Good-Bye Massachusetts and Hello New York (again)! July 2017
My sweet sister,
Terri arrived at Hanscom AFB to see us off with a camera and a hug
"good-bye"! We had such an
amazing time together and didn’t' really know when we'd see each other next,
but it was time for us to move on to our next destination of Holley, New York
not far from Niagara Falls!
The first day we
visited Lake Ontario with miles of nothing but grass, trees and beautiful
beaches. Our second day was seeing the amazing Niagara and Horseshoe
Falls.
Perry and I spent
our Fourth of July at a nice RV park just yards from the Erie Canal near the
small town of Holley, N.Y. It was a
peaceful, beautiful spot with wide paths for hikers and bicyclists. The small town of Holley, N.Y. celebrated the
fourth in the old fashioned Americana way with the local parade followed by
fireworks. The next day we headed to
North Branch, Michigan for a weeks stay.
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| A walk along the Erie Canal |
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| A lot of patriotism in the small town of Holley |
Michigan- 7/5/17-7/18/17
North Branch, The Mackinaw Bridge, The Pictured Rocks,
Bear Sanctuary and Yoopers!
This RV park in
North Branch, MI. was not one of my favorites
for many reasons. We were
surrounded by trees (which I loved) but the mosquitoes were thick and seemed to
like me! The only insects I did enjoy
were the fireflies that entertained us at night. We came across very interesting people from a
family of seven that seemed to be living in a tent (they had all their
belongings with them) to a man that wandered around in his skivvies!
We realized how
beautiful Michigan is when we took a side trip to the small tourist town of
Lexington, enjoying the harbor and the flowers in front of all the stores. The dogs took a swim in Lake Huron. Another side trip took us to a fishing town
of Bay Port where Perry bought plenty of smoked fish dip and salmon but we
decided to keep exploring. The sky was
getting dark with rain in the distance and their was a diversion due to an
accident. We were directed (GPS) down a
dirt road for miles but managed to avoid the accident traffic and rain! We couldn't avoid the torrential downpour
later at the RV park but it produced a beautiful rainbow. Each stay is a different experience and I
wouldn't change any of them, but we were very excited to experience the drive over
the Mackinac Bridge to the upper peninsula.
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| Country road in Michigan |
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| Popular locals spot for fresh seafood |
Crossing the
Mackinac Bridge was amazing in that the size, length and sturdiness which
carried tons of cars across the beautiful Lake Huron. We made our way to the town of Newport and I
couldn't help but ask myself why my husband and trip planner chooses to find RV
parks away from civilization and "off the beaten path". We drove for miles on the outskirts of
Newport into the remote but busy and very nice RV park. I'm learning to trust his decisions and
"go with it"! We met
wonderful people at this RV park including a young, energetic engaged couple
whom we befriended over the next couple of days. During this stay we made a days trip to the
Pictured Rocks in Munising, MI. that
could only be seen by boat. The two hour
boat ride (on Lake Superior) provided free kennels so we brought Gracie and
Daisy's blankets to make them feel comfortable.
The Pictured Rocks
are 42 miles of different colored rock formations of sandstone some in shapes
of archways and faces but what I loved were the beautiful colors of the rock
and the contrasting water. With strong
winds Lake Superior can become choppy, cancelling tours but we were lucky. The
lake was smooth as glass and we enjoyed our tour.
We loved the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan for it's scenic shoreline, waterfalls and tall
trees. People that lived in the U.P.
mostly live in small towns but are welcoming to tourists. We hiked to beautiful waterfalls and let the
dogs roam the shoreline of Lake Superior.
We are in bear territory, but somehow I didn't fear them here. We would see them the next day in a bear
sanctuary only two miles from our RV site.
A family started the sanctuary years ago and to date have over 40 black
bears. I was entertained by the cubs but
the male and females paced the fence with their heavy breathing. I did not enjoy the sound of their
"grunting" but I was happy they were inside a well secured
fence.
HOUGHTON, MI.
(July 15-19, 2017)
Hard hats, Quincy Mine and the U.P. Light House
Staying in the Upper
Peninsula (U.P.) for another week, we
arrived in the town of Houghton with our site on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The weather was perfect the day we arrived finding
our way downtown to a brewery ordering our traditional pizza. We walked along the peninsula with a view of
the Portage Canal Lift Bridge and came across a building," Dee
Stadium" the original home of
professional hockey.
Our first night in
Houghton we were more than entertained by a neighboring elderly couple who had
been in professional musicals. They were
expressive singing for us a few lines from "Hello Dolly". The owner of the RV park was helpful in
sharing points of interest for the area and talking about his published book,
"The Yooper's summer on Isle Royale".
The Yoopers are people referred to from the Upper Peninsula whose
accents have the guttural "o".
It sounds more like a "Dutch" accent.
On the list of many
things to do was the Quincy Mine cross the bridge in the town of Hancock. The copper mine was founded in 1846 and was
active until the 1940's. We were given
hard hats and jackets
prior to boarding a
cogwheel tram that lowered us into the cold, dark mines of about 40
degrees. It was hard for me to grasp how
they used dynamite and chisels by candlelight to mine back in the 1800's.
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| Our tour of the old Copper Mine |
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| Not a personal favorite style! |
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| Drilled holes for dynamite |
The Upper Peninsula
is near the top of my list of places I've enjoyed.
We came at the right time of the year when the weather isn't too warm
(don't think I could handle the winters), and the scenery is stunning. Way off the beaten path was the White Point Light Station that is still manned today. This is the area the ship "Edmund Fitzgerald" sunk in a November storm in 1975, killing 29 crew members on Lake Superior.
I'm fascinated by the hard work of light keepers in the less
sophisticated days of maintaining a lighthouse and the loneliness they
faced.
Someday, I hope to return to the
beautiful area of the Upper Peninsula!
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