In The Upper Peninsula of Michigan

(Fair warning this post contains several pictures. What follows is our four day trip from Corinth, Mississippi back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.)

Thursday, July 2, 2020

It is amazing how quickly the time goes once we are back up here in the place we call home. We pulled back into the Upper Peninsula of  Michigan on Sunday, May 31, 2020, and spent our first night parked at the Walmart. Our reservations at the Whitefish Hill RV Park in Rapid River, which is about 15 more miles, started on June 1st and though we could have just went there we decided to stay in town, since, we needed to fill up our propane tank and the place we would take care of that was on the way to the park. 

Thursday, May 28, 2020

After two months we pulled in the slides and hooked up the
Jeep and left the Cross City RV Park in Corinth, MS

We stopped and said goodbye to the owner and before  I
could focus my camera he was back on his mower.
Top right: heading out of the park we turned left onto
County Road 405 and then right onto US-45 heading North.
The weigh station were we stopped in March before turning
around and heading back to Corinth.

About 10 miles and we left Mississippi in the rear view mirror
and crossed into Tennessee. A couple of hours later we crossed
back across the Mississippi River this time going west and 
into Missouri.

The problem with catching up is I am not going to remember where these pictures where taken other then they were that first day on the road.

We could see rain ahead. At this point I know we are on the
west side of the Mississippi River. We did ride into that rain
storm but it was a short burst of rain.

We spent the night at a Walmart in Perryville, MO
These were the clouds over the store as the sun set.

,

More of the clouds around us 

as the sun set on our first night heading north and home.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Heading out this morning we are on I-55 and we went around the west outskirts of St. Louis. By the time we stopped for the night we where at a rest area west of  Davenport, Iowa. Stopped for the night we learned what is taking place in Minneapolis and several of the larger cities in our country. We spent some time re-thinking our route home. The decision was to avoid getting close to any larger city and to keep ourselves informed as to what was going on.

We took some back roads and made our way to I-80.

Taking what I would describe as serene back roads

it is easy to forget that there is anything called Covid-19
in our country. It is hard to believe there is now rioting and
looting taking over some of our cities.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Today we headed East on I-80 before heading north again towards Dubuque were we crossed the Mississippi River. Once again we are back in the East and  leaving Iowa behind we are in  Wisconsin.

Riding peacefully along, like I mentioned above, you forget
that anything has changed then there is a sign overhead
reminding you of just how much things have changed.

Coming into Dubuque we can see the Mississippi River ahead.

Going through a small town in Wisconsin that Tom
remembered won the State Basketball Championship back 
in the 60's. I looked it up and it was 1964.  
They did this before the state created a small-school division 
against a much larger school Milwaukee North. 

Riding through small town America and there is another
reminder of how things have changed. (Middle left.)

We spent part of the day on back roads in Wisconsin making our way to the Walmart in Portage, WI.
This would be our last night on the road for this our Sixth Adventure.

Sunday, May 31, 2020

We woke up this morning to more blue skies after spending a quiet night at this Walmart. Interesting side note: Back on November 8, 2014 we started our First Adventure in our 5th Wheel, the Crusader, and we spent a very cold first night at this same Walmart. Here we are almost six years later in our motorhome the Stinger "B" on our way back home for the summer. As we made our way north today we realized we had taken pretty much the same route that first day. I remember as we made our way south that day we could not believe how many hills there were in this part of Wisconsin and how anxious we were about the trip and what we would encounter along the way. Today we were anxious for another reason. With the pandemic and now the protests and rioting going on we are just anxious to be back in the UP.  Those hills we thought were high back then, well since then we have been over some pretty good size "hills" in the West and East and we reminisced and talked about how our lives have changed since that first day.

Walmart in Portage, WI

We have made it to US-41 and a very familiar sign.
Escanaba 90 miles

Marinette, WI

Crossing over the Menominee River and we are in
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

We are now on M-35 and we are looking at Lake Michigan and
this view says we are home. The first thing we notice is how
 high the lake is and we can see how much of the shoreline has
disappeared into the lake.

We are in very familiar territory now. We know all the turns
and when we will see the lake, which is a lovely blue
today against the white caps rolling in.

Going over the Ford River we can see it is way above its banks.

Monday, June 1, 2020

After spending the night at the Walmart in Escanaba we are now headed towards a small town about 15 miles east of us. Riding along the lake it is not as blue today but still beautiful.

Upper left: the Rapid River
Upper Right: the Whitefish River
Lower Left driving through Rapid River and then arriving
at the Whitefish Hill RV Park.

There are still a few dandelions around though most have
gone to wishes. Some of the decor near where we are parked.

We have just pulled in to our spot next to the Red Barn.
This will be our home for the month of June. 

This is an older park that shows its age but it is well kept up with long fairly level sites. We do have highway noise and a couple of times a day a train goes by but just the same we like it here. The woman who owns it was not sure she was going to open this year because of the coronavirus but in the end made the decision to do so and had only been open a couple of days when we pulled in. The red barn next to us is were the bathroom, shower, laundry, and office is located which she is not opening. In order to stay here you need to be totally self-contained this year. We do have full hook ups with 50 amps though there is also 30 amps at the sites, also. Plus, there is free WiFi.

A little history: The Red Barn is a 100+ year old cordwood barn. Back a 100+ years ago this was a farm. The history is that 2 young boys cut and split the cord wood by hand and used it to enclose the bottom half of the barn, each piece is 16" in length and laid in a bed of mortar. This has been written about as on one of the few remaining cordwood barns. (Information from the RV Park's website.)

The cordwood bottom half of the barn.

As I write this catch up post we are now settled in for six days at the Fairgrounds in Escanaba. We will be heading downstate to see our son and his family this coming Monday. Then we will be spending the month of August back at the Whitefish Hill RV Park.

Tonight's Afterglow

Quick update: I wrote this blog last night figuring Tom would take a look at it this morning and then I would re-read and publish. With the hope as always that I have not missed any misspellings. Anyway, if it is true that things come in three's hopefully we are good. This morning the toilet broke which makes the 6th thing we have had to replace since March.  We are good now and would like the trend to end.

We are so glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.