Known as the Lake Superior Copper District, the Keweenaw Peninsula was a significant copper mining area, with a population of close to 100,000 people. Remnants of several old mines, many which operated for more than 100 years, can be seen from the highway. Most of the communities supporting the mines are now ghost towns. The miners were largely immigrants from Cornwall and Finland, and many of the current residents are of Cornish and Finnish decent.

While Copper Harbor is a unique little village, there is not a lot to do. It appears that most visitors come to Copper Harbor to be transported to Isle Royale National Park as it is the closest harbor from which ferries depart. Otherwise, the only other notable attraction is Fort Wilkin’s State Historic Park.

Today, we drove and biked around the Copper Harbor area. Our first stop was to view the lighthouse from the highway as it is accessible only by boat. We then drove through Copper Harbor to see the Lake Superior shoreline from Hunter’s Point Park. Hunter’s Point Park is a protected natural resources area comprising some 100+ acres jutting out on a narrow peninsula point at Copper Harbor. Hunter’s Point, a part of Hunter’s Point Park, is 9.4 acres with almost a mile of shoreline and a mile of varied trails. Hunter’s Point connects to Copper Harbor via hiking and biking trail, and also via road. The shoreline contained many colorful and unique rock formations in the otherwise rounded, reddish brown sand and gravel. Lake Superior is incredibly clear, and one can see down to depths of 50± feet; surface water temperature of Lake Superior is currently 43°! As we hiked one of the short trails, we noted still ripening blueberries and picked a few of the tasty morsels.

Our drive then took us along the north coast in a westerly direction. A light fog and mist began as we departed Hunter’s Point Park, significantly impacting visibility. Consequently, we bypassed Brockway Mountain Drive and the panoramic views it offered. Along Lakeshore Drive, we saw the often rugged shoreline interspersed with sand and gravel beaches on the Lake Superior side and lush boreal forests with lakes and waterfalls on the east side. Near Jacob’s Falls, a small bakery and confections shop lay among the woods.  he Jampot, operated by the monks of Holy Transfiguration Skete, exuded the cacophony of aromas from the many preserves, fruitcakes, breads, and confections prepared on the premises. Kay bought fresh made caramels, jalapeño caramels, and “monk bread”, the latter which must have been soaked in alcohol. Eagle Harbor had a number of notable historic sites including the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse built in 1871 and Eagle Harbor Life-Saving Station Museum (Life-Saving Service was a forerunner to the US Coastguard). Further down the road, Eagle River Falls contained remnants of an old dam and sluice constructed to power a factory which made fuses for the mines. Just downstream from the Eagle River Falls was an old wooden-arched bridge, still in use. We stopped at a small store for lunch, and ordered a pastie—a meat, potato, and rutabaga pie. This delicacy was brought to the area by the wives of the Cornish miners so that the miners would have a hot meal at noontime. We mispronounced it when ordering, and the proprietor said we would have to go to New Orleans or Las Vegas for a “pasty”; however, he had pasties (pass tees). The store’s owner was a 4th generation Cornishman, and the store was built before Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. The Cornish gentleman gave us a great oral history of the area and showed us photographs of Eagle River during its heyday as a major international port on Lake Superior. I asked him about snowfall in the area, and he said they received 390 inches last year—that’s over 22 feet! Turning around, we drove back the way we came, stopping at Silver River Falls for a photo.

Back at the motorhome, I donned a daypack, uncovered the bicycle, and rode into town and then to Hunter’s Point Park, stopping there to hike a short 1-mile trail along the coast. Returning to the RV, I was drenched despite the mild temperatures after the 8+ mile ride on mostly off-road, and seemingly uphill, trails.Upon our return to Fort Wilkins State Park, we walked the short distance to the historic Fort Wilkins for a more thorough tour. We expected a living history type of experience, but there were only two young “role players”, and they were more interested in socializing than in providing history. The fort is definitely worth seeing, if one makes a trip to Copper Harbor.

The evening interpretive program was about an historic ship wreck in the early 1900‘s off the northeast coast of Copper Harbor—good but brief.

