On June 25th, while staying at the Mackinaw, Mill Creek Campground, Glen and I hiked down the shore of Lake Huron to watch the water and the sunset near the Mighty Mackinac Bridge. The Mackinac Bridge crosses the Mackinac Straits which separates Lake Michigan from Lake Huron. Take a look!
On June 26th, Barbara, Ellie and I along with our friends Glen and Kathy traveled to the town of Sault Ste. Marie to see the Soo Locks. Soo Locks is locate on the St. Marys River that flows from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The locks were originally constructed between 1914 and 1919 and Poe Lock, the larger of the two locks, was reconstructed in 1968 to accommodate todays larger ships. A third lock is currently under construction to allow more ship traffic through the locks. Ships passing through the locks transport nearly 86 million tons of cargo annually, including 95% of the United States iron ore.
On the day we visited the locks, a freighter carrying iron ore passed through. It was fun watching the process of the ship moving into Poe Lock, the gates close, the ship lower by approximately 16 feet, the gates reopen and the ship slowly move out of the lock on its journey to Lake Huron and beyond.
This past Tuesday, Barbara and I took another cruise, on Lake Superior, to explore the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We boarded the cruise boat in Munising Harbor, Michigan for the 33 mile round trip. We have visited this park before, but we only saw the park from land. Taking the cruise gave us a very different perspective of the park and of all of the boat cruises that we have taken, this was by far the most picturesque with Lake Superior, the numerous waterfalls, arches and the multicolored rock formations.
This past Thursday, Barbara and I took a two hour boat cruise on Lake Superior to explore the Apostle Islands. On this day the sky was mostly clear, the air was cool and crisp, which made for a very enjoyable time on the lake.
The Apostle Islands are part of the state of Wisconsin and made up of 13 islands of which our favorite was Devils Island with its wave carved sandstone, rock formations. This area has a rich history with its mining, logging, fishing, and shipping. In addition, there are numerous lighthouses here, which Barbara and I always enjoy. If you are ever in Wisconsin be sure to take a cruise on Lake Superior and visit the Apostle Islands. On this day I took approximately 60 photos and posted 24 of my favorites here. Take a look!
Yesterday, Barbara and I visited the nearby US Hockey Hall of Fame. This museum primarily covers college, Olympic and Minnesota hockey. It does; however, have a good section on the history of hockey in North America. I learned a lot in this area that I previously didn’t know. They also have the fourth Zamboni ever built. Boy have they changed over the years. They have two chairs and a table made from broken hockey sticks. Some of the broken sticks are signed by Olympic athletes. In addition, they have several movies you can watch in their theater. We watched the 1980 Olympic hockey game between the USA and USSR, and a documentary on coach Herb Brooks.
About a mile from the museum is the world’s largest hockey stick. I’m not kidding! It is in the World Book of Records. The “Big Stick” is made from aspen, 110 feet long and weighs 10,000 pounds. The hockey puck in front of the Big Stick is 5 feet in diameter, 20 inches thick and weighs 700 pounds. Next to the Big Stick is a print shop and when the owner saw that Barbara and I were from out of state he gave each of us a little surprise. He gave both of us t-shirts that say Freedom, Beer and the Big Stick on the front with the American flag on the back. Pretty Cool!
If you are ever in northern Minnesota and have some time to kill, be sure to stop in Eveleth, MN and check this place out. It’s definitely worth a couple of hours.
The aircraft on display at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) were dreamed up, constructed and flown by men and women who never settled for the ordinary. They had aspirations beyond what is considered ordinary. At the EAA there is a display dedicated to Frank Borman a Gemini and Apollo astronaut. The Voyager airplane is also on display here. For those of you don’t know, the Voyager is the only aircraft to ever circumnavigating the earth without stopping. In addition, there are interactive displays here where you can fly a fighter jet, a hang glider and a hot air balloon. I tried all three. I crashed the fighter jet, hang glider, and wasn’t able to get the balloon off of the ground. Maybe it’s a good thing I gave up flying?
Every summer, usually in July, pilots from all over the world come to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to eat, sleep, and immerse themselves in the world of aviation. Most fly in their own planes and camp on the ground beneath their aircraft. Did you know that only 0.007% of the population ever gets to pilot an aircraft? I feel very fortunate that, if just for a few short years, I was able to feel the exhilaration of being able pilot an aircraft on my own, feeling lighter than air, and free as a bird.
