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| Gus Haag (Mrbus) (205.188.116.135)
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Well, we are home again, and it was beautiful in the U.P. of Michigan. The weather was perfect with the exception of about four hours of torrential rain on Labor Day. We really enjoyed the trip and the old bus performed perfectly. We put about as many miles on the VW Rabbit as we did the bus, but that makes for some great exploring. I think most Americans are unaware of the beauty of these inland seas we call the Great Lakes, the water is crystal clear with sugar sand beaches and all this in a back drop of big Pine and white Birch trees. As much as I love the Montana mountains, this is a spectacular area of this country. We spent several days in a campground near Rapid River Mi., right at the north west tip of Lake Michigan. The campground is called Vagabond and is a little tight for a 40 footer, but can be done if careful The locals pointed us to an abandoned light house, now part of the state park system, a hidden water fall, an abandoned iron mining and smelting town (Fayette) from the civil war era, it is preserved by the state parks division, and several other points of interest. While traveling around these various places we found a road side market with freshly picked peaches and apricots, they were delicious. We also stumbled on to a tractor pulling contest in a little town of about 500 population, it was a lawn tractor pull. But these machines were anything but garden tractors. The top classes were mostly powered by 1000 cc motorcycle engines with a few big snowmobile engines thrown in the mix. It was a fun afternoon, just $3.00 admission, and everyone was sitting on the grassy hillside overlooking the action. Even the announcer asked us where we were from, because it was mostly the natives making up the crowd. This was the Sunday before Labor Day, and it was a big town festival. Labor Day morning we pulled out and headed to Mackinaw City, rained hard all the way over, but just before we arrived, it cleared off and became bright and sunny for our trip across the big bridge. Spotted a beautiful converted MC-9 pulling into one of the tourist attractions near St. Ignace MI, the only bus conversion we saw on the entire trip. We checked into a campground on the Lake Huron shore with a perfect view of the big bridge. The bridge is five miles long and high enough for the big freighters to pass under. At night it presents a great picture, the suspension cable network is out lined with red, white and blue lights, and from our campground we had a perfect view. The campground is called Mackinaw Springs, it is a hugh place with over 600 sites advertised, plenty of room for big rigs, but not really my kind of place. It is neat and well maintained, but a little too much for my particular tastes. Sites are only about 20 feet wide which is a little too much togetherness. But as I stated earlier, it does offer a great view of the bridge, especially at night. We rode the shuttle boat out to Mackinaw Island, did all the touristy things, rode the horse drawn carriages around the island. There are no motor vehicles on the Island. The Grand Hotel is of course the focal point of the island. They do have a $10.00 charge to walk through the lobby and sit on the great front porch, but if you are eating there they deduct the cover charge from your meal expense. There are many things to see and do, mostly tourist related, but still a great way to spend a day. Being on the island gives one the feeling of being in a foreign country, not real sure why, but it surely felt that way. I was sort of disappointed in the shuttle boats, while watching them cross the straits with the giant rooster tails of water behind them I assumed that they were water jet propulsion, Wrong! They are powered by twin counter rotating 12 V 92 series Detroiters driving props, the rooster tail is created by a 6-71 Detroiter driving a water pump that creates the big spray. Definitely gives them individuality though, and a good marketing gimmick. After four days around Mackinaw, we headed up to the south shore of Lake Superior, Via Sault Ste Marie, where we did the mandatory touristy things such as watching the big freighters go through the locks on their way to the Gary Indiana steel mills, loaded with Iron ore from Duluth Minn. From Sault Ste Marie we journeyed west along the south shore of Superior, through the Painted Rocks Park. This is the spot just south of where the freighter "Edmond Fitzgerald" went down in the November storm in the 70s, with no survivors. Surely everyone remembers the song. We spent a couple of nights in Marquette Mich., in a city park campground that was carved out of a Red Pine forest, big trees all around us, great spot with the breeze blowing through the pine needles it lures you to sleep like listening to a gentle surf. Marquette is an old iron mining town that has maintained it's downtown and water front, but the out skirts look just like all of homogenized America with all the "big box" stores. It really is a great loss when all of this country starts to look alike, some may consider it progress, but I miss the individuality of each area. We continued to travel along the south shore, stopping many times to enjoy the scenic overlooks, Michigan DOT has done a terrific job of positioning pull offs at strategic locations, all are well maintained and accessible. We made many stops just to walk along the sand beaches. No one wades very far into Lake Superior, the average water temperature is 42 degrees, it gets somewhat warmer in some of the shallow protected bays, but any where the big lake is uninterrupted, it is very cold. One strange thing we discovered on one of the beaches was that when you dragged your bare feet through the sand it would make a noise very similar to wind blowing over an open bottle, not sure what causes this, but it was interesting. We stopped next in Bayfield Wisconsin, just across the bay from the Apostle Islands (there are twelve of them), another great view from our parking spot. The little town of Bayfield is strictly a tourist Mecca, has an indigenous population of 612, but can swell to over ten thousand on some summer weekends. Their next big week end will be the first week end in October for the annual Apple Fest. There is a great harbor and many beautiful old Victorian homes that have been meticulously maintained, all in all a nice little tourist spot. There is a ferry that hauls everything out to Madeline Island, (the largest of the Apostle Islands) it can easily handle a bus, but it is a lot cheaper to either just ride as a passenger, or take your car. Of course there is the required Indian Casino just north of town which also attracts a big crowd. The highlight of Bayfield is of course the Rittenhouse Inn, located right down town. It is a beautifully restored Victorian mansion that has rooms to rent, and one of the best restaurants to be found anywhere. The camp ground we were in is directly across the road from the casino, and offers a tremendous view of the lake and the islands, it also is owned by the Indian band. Sadly this is the last season for this campground, next spring they will bulldoze everything and build another casino, seems like such a waste, but I guess money is still the driving force no matter where you go. We left Bayfield and pointed the old bus toward home, made several stops along the way, one was at a car club show and fund raiser near Cable Wisc. some really neat street rods and customs were on display. We had originally planned on staying in Hayward Wisc. and doing some fishing, but like an old horse when it can sense the barn, both the old bus and I just pointed our nose south and headed for home. A great trip, and a perfect example of just what our bus was converted for. Gus & Colleen | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks) (66.167.142.43)
Rating: N/A |
"Spotted a beautiful converted MC-9" WELL, aren't they all?!  Seriously, though, great story, Gus. Thank you for taking the time - makes me want to hurry up and get out there even more! | ||
| TWO DOGS (65.177.144.34) Rating: N/A |
YEAH CHUCK....quit treading water KEEP THEM EAGLES ROLLIN" GUS | ||
| Jim-Bob (12.46.52.74) Rating: N/A |
Great story gus. Thanks for taking the time to tell us. |