July, August, September 2018

Here’s a bunch of pictures to wrap-up our time in Marshall, Michigan.

Established in the 1930s on the corner of Conant and Six Mile roads as a neighborhood tavern in Hamtranck, it was not until 1946 that Buddy’s first introduced its famous square pizza — the first of its kind — to Detroit.  Not quite as thick as Neapolitan-style deep dish, the crust is thick and the pizza (not fair to call it a pie) is baked in a sided-pan so that every piece (not fair to call it a slice) develops its own very crispy crust.  To make it a Detroit pizza you’d place a mixture of brick and mozzarella cheeses directly on top of the crust, add the toppings, then add a ladle of sauce down the center of the pizza and bake. Delicious!

Battle Creek was an important underground railroad stop.  The following pictures are of 2 small sections of a bronze statue that stands in one of the downtown parks.  It shows Harriet Tubman and local conductors as they lead a group of runaway slaves to safety.

Yup-we did spend a delightful afternoon at the County Fair.  Before you ask, we had only 1 jumbo corn dog.

 

Greek Festival in Plymouth, Michigan.  All of the food was prepared by the members of the congregation of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, and the congregation provided all of the labor.  Because of attendance, traffic control is provided by the local police; the company next door permits use of their parking lot, and a shuttle gets visitors back and forth to the festival.  Unbelievable how many people attend and make a day of it, enjoying the celebration and taking home bags and bags of food (the Greek pastries were fabulous!) .

 

We had heard that Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor would be in Lansing giving a lecture as well as the welcoming address to the incoming students at MSU.  Why Justice Sotomayor?  Lansing was a participant in the One Book One Community program, which had selected her memoir “My Beloved World” as this summer’s read, and all incoming students at MSU were given a signed copy of the book.  The public was able to attend!

 

Fun times at The Big House. First an open practice then attending the first 3 home games this season. Very emotional times for Brian standing on the 50-yard line and looking up into the stands. It might have been 49 years ago the first time, but so very hard to forget

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Barbara and Brian

July, August, September 2018

Detroit has earned its bad reputation.  The city’s financial resources are stretched thin, there’s a high incidence of drug use, violence, teen pregnancy and school drop-outs; the number of citizens living below the poverty line and without adequate healthcare let alone city resources like police and fire protection is astounding; homes once in stable blue-collar neighborhoods are in foreclosure, in ill-repair or abandoned; far too many empty lots with no city plan for the future exist, and the isolation of the disenfranchised from downtown renovations, the gentrification of Greektown and the Lakeshore add to this being a tough place to live.

But take a closer look around, and see the wonderment of the people of Detroit taking pride in their community; see the wonderment of a creative process that is thriving.  No that’s incorrect – it should read pride in their neighborhoods, because all around town there’s an amazing amount of outdoor urban art.  And – oh yeah, you have to at least stop and contemplate all of the music produced at Hitsville USA at the corner of Berry Gordy and West Grand Boulevards.

The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art project on Detroit’s east side, just north of the city’s historically African-American Black Bottom area.  It was created in 1986 by the artist Tyree Guyton, who was assisted by his wife, Karen, and grandfather, Sam Mackey (“Grandpa Sam”).  The Heidelberg Project is in part a political protest, as Tyree Guyton’s childhood neighborhood began to deteriorate after the 1967 riots.  Guyton described coming back to Heidelberg Street after serving in the Army; he was astonished to see that the surrounding neighborhood looked as if “a bomb went off”.

At first, the project consisted of his painting a series of houses on Detroit’s Heidelberg Street with bright dots of many colors and attaching salvaged items to the houses.  It was a constantly evolving work that transformed a hard-core inner city neighborhood where people were afraid to walk, even in the daytime, into one in which neighbors took pride and where visitors were many and welcomed.  Despite the area being characterized by high levels of blight and poverty, the evolving art work grew.  Tyree Guyton worked on the Heidelberg Project daily with the children on the block.  The Heidelberg Project’s mission was to improve the lives of people and neighborhoods through art.