After a quick light breakfast, we pulled in the slides, lifted the stabilizer jacks, unhooked the satellite cable, and unplugged the 50 amp electricity—we were ready to depart. Up the street at a wide place in the road, we hooked up the Honda, and the Brake Buddy, and were off, driving west on Wisconsin Highway 22. Just a short distance up the road the Brake Buddy failed again; that’s it for this trip! A quick stop along side the road allowed unhooking it, and we continued the short westwardly drive to US Highway 141 north. A steady rain began, and after not many miles, the terrain began to change to a more wooded one, and there was practically no traffic. The roads were rough until we crossed into Michigan, where the best roads of the trip welcomed us and we shifted to Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The short 238 mile drive was uninterrupted only by a stop for gasoline and groceries a couple of hours south of the day’s destination of Coppery Harbor, Michigan. We drove through Houghton, Michigan, and found it to be an interesting small city, with lots of old buildings, narrow streets and various changes in elevation. It is home to two colleges—Michigan Technological University and Finlandia University (since 1890). We expected a small town on a flat expanse of ground. At Houghton, the rain abated. From there north, the narrow peninsula of Upper Peninsula of Michigan was sparsely populated and the roads were narrow with a canopy of trees in the boreal forest. I din’t know what to expect but this wasn’t it. We finally pulled into Copper Harbor about 1:30 PM, and it is a very small village on the point of the peninsula. There were lots of bicycles, and we later found out that the Tour da UP, a charity ride of about 200 miles, was ongoing.

Kay checked us into the west campground (50 amp electricity, no water, no sewer) at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, we found our site (150), and set up, including satellite TV. We were pleasantly surprised by the view out our front window, Lake Fanny Hooe. After a Healthy Choice lunch, the bicycles came off the car, the chains were oiled, and we headed into town. Again, there is not much there, including no cell service and no internet.

We rode back through the campgrounds, and to Fort Wilkins. Fort Wilkins is well-preserved, partially reconstructed US Army post. It was built in 1844 to keep peace in Michigan’s copper country, and abandoned two years later, only to be regarrisoned in the late 1860s for a short time. One can only imagine the long, hard winters! The re-enactors had left for the day, but we walked around the grounds and peered into some of the buildings. Our bicycles took us back to the campground where Kay prepared “poor man’s jambalaya”, a combination of rice, onion, Rotel tomatoes, cabbage, hamburger, and smoked sausage.  fter dinner, we walked back to Fort Wilkins for the evening’s interpretive program presented by the captain of the Isle Royale Queen IV, one of several ferries to Isle Royale National Park. He talked about things to do on Isle Royale, the wolf-moose relationship, and had lots of pretty photos. The route from Copper Harbor to Isle Royale is the quickest available, but takes 3 hours each way and costs $110 roundtrip per person, plus $60 for kayak or canoe—no wheeled vehicles are allowed on Isle Royale. Consequently, unless a person plans on spending a night or two at a rate of $250 night, the 3-hour passage to Isle Royale, 3 hours on the island, and the 3-hour passage back is not worth either the time nor money to us.

A recorded TV program finished our long day. Tomorrow, we will drive to Eagle River and Eagle Harbor, and perhaps do some more cycling.

Our stay in Oconto, along side the Oconto River, is a “slow-down” time for us, just a short break from all the hustle and bustle of travel. We had a quiet morning, catching up on news and emails, and photo editing and writing the blog. However, the Verizon “hotspot” application on the cell phone is unusually very slow and weak for some reason, and in doesn’t have enough oomph to pull in some data like Gmail, and neither the phone’s internet accessibility nor the hotspot would pull in updates to applications. Consequently, I took an early morning drive to McDonald’s for coffee and got “up to date”. I also filled the empty Honda with gasoline at $3.629/gallon.

