Shavua Tov.  After having a restful Shabbat in a very comfortable and serene setting, where we stayed for three days, we hit the road.  On a whim, again, we changed direction after seeing a place on the map called Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  We figured that it must be interesting and worth a side trip.

Pictured Rocks, on Lake Superior’s  northern shoreline, is the country’s first authorized national lakeshore (in 1966), designated as such in order to preserve the unique shoreline, cliffs, beaches, and dunes. The name Pictured Rocks comes from the streaks of mineral stain that are on the face of the cliffs.

We stopped first at a picturesque waterfall called Munising Falls, one of the many waterfalls that dot the Upper Peninsula.

We moved on to the indescribably beautiful colored rock formations at Miners Castle.  What made this a very different experience from our earlier walks was how crowded it was.  Was it the 4^th of July weekend or a popular tourist destination? – probably the later due to an abundance of foreign tourists equal to, if not more numerous than, American tourists.  Till now we’ve been lucky; everywhere we have gone has been sparsely populated.

From Pictured Rocks we headed south and east.   After calling around to different campgrounds, only to find them all full, we stopped at a gas station and the attendant told us about two nearby state campgrounds.  We stopped at the first one we reached called Black River.

The campground was deeper into the woods than we’ve ever been – the road to the site was 2- ½ miles long, unpaved, full of holes, and very muddy from the recent rains.  Probably the reason there were available spaces was that it was so rustic and so far from civilization; other than the attendant, no one seemed to know about it.  During the night there were only two other campers so we had the whole campground to ourselves.  No water or electrical hookups – we were really roughing it on battery power, propane for cooking, and full water tanks.  OK, it’s not tenting; we did that when we were younger.

On a side note: We have generally found that people in campgrounds will go out of their way to be friendly and helpful.  When we struck up a conversation with a fellow camper, he made the offer “if there was anything he could do to help.”  Taking him at his word, I asked if he had a ladder.  We had a tree branch stuck on the RV roof air conditioner and I couldn’t reach it.  He did not have a ladder but he walked with me to the RV and together we lifted a very heavy park picnic table, moved it next to the RV and, while standing on it, I used a stick to remove the branch – problem solved.

After salad, French toast, and a diet fudgsicle (I told you we were roughing it), we turned in early with a good book.

Day 2:  Back on the road in the morning, we started driving in the wrong direction and had to make a U-turn.  I am still impressed – after all the parking we’ve done in normal parking lot spaces – with what a short turning radius the Dodge Promaster has; it is a very comfortable van to drive.  We then continued south and crossed the Mackinac Bridge which connects the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula.  Instead of taking Interstate 75, we opted for a scenic road that follows the eastern coast of Michigan along Lake Huron, our third lake of the five Great Lakes.

At Cheboygan, Michigan we found a laundromat and a Walmart in the same mall.  It was time to take care of business and we spent a good three hours dealing with the needs of travel.  After lunch in the parking lot we decided to look for a campground early in the day since it was July 3^rd and we knew we’d have a difficult time.  Though we were prepared to park in a Walmart parking lot – this is called boondocking in the RV world (more on that another time) – we again got lucky and found a campsite in a crowded state park on the shores of Lake Huron.  Once you get used to how close your neighbors are, it is really not so bad; again, people are very friendly.

After we put away clean clothes and groceries, we took a walk on the beach, Sima checking out unique stones and watching the movement of the lake.  As I sit here at the picnic table by our RV writing this post, I am feeling very relaxed and so glad we started this adventure. I sleep better, I eat better, I get exercise walking – though it could be more – and my blood sugar level is great.

Day 3:   We decided to stay in the same campground for the 4^th of July, taking a hike as well as avoiding the traffic of people going home, and we understand from the ranger that it will be a lot less crowded this afternoon.  As I sit here, I notice people are starting to pack up and leave to be home so they can go to work the next day, ah retirement.

Our 45-minute walk this morning led us to the “40 Mile Point Lighthouse,” named because it is 40 miles south of Mackinaw Point, about half way between the lighthouse at Cheboygan and that of Presque Isle.  Before construction of this lighthouse, there was an unlighted segment of coast that was extremely hazardous for ships.  The lighthouse has been fixed up and using old – when possible – and new materials, is exactly how it looked when a lighthouse keeper and assistant were resident; it is a museum now of turn of the 20^th century furniture and appliances.  I even saw my grandmother’s pedal-powered Singer sewing machine with attached table; I grew up with her working on that machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as testament to the many shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, nearby, half-buried in water, was part of a ship that, as it was being torn apart by a storm, intentionally beached itself, so that all but one of its crew members survived.