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June 12, 2001 We awoke in no particular hurry this morning… a welcome change from typical Tuesday mornings, which for Lise start at about 5:20 a.m. Our first destination of note was Mackinaw City, where we took pictures of the Mackinac Lighthouse (built in 1892, 45 feet high) and the Mackinac Bridge (built in 1957, about 8600 feet long) which connects the Lower Peninsula with the Upper Peninsula and marks the division between Lake Michigan on the West (or left for us traveling north) and Lake Huron on the East (right for us). The thought that the lighthouse is old was put into perspective to us as Americans when we considered that about 100 years old is nothing considering some of the castles in Ireland are nearly 1000 years old! (Ireland came to mind because we had been listening to a new-to-us music CD entitled Revival in Belfast. Lise highly recommends it!) To put the bridge in perspective for you, the Golden Gate Bridge is about 2000 feet shorter. We exited I-75 (which extends from the Michigan border with Canada all the way to the Florida Keys, by the way) and traveled north on Michigan 123 to the town of Paradise. We followed signs to Tahquamenon Falls. The upper falls is 200 feet wide and drops about 50 feet over a curved cliff. The color and consistency of the water reminds Scott of root beer. The amber color and trademark foaminess are the result of tannic acid and the natural leeching process the very soft river water goes through as it drains the nearby hemlock and cedar swamps. The trail to view the falls from two locations – one at the crest of the falls and one from farther downstream – was about a mile hike through an old growth Eastern Hemlock forest, including 96 + 96 + 116 + 116 = 424 stair-steps! And Lise didn’t have to use her inhaler at all! Knees shaking, heart pounding, but no wheezing! Whoo-hoo! Another good thing is that the ranger gave us a discount at the Upper Falls when she heard we were planning to camp at the Lower Falls. Yay. We dropped the trailer at our campsite for the night, right on the river near the Lower Tahq. Falls, and drove north again on M123 to Whitefish Point. What’s there, you ask? FOG! FOG! FOG! And a pretty cool lighthouse. Imagine the two being in the same place at the same time. It’s like they planned that or something! Hah. As soon as I stepped out of the truck to walk the boardwalk to the beach to get a better view of the lighthouse, I (Lise) made a vow. “I promise never to leave the trailer without bringing a sweatshirt, long pants, and my earmuffs with me, so help me God!” Yikes, it was cold and windy! But we took our shoes and socks off anyway and strolled in the tan and black sand of this Lake Superior shore. The lighthouse, built in 1849, is the oldest working one on Lake Superior, and marks a crucial course change ships must make to be in a good position to navigate the straits at Sault Ste. Marie. The Edmund Fitzgerald sank not too far from here in 1975. Yes now you, also, will have that song running through your head for the next couple of hours just like we did! In fact, I might still have that album. If I do, it’s sitting next to the Helen Reddy “I am Woman” album! On the way back to camp we were able to find a data port (thanks to the very friendly people at the Paradise Inn) and downloaded 115 email messages. Next, we returned to camp, toured the Lower Falls, and ate burritos for dinner while composing today’s travel log. Our evening entertainment plans include reading through the 115 emails, maybe watching a few taped Star Trek episodes, and killing the rest of the mosquitoes we let into the trailer during our various comings and goings. (smack… there goes another one.) Hope you have a nice (smack) evening too! (smack… smack) --Scott & Lise P.S. Speaking of burritos… we saw a cute cartoon of two bears pointing at some campers in sleeping bags. The caption was “Hmmm…burritos!” P.S.S. Speaking of humor, Scott wants me to include the bumper sticker we saw today. It said, “Say yah to da U.P., eh?” He says he’s sure I’ll not only understand it but be able to pronounce it correctly in a couple of days. We’ll see. |