The Detroit Industrial Galley is a home copyrighted as a work of art, an adjacent outdoor sculpture garden, created by Detroit’s Premier outside artist Tim Burke.  The outdoor sculpture garden is made from a collection of building pieces scavenged from demolished historical buildings that were once iconic landmarks of the city.  The iconic buildings incorporated into the sculpture garden include the Detroit College of Law, the J.L Hudson’s Department Store, the Packard Motor Car Company, and the Studebaker Car Company.

The Z Lot is an indoor parking structure across from the public library in downtown Detroit; adjacent to the structure is Belt Alley.  Every floor of the Z Lot is filled with an array of murals by artists from around the world.  You don’t have to park here to see the art; simply park on the street, take the elevator to any floor and look around.  We suggest however going to the roof and walking down floor by floor.  It’s really, really cool.

The Belt, an alley that runs alongside the Z Lot, is filled with art from one end to the other, some of which changes on a regular basis.

 

The Grand River Creative Corridor is an artist-driven revitalization project started in mid-2012 along Grand River Avenue (imagine that).  There are oodles and oodles of murals that have been painted on buildings, free standing boards in corner parks and on storefronts to identify businesses in this deserted section of the city.  The murals have been painted by artists not just from Detroit but other cities from around the world. There are paintings on buildings. There are paintings on free standing boards on a corner park.

The Lincoln Street Art Park is an evolving community collaboration between local artists, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Detroit Recreation department, and the adjacent recycling center.

At the corner of West Grand and Berry Gordy Boulevards is Hitsville USA, somewhat better known as the home of Motown.  It was here that Motown’s artists recorded their hits.  The studios and administrative offices were converted into a museum in 1985.

We were intrigued to see Eight Mile Wall during our tour of Detroit.  The wall is a 1 foot (0.30 m) thick, 6 feet (1.8 m) high structure that stretches about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in length.  It is hidden between houses, covered by weeds and ivy, and cuts through a public park in Detroit’s Wyoming neighborhood.  The Eight Mile Wall has been referred to by locals as Detroit’s Berlin Wall, although unlike its German counterpart, this divider still stands today.  The wall was built in 1934 and was meant to physically, legally and symbolically segregate a black community from an adjacent white development.  How sad that it was built in the first place?

Great day looking around a city we never thought about as anything but a place to travel through.

So it check out, but look beyond Trip Advisor or any of the other mainstream advice sites that direct you to stuff to do wherever you are.  The top things to do in City “X” don’t tell the whole story.  Check out Atlas Obscura.  Check out what the locals say are the most interesting things to do in their city.  Find local publications that will help plan your day.  You just never know what you’ll find.

Barbara and Brian

 

 

 

July, August, September 2018

Historic Bridge Park is one of the only parks in the US that celebrates America’s historic truss bridges.  A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements forming triangular units.  The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads.  Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges

The Park is an open air museum set along side the Kalamazoo River and highlights five historic bridges that date back to the late 1800s.  There are five metal truss bridges and a stone arch bridge for a total of six bridges in the park.  All of the bridges were originally from different cities in Michigan or Indiana, disassembled at their original location and reassembled on this location in Battle Creek,

We stopped here spontaneously for a picnic lunch and ended up enjoying this very unique piece of American history.

Barbara and Brian

July, August, September 2018

The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan and encompasses 158 beautifully landscaped acres.  The 4 most popular areas to visit are the Japanese Garden, the Sculpture Park, the Children’s Garden, and da Vinci’s Horse.  A leisurely stroll along well-marked pathways brings you to any and all of the park’s areas, and even with a full parking lot, there is no real sense of being in a crowd.

Why Frederick Meijer?  For those of you that do not know, Meijer Stores, founded in Grand Rapids, were the first true big-box one stop shop for all things a family might need – think Target or Super Walmart in the here and now.  We can’t say enough about how the Meijer family has given back to their community; the gardens and sculpture park is only one example of their thoughtfulness and largesse.

