Surprise snow!

We woke up Saturday morning to this view:
 
I took this in the morning, the snow fell all day...
 
The husband, just back from a business trip and no other place to go, consented to come out of the basement to take our picture in the snow...
 
 
Sunday morning, we're heading home, and this is the view over the ridge...
 
We missed you, Bonnie. So glad for Skype!

South Core Banks, NC

When I went to bed Tuesday night, it was raining. The rain fell all night. When I left home in the dark Wednesday morning, the rain was falling. We loaded the truck in the rain, it stopped long enough to grab this photo...
 

Captain Lanier with the Davis Store Ferry Service (252-Raw-Fish) made the 10am run to the island, and said no more today. The rain is OK, but the wind is dangerous. But, the wind calmed a little at 2pm, and we loaded in the rain and headed to the Island. Of course, half-way across, the wind kicked up, and docking on the island was almost impossible. We backed-off the ferry, and let the air of our tires (necessary for driving in sand) in a sideways rain. As we crossed Ramp 30 to the beach, the rain let up, and the sun appeared through the dark clouds. The wind and high tide kept us to the back 'road', where we found a place to camp for the night. We hung our soaked clothes on anything we could outside the truck, in no time the wind had whipped them dry.
 
 
We can see the Cape Lookout lighthouse all weekend. The keepers house/museum is open, the light is not. We drive south, along the beach, to the Cape, and back up the west side 2 more miles. The high tide and wind stop us at the jetty. It is so beautiful out here.

 
 
The island is crowded with men in every kind of vehicle you can imagine. Some non-altered trucks, but some really creative altered vehicles. An old "Lance chips" truck is a great base vehicle, and the back porches and fishing racks and water containers are all different. No pics, that would have been rude without permission.
Portsmouth Island, the next island north, is our favorite, but it's closed right now. The hurricane last month filled the ferry slip with 75 feet of sand. The National Park Service is dredging it out, we hear, and the island will reopen in about 2 weeks. We're sad for our friends Kari and Rick, who run the ferry from Atlantic to PI, who are out of business until the dredging is complete. Life on the coast is altered quickly by the weather.

Sam found this shark's tooth, the Treasure of the week.

 
K and Sam fish without much luck, but that didn't matter so much. There are very few women on the island, and we got lots of double-takes when the fishermen realized they were seeing three women in the Big Truck. The man from Sanford we stopped to ask about the fishing summed it up: What, no men? Hey, boys, y'all have to see this! So, our camp was named: Camp Wutnomen. And, we cook, too.
 
 
After the rain stopped Wednesday afternoon, the sky was gorgeous. After the wind calmed Thursday night, the sea was calm. The sky was clear, and we had two beautiful nights for the meteor showers. A fine trip, we'll do this again.
 

Rogers City to Detroit

At the risk of making repetitive remarks, the Michigan State Parks are very nice! We worked our way down the Sunrise Coast, spending time on the beaches. In Bay City, we were almost the only people in the campground, and for the first time in several weeks, far enough from a railroad track to not hear a train at night.

The beaches on the lake are sandy and rocky. I was thrilled to find colorful rocks, and filled my bag with the most beautiful rocks. By the time we'd worked our way around to the 'Thumb' of Michigan, the rocks had disappeared to the sandy beaches. Ford Motor Company created a small bay on the northwest of the Thumb, Crescent Bay. In the 1930's, they dug the beautiful sand there to make windshields. By then, Henry Ford had created The Rouge plant in Dearborn, a modern manufacturing marvel, where the company manufactured many of the parts needed to assemble a car.

We loved all the small towns on the St. Claire River, and were fascinated with the tugs pushing barges up and down the river, much like the traffic we'd seen on the Mississippi River. At the recommendation of people we'd met at another State Park, we slipped into the Algonac State Park, and requested a site on the river. From that vantage, we could see the huge barges moving up and down.
 
 
Of course, there was one more Island to visit, and a bonus of two lighthouses on that island. I loved the sign at the ferry landing on the island, warning motorists to drive carefully!

Stuart discovered a campground a the Wayne County Fairgrounds, just west of Detroit. Or, DEEtroit as my daddy would have said. The campground was the closest to the city, and pretty cheap. Quiet, too. I had a need to see the Studio A and Berry Gordy's famous Motown Museum. Stuart had a need to see The Rouge. If you ever have the chance, do both!

Henry Ford was arguably one of the most brilliant men of the 20th Century. What he created in Dearborn to manufacture cars was the beginning of assembly line production. The ticket included a tour of the F-150 assembly line at The Rouge, and we could have stayed there all day, watching the parts move and a truck being built. They turn out a completely assembled F-150 every 90 minutes.

Motown was an emotional experience. To be in that studio, where the music of MY time was recorded, to see the albums lining the walls and to hear the stories...it was a perfect afternoon! We ended up in Studio A, where we sang and danced (part of the tour). We don't have to worry about being discovered.

 
 

Saturday night, after Motown and The Rouge, we drove over to Ann Arbor for dinner. The crowds along the streets told us we'd arrived in a college town on the evening of a home football game. But, a parking place appeared, and we joined the people on the pleasant street. Stuart had picked out an italian restaurant that was beautifully decorated and very busy, but they gave us a great table right away. The meal was about as perfect as any I've ever had. Afterwards, we walked down the street, and went into an art gallery to see a special show of hand-made books. I bought a box with three small books in it, a $25 splurge! We met Spooner, the crochet man www.the securityblanketco.com, on the street. He is a Character with talent!

