Wednesday 9-11 Quirky Sites

Awesome Day

The rain went away but the clouds stayed and we hit the road.

The first thing we did was drive to the International Bridge in Sault Ste Marie. We payed our toll, the lady at the booth said it was $6.50. The bridge took us over the St. Marys River that connects the twin cites of Sault Ste. Marie in the United States and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario Canada. Before entering into Canada we had to stop and show our passports and answer a couple of questions, it was very quick and the gentleman was very friendly. We parked the Minnie in the Visitor Center so we could walk around Sault Ste. Marie. The first thing we did was walk around the Sault Ste. Marie Lock on Canada side. It is very small because it only lets small personal vessels go through. We actually came through this lock last year when we did a boat tour of the locks. It was very cool because we walked across the actual lock via a very narrow metal walkway. On the other side there was a very nice park where you can hike a couple of trails, fish and walk dogs. One of the trails was closed due to flooding. That was too bad because it took you to the rapids and waterfalls. We walked the other trail which was a mile long. It was a gravel trail that went through the wetlands via a boardwalk and along the St. Marys River. As you walk there were signs that told you the history of the ecosystem. We saw the International Bridge, some of the rapids, a lot of ducks and the locks on both sides of the border. We walked by the building that controls the lock and other old buildings with photographs in the windows explaining the history of the locks. There was a visitor center and restrooms. We watched a few workers chain sawing a hugh tree, when we left they were still at it. After walking around the lock we walked around downtown. They have a gorgeous boardwalk that goes along the St. Marys River canal. Larry wanted to see the monument of Dr. Roberta Bondar, who was Canada's first female astronaut to go up in a space shuttle. Canada had an entire block and city park dedicated to her. As we continued our walk we saw a few more statues. After walking about a mile we turned around and headed back. Canada has Tim Horton's Donuts which we love, had to stop and get a couple of donuts. Next we went to the visitor center and picked up some information. Then we went to the Minnie and had lunch. For dessert we each had a Tim Horton's donut, we saved one for later.

Entering into Canada

The Sault Ste. Marie Lock in Canada

The old post office and administrative building

Boardwalk that goes over the wetlands

Wetlands

Docking your sailboat at the Sault Ste. Marie Lock

Shuttle flower holder

Dr. Roberta Bondar

Larry paying for our donuts at Tim Horton's 

Next we made a few stops to see some quirky things. First stop was at Holy Cow Dairy, the dairy has some statues of cows that advertise the company. It also has a cute ice cream parlor with a lot of different kinds of ice cream. We decided to try bear claws and moose tracks. The bear claws is a chocolate ice cream with nuts. The moose tracks is a vanilla ice cream with peanut butter crunchy balls. We shared them both and they were very good. The next stop was the World's Biggest Baseball. It was constructed in 2008 and is 2000 times the size of a baseball and made out of steel. The third stop was the home of the Canadian Loon Dollar. It was a monument in memory of Robert Ralph Carmichael, who designed the Loon Dollar. The sites were neat to see.

Standing with one of the cows at Holy Cow Dairy and Ice Cream Parlor

Holy Cow Dairies Sign

Holy Cow Dairies ice cream

Larry standing with the World's Largest Baseball

Standing in front of the Loon Dollar monument

We arrived at Bruce Mines Campground at 2:30. It is a small city park that has camping with power for $25.00 Canadian, it works on the honor system. It has restrooms with showers. The restrooms are old but they're clean. Larry barbecued pork ribs for dinner. For our dessert we had the cinnamon rolls we bought at Tim Horton's. We had a great day.

Barbecuing dinner

Bruce Mines Campground

         

Tuesday 9-10 Overcast Day

Overcast Day

The weather man was right about the rain. The rain came in around 1:00 am and didn't stop until 10:00 am. We decided we would just stay put at the Kewadin Casino RV Park. Once the rain stopped some people packed up and left. Later on in the afternoon other people showed up. Larry and I read most of the day. After lunch we went for a half hour walk around Sault Ste. Marie, we didn't go too far because the clouds looked threatening. After our walk I went over to the casino to pay for another night of camping. While there I gambled a couple of hours. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading. After dinner I went back to the casino and gambled another hour and a half. By the end of the day I gave the casino a bit more money. One of the rooms at the casino had a small non-smoking section but it wasn't completely closed off. I spent the evening in that section because it gave my eyes a breather from the cigarettes. Afterwards I took a shower and washed my clothes to get rid of the smoke smell. Even though I lost money in the casino I still had a great time.