We joined Jerry and Karen for lunch with some 20+ other seasonals at one of the local restaurants. There are a large number of people who spend from May through September at Holtwood Campground in Oconto, before heading to Florida, Texas, or California for the winter. Winters in this part of Wisconsin can be brutal with a combination of very cold temperatures and snow. I digress. Lunch was family-style with fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, and a chiffon-styled dessert. The fried chicken was excellent, some of the best we’ve had in a long time—of course, we try not to eat fried food anymore!

We had a quiet Sunday afternoon back at the RV, and after happy hour, began preparations for departing tomorrow morning. I also replaced the fuses for the battery portion of the BrakeBuddy in hopes that the auxiliary brake would work. It worked flawlessly with the old motorhome and the Saturn, and even the old motorhome and Honda until the battery discharged a couple of times. The next thing I’ll try is to up the amperage in the fuses, and perhaps a new Honda battery, and if those fail, then who knows.

We joined Jerry and Karen at 7:30 AM this morning for a trip into Green Bay to shop at the Farmers’ Market, Harbor Freight, and Walmart, to see Lambeau Field where the Green Bay Packers play football, and view birding areas in the vicinity.

The Farmers’ Market was large, covering an entire block, with lots of flowers, vegetables, fruits, and food vendors selling most types of ethnic foods common to the area, cheeses and cheese products, candies, and even venison. There is a large population of Mungs in the Green Bay area, and they had the most beautiful flowers and vegetables we’ve seen.  After walking through the several rows of vendors, Jerry drove us by Lambeau Field in traffic—though it was not too bad—where they were setting up for Family Night with a intra-team scrimmage for an expected crowd of almost 70,000 fans. From there Jerry drove us to Walmart for some food and drink items, and then to Harbor Freight for disposable gloves; of course, they had advertised specials too good to pass up, and I bought wire and plastic brushes, LED flashlights, and shrink tubing. After leaving Harbor Freight we rode by several coastal areas and saw several species of birds, though none new to us. Jerry and Karen did pick up two new birds for their current year’s Wisconsin list. We found that birding can be quite competitive among serious birders, as each keeps state and national lists each year, and an individual life list.  t one of the natural areas, we passed close by a couple of Sandhill Cranes, and was able to get an up close and personal photo. Spotting a Columbia outlet store, we browsed through the clothes, but didn’t find anything we had to have.
Back at Holtwood Campground, Kay and I had lunch, unloaded the bicycles, and took off for an afternoon ride. The trails were not marked well, and Kay didn’t want to ride in traffic; we split up, she rode back to the motorhome, and I continued to ride along the south bank of the Oconto River, through town, and by the campground, repeating this a couple of times for a total of almost 8 miles.
Happy hour began at 4:00 PM, and we visited until 6:00 PM at which time Jerry and Karen hosted us for hamburgers and all the fixin’s.

It began raining in the wee hours of the night and continued until about 6 AM, changing rapidly to clear skies and sunshine. We awoke earlier than intended, had a light breakfast, and began readying the RV for the short trip down to Green Bay, and back up the eastern shore of Wisconsin to Oconto.

Just north of Green Bay on the peninsula, we stopped for gasoline, recognizing that it might be not be so easily available and accessible by motorhome.  The drive through Green Bay proved uneventful, and turning north, we drove the 30+ miles to Oconto.

The city park in Oconto, Holtwood, has a good campground, and we occupied a spot next to friends Jerry and Karen Smith. As has been written previously, we first met Jerry and Karen in Denali National Park, Alaska, and reconnected with them in February 2012 at Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort. Jerry is a retired wetlands expert, having worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers in the Green Bay satellite office of St. Paul District. He and Karen are very serious birders—world class in fact—and I participated in many of the birding trips they led in the Rio Grande Valley this past winter. We also hosted them in Norfork in late April.

After setting up, we visited briefly, and had lunch. I used the rest of the afternoon preparing several entries of the blog for publication while Kay napped.

After more visiting in conjunction with happy hour, we walked to a nearby tavern for Friday night fish. The perch offered by this small neighborhood tavern was delicious—much better than from the more well-known eatery at Baileys Harbor in Door County.