In 1990, Fred and Lena Meijer were asked for their support by the West Michigan Horticultural Society to embrace the concept of a major cultural attraction centering around horticulture and sculpture, and in April 1995 the Gardens and Sculpture Park opened.  The original vision has turned into a top cultural destination in the Midwest, and is known internationally for the quality of the art and gardens.

Here’s a sampling from our outstanding day.  Enjoy…

You can go to the website, http://www.meijergardens.org/, to see more of the park.

We know we keep saying this, but if you happen to be in the area this is truly a gem, and worthwhile way to spend the day!

Barbara and Brian

Thanks for your indulgence with our last blog and this one as Brian has been showing off his photographic eye with highlights of our hikes.  Enjoy!

 

Next Up?  The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.

Barbara and Brian

 

July, August, September 2018

Part of the fun of our hikes has been the chance to take photos of cool stuff along the way.  It’s all about wonderful vistas, lakes and rivers, trees and flowers.  It’s all about the mammals, butterflies, dragonflies and other insects, spiderwebs, birds, amphibians and reptiles that’ll stand still long enough for that perfect shot.  It’s flat out hard to pick just a few of our favorites so we’ll provide a catalogue of the pictures from earliest to most recent and provide a decent cross section of everything we thought worthy.  I’m guessing that the pics will occupy 2 or more blog postings.

Thank you for your indulgence.

 

Barbara and Brian

 

July, August and September 2018

We will never walk, hike or run as far as Forrest Gump, but then again we don’t have that kind of an obsession.  We will walk or hike (these Block’s don’t run much anymore!) miles and miles, up and down elevations, over rocks and sand and on boardwalks not just for the exercise but for the experience.  There are smells, sounds, textures, colors and things to see if you’ll let yourself just stop, take a minute and be part of the experience (right, Meg?).  You’ll experience the familiar, and ofttimes something you’d never expected to experience will cross your path.  It’s not just flora and fauna being everywhere, but that you are now an integral part of the habitat, and that habitat will react to you as either invasive or respectful.

We’ve walked or hiked 70 miles or more the past 2 months.  We’ve walked on roadways, sand, concrete, boardwalks and dirt trails through forests, and during beer and blueberry festivals.  Brian’s blown out a couple of older pairs of shoes/hiking boots during our treks.  We’ve gotten lost more than once and an “easy” 3-mile hike became 7 miles or so.  We’ve forgotten water, we’ve eaten a bunch of picnic lunches (how cool is that!), and we should have brought snacks on several occasions.  We’ve hiked in cool and hot temperatures and when the sun was too strong, and we’ve enjoyed the shade of majestic trees.  We’ve hiked trails maintained by universities, those maintained by cities and public trusts, and some trails not maintained at all.  This does not include urban adventures, such as walking on the U of M campus during our trips to Ann Arbor, grocery shopping, the Ann Arbor Art Festival, a trip to prison in Jackson (Cell Block 7 tour); the American Museum Of Magic in Marshall (Colon, Michigan is the magic capital of the US – go figure!), Jazz Fest in Grand Rapids with best friends Gail and Neil who just happened to be in the neighborhood, an amateur college summer baseball game with the Battle Creek Bombers. etc.  There’s more to come on the County Fair, Greek Heritage Festival, Historic Bridges Park, and the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.  We’ve seen some pretty cool stuff along the way.

Here are some of the trails that claimed our blood, sweat and tears!

Not pictured are our hikes at the Kalamazoo Nature Reserve, Fort Custer Recreation Area, and along the boardwalk in Marshall (part of the North Country Scenic Trail).

We just bought ourselves bicycles.  So what kind of bike was right for us?  We rented Electra Townies for our tour of PeLee Island a couple of months ago and just knew that would be our choice when the time came.  We found a wonderful bike shop in Kalamazoo that just happened to have what we wanted, and the fine folks at Pedal were also able to fix us up with the right bike rack for the Jeep.  But then we realized the real problem.  How can we haul the bikes along with us – the Jeep doesn’t have a hitch.  So onward to U-Haul, part ordered, wait a week, have the hitch installed and go get our bikes.  We’ve completed 5 rides.  First ride 17 miles and second ride about 10 miles or so.  We’re getting into shape, and with each new ride, we’re feeling increasingly confident and able to go a little farther than planned.  It’s pretty cool to ride along feeling the wind in your face, moving at a pace that matches the terrain, and having fun with a new kind of exercise.  And by the way, the first two rides kicked our butt, quad and calf muscles!

