Yep, still in Michigan

Coming into this trip I knew I wanted to check out Michigan, especially the lower mitten, more than I ever did before, which was pretty much not at all. Leaving Manistee National Forest on the downright cold Wednesday morning I was feeling pretty good about my time spent in Michigan already. After stopping at a roadside stand (to pick up cherries, of course…after all, the National Cherry Festival was starting in three days) and taking a break at a scenic pullout to eat breakfast…

…we continued north on route 22 to Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore, a spot that someone just recently suggested that I check out. We’re so glad we did!! It’s run by the National Park Service (which knowing that we’d be hitting a bunch of national parks we picked up year pass in Shenandoah…and for only $80. What a deal!) and is the largest freshwater dune system in the world. I mean, I guess it’s not for everyone. If you’re not into having large areas of beach to yourself or crystal clear freshwater that looks as vast as an ocean and as colorful of a tropical paradise to swim in, then you might just skip it if you’re driving by. But us, well, we planned on staying one night and ended up staying for five.

It seems as if Michigan is in no shortage of incredible natural areas and continually exposes layers that usually don’t come to mind when thinking about Michigan. I mean, come on, most people, when asked what they think of when they think of Michigan, say Detroit. I might have said the same thing. Not anymore! No...now it would have to be the miles upon miles of incredible and, I hesitate to say it, pristine lakeshore beaches that line the unsuspecting coasts…and smoked fish.

After a week and a half in the southern section of MI we ventured over the Mackinaw Bridge, being engulfed in fog as we ascended across but opening up into clear air and blue skies driving into the Upper Peninsula. That’s when they started, the roadside markets advertising smoked white fish, salmon, perch, fish and chips to go, fresh fish. And what a treat it is to have it so readily available.

It’s been neat to travel through different regions that all have their trademark foods, being able to taste the geographical and cultural differences as when go along. When in lake regions, eat fresh fish. When in agricultural areas, eat fresh vegetables. When amidst fruit orchards, eat fresh fruit. And to have a rotating crop of options has been completely refreshing.

We’ve also been seeing ecological changes throughout the region, land with less of the oak, hickory and beech forests typical of the Mid-Atlantic region and more being gradually overtaken by white birch, balsam fir and jack pines. Like most other forests east of the Mississippi River, clear-cut logging during the 19^th century played a major role in what we see and don’t see in the U.P. forests today. Most of the logging that occurred in the U.P happened after white pine had been exhausted from the New England states and more lumber was needed to build newly established Midwestern prairie towns. Thanks to the efforts of Teddy Roosevelt initiating land and forest preservation and conservation, and also some guidance from German foresters who already had experience in the recovery of forest ecosystems after clear-cut logging, CCC workers were plotted throughout the U.P in a reforestation effort to try to combat the effects of logging. Now, as with most areas, selective logging is the standard management practice.

Fires have also contributed to the ecosystems here, which were common after the logging was completed, burning all the leftover slash. This is also why we have been seeing a lot of jack pine, which thrives in sandy, dry soil and requires fire to complete its cycle, and white birch, an opportunistic tree that fills in areas after a disturbance.

Not to go on about the lakeshores of MI or anything but just when I though I may be “laked-out” we reached Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We tried our luck at Beaver Lake CG but there were only eight sites and it was Saturday (when will we ever learn to just stay put for the weekends) and there were at least eight people quicker than us. So the Ultrastar pulled a 15-point turn on the skinny sand road we were on and kept looking for an open site. Ten miles down the stone road (soon transitioning into pavement…a controversy to locals and vacationers alike that want the area to stay rustic) we reached Twelve-mile CG and though we didn’t get a lakeside site the first night, I’m not sure that there was a bad site to be had.

Fortunately the campers across the sandy lane from us were only staying the weekend so Sunday morning we had our lakeside site…and we, again, became beach bums.

Like I said, all the sites here are pretty great including those not on the lake but how cool is it to wake up and drink your cup of coffee sitting on the beach of the largest freshwater lake in the world…right outside the steps of your Ultrastar motorhome.

The water is incredibly clear. We’re talking walk out up to your neck and look down to see your feet clear as day clear. It’s easy for your mind to play tricks on you when you’re looking at a body of water as big as Lake Superior. You forget that you’re not on a tropical island but are instead at one of the northern most points in Michigan where winters start early, end late and can be brutally cold, especially in areas bordering Lake Superior. None the less we were lucky enough to experience this area in the midst of absolutely gorgeous weather and extended our stay from two nights to five, not quite being able to leave this idyllic coastline. But we decided that if we wanted to get towards some mountain ranges before winter set it we better hit the road and continue our way west. Though not before the campground hostess taught me how to knit during a three-hour lesson on our second to last day at camp. This was another one of those things that I had hoped to learn on the trip, bringing along with me a couple sets of needles, a few balls of yarn and a “Kids Knitting” book (trust me, the book is more advanced than it sounds). I had to go over again the next morning to get a quick review (it was a lot to take in for one lesson and a couple things stuck but they seemed to have pushed all the other things I learned out) but now feel like I may have finally caught on. Here’s my first creation so far. All you knitters out there, go easy on me…

It’s definitely not perfect, well, not even close. I started out with, I believe, 25 stitches and am ending with all but 40 and unfortunately unlike most other things, more apparently is not better. But it is handmade and that’s worth something, right??