We returned to the RV for reading and writing for the remainder of the evening.

Today marks our last full day in Door County, Wisconsin, and the forecast call for beautiful weather, i.e. mostly clear, highs in the high 70s, and only a 30% chance of precipitation.

Our morning drive took us north back to Fish Creek, Ephraim, for a picture of the colorful boathouse gallery, and to Sister Bay where we watched the goats munch on the grass-covered roofs.

And then, we drove east and north to Rowleys Bay, stopping at a bakery for some muffins and cookies, and back west to Sister Bay where we turned south to revisit the Cana Island Lighthouse (it was shrouded in fog yesterday). This old lighthouse was a delight, except for the 100+ narrow steps spiral staircase. At the top, the ancient, but efficient lens appeared, consisted on hundreds of prisms, powerful enough that a 300 watt lightbulb is magnified sufficiently to be seen at a distance of 18 miles. Outside and significantly higher than the surrounding land, the eastern peninsula coastline—Lake Michigan’s western coastline—was displayed with its colorful variations of blue and green.

Further south, at Baileys Harbor, we had lunch at one of the recommended restaurants; the food was mediocre and their speciality, fried perch, was just okay.

And then, we continued south to Whitefish Dunes State Park where we had hoped to do a bicycle ride. The unmaintained, off road “trail” discouraged us sufficiently that we passed, and swimming in the 58 degree water of Lake Michigan off their mile and a half sand beach did not sound enticing.

Back west across the peninsula, we found ourselves in Little Harbor, and driving north, we arrived back at Egg Harbor RV Park and Campground by mid-afternoon. Attempts at an afternoon nap half failed, i.e. one of us was successful. I woke Kay at 4:30 PM in order for us to drive down to Egg Harbor for a concert in the park where a quintet of high schoolers from a nearby music academy was performing. Just before the concert began, a few sprinkles turned into a light shower, moving everyone into a tent that had been set up for another event. During the course of the jazz concert, a full blown rain fell. The teenagers performed for an hour and a half, and they were very good.

We ate a quick evening meal, and drove back into town yet again for the sunset. The clouds from earlier in the evening were still present, but the sun finally peaked out long enough to allow a few photographs to be made. This marked a fitting end to our stay in Door County. If the good Lord is willing, we will return at some point in the future.

Happy birthday, Matt.  We hope you have a great one.

It doesn’t take long for us to get into a routine while traveling, particularly when exposed to lots of fresh air and outdoor activities.

Yesterday, the bicycle tires were under inflated, and the derailleurs would not shift smoothly into the various gears for the 21-speed bikes—lack of use since wintering in Texas; this made riding a bit more difficult than it should have been.  Consequently, after quiet hours expired this morning, the tires were inflated to 65 psi, and lots of silicon lubricant was sprayed on the chains and derailleurs. As you may of noticed, we wear bike helmets while riding, a lesson learned after Kay’s accident on a non-moving bicycle last December.  And the helmet mashes Kay’s hair flat, so she wanted a photo taken before any bike rides today.  With a 60% chance of precipitation forecast for afternoon, we were off to explore the west coast and northern portion of Door County. The peninsula is less than 10 miles wide, and it doesn’t take long to drive from one side to the other. Along the way to Baileys Harbor, we saw 6 wild turkeys, including a strutting tom. Fog was rolling in, and prevented our seeing much of the coastline and lighthouses. Driving north to Cana Island, we were rewarded with two different sets of two Sandhill Cranes, munching goodies in the marsh flats of Lake Michigan. With the fog, we opted no to pay to see the Cana Island Lighthouse. The coastal roads were quaint, with little to no traffic and lots of bicyclists. Much of Door County is rural, with extensive farming operations—corn, dairy cows, orchards, and vineyards—and reminded us of Prince Edward Island.

Near the top of the peninsula, Newport State Park, a wilderness park, juts into Lake Michigan. After paying the $10 daily fee, and unloading the bicycles, Kay and I did a 7-mile off-road bicycle ride on the Europe Trail along the northeast coast and through a canopied section of the wilderness forest. The trail was rough in places, with sand, rocks, roots, etc. making riding difficult. Kay has grit and hung in there, and made the complete ride without incident. As we neared the parking lot on the return, however, she pedaled so fast it was difficult keep up with her!

