Post #5 of 7 – 2023 Summer RV Road Trip

The GREAT Lakes

Leaving Ohio, we had no set plan for the night and ended up at Hodenpyle Dam Pond near Cadillac, Michigan. The name says it all.

This is not a good sign when pulling a giant trailer and the clouds are getting ready to cut loose. It was a muddy mess getting down into “Pat’s RV” on the water. It rained all night. We did have a lake view, sort of.

And then little Indie, after surviving the heat exhaustion, tried again. This time she got into the pills. She chewed up “Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday” and ingested a lethal dose of prescription drugs. The overdose hotline said considering what we estimated she had swallowed, she needed to get to an emergency vet within an hour. We were miles from anywhere in a heavy rainstorm, so the only other option was Hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting. Neither of us had any but luckily there was one other occupied motor home at the lake and they had a bottle. It took two rounds of forcing her to swallow carefully prescribed doses of peroxide (salmon oil added did the trick) and she finally vomited up the entire mess. She is fine, but it was another scary night.

That’s it Indie, no more drama please!

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The Sleeping Bear Dunes

The park is named after an Ojibwa legend of the sleeping bear. According to the legend, an enormous forest fire on the western shore of Lake Michigan drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake for shelter, determined to reach the opposite shore. After many miles of swimming, the two cubs lagged. When the mother bear reached the shore, she waited on the top of a high bluff. The exhausted cubs drowned in the lake, but the mother bear stayed and waited, hoping that her cubs would finally appear. Impressed by the mother bear’s determination and faith, the Great Spirit created two islands (North and South Manitou islands) to commemorate the cubs, and the winds buried the sleeping bear under the sands of the dunes where she waits to this day.

They had a stunning stuffed collection of the local wildlife. The display stressed that all animals and birds were found dead and not killed for the purpose of mounting here. They were beautiful. The best mounts I’ve seen.

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Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island

Three nights at the Mackinaw Mill Creek camp grounds. This is the biggest RV Park we have ever seen. It was crazy big. Too big. We seriously had to refer to the map every time we came or went! It was 800 RV sites and hundreds more tent sites and cabins. They stay fully booked all summer long.

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Mackinac Island

We realized that the dogs on the ferry and a long day trip to the island would be too much. So we took turns babysitting each others dogs. We went first. The ferry in the morning was a nice jet boat and we were on the Mackinac Island in less than 20 minutes.

Coined Michigan’s Crown Jewel, Mackinac Island is a unique experience to get outdoors and travel back in time at a single destination. Located between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, this 3.8-square-mile island doesn’t allow cars. You’ll either get around by foot, bicycle or even horse.

Note that the specific reason that we lugged our bicycles across country was to take them over on this ferry and ride in town as well as the 8 mile perimeter of the island. That was the plan. We got here and discovered that you can pay the $16 to ferry your bike, but electric bikes are not allowed. What???

It was a nice way to tour the little city and get a good history lesson from the guide. It’s worth noting that the horses seem to be very well taken care of and the guides take care of their own teams. They develop a close bond with their horses and work together as a team for years.

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No bike ride, and no world famous fudge for us. But it was definitely worth it. It would be better to come stay at one of the hotels for a few days and experience it all.

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We drove around Mackinaw City and found a little heritage park that was informative. As well as the Weinerlicious!

What we learned: Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island are both pronounced “Mackinaw”.

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Crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, onward to the Upper Peninsula

We finally crossed that bridge!

We were about to find out that the Upper Peninsula or U.P. is a whole new world. They like to think they’re a completely different state.

Pictured Rocks

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An Eerie Harvest Host

The KI Sawyer Air Force Base was a peaceful spot to camp for the night. It was sad to see such a big important piece of history so quiet and abandoned.

Then the fog rolled in and it got really got eerie. We were able to get some nice pictures in the fog the next morning of the retired planes on permanent display.

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Isle Royale Visitor Center

We tried to get to the Ferry Docks in Houghton, Michigan. After going around and around the town due to detours from a local parade, we realized we weren’t going to be able to get down to the visitor center on the docks.

It turns out that the Ferry leaves from Houghton and it’s a 3 1/2 hour ride to the very desolate island or Island Royale National Park. There’s no way we’re physically going to get to this National Park. Other than some in remote Alaska, this is probably the least visited National Park in the system.

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The Keweenaw National Historic Park

So we crossed the bridge and went another 10 miles north to check out the Keweenaw NHP. I didn’t even research this. It was in the book so we went. What an amazing surprise!

I was expecting some kind of old American Indian ruins. It was in fact a huge historical copper operation. There was a beautiful old town with so much history.

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Ontonagon Camping

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We’ve had dreary weather pretty much the entire Lake Superior “Circle Tour”

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Apostle Islands

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore comprises a stretch of shoreline and 21 islands at the northern tip of Wisconsin, on Lake Superior. On the mainland, the Lakeshore Trail winds past cliffs and sea caves. Many islands have trails, beaches and marinas. Wildlife includes bald eagles, falcons and black bears. Sand Island and Raspberry Island have 19th-century lighthouses. The Lucerne shipwreck is just off Long Island.

The website said open year round, 9 to 5. Nope, not today. The museum building is beautiful but we couldn’t get in. Knowing that people like me aren’t going to be happy, they had a little room accessible with the passport stamp!

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The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway

The St. Croix was one of only eight waterways originally designated as a “National Wild and Scenic River” by the federal government in 1968. It’s also widely considered one of the best canoeing rivers in the nation.

The St. Croix Riverway runs for over 250 miles between Wisconsin and Minnesota . We swung down to cross over a bridge on the northern end. That’s all we’ll see. We’re headed further north.

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