This place gave me goose bumps. I felt like a kid in a candy store. Seeing a replica of the Wright Brothers first successful aircraft and the many other aircraft that were dreamed up by men and women, assembled and flown following these two famous brothers, it made me think of the Great explores like Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Neil Armstrong, and my favorites Chuck Yeager and John Wesley Powell. I know there are those who say that Christopher Columbus didn’t do anything significant, but imagine what the world would look like today if he hadn’t taken a chance and discovered the New World. Would the Pilgrims have arrived in North America just over 100 years later? Would there be a United States of America today? Maybe those who believe that Columbus didn’t do anything significant still believe the world is flat? It wouldn’t surprise me.
So if you’re ever in Wisconsin, be sure to plan a visit to the EAA museum in Oshkosh.
This past Thursday, we arrived at the Fremont RV Park in Fremont Wisconsin. The next morning, the weather was nice so I took a hike around the park. This a nice park right on a lake with lots of trees and other vegetation. But one of things I really enjoy about this part of the country is the song birds. There are a lot of song birds and they’re always singing. In addition, there are squirrels, rabbits and other assorted four legged critters here. Yesterday, our neighbor placed new bird feeder blocks in his bird feeders and this morning a black squirrel, who I guess thinks he’s a bird, raided one of the feeders. Below I have posted photos of the park and the wayward squirrel.
Today, Barbara and I got out and did some sightseeing. We took a drive to nearby Falls Park in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is a beautiful park with the main attraction being the waterfalls. In the park the water of the Big Sioux River cascades over the Sioux Quartzite below. This rock is extremely hard and in the early days of Sioux Falls it was used to build a lot of the buildings in town. The quarries in town have been moved outside of town and the quartzite is now mainly used in road construction. The park covers 123 acres and is mostly covered with grass, a visitors center, a restaurant, viewing tower and remnants of some of the historic buildings that once stood here. The falls drops over 100 feet on its journey through the park with an average flow rate of 7,400 gallons each second. After our adventure we enjoyed a nice lunch at nearby Red Robin. Yum!
As most of you know, we lost our little Toby to cancer on May 9th. Even though we only had him for 18 months and 8 days he left a big puppy print on our hearts. But in the end he went out on his own terms. We knew that he couldn’t be saved and he had been in constant pain since his surgery. So we took him to the vet to see if there was anything they could do for him and the vet indicated that based on his observations the cancer had likely spread to Toby’s brain. We had just learned the day before that he had cancer. So while we prepared to put Toby to sleep, as I was holding him, he looked up at me and then Barbara and passed away. As I said, he went on his own terms. Below I have posted some of my favorite photos of our little boy.
Most of Voyageurs National Park (NP) is under water so the best way to see this park is by boat. So this past Wednesday, Barbara and I took a boat cruise on Rainy Lake in Voyageurs NP. The day started out clear and warm, but halfway through the cruise the clouds began rolling in and it got windy. Even though, Barbara and I really enjoyed our cruise. On this day, Barbara and I and our boat captain were the only people on the cruise so we had the entire boat to ourselves. Captain Dan is very knowledgeable about the park because he has lived in the area his entire life.
Rainy Lake covers approximately 360 square miles in northern Minnesota and southern Ontario and this is only part of the park. The park is comprised of six large lakes of which Rainy Lake is the largest. The park contains approximately 2,900 islands. According to Captain Dan, two years ago, in the spring of 2022, there was so much precipitation and subsequent runoff that Rainy Lake rose by 74 inches. Think about that for a minute. A lake that covers 360 square miles rose by 74 inches. That’s a lot of water. This caused a lot of flooding in the area. Rainy Lake has several rivers and streams that flow into it and only one river that drains the lake. There lies the problem. The water had no where to go.
Voyageur NP sits on the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield is the basement rock of the North American Continent or as geologist call it a craton. Theses rocks are between 1 and 3 billion years old and made up of gneiss and granite. Over time, additional layers of sedimentary rocks were laid down on top, only to be stripped away by the continental glaciers that covered this area during the Pleistocene Epoch, AKA the Ice Ages.
This is a beautiful park and if you’re ever in northern Minnesota or southern Canada, be sure and check it out.
RV There Yet? 