Elkhart, Indiana: July 17 - 19, 2015

When Alan found out that we would be going through Elkhart, Indiana on our way to Michigan from the Bliese reunion in Ohio, he got very excited.  Elkhart is the home of many manufacturers of RV's and trailers.  He really wanted to be able to tour a factory and see how they are made.  Elkhart also has a fascinating RV & motor home museum, which we enjoyed.

We had to make reservations well in advance to be able to tour a factory.  This is the Jayco factory near Elkhart.  They were making huge fifth-wheels the day we were there.  The tour was fascinating.  We were amazed at how much of it was done by hand.  We saw no robots, like there would be in an auto factory.

The Elkhart area has lots of Amish people, many of whom were working in the factory.

P.J. Hoffmaster State Park: July 20 - 23, 2015

Our first stop in Michigan was  at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, near Muskegon, Michigan.  It is on Lake Michigan, not far above Chicago.  The map below will be a good one to come back to if you want to actually trace how we traveled.

Hoffmaster has interesting dunes.   They look like normal dunes next to the water,
 but farther back, they start to be forested.
 I am walking on a forest path on top of and between dunes.

No, this isn't Florida.  It is the beautiful beach at Hoffmaster, on  clear, beautiful Lake Michigan.

We could walk from our campsite (#112) to the beach.
Every evening we joined most of the campers watching the sunset over the lake.
This evening, Alan forgot his hat, so he had to improvise a head covering.

This is the first of many sunsets we enjoyed.  Most of the wonderful Michigan State Parks we stayed at were on either Lake Michigan or Lake Superior.  We never got tired of the incredible views at sunset.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to Mackinac Bridge, July 23 - 26

This is a fun, interesting place to visit, especially if you like swimming in cool Lake Michigan on a hot summer day.  We were there with hordes of other folks and a GPS that sent us awry numerous times, to our great consternation, so it ended up not being great fun.  However, the views were lovely, and the monstrous dunes most fascinating.  

This is a view of the sleeping bear.  Use your imagination.  His nose is the sandy cliff on the left.

One of the huge dunes that goes down to the lake.  Those dots next to the lake are people.

Some stupid people trying to climb up the sand dune from the lake to the top of the dune.
The signs said that it would take 2 - 3 hours, and to not try it unless you were in great shape and carried lots of water.  We declined.

View of dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes is near Traverse City, which has a cherry festival each year.  There are wonderful cherry orchards all around the area, and they were ripe when we were there.  We stopped and got a quart of cherries every day and ate them like bears.  Yum!!!

North of Traverse City is this delightful museum of mechanical musical instruments from around the world.
All were functional, and the tour involved hearing many of them.  Most fascinating.

I love music boxes, so hearing so many wonderful ones was a great treat. 

Michigan has wonderful roadside picnic areas with space for trailers to park.
We stopped at this lovely one for lunch as we followed Lake Michigan up to the  Mackinac Bridge.

Sault St. Marie (First stop on Upper Peninsula): July 27 - 28, 2015

We crossed over into the UP via the Mackinac Bridge, at the tip of lower Michigan,
where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron.

I was a bit apprehensive about towing a trailer over this five mile long, 200 foot high suspension bridge,
the 5th longest in the world.
There was construction, which made going very slow, but actually, we (I) got to see more because of it.
Alan had to keep his eyes on the road.

If you look at any of the links I have provided, click on the "back" arrow to return to this blog.
 Facts about the Mackinac Bridge

Our first stop on the UP was at Brimley State Park, near Sault St. Marie.  (Sault is pronounced "Sue.")  We spent an afternoon there watching the huge ocean and Great Lakes vessels going through the locks.  The Corps of Engineers runs it, and they have an excellent museum there.  
Info about the locks at Sault St. Marie

Notice how close the ships come to the sides.  This was amazing to watch.
There is a special pilot who gets on each ship to guide it through the locks.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, near Munising: July 29 - August 1, 2015

Pictured Rocks was definitely the highlight of our month-long trip to Michigan.  It has amazing rock formations on beautiful Lake Superior. We loved everything we saw and did there.
For more information, see the NPS website:Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 

Lake Superior is crystal clear and a stunning blue or turquoise--I was blown away by its beauty.
It is also HUGE--you can't see the other side.  It is like being at the ocean.

If you go there, be sure to take this cruise out of Munising.  We took the sunset tour, and it was amazing.

Bring a jacket, and maybe some Dramamine.  Lake Superior can get choppy, and at sunset it gets chilly.

Chapel Rock, taken from the boat.  Notice roots of tree.  More on that later. 

There are many rock formations along the bluffs.  
These arches are what gave the name to the "Pictured Rocks."

Sunset, taken from the boat

On one of our hikes, we went to the land side of Chapel Rock.
See the tree roots coming from the rock to land, where they found soil.

The happy hikers
One of the lakeshore's sand beaches is in the background. 

Typical view from hiking trails along the cliffs of the lakeshore

Keweenaw Peninsula: August 2 - 5, 2015

See location of Keweenaw Peninsula at very top of the UP

As you can imagine by its location, it gets LOTS of snow in the winter.  I am glad we were there in August.

See arrow at last year's snow.  

Notice pole on fire hydrant, so they could find it in the winter time.  Parking meters were not on the streets: They were next to the buildings, so the snow plows wouldn't take them down in the winter.

 The Keweenaw Peninsula was the site of extensive copper mining in the early 1800's.  It was the first "rush" for minerals, similar to the gold rush later on.  The National Park Service has an excellent historic park, which is actually a series of interesting historic sites related to copper mining.
For more information, go to this link:  Keweenaw National Historical Park website

This was the most interesting site.  I really recommend visiting it if you go to the UP.  
We spent an entire afternoon there taking the tram tour into the mine and touring the buildings.  
They had great, knowledgeable guides.

This building contained the steam hoist.  
It lowered supplies and personnel into the mine and brought out the copper.

The cable attached to the hoist.

Fun tram ride down to the mine; then a wagon pulled by a tractor going into the mine itself.

Company towns were often beautifully designed, with many amenities for the miners and their families.
This is one of the buildings in the town of Calumet.

"The Porkies": Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, our last stop on the UP

We don't have a picture of it, but one of the fun things that happened while we were in the Porkies was that we had a brief visit from nephew Pete, his wife Karen, sons Joe and Sam, with the rest of their scout troop from Chicago.  They stopped by for a brief visit at the end of a several day Boy Scout backpacking trip to the Porkies. It was just happenstance that they were there at the same time we were.

There were beautiful overlooks all along the Escarpment Trail.

Lake of the Clouds surrounded by the Porcupine Mountains, seen from Escarpment Trail

Presque Isle Scenic Area

On our last evening in the Porcupine Mountains, we actually saw a porcupine up in a tree eating leaves.
Unfortunately, it was sunset, so you will have to trust me that this is a porcupine.

Last beautiful sunset over Lake Superior on the last day in Michigan

Click on "Older Posts" below to see the rest of the trip.  We went to my childhood home in Elroy, Wisconsin and to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen, in Spring Green, Wisconsin.