After this little
sideshow we then started our drive back to the USA, & eastward to Dan’s 40th
college reunion in Connecticut. We
re-entered the USA in North Dakota & headed east on US2. Outside of Devils Lake, MN, we stopped at a
rest area where the restroom building was modeled after an old style Riverboat
Paddle Wheeler (there was no info on why a paddle wheeler?). The first two RV parks we tried to stay at
didn’t bother to answer their phones & we soon learned they were full with
“seasonal” occupants even though the season was long over. Thankfully at our third try outside Erskine,
MN, we found a vacancy (right next to the RR tracks)!
Wednesday morning
after being awoken by a very loud, squeaky, train it was back on US2 heading
east. The weather was great until we were
next to the south shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin when the skies clouded,
the temp dropped, & the winds picked up.
We overnighted in Bessemer, MI, at an RV park run by a little old lady
who had a very thick accent from Sweden or Norway?
In case you haven’t
noticed this drive appears to be a retrace of our drive back in SEP09 when we
attended Dan’s 35th reunion in Connecticut. This time we did not stop at the Northern
Great Lakes Visitor Center, Ashland, WI; Da Yoopers Tourist Trap, Ishpeming,
MI; or “Lakenenland” east of Marquette, MI (see below BLOG if interested in
learning more). One change we noticed
from our 2009 drive, is that are a large number of small Indian Casinos
throughout northern WI & the upper peninsula of MI. One tribe has five casinos scattered around
the eastern part of the MI Upper Peninsula.
We also learned more Yooper humor:
---you know you are
getting close to Yooper Land when the road sign says – End of the World 2
miles, Upper Peninsula 4 miles!
---what is a seven
course dinner for a Yooper? A pasty
& a six pack!
Thursday morning we
were back on US2 heading east but almost immediately we switched over to MI28
across the upper peninsula of Michigan.
We did this since US2 heads southeast & actually is a longer way to
get to St Ignace, MI, our next stop. After
two hours we stopped at Lawrys Pasty outside of Marquette, MI. Voted the best pasty in the UP for close to
ten years. First it is pronounced “pass
tee” not “pay stree” nor “pay stees”. We
purchased a traditional pasty & a cudighi sausage sandwich. Lawrys is a small non-descript building that
is easily missed from the roadway. Since
it was early, we were the only customers; but the phone rang constantly with
takeout orders for lunch. The pasty was
pretty bland (think old fashioned hash in a pie crust), but the cudighi was
very good.
Also, we are not
sure why but the diesel in Munising, MI, was over twenty cents cheaper than
anywhere else in MI? We must say that we
found the scenery on US2 & MI28 thru the UP fantastic! It was even good to see Michigan State Police
still have an old fashioned red “bubble-gum” machine on their cars even with
all their modern LED lights.
Friday morning was
another long drive from St Ignace, MI, to Port Huron, MI, to spend two days
before heading across Ontario, Canada, to New York. We decided to spend two days in Port Huron to
take a break from the hard driving we have been doing for four days. We also decided to stay in a very nice KOA
next to Port Huron. This is one of the
biggest RV parks we have seen, with not only numerous activities/facilities to
keep you entertained (mostly aimed at kids/teens); but the KOA was right next
door to another facility w/batting cages, go-carts, putt-putt, etc. After Corrie returned from a grocery run, we
headed to the Raven Café in Port Huron for dinner. The café is part library & part
restaurant decorated in an Edgar Allen Poe theme (Quoth the Raven “Nevermore”). They feature nine fresh soups a day; & all
the food was very, very, good.
Saturday, 20SEP, we
slept in to recover from four days of hard driving. In the early afternoon we headed out in
search of a Muffler Man located at the World’s Finest Frozen Custard stand in
New Baltimore, MI. Little did we know
pro-golfer Greg Norman is secretly a Muffler Man (see below internet link to
learn the threat posed by Muffler Men hidden throughout the USA). After observing the Muffler Man we then
enjoined a round of Putt-Putt golf; the putt-putt course was definitely old
school. As to the final score – all Dan
will admit is that he didn’t lose by double digits! The putt-putt outing was topped with
delicious frozen custard. That evening
severe weather rolled thru, something we didn’t want to see before getting back
on the road tomorrow.
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