A very quiet Sunday night at Birch Grove Campground near Iron River, Wisconsin, on the shores of Deep Lake (relatively speaking).  We had a very good sleep.  That is, until a heavy rain began hitting the top of our RV at 6:00 am.  Well, at least we know the RV is water tight because we were comfortable and dry with the heat on.

It seems that a number of RV parks we’ve been staying in rent out to seasonal campers who leave their RVs there all summer.  The owner of the campground at Iron River said some even park their RVs there year round and use it as a place to store them.  Though small, and certainly not secluded, the campground is on a beautiful lake where people avidly boat, fish, swim, and basically get away from the city.

We spent a couple of hours the next morning in the city of Iron River, all four blocks of it, mostly because it had a very important asset that we needed, a laundromat.  With clean clothes and the necessities of life, we headed to Bayfield, Wisconsin, a city near the very northern tip of Wisconsin on Lake Superior.  (A florist in Iron River across the street from the laundromat – where Sima had stopped in – highly recommended Bayfield as a place to visit.)  On the way, we visited the fascinating Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, a three-story building filled with exhibits and information on Lake Superior, and the history of the area and its original residents, the Chippewa Indians.  We ate lunch on the grounds.

Once in Bayfield, we decided to take the ferry, RV included, from Bayfield to Madeline Island, the largest of the 22 Apostle Islands on Lake Superior, and the only island that is open to commercial development.  After a 20-minute boat ride, we reached Madeline, drove to the middle of the island, found the Big Bay Town campsite, and reserved a spot.  The campsite is nicely situated in the woods, a short walk to a beach that has a boardwalk along the shore.  We took several walks around the area during the late afternoon and evening, taking in all the beauty that northern Wisconsin has to offer.  And it is beautiful!  Being in all this beauty is why we’re here; it brings a sense of quiet and peace.

Day 2:  The campground was so nice and the weather so perfect – it didn’t rain last night or today and the temperature was in the mid 70s – that we decided to stay an extra day.  We explored the town, visiting the tourist shops and art galleries.  The town is exactly what you might expect from a vacation/resort town: laid back, quiet, pretty.  While sitting and having something to drink, we happened to see a religious family walk by.  After striking up a conversation with this New Jersey family, we discovered a connection, a mutual friend – again, a small Jewish world.

In the early afternoon, we ate lunch in a park overlooking the lake and watched the sailboats go by.

Back at the campground, Sima used the bread machine for the first time.  We haven’t really needed it since we have been able to find bread and rolls with a hashgacha everywhere we’ve gone (although we have to look carefully at the labels if we want to buy whole, and not pre-cut, rolls), but since we were relaxing during the afternoon after walking all morning, she decided to experiment.  It was a time of firsts – Sima’s bread was a success, ah newly baked bread, and we made our first bonfire.  We ate the fresh bread watching the fire, what could be better?

Day 3:  After returning by ferry to Bayfield, we explored the city, whose main street is lined with unique craft, camping equipment, and other stores.  One of the most interesting was an artists’ co-op which featured the work of several local (“if they are close enough to drive here, they are local”) artists – in wood, glass, fabric, jewelry, etc.

And then, it rained, and rained, and rained.  As it pretty much rained all day, we drove most of the time.  We entered the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and drove through the beautiful Ottawa National Forest.  The road was lined with trees on both sides, there was very light traffic, and the feeling of quiet and serenity was everywhere.  When we arrived at Crystal Falls after leaving the forest, we decided to stop at Bewabic State Park, on Fortune Lake, Michigan and secured a campsite there.  Hopefully, there will be enough of a break in the rain tomorrow to see the falls that are nearby.  For dinner we had salad, tomato soup, and the leftover bread from yesterday – very good and just the right meal for sitting in the RV at night while it is still raining.  There is a comforting feeling here.

Possibly one of the more interesting side stories is that we have become fans of Walmart.  The mega store seems to have everything we need, including many food products with a hashgacha (thanks, again, to the CRC Kosher app, we have found Blue Ribbon out of Minneapolis mentioned in a previous post, Vaad Hoeir out of St. Louis, and Star K out of Baltimore).  I even got a haircut at Walmart.  As in the old TV commercial song, “Sears has everything,” Walmart does seem to have everything.