The next several blogs will include pictures of the cool stuff we’ve seen along the way.

Barbara and Brian

July, August, September 2018

After our adventures in Canada and the U.P., we grounded ourselves at Camp Turkeyville RV Resort in Marshall, Michigan towards the end of July.

We thought about a trip around Lake Superior or across the U.P. and up to the boundary waters in Minnesota, but we had made plans to attend the Michigan-Nebraska game on September 22 in Ann Arbor with friends, and we would have had to back track over 1,500 miles to make the game should we have taken that route.

To all our followers we thank you for your support in reading through the more than 20 blogs since we left Pennsylvania in May, and your loving comments (especially you Mr. Syntax and Graham-er!) about our adventures.  We love being able to share our time on the road with you.

There are 2 major reasons that led to our decision for an extended stay.  Reason 1 for our grounding in Marshall, and simply put, was because we had traveled over 5,000 miles since mid-May.  It was time to stop, provide Aimee with some maintenance, get a set of tires for the Jeep, and take stock of what we had learned about ourselves as full-timers and about our relationship with Aimee.  Reason 2 was the availability of tickets to 3 Michigan home football games, a chance to see the Bullock and Block clans, perhaps a last chance to visit with my mother (she’s 90) and one of my best friends (diagnosed with cancer), plus a visit with my sister, her husband and my niece and family (we had never met my niece’s children).  Marshall is located within fairly easy reach of Ann Arbor, Yellow Springs, Bloomington, Michigan City, and the Chicagoland area.

Two months might be a bit too long, but what did we know when we made our plans?  It sounded good.

During the first part of this journey started so long ago we kept very, very active and had a daily plan of activities and sights to see.  Even when it was raining we sought out local activities and discovered gems like the Gander Aviation Museum.  What would be available for us in Marshall, Michigan?  How about over 35 hiking trails, kayaking, and museums; joining Anytime Fitness, a chance to see a sitting US Supreme Court Justice, and being welcomed as transient members of a synagogue; minor/summer college league baseball, a blueberry festival, a world-class outdoor sculpture and japanese garden; the world’s best turkey sandwich, dinner theater, curiosities in Detroit; truly taking time to explore Ann Arbor, buying bikes, going to beer festivals (listening Jim and Roma?), and, oh yeah, did I mention Michigan football at the Big House?

We’ll catch you up more thoroughly about how wonderful the time has been in this area in later blogs, but for now a list of what we learned during this honeymoon phase of our adventure.

