27-30SEP09 - Minnesota, Wisconsin & Michigan

After three great weeks in Manitoba we decided to drive hard for several days to cover a good distance enroute Connecticut. Unfortunately this was done during a constant drizzle/rain & gusting winds. We crossed back into the USA at Tolstoi, MB; and thankfully Corrie’s name was not in the Feds computer as a smuggler of fish. The first night was spent at the 7 Clans Casino at Thief River Falls, MN, w/free electricity.

While driving through WI on US 2 we stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland, WI. It is not just a visitor center, but has displays and exhibits about the regions history from the ice age to the present. And while we were there, they were showing a short award winning film from 1966 called “Paddle to the Sea”, based on an award winning children’s book of the 40s. Dan can’t remember if he saw this film in school or on TV, but he instantly recognized it! The film starts at Lake Nipigon, Canada, where a boy carves a wooden model of an Indian in a canoe and sets it free to travel the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The story follows the progress of the little wooden Indian on its journey through all five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. People carve in the bottom of the boat where he has been and then they put him in the water again. We spent the night behind the Frontier Bar in Saxon, WI.

http://www.northerngreatlakescenter.org/

The next day, Tuesday, 29SEP, was spent driving through the Upper Peninsula (ie the UP) of Michigan. The inhabitants of the UP call themselves Yoopers, which Dan thinks results from the large number of Finnish immigrants trying to say Uppers? We stopped at “Da Yoopers Tourist Trap”, located in Ishpeming, MI. It is a true tourist trap but it also has displays of Yooper ingenuity & creativity. If you don’t mind really incorrect humor based on farts, beer drinking and inept hunters, then check it out.

http://www.dayoopers.com/

We also stopped at “Lakenenland” east of Marquette, which is junkyard art by Tom Lakenen. Tom has created some really fantastic sculptures out of steel, most whimsical, but some make political statements. He has set them out on open piece of land for 24/7 access. You can walk or drive the trail, and it’s free. Since it was still raining and not wanting to get the RV stuck, Dan & Gumbo hiked the “art trail” while Corrie waited. On the back side of the trail is a BBQ area with a metal locker full of free picnic stuff, like starter fluid, paper plates, plastic utensils, etc. Apparently Tom is known to be often found sitting there right next to a warm fire. He has also created snowmobile access for the winter months.

http://www.lakenenland.com/

You might be a Yooper (ie from the U.P.) if:

—six foot snow drifts mean partly cloudy weather.
—you have worn shorts and parka at same time.
—"snowed in", means wife is sick and can’t shovel snow.
—one snow blower is permanently attached to the roof.
—you call soul food a pasty.
—you know smear tournaments are card games.
—you write "cow" on your livestock during hunting season.
—you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling 18 inches of ice and sit there all day waiting for your dinner to swim by.

Tuesday night was spent in St Ignace, MI, at the foot of the Mackinaw Bridge. We ate at a local restaurant where Dan had to check out the fish livers. Wednesday was an uneventful drive on freeways to spend the night in Port Huron, MI.

Trivia – is it Mackinac? or Mackinaw?