Driving north, we arrived at Gills Rock where a ferry takes cars and passengers to Washington Island; otherwise, there was not much else. East of Gills Rock towards Northport, we drove on one of the most crooked roads in the US, second only to Lombard Street in San Francisco. Northport, too, was only a ferry stop, with a few resort homes and residents. Heading south again, we arrived at Ellison Bay, and while quaint, it offered very little in terms of eateries, shops, etc.  Further south, the village of Sister Bay greeted us, and is a wonderful place to while away some time. There are lots of gift shops and restaurants, and people walk and ride bicycles all over the small town; as with other Door County villages, it was filled to the brim with tourists and summer residents. We call it the “goat village” as several of the restaurants and shops have goats nibbling away on top of grass-covered sod roofs. Of course, most everyone stops to take pictures. At Ephraim, just down the road, we had lunch at a local eatery. Continuing our drive south towards Egg Harbor RV Resort and Campground, we stopped at a roadside market where Kay bought some more delicious cherries. She dropped me off at the motorhome, and drove the short distance to Egg Harbor to explore the various shops while the motorhome got a deep cleaning after being idle for several months. Upon her return, it was off to Walmart in Sturgeon Bay, about 20 miles south, for groceries and other necessities like machine oil for the bicycles. Back at the motorhome, we enjoyed some quiet time outside in the cool evening air with temperatures in the mid-60s. As a postscript, we are really enjoying Door County, and neither of us expected to like it as much as we do. In fact, we’ve even talked about it being a semi-permanent summer destination—somewhere to escape the Arkansas heat. It offers several advantages: cool summer weather only 825 miles from “home” great kayaking, biking, and hiking lots of shops and restaurants lots of cultural activities Need we say more!

Happy 1st birthday, Harper Ann Riley Painter, and get well soon.  DD and KK love you.

We were up early, checked email and other social media, and had a light breakfast. It didn’t take long to ready the motorhome for travel, as we only had to withdraw the slides, destabilize, and unplug.

The Illinois/Wisconsin state line was only a few minutes north, and provided a fuel stop, our second of the trip. Thus far, we’re averaging 7+ miles per gallons. Wisconsin joins the ranks of states with disintegrating roads, resulting in a very rough ride. At Oshkosh, we expected horrendous traffic as the annual EAA air show is underway—attended by some 500,000 aviation enthusiasts—but driving through the small city was relatively easy with seemingly no unusual traffic. We did see thousands upon thousands of cars and RVs parked alongside the runway(s), and planes were flying everywhere.

From there north, the roads improved considerably. Green Bay, with a population of just over 100,000, proved to be an easy city to drive through, and from there, we entered Door County. We arrived at Egg Harbor RV Park and Campground shorty after 1:00 PM, checked in, and were escorted to our well-groomed, gravel site. We did a complete set-up, with electricity, water and water softener, and satellite—life is good, very good!

After a quick lunch, we were off to explore upper Door County. The narrow peninsula has coastlines of the bay of Green Bay on it west side and Lake Michigan on its east.  Door County is mostly clean and neat row-cropped farmland, interspersed with cherry orchards and and vineyards.  Along both the west and east coasts, several quaint villages lie along bays. Many old lighthouses remain active to help guide ships and recreational boat traffic.  

At Fish Creek, we stopped at an orchard and Kay bought Rainier cherries among the many different varieties being sold. Door County is home to many orchards, wineries, and small farms. Further up the road, we entered Peninsula State Park, unloaded the bicycles, and rode a 10-mile circuit, of which about half was along the bay coastline and the other half through old growth forest. The park was quite crowded with bicyclists, joggers, and lots of people enjoying the beaches. After the seemingly long ride, we drove further up the peninsula through several more small villages, and were amazed at how crowded and how clean they were.