Sunday, we spent the entire day at Greenfield Village, a part of The Henry Ford. Somewhat like Historic Williamsburg, it was totally assembled by Henry Ford. Entire houses were dismantled and moved here; demonstration farms and stores; turn-of-the-century artisans; all staffed with interpreters in costume and well-read about their 'lives'. Booker T. Washington's house, Robert Frost's house, Noah Webster's house; more...all, as if they had just stepped out for a minute. This rug is on the floor of Noah Webster's house, made entirely by hand with little pieces of wool. A real Penny Rug!

The trip is done. We're ready to head home, and we pack up in a pouring rain Monday morning, and head south on a perfectly awful road. It's as if everything unpleasant had waited for our fun trip to end. We laughed all the way to Lancaster, OH, where the rain stopped.

I just spent five days on my own boat on the Mississippi River, and then was blinded by the bright beauty of Lake Huron's sandy beaches. What a charmed life.

Lake Huron/St. Clair River lighthouses

Just a few of the 28 lighthouses we saw last month, most of them on Lake Huron, a few on the St. Claire River (it connects Lake Huron with Lake Erie)...Stuart can name them ALL!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

PN Hoeft State Park, Rogers City

Michigan State Parks are some of the best we've every seen. After driving a short 90 miles, we set up housekeeping on the Sunrise side of the state on the shore of Lake Huron, at Hoeft State Park. PN Hoeft was a banker, lumber baron, ship captain, mine owner. In 1922, he donated 300 acres for a park, and in 1938 the CCC built a fine stone picnic pavilion. It's big park, with 142 sites. Since it's after Labor Day, and mid-week, the place is almost deserted. The beach here is sugar sand, blindingly white, and the water is an improbably blue/green. Beautiful!

We pedaled our bicycles up the coast a little to see the Forty Mile Point Light, then drove down the coast to see the lights at Presque Isle. Michigan is serious about biking, we are to learn that there are paved bike trails everywhere. Something else Michiganders are serious about is sausage. The meat markets we've seen so far are from a distant time. Many different hand-made sausages, beautifully cut meats and a small army of men in white coats and hats behind the counter to cut something for me. We bought several different sausages from the meat market in Rogers City, pop: tiny. What a feast we had for dinner that night! Corn, peppers, sausages, all cooked on the grill.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Driving across the UP

After leaving Oshkosh, we found the coastal road heading north. Terrible road surface, but the DOT is working on it. We drove through about 50 miles of road construction. We'd spent some quality time on Michigan's UP in 2006, loved every minute of it, and were happy to be back in the southern part of the UP. Hey, this is where we saw Alice Cooper, live, at the State Fair in '06...that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

We made a stop at our favorite place to buy GOOD maple syrup. I can't tell you name of the business, but it's on US 2, east of Blaney Park Road, on the north side of the highway, in a green building. You can't miss it; there is no other house or building for many miles. Susan showed us the maple syrup processing equipment, and sold us the last of the grade C stuff she had. Grade C is the darkest, most flavorful, even though most people want the Grade A. I think they're named wrong, but who's asking me? Susan gave me a zucchini from her garden, which we enjoyed that night for dinner.

Just a view of the beautiful Lake Superior...




















It took us three days to get from Oshkosh to St. Ignace, just taking our time. The next day we drove north and east on MI 134, to the end of that peninsula to get to Drummond Island, where there is a lighthouse at De Tour Village (by the ferry landing) and at the far end of the island. You've got to love solitude to live on Drummond Island. It's big, it's remote and it's beautiful. It's also, apparently, a summer cottage place, lots of small houses with seasonal "For Rent" signs in front of them.
This 50-foot tall tree caught my eye. It was decorated like a huge Christmas tree, with hanging pairs of shoes! Too bad I couldn't take a better picture. At the driveway to someone's house in the woods, the owners obviously have a quirky sense of humor.

















Cedarville, the hometown of my Sistah, Gypsygirl. Gypsygirl, the old hometown has grown since you left many years ago, but it's still a tiny, cold place. The gas is still the highest in the state and you can still gt your boat motor repaired, buy smoked fish and eat pasties everywhere.

on the ferry, crossing De Tour Passage, between the UP and Drummond Island. I hope I never get too 'old' to get out of the car and watch the scene when I'm on a ferry...

Alma, WI to Oshkosh, and a Big Storm

After a quick shower at the marina, we settled our bill and headed out. I felt out of balance, like what we were seeing was surreal, after being on the river for five days. The unreal feeling was soon more magnified by the strange damage in the landscape. It was as if tiny little tornadoes has touched down in the cornfields smashing down little sections of corn. Big trees were twisted off 10 feet off the ground, but the damage was very sporadic. We stopped for the night in Red Granite, WI, where we saw much hurricane-looking damage: trees down, roofs torn off houses, power lines down. This morning, about 10am, a sudden and very intense storm blew through so quickly the local tornado sirens didn't have time to warm people. We were on the river when this terrible storm blew through!
 

We spent the next day and night with Carmen, and the ghost of my Aunt Carol. I love their gardens! This year, Carmen had several new containers, and the hydrangeas in front of the pretty Victorian house were just gorgeous! We ran into old friends Geri and Jim, their daughter and grand daughter at the downtown Farmer's Market that morning, it was as if we had come home after having been away for a few years. Carmen is gearing up for another school year, this year with only 19 piano students. It was so nice to see Carmen and catch up. Nice way to ease back into the road trip.