Munising and Pictured Rocks

June 13^th, 2014- Day 14

Campsite within a few feet of Lake Superior, at Munising Tourist Park.  Great job, Norm!

It was now time for Norm and I to start our “real “ adventure without the security of being with our friends from The Villages RV Club.  This was such a great group of people!  No issues or conflicts.  Norm and I have never traveled with a group before so we didn't know what to expect.   People in general are pretty unique, so I am sure it doesn't always work out as well as it did.

I leave them with a heavy heart. Four months is a long time without spending time with those you “know”.

We headed north to the “Upper Peninsula” to Munising, Michigan, to spend a couple of days.  Norm found a great campground called Munising Tourist Park Campground on the shore of Lake Superior.

You can tell by the waves that it is VERY windy on the
shores of Lake Superior!

Some of the sites are right on   We realized from the ride that it was VERY windy, but when we stepped out of the motorhome, WOW!  It was FREEZING!  The temperature was in the mid 40’s and winds above 35 MPH!  Sand whipped in my face as I tried to direct Norm to park, and between the wind and the 3 foot waves crashing on the shore 20 feet away, we could not hear each other yell.

A few Lake Superior Facts:

-Largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.

-Third largest lake in the world by volume.

-Holds 10 percent of the world’s fresh surface water.

-Enough water to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with one foot of water!

Because of the wind, we left the slides in to prevent any damage. We are trying hard not to have any "issues" on this long trip, so we are taking every precaution.

View from observation deck on our hike

We bundled up against the cold, and headed out to explore and hike.  After stopping at the Visitor Center we set out and found a very nice 3.5 mile hike with some nice steep hills that afforded a few lovely views.

Here in the Upper Peninsula, there was a different phenomenon.  Something called “Pasties”.  They, like fudge in the Lower Peninsula, were everywhere, but as we drove around, only one place touted they were “the best”.   Well, obviously we had to stop at Muldoons  and try these things, whatever they were!

What we learned was that the Pastie (pronounced Past-tee) was a hearty meal for miners due to the fact that they could be cooked hot in the morning and still be warm at lunchtime.  They still remain a staple food and tradition here. 

A Pastie basically is a beef, chicken or veggie casserole with pie crusts around it. Think dense turnover.  They weigh  a couple pounds apiece.  That’s the "hearty" part.  We decided to share the beef, which was excellent.

potatoes, carrots, rutabaga,and spices.
How could Big Foot pass up these?

Outside of Muldoon’s, there was a huge statue of a Sasquatch, with all kinds of trinkets and tee shirts in the gift shop depicting this hairy creature.  The shopkeeper explained that there was a sighting of Sasquatch ( or Bigfoot ) in the fall of last year. The show Animal Planet came to investigate and do a segment for the TV show.

  

I told Norm to shave!

They supposedly chose Muldoon’s   Pasties to bait the beast ( that MUST be proof they are “ the best “ after all )!

This hairy beast is playing hard to get!

One of the Must-do’s of the area is to take a 3 hour cruise along Superior’s shoreline and take in what they call Pictured Rocks.  These are brilliantly colored cliffs rising anywhere from 50 to 200 feet directly up above Lake Superior, intricately carved sea caves, cascading falls and pristine beaches.

We were told that the setting sun really makes the colors come alive, so the evening cruise is the most popular.  What we also learned, was that our timing was off.  Tomorrow was the annual “Yooper Day”  ( Upper Peninsula residents ).  Anyone living locally and their families could take the cruise for free!  How wonderful for them!  How potentially horrible for us!

So, another decision to make.  Go tonight with temperatures in the 40’s (on land, mind you )plus very high winds resulting in very rough seas.  The sun was shining however, so there was certainly going to be spectacular viewing.   OR:  Go tomorrow with the forecast of calmer seas and warmer temps, and the carnival atmosphere of Yooper Day.  Hmmmmm. 

We decided to wait. We purchased our tickets for the sunset cruise to at least ensure we would have a seat.

