Water, Water Everywhere!

Sunday, September 7

The motorhomes were rolling early today as we set off for our next campground in Newberry which is in the Upper Peninsula.  We left Houghton Lake behind and continued to show our friends just how much shoreline there is in Michigan.  Minnesota brags about its 10,000 lakes but Michigan really outdoes them with far more and more shoreline than any state except Alaska.

The vista as we passed over the five mile long Mackinac Bridge was breathtaking as we had clear blue skies. Pictures taken out vehicle windows just doesn't do it justice.  Lake Huron on the right and Lake Michigan on the left.  Little white caps, boats, and of course Mackinac Island in the distance with the Grand Hotel right there in the center in all its glory.

A stop for fuel just after we crossed over gave us yet another chance to get a view of the beauty especially of the bridge.

Also our first moose :-)  [Seen at the Big Boy next to the gas station]

Our drive toward our campground in Newberry took us along the shores of Lake Michigan where we got many wonderful glimpses of Lake Michigan with its huge expanse of blue waters and little rolling white caps.  How we wished we could find a place to pull over and just soak it all in but alas there were no such spots.

We did finally find a little turnoff near a bridge where we could stop for lunch and I took a few moments to walk back over to the bridge and get a shot through the trees of Lake Michigan while enjoying the lovely 75 degree temperatures and light breeze.

Once we had settled in at the campground we made the decision to do a bit of exploring - more than we would usually do after a day of travel but the weatherman is promising a major weather shift by the middle of the week so we wanted to take full advantage of what we had today. So, we were off to see the Upper Tahquamenon Falls.

A short walk presented us with these views of the unusual amber colored water created by the tannin from the nearly 800 square miles of cedar, spruce, and hemlock swamps that the river drains. The 50 foot drop causes quite a roar as the water then moves downstream toward the Lower series of small falls and eventually to Lake Superior.

Then since we'd driven that far we decided to continue on to Whitefish Point and see the Shipwreck Museum even if we'd only have a short time to visit before it closed.

This is located on the east end of a 50 mile stretch known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" because more than 150 vessels are known to have sunk in the Lake Superior storms.  (Lake Superior is one of  the most dangerous bodies of water on earth because of its fierce storms, huge size which is greater than South Carolina, great depth and very cold waters)

They have many displays of items removed from ships that have sunk as well as the stories behind those sinkings including some of their remains such as the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald that sunk in 1975.

The old lighthouse built in 1849 - the oldest active light on the Great Lakes is also at this point

There was enough time to get a brief look also in the building that houses the history of the Life Saving Services that preceded the creation of the U.S. Coast Guard.  It was created to help save the lives of those involved in shipwrecks close enough to land to be reached from land.

Then we enjoyed a stroll on the beach looking at many of the beautiful stones washed up by the waters.  In fact, Gary and Judy selected a small bag full of them to put in their gardens at home.

We could also see a couple of tanker ships far out in the water

By then it was getting quite late and everyone was hungry but we did make a quick stop to a least get a view of the Lower Tahquamenon Falls which is actually a series of falls as the river flows out to Lake Superior.  Unfortunately there just wasn't enough time to make the walk to at least one of the series of drops to get a close up view of the beautiful waters so we just got shots of a couple of the falls in the distance.

By the time we returned a full moon was rising and we were eager to have a bite to eat and rest from our adventurous day. Then rest up for tomorrow and all that it promised.