cutting off at the most inopportune times. We decided it was time to take the plunge and buy a new one -- a Toshiba Satellite L505D-GS6000Laptop; 4GB memory; 320 GB hard drive; 16” Screen.

I worked on it for two days, installing and transferring my programs and data from my old computer (which decided it was going to work perfectly NOW!!). After two days, I had noticed that the battery on the new computer had never seemed to charge. I took the computer back to Best Buy and after some tests, they said there was a problem with the new computer. They could transfer the hard drive from another computer into mine. NO WAY!! I’d take another new computer, Thank You!! They agreed. That meant installing and transferring all that stuff again!!!

Beaver Creek had a great computer room with veryfast WiFi, So I spent many hours working on my computers!! Transferring the programs and data.


While I was working on my computer, a lady came in checking out the brochures. She mentioned that they had been looking for someone to play cards with. We ended up playing Euchre that evening. During the games, she mentioned that they played Pickleball – we do too!! Then we discovered that a couple of years ago at TT Chesapeake Bay, we had sold them two of Spike’s Pickleball paddles!! Small World!!

The next morning the four of us marked Pickleball lines on the tennis court and played for a couple of hours.

Here we are with Linda and Ray.