Start of the Copper Highway Tour

It rained all night – downpour type rain, but the interesting thing is that rain on the roof of the RV is not like rain on a tin roof,but more of a gentle pitter patter which is great for sleeping so we sort of putzed around – sleeping in, moving slow.

Tony took Miko for a short walk and then we left Miko in the RV and took off for Calamut Michigan. This was a copper mining town back in the day. Reminded me a lot of some of the mining towns in northern Minnesota. Sort of depressed and quaint at the same time. We ended up at the Calamut Visitor Center which was in the old Masonic Hall. This was an amazing museum. They had many interactive displays about life in the mines, life in the town and the big troubles between the unions and the mining companies. This was a fairly small town, but it had 63 saloons at the height of the mining effort. Woody Guthrie even wrote a song about a 1913 massacre that happened in the Italian Hall. There was a Christmas party and somebody yelled Fire and in the panic that happened, 73 people died, mostly children, just trying to get down the stairs. On the third floor, there was a display about the Odd Fellows and some of their rituals which I found very interesting.

They torn down the Italian Hall and this is all that remains of it.

We then walked down Fifth Street and stopped at several different art galleries. I really enjoyed that. Up to this point, when I've traveled with the RV, I have not been able to stop at places like this because most of these places don't have parking for RVs. Now, with towing the car, I have the ability to now mix up my touristing and see much more.

We also came across a roadside attraction that commemorated a mega snowfall that occurred.  Here is a picture of Tony standing next to the snowfall marker.

  

Got back to the RV around four to find a wind advisory in effect. Winds up to 45 mph. I am so happy I am not driving in this. The wind is wild and the lake is rather agitated. It is like being on the ocean, the waves are so big. The RV seems to be handling it OK, we can hear the roar of the wind, but we are not shaking very much. I think it is because our nose is pointing into the wind which is giving us a smaller exposure. It is going to be a crazy night.

These are really big waves - you could surf on them.

  

Keweenaw Peninsula Michigan

Travel Day. Heading up to the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Packed up and went over to the dump station to dump out all of our tanks. I guess I can now call myself a real RVer. They say that you can't call yourself a real RVer until you have had a black tank accident. My sewer hose popped out of the sewer hole and let's just say it wasn't pretty. I must say though that my reactions were pretty quick for an old person and I got everything under control with a minimum of spillage. Cleaned everything up and got on our way across the northern part of the Upper Peninsula.

A new Jack White CD had come out this week and Tony became obsessed with getting it. What that meant was that when we got to Marquette, we had to go into a Target (they were sold out but we did some grocery shopping) and then on to a tiny tiny Best Buy Parking lot where he was able to get his CD. I am particularly proud of my maneuvering capabilities. Tony had measured the length of the car I'm towing and that plus the length of the RV is a little over fifty feet.

We are staying at McLain State Park which is on the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula. We are in spot 83 which is overlooking Lake Superior. Lots of woods around us – can barely see any of the other campers. The only issue has been the electrical hookups. For some strange reason, they are not very close to where we park the RV. I've had to use several extension cords to get hooked up. There is just electric here, we had to fill the water tank at the entrance so we would have water. There is also hardly any internet service or phone service. This will be interesting to see how we do without being wired in.

Pulled our lawn chairs out and sat and watched the sunset. Me with my wine of course. Something about wine and sunsets just seem to go together.