1. No matter what the GPS tells us, it takes an hour or so longer to travel between campgrounds.  The GPS doesn’t factor in things like potty breaks (don’t ask), lunch breaks, finding a gas station that we can handle with the total length of Amiee and our toad, and the limit on speed with what seems like the never-ending going uphill roads.
2. We have a budget, but only as a guideline – the budget cannot be the singular focus driving our retirement.  It’s taken time to figure this out and find some ways to relax about finances.  Brian admits to now only occasionally fretting about money, but he’s getting better – really!  We worked hard for a long, long time, and need to enjoy ourselves – damn it!
3. We were on a mission to visit Newfoundland and a couple of particular sights in Nova Scotia/New Brunswick, Canada as well as the U.P.  Everything else was a stop along the way, and those stops were based on how long we were willing to travel (no more than 4 hours) or the distance (about 200-250 miles).  Our general agenda for those short stops became a travel day followed by a day for local sightseeing.  In many cases it was really too little time to thoroughly explore the local area and it’s uniqueness.  We’re retired and what was the damn hurry?
4. Temperature control presented an interesting learning curve since a motorhome is a big metal box.  We have 2 air conditioners/heat pumps on the roof and a propane furnace for days below 36 degrees fahrenheit (or if we need a quick warm-up).  One air conditioner/heat pump each in the living room and bedroom.
   • There were sunny days in Nova Scotia when the high temperature didn’t reach 50 degrees fahrenheit, but we had to use the air conditioner from the middle of the day until the sun went down to keep the inside temperature to the mid to upper 70’s – that’s how much Aimee absorbed the heat from the sun.
   •   The bedroom unit has to be off overnight – the blower can be adjusted to low or high, and the vents can be positioned easily.  Even with the blower on low and vents repositioned it was too much during sleeping hours.  The good news?  Depending on need, the living room unit keeps us plenty cool and warm overnight.
   • As a metal box, we do cool off in even the worst summer days once the sun goes down (not talking about Death Valley hot here!)
5. We found that there was no use for a watch and Brian honestly hasn’t worn a timepiece since May 23, 2018.  What time is it has little if any real meaning anymore.
6. We can live together in a very, very small space.  And even better?  Not only are we still desperately in love with each other, but we actually like each other and enjoy each others company 24/7.
7. We miss being able to reach out and touch our friends and family, but via Skype or Facetime they’re sorta close by.
8. The quality of the food prepared hasn’t changed much since having a full-sized single-family home kitchen with an assortment of 20+ years of accumulating cooking stuff.
9. The Instapot is truly a modern miracle; the convection oven is capable, the propane grill (thank you Scott and Tracy!) and a 3-burner cooktop so far gets the job done.
10. We’ve learned to be smarter shoppers since the refrigerator holds about 1/3 of the fresh foods of our home appliance.  However, the freezer is un-naturally large.
11. We’ve not found a grumpy camper at campgrounds visited.  Quite the contrary; campers are a relaxed, easy-going bunch of folks who love swapping stories (Brian gets a whole new audience!), and they are more than glad to lend a hand or give advice.
12. Whether doing laundry, grocery shopping, visiting museums, working out, working on this blog or planning the next leg of our adventure on rainy days, or hiking, biking, kayaking, exploring outdoor exhibits, etc., on nicer days, we have found we need to be busy every day.  A “what are we doing today” has become  an important part of this adventure, and a good part of keeping us sane.  We’re not the kind of people to “soak up some rays” or spend time with a good book while the sun is out.
13. Brian smiles every time we’re actually “on the road again” on the way to the next destination.  He really does like driving Aimee.
14. This is somewhat ironic to say, but all those cooperative team skills we used (and sometimes taught) while gainfully employed translate perfectly well to the Barbara&Brian team.
15. We are more of a partnership now than ever before.
16. It took a while for us to know when enough is enough, and to kick back and take a break.  The next part of our travels we plan to extend time in some locations, and to not be at quite such a “gotta get somewhere” pace.
17. We’ve used Atlas Obsecura, the Road Less Traveled, Road Food, and checked out the advice of locals against any of the “best things to do in “x”” websites to figure out what to see in any location.  BUT we won’t go someplace just because; we choose places because we are interested.
18. It’s taken awhile to have some idea about regular maintenance for both the coach as well as the chassis, and to schedule the follow through with what is needed, when it is needed.  Barbara is putting together a spreadsheet to keep us on track.
    • But for now what we know is that for the chassis it’s pretty much whatever we’ve done historically for any other vehicle ever owned.  There is one exception though.  We check the tires and tire pressure before breaking up camp and hitting the road.
    • But for now what we know is that for the coach we have found out that being level extends the life of the refrigerator; lubricating slide mechanisms and using a rubber seal protectorant on the slide seals is essential; cleaning and waxing Aimee will extend the life of her exterior and help to keep window seals in good shape. It’s taken awhile to feel ok to go up on the roof and check the roof for debris; we now add 2-5 gallons of water to the black tank prior to dumping if it’s not particularly full and we’re ready to break camp.  We haven’t done this for awhile but adding a small bag of ice to the black water tank between stops and draining immediately at the next campground will help clean things out and reduce odor.
19. We take a minute or 2 before pulling out and make sure we have completed everything on our mental breaking camp checklist.  Double-checking is ingrained into our routine.
20. We were asked by a very dear friend several important questions whose answer gets at the essence of what we’ve learned.  Paraphrasing, those questions are: how were we getting along with a minimal amount of stuff; were we missing everything we might want being at our fingertips; did we mind using the same sets of towels, dishes, bedding, glassware, clothes, etc.; did we find it necessary to personalize our space; do we feel we are home?  We have friends that are much more experienced RVers than we are who have to have a home base – the bricks and mortar dwelling that they’ve lived in for the past 35 or more years.  We have other friends who have been out on the road full time for the last year or so, and decided from the beginning to personalize their living space with art, pictures, new window treatments, etc.  It’s up to the beholder.  In all seriousness we feel that stuff doesn’t define home for us; we have more than we need at our fingertips, and our experiences have been rich beyond what we believed them ever to be.  We have changed out one stock picture for a National Parks map given to us by Graham and Leigh.  We have embraced the adventure, the challenges we anticipated, and those we can’t anticipate.  It has directed us to think about home in a new way.  We’ve decided that home is simply wherever we are as long as we’re together.
21. We’re having an absolutely splendid time, and if we would’ve known things would be this wonderful we both would have retired much earlier.