On the return, we stopped at Pelletier’s Restaurant for a traditional Door County fish boil. t’s similar to a crawfish boil, shrimp boil, or Low Country boil, except not as much seasoning and only white fish, potatoes, and onions. It was served with your choice of non-alcoholic beverage, bread, and fresh cherry pie. It was quite good, but not something I would want every night! Sated from the large meal, we drove to the RV park, and sort of fell into reclining positions. Kay turned the lights off at 9:40 PM and was asleep at 9:41 PM!

After a couple of photos of the Arch just across the river, we readied the RV for travel and departed the Casino Queen RV Park at 8:30 AM. While the RV park was not great, it is an easy on and off, and has excellent security in an otherwise bad part of town.

Back on I-55, we drove north to Bloomington, Illinois, and there switched to I-39 north. Along the way, another motorhome passed us, towing a car via a tow dolly, and we heard a pop. The right tire on the tow dolly began deflating, and the big diesel pusher had no idea. And then, the tire began smoking, and very shortly afterwards, parts of tires began flying everywhere. They will likely have to replace the wheel as well as the tire. We were surprised by only a few fuel stops and the lack of rest areas along I-39, though we finally found one about an hour south of our destination, Loves Park, Illinois. We had lunch at the rest area’s picnic area, and enjoyed the break. At Rockford, Illinois, I-39 became a toll road to our destination exit. Both I-55 and I-39 were among the smoothest highways we’ve driven, but both still had their share of bumps, potholes, and rough patches; and we can feel and hear them all as we shake, rattle, and roll down the road with hard tires and stiff suspension.

We registered at Rock Cut State Park, northern Illinois’ largest, and set up on an “electric only” site. After 40 minutes on the phone with DishTV, we decided our “southern window” was insufficient for a satellite signal, and gave up; we’ll watch “air” TV from Chicago as we’re only a few miles away. Instead of watching television, Kay unloaded the bicycles and we went on a great, 10-mile ride around and through the state park. It was refreshing after riding in the RV for 2 days without much of a break. A quiet evening followed Healthy Choice dinners.

With no more commitments this summer and all our projects completed, we are heading north to Door County, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It took longer than usual to get things ready to travel given 4 days of rain this past week; satellite and electrical cables were dirty as were the hose and water softener, and all needed to be cleaned before stowing. A few sprinkles fell this morning as I loaded the bicycles.

We departed Quarry Park at 9:05 AM, drove to Mountain Home, then north a short distance on Arkansas State Highway 101; it was hilly and crooked, slowing our speed considerably. At West Plains, Missouri, we continued north on US Highway 63 towards Rolla, Missouri, stopping only briefly when the auxiliary brake in the towed Honda, the Brake Buddy, failed. It worked flawlessly for 4 years, but I did not unhook it a couple of times when we stopped overnight, running the battery down in the Honda, and it hasn’t worked since. It’s been back to the factory, I ran a separate line from the car battery to the Brake Buddy, and friend Wayne ran a separate line from the motorhome to the battery. I’m not giving up quite yet, but getting close! After the brief stop, we continued through Rolla, and then Interstate 44 east to St. Louis. We saw a small bobcat crossing the interstate just east of Rolla, a real treat. The traffic was horrendous, with vacationers and weekenders heading home to the metro area. And, we were surprised at the poor quality of the roads in Missouri. Crossing the Mississippi River on Interstate 55 in St. Louis into East St. Louis, Illinois, we found the roads to be the worst we have ever driven on, with the only exception being the Top of the World Highway in Canada and Alaska. We arrived at our destination, the Casino Queen RV Park about 3:15 PM, set up on a narrow site with low-limbed trees.  The RV park is situated immediately adjacent to the Metro, and we could hear it passing by about every 5 minutes. After a late lunch, Kay deposited her weekly allowance in the casino’s one-armed bandits, while I remained in the motorhome editing photos.

We both caught up on news and email, and I published the blog for last week before calling it an early night. Tomorrow, we drive to Loves Park, Illinois.