Monday 9-9 Sault Ste. Marie

Site Seeing

The ferry that takes vehicles on and off Drummond Island comes every hour, we wanted to catch the one at 9:10. The ferry is about five miles from Drummond Island Township Park so we left around 8:30. We arrived a little early so I had a chance to take a few pictures of the ferry coming in. This morning they were only running one ferry back and forth. It was amazing how many vehicles they could fit on the ferry considering it looks small. There was a small area for cars on the right side of the ferry, we were once again in the middle and in the first vehicle in line to get off because of our size. Once everyone was onboard they raised the gate. We left a trailer and a couple of trucks behind because the ferry was full. The driver had to put the ferry in reverse to turn it around. Once we were across the bay he had to turn it around again so we could exit. There were only a couple of people waiting to go to the island. Yesterday when we were on the ferry I thought I saw a ship but today I found out it was a lighthouse, I had Larry take a picture of it.

Larry waiting for the ferry

Here comes our ride off Drummond Island

Smoothly putting the ferry on the dock

Unloading the ferry

The lighthouse

  

We had a great time on Drummond Island. Our next stop was about 60 miles away in Sault Ste. Marie, (pronounce Soo Ste. Marie). First stop in Sault Ste. Marie was Walmart to pick up a few things and recycle our cans. Here in Michigan they charge you 10 cents deposit on every can and bottle. I drink a lot of soda so we ended up earning $4.50 in recycling the cans. Afterwards we did a little shopping. As we were parking the Minnie an Amish horse and buggy came in. While I was putting the groceries away Larry went and took a picture. It's so cool, Walmart had a hitching post and water for the horse. After putting the groceries away we had lunch. We had bought a chicken in Walmart so we had some of it for lunch.

Amish horse and buggy at Walmart

After lunch we drove into downtown Sault Ste. Marie to watch the big ships come through the locks. We have been here a couple of other times so we didn't stay too long. We watched Joseph L. Block go through the locks and the Soo Locks Boat Tour go through. While we were headed back to the Minnie we stopped and watched the Corps of Engineers people move a small crane from one spot to another spot on the pier using a tug and a barge with a large crane.

Joseph L. Block in the locks

One of the crew looking out the port hole of Joseph J. Block

The tour boat waiting to leave the locks

The Corps of Engineers opening the gates once the water level is high enough

Joseph L. Block leaving the locks

The Corps of Engineers crew working on transporting a small crane from one spot to another spot

After leaving the locks we filled the Minnie up with gas. As we were looking for the gas station we saw a few old churches so we found a place to park and walked around downtown Sault Ste. Marie. As we walked around we saw a Greek Orthodox Church that was built in 1932, the Central Methodist Church from 1893, the St. James Episcopal Church was built in 1903 and the Chippewa County Courthouse was built in 1877. This is our third time being to Sault Ste. Marie and we have never walked around the downtown. We always like looking at churches and courthouses.

Greek Orthodox Church (1932)

Central Methodist Church (1893)

Chippewa County Courthouse (1877)

St. James Episcopal Church (1903)

After walking around about a half hour we went to the Kewadin Casino, we're planning to stay one night but it's suppose to rain tomorrow so we may stay two nights. The Kewadin Casino has a RV Park with electricity. It cost $22.00 a night. It has bathrooms with showers and the women's bathroom has a washer and a dryer. You can do your laundry free of charge. They have a dump station and fresh water for RVs. The casino is just across the street from the RV park. Once we decided on a site and setup the Minnie we walked over to the casino and paid for the night. Then we came back and I did our laundry. The washer and dryer worked excellent.