Stay tuned for what we’ve been up to while stationary.

Barbara and Brian

July 2018

We mentioned in an earlier blog that both St. Ignace and Mackinaw City depend on summertime and tourists for their livelihoods, and that between the 2 cities, separated by only the Straights of Mackinaw, St. Ignace has a slower pace and has respect for its heritage.  In downtown St. Ignace there are 2 museums, one paying homage to the Native American Tribe indigenous in the Great Lakes Region area and the other focused on the region’s white settlers.

The Fort de Baude Museum presents a history of the founding and growth of this region.  The first white settlers were fur traders who conducted a thriving business with the native Ojibwa peoples.  The museum goes on to describe and illustrate the importance of the lumber industry, the development of Mackinac Island (including its famous and infamous residents), the important men and women who had a vision and executed their plans for the area, and, of course, the opening of the Mackinaw Bridge as key historical markers.

The Museum of Ojibwa Culture presents the story of the Ojibwa nation, the culture of the peoples and the importance of family and ritual.  We were mesmerized watching a video in which a craftsman and his fellow Ojibwa built a canoe from scratch.  It might appear that the video would be less than exciting, but the knowledge of the craftsman, his attention to detail, the relentless focus on what his forefathers taught him, and how he then passed that knowledge along to the next generation made us stop and wonder if  we had neglected to teach our children about our past?  By the way, the completed canoe was perfectly seaworthy.

We were also fortunate that during our time in St. Ignace the Ojibwa peoples were holding a pow-wow and a proclaimed heritage weekend.  Teepees were scattered about the grounds adjacent to the museum, each representing lifestyles across generations.  The teepee owners were welcoming and expected to be engaged in discussion about their ancestry and custom.  There was a terrific drum circle, lots of dancing, story telling, and individual performances all related to the Ojibwa peoples.  Anyone and everyone attending were invited to participate in several of the dances as well, and you can bet we had ourselves up and moving.  The Ojibwa are a proud and gracious peoples.  We were honored to be able to participate in their pow-wow, and to have the chance to learn about their history and how they are living today.

We did visit one of the tourist traps described by Atlas Obscura as Michigan’s #1 unusual attraction – The Mystery Spot!  Legend is that in the early 1950s a few surveyors were exploring Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when one day they realized that none of their equipment was working properly.  The problems were only apparent in a circle about 300 feet in diameter on this spot about 5 miles outside of St. Ignace.  Behold the Mystery Spot – a place where “gravity does strange things.”  We just had to take the guided tour, and since the owners had added a miniature golf course, as well as a maze built in the woods, we bought the whole package!  A bit hokey, but a fun afternoon.