Fabulous sunset from the RV campsite

 We went back to the RV, turned the heat on, had left-overs and our Pastie while we enjoyed a fabulous sunset from the comforts of "home".

Sunday June 14^th

We woke up to a nice day.  Temp’s were still in the 40’s but less wind, the lake was calm, and the sun was shining.   We would have loved to take the day and go over to adjacent Grand Island for some biking, but the ferry service was too infrequent to allow us to get back for the cruise.  Due to Yooper Day, we figured we should be in line at least 1½ hours before the sailing so we could get the very important seat on the upper deck, right hand side.  (we knew this from more research).

We then drove about an hour to see more of the area and to take a particular hike.

We decided to start hiking at Grand Sables Dunes.  Here, the dominant Northwesterly winds caused blowing sand ( which we are still picking out of our teeth) to pile up on this 5 mile stretch to heights up to 300 ft. at a 35 degree angle.  In the late 19^th century, loggers in the area built a wooden log slide from the top of the dunes to the lake below to facilitate the transportation of timber from the area.

Norm walking along trail at Grand Sable Dunes

The trail we chose ran along the coastline, but probably because of the eroding cliffs, most of the trail was more inland, among the trees.  I kept stopping to take photos both of magnificent views and weird things such as moss and mushrooms.  Hey - I think they are neat.  We climbed down a rocky slope and enjoyed our picnic lunch by the water's edge. This hike was nearly 4 miles long, and had some very steep portions. We are getting fitter with each successive hike. 

I was trying to remember photography techniques from my camera class.
  Not quite right, but interesting.

On the way back to the campground, we were glad to notice the temperatures had risen to a balmy 70 degrees. We had time to take a quick nap, and shower before heading for the boat cruise.  The temperature sadly had dropped back down to about 50 degrees, and the wind was picking up a little.  Unfortunately, there was a heavy cloud cover, so we lost our gamble for the sunset. 

                                                                                     





  I put on so many layers, it reminded me of when we set the kids out to play in the snow with those big, quilted snow outfits.  They were so bundled up they couldn't move!  Well, I felt just like that. Norm, who is never cold, even put his thermal underwear on. It has to be mighty cold for him to do that!

Remember getting sent out to play
looking like "The Michelin Man?"

We had to have dinner, so of course, another trip to Muldoon’s for pasties was in order.  This time we each got our own.  After all, it was going to be cold on the water and we needed lots of fortification. ( and booze was not allowed ).

We arrived at the cruise terminal so early we opted to take the 6 o’clock boat and skip the later sunset cruise since there was not going to be a sunset anyway. It would probably only get colder as the evening progressed.

We literally ran to the dock, racing past the “Yoopers” in order to get in line for those best seats on top. After waiting on that cold dock for over an hour, and watching the hardy locals disembark previous cruises looking totally frozen, we started to second guess our “must-have” seats.  When boarding, the crew said it was definitely REALLY cold up top, so we wimped out and sat inside, downstairs where it was nice and warm. Three hours is a long time to have your knees knocking,your teeth chattering and getting cold to the core. I quickly took off a few layers of clothing.  Norm was stuck with his long  johns!

A view of the Pictured Rocks from tour boat. We found it very interesting that there is only
one tour boat company doing the very brisk business of boat tours in Munising

We talked with some locals, and tried to tolerate the obnoxious children on the boat.  After all, it was “their day”, and it was great that they had this opportunity to see such a sight.  Unfortunately, I think most of the little hoodlum boys spent more time jumping, pushing, fighting, fussing and screaming than looking at the marvels of nature. Norm and I both agreed that it is really nice to live in an age restricted community! What we did notice, was how all the little girls behaved perfectly! 

Still some ice remaining here on Lake Superior.

The rocks were so pretty on a cloudy day, I can’t imagine  how gorgeous they must be on a sunny sunset cruise!( well, I saw professional photos, so I can )

We docked about 9pm and headed back.