Camping at Kewadin Casino RV Park

The bathhouse

 By the time I was finished doing laundry it was time for dinner. We had chicken tacos using some of the Walmart chicken. After dinner I went to the casino and gambled for two and a half hours. I like this casino because it is very fancy. It has different rooms with slots and gambling tables. The casino has a motel, shops, cafe and restaurant. The decor is very nice. I spent most of my time in the Superior Room. It has a very small room that is non-smoking. I gave the casino $10.00 but I had fun. While I gambled Larry did some planning on where we're going next.

      

Sunday 9-8 Drummond Island

Beautiful Day

I'm so excited, we're going to Drummond Island. In order to get to Drummond Island you have to take a ferry. The ferry is located about 45 miles from where we are camped in Pickford Township and leaves every hour. After breakfast we got the Minnie ready to go. By the time we dumped the tanks and were on the road it was a little after 9:00. The ferry was going to leave at 9:40 so we knew we would have to wait for the next one. When we got to the ferry launch we were pleasantly surprised, we were immediately directed onto a ferry. It cost $28.00 for the Minnie and $2.00 for a passenger. The cost is round trip so we will not have to pay again when we leave. There was only one other pickup on the ferry. It was a short 10 minute ride. It was in the 40's and a little too cold for me to stand outside while going to the island so we sat in the Minnie. It was very exciting.  

Our ferry to Drummond Island

As we excited the ferry we noticed a line of vehicles waiting to get off the island, they were loading a ferry that had gotten there before us, it was going to be full and it looked like our ferry would also be full on the return trip. The schedule was for one ferry an hour but they were running two ferries. We are guessing that on Sunday's all the weekend tourist leave the island so they must run extra ferry trips.

Getting off the ferry

Crossing Lake Huron on the ferry

Drummond Island is the third largest lake island in Lake Huron. It is 134 squares miles in area. When we got there we drove through town and the island a bit, then we went to the Drummond Island Township Park. It's a beautiful park with 48 RV sites and 30 of the sites have electricity. Most of the sites look over the water. We took one that had power but not on the water. We still had a very nice view of the lake. Some of the sites you had to string your electrical cord real far because three sites share a pole. The restrooms are pit toilets but are very clean with air fresher and sanitizer for hands. There are a couple of spickets for drinking water. 

After lunch we walked the nature trail, it is a mile long. At the beginning the trail was hard to find but once you located it it was well marked with arrows and trail maps. It was very easy to walk, you just had to watch the roots of the trees. It went along the shores of Lake Huron and through trees. As we were hiking we came across a sign in front of a big rock, the rock was called Drummond Island Puddingstones. Puddingstone is a jasper conglomerate of subrounded pebbles of red jasper, black chert, white quartzite, hematie and semi-transparent quartz. By looking close at the rock you could see some of the rocks in it.

Camping at Drummond Island Township Park

Another camp site

Sailing on Lake Huron

Drummond Island Puddingstones

Lake Huron after dinner

When we finished our hike we stayed inside and relaxed with a book. I did my event Solitaire games. After dinner we walked around the campground for about a half hour. We had a beautiful day on Drummond Island.  

Saturday 9-7 Visiting Palms Book State Park

We had a beautiful day

The weather report said it was going to get down into the 40s but it only got down to the high 50s. We woke to sunshine and a little wind. We had power so I got out our mini waffle maker, it is outstanding, it only takes 2 minutes and you have a mini waffle. Being so small it is also easy to store. 

On the way to our next destination we made a couple of stops. The first was in Manistique so Larry could get a picture of me with Paul Bunyan. It's one of the best Paul Bunyan's we've seen, it smelled like it was freshly painted. The next stop was Palms Book State Park. It is located in the Upper Peninsula and is the home of Kitch-iti-kipi or Big Spring. It's Michigan's largest fresh water spring, it flows year round at 45 degrees and is 40 feet deep. This was another CCC built site. We took a raft across the 200-feet wide spring. The raft is guided across on cables and you drive it by turning a large wheel. As the raft goes across we saw big fat trout, ancient trees and limestone on the bottom. The water is so clear you can see all the way to the bottom, at places we saw the sand moving on the bottom where the underground spring was feeding the lake. The spring was gorgeous.

