On Thursday, Oct 19, we drove to Tiki RV Park in St Ignace, Michigan.  Along the way we traveled Rt 2 following the north shore of Lake Michigan.  Betty could not resist stopping to take off her shoes so that she could wet her feet in the northern-most point of this lake.

Betty wading in Lake Michigan

Beach at Lake Michigan north end

Betty returning after wading in Lake Michigan

Beautiful drive along coast of Lake Michigan

 Tiki is a nice park with large trees and decent slots to park in.  The trees do make navigating around them a challenge, but the view is wonderful.  We got a reduced rate for being there late in the season, and we were pretty much alone in the section of the park where we stayed.  The winds continued to be very strong.  The park managers asked if we saw the two freighters in the bay outside.  They explained that large freighters take refuge in that bay when the winds become too fierce to sail in the great lakes.

Pretty much had the park to ourselves

Just down the road is the "boardwalk" area, where many vendors offered ferry rides to Mackinac Island.  We were informed that it costs $26 per person for the ride there, and even sitting on the porch of the Grand Hotel would cost us $10.  Getting a meal there would be a minimum of $40 per person.  We decided to pass on taking that trip.  We did drive up Rt 123 to see the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, and to visit the Tahquamenon Falls State Park on Friday, Oct 20.  We could even feel the strong winds in the Jeep as we were pushed back and forth even in that small vehicle.  All along the drive near the southern shore of Lake Superior we found very friendly, happy, seemingly carefree people who would joyfully take time to talk to you whatever they were doing.  Betty and I wondered what they did for employment there, especially in the winter which must be tough.  While people elsewhere are tensely pursuing the accumulation of things, these people live in very humble homes and perform simple chores (it appears) and give the impression of being totally satisfied with their lot in life.  At the shipwreck museum, we found that off the coast of Whitefish Point about 17 miles, the Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975  during a terrible storm in Canadian waters.  Gordon Lightfoot even recorded a song about it, though few if any of the lost were Canadians.  This same section of Lake Superior accounts for a huge number of shipwrecks due to the storms and crowded sea lanes headed for the other lakes.  Enormous waves took down the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was a huge freighter.

17 miles out there the Edmund Fitzgerald sank

While in the museum I met a couple from central Wisconsin.  I thought at first that they were Amish, but the man said that they were German Baptist.  I had never heard of that denomination.  They were on their honeymoon; his first wife had died after bearing 6 children.  Seemed like a story out of another century.  Very friendly couple, and they did not mind that I took their photo.

Labman and Gina Wolfe, German Baptists

After the museum we headed for Tahquamenon Falls State Park.  All the images above were taken with our phones.  We shot all the photos of the falls with a DSLR.  These images were especially great due to their having the autumn colors as a backdrop.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Autumn

Betty and Steven at Tahquamenon Falls

Today, Oct 21, we left St Ignace and almost immediately had to cross the Mackinac Bridge, which seems always to be undergoing construction work.  Again the winds were very strong as we drove over steel grates that allow any vehicle to drift sideways.  Driving a large motorhome over slippery grates in strong winds was quite an experience.  We made our way slowly to the Interlochen State Park south of Traverse City, MI.  Like too many state parks these days, customer service is not clearly present.  They are quite happy to take your money to stay here but do not even have a person present to greet you or check you in.  We were greeted at the entrance by a building and entry gate at which a couple cars already had gathered.  We soon found out that we must open a yellow box, remove a phone receiver, and wait for someone to talk to us.  When I got my turn, I was told that in addition to the $33 I had paid in July when I made my reservation I was also required to have a "passport" to enter the park.  Thankfully they let us in, saying that someone would come by to take additional money for this.  Upon driving to our site, we found it to be a back-in slot instead of pull-thru, which required us to unhitch the Jeep in the drive path while others wanted to pass through.  It did have a 50 amp electrical hookup but no water or sewer, and it was a rustic dirt site without paving.  It did border the lake, but wild growth mostly blocked the view.  People are very close to each other, and they seem to be very fond of pine wood fires, which choke me up.  We have to keep our exhaust fans going to keep the smell of smoke out of our motorhome.  The state park we had in Alabama was many orders of magnitude better than this place, though we had a 30 amp electrical hookup there, but did have water and sewer, and no talk of a "passport."  The slots were huge compared to this place, and two people were at the entrance to greet guests and answer questions.  I wonder if Interlochen is representative of all Michigan state parks.

"Pure Michigan?"

Tomorrow we leave for Zeeland, MI near Holland.