Copper Harbor

I awoke this morning with a nasty sore throat and cold.  This cold weather is already taking its toll on me.  Possibly it is due to the diet change since leaving home.  Darlie is on a veggie kick so we eat all kinds of veggies for lunch.  I need my daily quota of fat and sugar to keep things ticking as they should.

The upper peninsula of Michigan is worthy of further exploration.  The Lake Superior shoreline is awesome.  The highway has many pullouts and scenic overlooks where you can walk to the beach and stroll in the beige sand.  The Lake Superior Circle Tour would make a very nice two or three week camping vacation.  You can drive around the entire shoreline of the lake both in the US and Canada.

Right now it appears this area is in the middle of spring.  Leaves are not fully developed and new shoots of green grass flourish in the warm spring sunshine slowly hiding the remains of last seasons dead brown grass.

The area has many campgrounds, lodges and restaurants.  Though there are few people here now, I am sure it is very busy at the height of tourist season.  There are charter boats for fishing and touring as well.  I am glad we are ahead of the flood so we can enjoy the peace of this place as it is now.

We have decided to make our way up to Copper Harbor.  We were visiting with a young couple when we were camped in Bahia Honda last fall.  They grew up in Copper Harbor.  They said we had to put it on our list of places to visit if we ever got to the area.  So when we came to the US 41 cut off for Copper Harbor, we changed our plans and headed north out onto the peninsula.

We made lunch camp at an overlook on Keweenaw Bay.  That is one of the wonderful things about living in an RV.  You can pick a new vista for your dining room table for each meal.

One thing I forgot to mention about the U.P. this time of year is the bug population.  Hordes of mosquitos, gnats and other unidentified flying objects are buzzing around you every minute you are outside.  We have found Cutters and Off to be somewhat effective to ward off these pests. In fact, they sell the stuff in 55 gallon drums up here with an umbrella shaped mister for over the picnic table.  The bad news though is the stuff sells for $84.00 per gallon.  A 55 gallon drum is guaranteed to last for an entire week vacation though.

We are camped in Fort Wilkins State Park near Copper Harbor, Michigan.  The guy in the next site has the 55 gallon set up at his campsite.  He decided to fire up the old Hibachi on the picnic table under the umbrella shaped dispenser.  He obviously had not read the manufacturers instructions regarding the fact that the bug repellant is highly flammable.

When the EMT’s arrived he was blacker than Aunt Molly’s hair after a Clairol treatment.  He was rushed to the local vet as there are no hospitals within a hundred and fifty miles of here.  His chances of recovery are mixed but they did give him a rabies shot. 

We traveled US 41 to Rt 26 which we took along the north shoreline of the peninsula.  The scenery was worth the trip along the narrow winding road.  We came across a small bakery called the Jampot.  It was run by monks of some order or other.  The monks I saw had bald heads and beards.  I don’t know what the significance of that might be.  Maybe they can forgo the mandatory hairnet.

They had all kinds of homemade jams, jellies, fruit cakes, breads, cookies and candies.  The products were too much to resist.  We bought several jars of jam and some huge homemade cookies. 

We have all of this area to ourselves.  There was no traffic at all on Rt 26.  I asked the monks what time of year things pick up around here.  They said their season begins on the 4th of July weekend.  He said the roads are jammed then until Labor Day. They were planning an expansion of their display area as people have to wait outside to get in.  Makes you want to shave your head, grow a beard and go into the jelly and jam business.

We arrived at Copper Harbor.  It is a very small community of gift shops and typical tourist looking places.  The highlight of arriving here however lies at the end of US 41 where it dead ends into some woods.  At that site they have a marker with a map stating this is the beginning of US 41.  That is a matter of preference, however, because I believe it begins in Miami.  

We did become members of a very prestigious exclusive club by making our visit to the US 41 marker.  Only a very few have visited both ends of this cross country highway.  That is because there are only a very few odd enough to drive way out in the middle of nowhere to master that unique achievement.  Hey, everyone goes to Miami.  But Copper Harbor, at the end of the world?  Not so much. 

Darlie says it kind of reminds her of when we drove way out of our way to go to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming because someone we met told us we shouldn’t miss it.  When we came over a rise in the road and saw that hunk of rock up ahead, Darlie exclaimed, “Is that what we came all the way out here to see?”  I do feel Copper Harbor has much more to offer in scenery though.