May 5 - 14 St. Ignace, Michigan

May 22, 2024  •  Leave a Comment

Tiki RV Park

One thing we’ve learned about being on the road is we’re out of our “comfort zone” almost on a daily basis.

Evidence shows that people are at their best, physically harder, and mentally tougher, after experiencing some of the same discomforts our early ancestors were exposed to every day. But the more miles we’ve put under our wheels, the easier it’s gotten to live on the road…. We realize that we ARE living the American Dream!

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A beautiful blue-sky day, with no wind - a perfect driving day…………. perfect because????

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Here we go – over the famous Mighty Mac – The Mackinac Bridge!!! Whoo Hoo…. well, that was fun – not!! Construction (no big surprise) had one lane closed. Squeeze!!!!! Those grates??? Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle... Slow and steady with a great party line of trucks and cars behind us LOL…..we made it to the other side safe and sound – Whew! That was some white knuckling for Mike. We both needed an adult beverage after this anxiety building drive!!!

 

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We’ve now arrived in “Yooper” land – the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan – The Yoop! Michiganders’’ that live below the Mackinac Bridge are known as “Trolls”. Tourists are known as “Fudgies”. There is plenty of fudge, t-shirts, and adventure to be had…

 

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Happy Cinco de Mayo! Wonder if there any good Mexican restaurants where we’re headed????? Yep…. we found one – Cheers!!

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The Tiki RV Park was another great place with a small view of Lake Huron from our site.

Only a couple other RV’s here – again it’s not quite camping season up here as most things open in mid-May or Memorial Weekend.

 

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Looking at the weather outlook for the next week or so, we decided to take off for Mackinac Island the day after we arrived. Our first trip there last week with our friend Gretchan – well – we froze our asses off – LOL!! It was cloudy, windy, foggy, and just not fun…. We had the perfect weather this 2nd time around and spent most of the day having “Mansion envy” - drooling over the houses once again and admiring The Grand Hotel.

 

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Did you know that the movie “Somewhere in Time” was produced on the Island? It was originally supposed to be filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado, in San Diego but the Del wasn’t available.

 

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Expensive is the key word as mentioned in our previous entry. Oh yeah – the Hotel CHARGES $12 just to walk in – what???? We didn’t pay when we were there last week only because they had just opened that weekend. But come on! Pay $12 to mill about and then spend an ungodly amount on food and drinks???? Hum……all in all we loved it and would not discourage others from visiting as it is truly a magical experience!

 

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Being as we were only about 50 miles from Sault (pronounced SOO) Ste Marie – both a US and Canadian city, we took off to visit the US side first because………………. that’s where the SOO locks are and that was a bucket list item for us. What a fascinating site to see!! We were lucky enough (without having a schedule) to see 4 ships go through. They have been referred to as one of the great wonders of the world and are still the largest and one of the busiest waterway traffic systems on earth! Wowzer!!! The locks consist of two canals and four locks that allow vessels to safely traverse the 21-foot drop in elevation of the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron.

 

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So many lighthouses in this state! We had to pick and choose which ones to visit as some were pretty far away…. Point Iroquois didn’t disappoint. It was “sort of” on our way back to St. Ignace. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open inside yet for visitors – still early in their season darn it!! But it did give us an interesting tour of some Indian Tribal communities along the way. We had no idea that the state of Michigan was so enriched in Indian culture, many of which are federally recognized.

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Oh Canada – here we come!! Another bucket list as neither of us had ever been there.

 

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Passports? Check. Security questions passed, Check!! We bypassed visiting the SOO locks as the Canadian side is only used for recreational and tour boats.    First stop was the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (museum). Pretty neat place filled with over 30 vintage back country firefighting planes……

 

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Not wanting to wander TOO far into Canada (very unfamiliar territory and mostly scenic terrain for miles and miles), we decided to drive up the coast a way via the Trans Canada Hwy. Our stop for the day before turning around brought us to Harmony Beach Ontario with stunning views of Whitefish Bay along our route! And…. some very interesting road signs.

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We thought gas was expensive in the US????

 

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We heard there’s going to be an awesome sky event??? Could it be?? Check off another thing on our bucket list? The Northern Lights!!!! We scoped out a dark place near the McGulpin Point Lighthouse – another cool Lighthouse – we haven’t seen one yet that isn’t awesome!

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Another neato place in the same area was the Headlands International Dark Sky Park but decided it’s better for star gazing than Northern Lights viewing. At McGulpin Point, we waited and waited and waited……but the clouds and bugs kept rolling in. Damn it………. nothing – nada – uggggg…. We’ll try again as this super-duper event is supposed to last for 3 nights.

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Like waiting for the 4th of July fireworks….boom….boom….boom…..we headed out for yet another chance of viewing the Northern Lights. The sunset was breathtaking as we watched a ship go by. The sky grew darker and then………. the magic started to happen!!!

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OMG!!! Is this really happening??? We jumped for joy like two little kids…. everywhere we looked, more colors exploded in the sky. Truly a moment we’ll never forget. After hours in the cold, the sky cleared and back home we went.

 

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But wait??? Are there more???

OMG…. the sky exploded again. It was a cold night, but we couldn’t tear ourselves away from that unreal scene happening all around us – WOW!!!! Like ghosts moving in the wind, it just got better and better….

 

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The town of St. Ignace is home to the world-famous Castle Rock. It rises 200 feet above lake level. It was an ancient lookout of the Ojibway Indians. Oh boy – Donna doesn’t like open heights!!!  But we climbed those 170 steep steps anyway and voila – beautiful views of Mackinac Island, Lake Huron, and miles of other scenic views!

 

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The North Country Scenic Trail is 4800 miles and travels through 8 states. Part of it is in St. Ignace very near where our campground was. Off we went to explore the beautiful forests of Michigan….

 

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If you love the outdoors, water, blue skies, and Caribbean style waters, then Michigan is a trip you should plan. You won’t be disappointed!! Except for those damn midges that hatched while we were here….and they are EVERYWHERE….they don’t bite but they sure are annoying. Mate already….then go away – LOL!!

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