UP with Michigan

August 5, 2015

How come the UP isn't all Wisconsin?

"Welcome to the U.P!" We saw the signage and heard this from several people in their best Midwest/Canadian accent (You betcha, don'cha know, eh"). It's a mighty friendly place. And it's deeply wooded. Most of the time we traveled on US Highway 2, the Great Northern Road.

Deer encounter: 1 in 88 chance!

Our greeting to the U.P started in Wisconsin. Along a lonely stretch of road as we were approaching Ashland, a deer decided to jump out of the woods and dart across the road right in our path. Cheri slammed on the brakes, and avoided a full impact. Instead, the deer hit Dolly on the driver's side. It was traumatic. Cheri pulled over shaking. It was the first time she's hit a deer and she felt bad for what might have happened to the deer. As quickly as it appeared in front of us, it was gone. Meanwhile, the deer gave the Dolphin a black eye as it took out her left headlight and turn signal as well as creating some damage to the exterior of the rig.

One-eyed Dolly Dophin

This is where it gets interesting, as finding replacement parts for a 1999 RV by National, a California RV manufacturer that went out of business ten years ago, is a challenge. So, we have our parts manager calling salvage yards looking for parts so that we can bring Dolly's looks back. Most people who own Dolphins hang on to them because of their quality, but I'm confident we'll find the parts, but in the meantime, we're driving one-eyed. Luckily, all of our driving is currently during the daytime hours. We will need to get it fixed in time for the shorter days coming this Fall.

Shuttered businesses throughout

Driving through the U.P., we see a side of America that we haven't seen much of to this point. Signs of a struggling economy. In small town America, there are many boarded-up stores, houses in disrepair, abandoned cars on blocks, roads and bridges in desperate need of replacement. Driving the two-lane highways, you get to see a different view of America than you see from the shiny Interstate highways.

Escanaba Park right on Lake Michigan

Our stop on the U.P. was in a county park near Escanaba, Michigan. We've stayed in National Parks and State Parks; this is the first time we stayed in a County Park. Our site was on a beach right on Lake Michigan. Satch and Bebop loved running out into the huge Lake. The sandy bottom had a long shelf, so they could run way out into the lake and still keep their paws on the sand. When they run out into the water, their bodies gyrate like a dolphin swimming - leaps and bounds, as opposed to running. We spend a couple of glorious nights there. We spent time just sitting in our chairs looking out over the vastness of the lake.

Pasties - Yoopers Soul Food!

Reluctantly, we left our lovely campsite and headed further East across Highway 2 on our way to the Mackinac Bridge that crosses the top of Lake Michigan. As we drove through the U.P., we saw lots of signs advertising Pasties for Yoopers (residents of the U.P.).

Our view from Petosky Greek restaurant

We crossed over the Mackinac Bridge into lower Michigan and headed down the West Coast to the lovely resort town of Petosky. Our friend Matt Zaffino recommended we spend some time here. We settled into Magnus Park, a City Park - our first visit to a City park. Our site is again right on the edge of Lake Michigan. We got situated, and then headed into downtown Petosky to explore. Petosky Rocks are a big thing here, with rock shops everywhere. We found an amazing Greek Restaurant with incredible views. We enjoyed a delicious dinner out and then settled in with the dogs at our campsite.

We'll spend a few more days in Michigan, then swing around Lake Michigan into Chicago for the weekend.