Have you ever had a pastie (or pasty)?  Although particularly associated with Cornwall, UK, pastie shops are as ubiquitous in the UP as Tim Horton’s in Canada!  A pastie is a baked savory pastry made by placing an uncooked filling on one half of a flat shortcrust pastry circle, folding the pastry in half to wrap the filling in a semicircle and crimping the curved edge to form a seal before baking.  The first pastie we ordered was a good 2″ tall and 10″ long, and filled with chicken, diced potato, rutabaga, carrot and onion, and could be had with gravy or not.  Other pasties were made with shredded beef or pork.  We did enjoy this UP treat on a couple of occasions.

And, just to round out our St. Ignace adventures, the casino has $50 of our money.

Barbara and Brian

 

 

July, 2018

There are so many wonderful sights to see and visit in the UP.  It’s just a matter of where you set up your home base and how long you’re willing to travel.  Being in St. Ignace we decided that traveling 1 1/2 hours one-way was just about right for a day trip.

One of the wonders of nature in the UP is Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Close by the town of Munising, Michigan and along the south shore of Lake Superior, the National Lakeshore features 9 miles of hiking trails, waterfalls, lighthouses, spectacular cliffs, sand dunes, beaches and magnificent views of Lake Superior. Cool in its own right, right?

However, Pictured Rocks is the bomb!  We stopped at the National Park Service Ranger Station in Munising, and asked the Rangers to direct us for a hike to the best viewing area.  Without hesitation we were told that the “only way” to see Pictured Rocks is from the water, and that it was our choice as to whether to rent kayaks or take a cruise out on the “Big Lake.”  There was a cruise leaving from the docks in Munising in the next hour or so, and we made our reservations.

Pictured Rocks is a 15-mile stretch of sandstone cliffs reaching up to 200 feet above the shoreline of Lake Superior.  They are mineral-stained (and vegetation stained) sandstone cliffs that have been shaped by wind, ice and pounding waves over centuries to form beautiful mosaics.  The cliffs are colored in shades of brown, tan, and green by the iron, manganese, limonite and copper from the water run-off from the land above.  As the water trickles down the rocks, waves slam into the cliffs with a vicious suddenness, forcing the minerals into the sandstone and coloring the cliffs.  The pounding of the waves has also created shallow caves, arches and formations of fortresses and castles, battleships, and an “Indian’s Head.”  Other portions of the cliffs have been named lover’s leap, color caves, rainbow cave, and chapel rock.

Barbara wants all of you so kind in following us on this journey to know that Brian did not modify or enhance any of what you’re about to see.  Brian simply wants you to know that this is one case where a picture is worth a thousand words!

Pretty spectacular, no?

As we made our way off of the boat and headed back into town we were excitedly talking about what we had seen.  A gentleman about our age asked if we had visited the Big Spring?  If not, it was a site not to be missed.  The Big Spring had been named by the Ojibwa (more on the Ojibwa in another post) Kitch-iti-kipi.  Off we went.

Kitch-iti-kipi is located just west of Manistique at Palms Book State Park.  The Big Spring is two hundred feet across and forty feet deep.  Over 10,000 gallons a minute gush from the many fissures in the underlying limestone, the flow continuing throughout the year at a constant 45 degree temperature so the spring never freezes and can be enjoyed any season of the year.

As a State Park there is an admission fee.  When we arrived and stopped to pay our fee, the Ranger just casually and with a smirk told us that we had a dead bird wedged in the front grill of our Jeep.  I thought a bird had flown into our path earlier in the day, but thinking it had been a glancing or disintegrative blow honestly never looked.  We had traveled miles and miles since, and any remnants should have been removed right?  But once we had parked the evidence of our winged friend had to be properly removed and laid to rest.  Kaddish was said.

From the parking lot it is a short 50-yard paved path walk through pines and cedar trees to the shoreline where you can see an emerald green pool.  A self-operated observation raft transports visitors to vantage points overlooking fascinating underwater features and fantasies.  The raft is on a cable, and visitors can pull the raft over and back.  The beautiful crystal clear waters teeming with fish (guessing trout, and no, Neil, fishing is not allowed!) can be seen through glass viewing windows in the middle of the raft or you can take a look over the side.  What a treat!

Barbara and Brian