Paul Bunyan and me

The group of tourist before us on the raft

Look how clear the spring is!

One of the many trout we saw

Turning the big wheel

 

After visiting Palms Book State Park we had another 120 miles to get to our destination. On the way we stopped at a rest area on the shore of Lake Michigan to have lunch. Our final destination was Glen Gouch Memorial Park in Pickford Township.

A view of Lake Michigan at the rest area

Glen Gouch Memorial Park is a well maintained beautiful park. It has restrooms with showers. It has 9 RV sites in the front with electricity. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. There 12 other electric RV sites with fire pits in the back. Both areas are very nice. The park has a baseball diamond, a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, horseshoe pits and a playground. The playground has teeter totters, climbing bars, swings and playscape. There a huge pavilion that can be rented out. It is a metal building with a big concrete floor and a couple of small rooms to serve food. In the grass area behind the pavilion is where some of the RV sites are located. They had three trees that had been cut down and the trunks that were left had carvings in them, two were bears and the other one was an eagle. There is a river that runs by the back sites. While there we walked around the park. We had a very nice stay.

Camping at Glen Gouch Memorial Park in Pickford Township

A cute train for the children to play on

The playground

Inside the pavilion

The eagle carving

A site by the river

    

Friday 9-6 A Day of Rain

Rainy Day

A rain storm came in around 8:00 pm yesterday and didn't leave until 1:00 today. It was very steady and at times it came down hard so we hung around Haymeadow Campground until the rain stopped. While waiting we read. Larry and I both finished a book. It was damp and chilly, I made chili for lunch.

When the rain stopped we put thing away and took the Minnie off its blocks. Larry cleaned the bottom of the blocks the best he could before putting them away. We spent two nights at Haymeadow Campground and had a great time. There was only one other camper with us both nights. 

Larry didn't drive far, about 40 miles. He was thinking about camping at a state park but it was late in the day so we ended up going to Kewadin Casino in Manistique. It is very small but it had free RV parking with power. After parking the Minnie we walked into the casino to sign me up for the card. We had visited another Kewadin Casino last year so it was easy to register me again. While doing so I asked about the RV sites, they have a couple of sites with 30 amp and other sites with 15 amp. She said just take one and make sure you were parked parallel to the road. We took one of the 30 amp sites. The casino is open from 9:00 am to 1:00 am. I ended up gambling a few hours and gave the casino $24.00. Even though I lost money I still had fun. LIFE IS GOOD.

THursday 9-5 Hiking Haymeadow Trails

Let's go hiking

This morning was brisk with the temperature in the 40s. I was glad I setup our Wave 3 heater. It runs on a very small amount of propane and we don’t have to use the furnace which uses a lot of propane and battery power.

Today we ended up doing a couple of hikes. The first was in the morning. The hike was 4.25 miles for a little over two hours. We walked through the forest and up and down hills. The trail was easy except when hiking up the hills. We were the only ones hiking the trails. The trails in Haymeadow Creek are used by horses, bikers and hikers. Because it's a National Forest dogs are allowed. We only saw a few areas with horse droppings. We heard a few birds but didn’t see any deer. The hike started with sunshine and in the 50s, by the time we got back to the campground it was overcast. We had a great hike.

The hiking trail

Crossing Haymeadow Creek

Haymeadow Creek

The hiking trail after crossing Haymeadow Creek

Hiking up a hill

After getting back we barbecued the rest of the Italian sausage for our lunch. It was a little nippy in the Minnie so Larry suggested having some biscuits. I lit the oven and baked some biscuits. It worked great at warming things up and the biscuits were delicious.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk. We ended up walking about 4 miles. We walked the main road to get to a unmaintained forest service road. It was an old logging road and easy to walk. We walked it until it came to a gate that was private property. Then we turned around and went back to the campground. While we were hiking we saw a young hawk. The trees were blowing just enough to rub against each other that they creaked. One thing about pine trees is it doesn’t take much wind to get them moving. We had another great hike.

In evening we relaxed inside with a book. We had a super day of hiking through the Hiawatha National Forest.