Enjoying Our Dash

After Michigan, it was off to Wisconsin, where we had a great campsite with a view of the lake at the Neshonoc Lakeside Camping Resort. Of course, we went in search of cheese! I haven’t decided which is better, Vermont Cheese or Wisconsin cheese. Do you have an opinion? Next up was a night in Minnesota. This state has one of the best welcome signs of the many states we have been in. In Iowa, our campsite in Legends State park was very nice. It was way out in the country, so internet was a bit of a challenge! Iowa was another trip down memory lane. We owned a house in the Ames area where Ed lived for a short stint, so we checked out our old house and some of the places that we used to go when he was living there. In Nebraska, we had another great campsite at Victorian Acres Campground in Nebraska City. As their welcome sign says, this is the home of Arbor Farms and where Arbor day began. From the Arborday.org website we learn that ‘J. Sterling Morton, a resident of Ne...

For our last stop in Michigan, we headed up to Sault Ste. Marie to see the Soo Locks. These locks are located on the US Canadian border in the St. Mary’s River and connect Lake Superior with Lake Huron. A few interesting facts about the locks The Soo Locks are 100% gravity-fed and require no pumps. To lift or lower a boat, the Poe Lock (the larger one) requires an astonishing 22 million gallons of water. It would take 584 train cars to move 70,000 tons of cargo or one 1,000 foot freighter The Paul R. Tregurtha is the largest freighter that uses the Poe Lock. It measures in at 1,013.5” in length and 105” wide. When planning a trip to the Soo, there are several tools you can use to ensure you see ships in the locks during your visit. First, there is a phone number to call with a recorded message. The message will give you the names and the approximate time that ships will be in the locks. The second (and much cooler) way is to check out the web site https://www.marinetraffic.co...

From Gaylord we headed north across the Mackinaw Bridge to the Upper Peninsula. We stayed in a campground right across the road from Lake Michigan.  It made for some beautiful views. We headed over to Mackinac Island on one of the Shepler’s Ferries.  Cole enjoyed the ride, but couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to sit on a seat. The island was very beautiful.  We enjoyed the scenery, and it was fun watching all the horse drawn carriages.  Cole tried to chase the first horse that he saw.  When that happened, my plan of taking a carriage to the Grand Hotel went out the window! We had a great time exploring the island and bought our obligatory fudge!  Soon it was time to catch the ferry and head back to the mainland.