Between late June and late July, our trips have been limited
to just daytrips because our annual “Up North Trip” always happens in late
July! One such trip was a boat ride,
starting out in Sandusky Bay about 50 miles east of Toledo and venturing out
onto Lake Erie (Oh No - - - another Great Lake!) Our ride took us along the downtown area of Sandusky Ohio and out
and around the peninsula that the whole world knows as Cedar Point - - the
amusement park that is home to all the famous sky high, fast moving roller
coasters. From our floating, bobbing
perch out on the water, the set of coaster cars looked like inchworms slowly
creeping up a long skinny branch and then zooming down the steep other side at
60 miles per hour! We crossed the
choppy bay waters to the famous Marblehead lighthouse that sits on thick layers
of rugged limestone and finished up around island that held the historic
prisoner camp and civil war cemetery - Johnson’s Island. Our other road trip took up to Baldwin and
Houghton Lake Michigan, checking out campgrounds and small lakes on the way up
and back.
And now we are really UP NORTH! This annual trip began in Gaylord Michigan at the county park on
the west side of Otsego Lake. The
campground was pretty full but there was one lakeside site available and we
took it! Our big picture window looked
out over a sandy beach complete with a relaxing 4-person swing and tall shady
trees. Downtown Gaylord is Alpine in design and architecture and hosts an Alpine
Fest each summer. We just missed it! But we did not miss seeing the herd of elk
that live in a multi acre enclosure on the outskirts of downtown! Lots of babies and their mommas and lots of
mammoth big bulls with their wide velvety antlers! They are very flighty creatures. When one got spooked, they all
got up from their resting spots and galloped out onto the wide open field
before them. Once there, the whole group stopped and grazed again. We were also fortunate to visit with good
friends, Glenn and Beth whom I’ve known since high school. We won’t say how long ago that was but we
did just celebrate our 50th class reunion last September!
We went up and over the Mighty Mackinaw Bridge to spend a
night at the Straits State Park in St Ignace, JUST over the 5-mile long, double
arch that was built in 1957. On the
west side of the bridge is Lake Michigan.
On the east side is Lake Huron.
Remember that the back of your left hand is Michigan? The tip of your
long second finger is where the bridge is.
Those that live in the Upper Peninsula are called Youpers (U
P’ers). Those of us who live “below”
the bridge are called “Trolls”!
Heading west on Route 2, the road follows the shoreline of
the rugged, beautiful, extremely blue, Lake Michigan. The roadway is lined with
lush green pine trees and dotted with the occasional Pasties Shop. (Pah-stee,
NOT Paste-ee!!) We stopped and enjoyed
one of those handholdable potpies filled with meat and finely chopped
vegetables but smothered with rich brown gravy on our way to Brevoort Lake
National Forest Campground. This park
sits on a prominent peninsula and is surrounded by sandy beaches on one side
and lily pads and thick forest on the other.
While we did not get one of the many wooded lakeside spots, our inland
spot was wide and sunny which was perfect for the cool weather and no
electricity. H put together his little
PCV pipe trailer and we towed the Portabote to the small boat launch. On our 1st day of fishing and
exploring this 6-mile long wilderness lake, I “let” H catch the first fish and
the most. I caught the biggest! On the 2nd day, I again caught
the biggest, the 1st and the most – all 2 of them. H caught one. It’s just too bad that not one of those
pretty yellow perch were big enough to keep, filet and fry! But it was indeed a fun time, trying to
snatch all those many nibbles on our lures. While out on the lake we
encountered an eagle soaring high overhead and looking for his lunch with his
dark wings outstretched and his bright white tail acting as his rudder, guiding
him in the thermals above. A lone loon
kept diving down into the deep water and swam farther away, avoiding our
curious gazes.
On one gray foggy afternoon we ventured out to find
something exciting that we had not seen before. We stopped at the Cut River Bridge parking area and walked out
across the 640-foot long green cantilever steel bridge that is 147 feet above
the tiny river below. At each end of
the bridge is a set of stairs and passageway under the intriguing structure, which
lead to the other walkway on the opposite side of the heavily traveled
road. In one of the under bridge
passages was a round topped, narrow wooden door with a brass plaque which read
“ T Troll”! On our way back, the GPS
took us on a “trail” that lead thru deep green forest and then out across a
wide sandy meadow. Alongside the rutted sandy trail were cars and trucks parked
haphazardly every bit of the way. They
were out picking wild blueberries! So we also stopped and picked some. To
complete our venture we finally saw a deer and H even stopped the truck to
investigate some strange looking tracks in the soft sand. Bear Tracks! But we saw no bears. Back
at camp, the tiny but tasty blueberries tasted sweet on our pudding that
evening!
