Thursday, July 2, 2009

Will this rain ever stop?

Yesterday we put all the rain gear on, loaded up the five bikes and trailer, said good-bye to Carol and the Tradewinds Motel, and headed out of St. Ignace. We were disappointed that our three days there lead to very little sightseeing; the weather just would not cooperate. We did not make it to the Soo and the locks and I did not get to climb Castle Rock. About the only thing accomplished was eating and some of that was done in our rooms.

We stuck pretty much to schedule early on. Our first stop was the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point (11 miles north of Paradise). The grounds are a former Coast Guard station and the exhibits were very well done. This is the location where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down during a storm in November 1975 and made famous in a 1976 song by Gordon Lightfoot. The museum has on display the recovered ship bell from the Fitzgerald. David and I met a Mr. William Maki who was on the crew of the Anderson, the ship right behind the Fitzgerald and the last ship to have contact with Fitz before it disappeared from radar.

After our tour there the skies were threatening once again so a decision was made to skip the Tahquamenon Falls and head to Newberry for lunch and on to Munising. Our lunch at Timber Charlies in Newberry was fun. They are famous for a 10 pound ox burger but we all passed on that. Coffee, hot tea, and soup were the favorites from our group as we tried to warm up some. (The temps for the day maxed out at 59.)

After a gas stop in Newberry, we were ready to book it to Munising. About 30 miles east of Munising, it started to rain. It was a miserable, cold rain and the temperature dropped to 50. We pushed on and arrived here cold and ready for some heat. I think all of us cranked our room heaters on full blast. Last night we walked to the restaurant next door.

I'm not sure what is on the agenda for today. Currently we are just waiting for the rain to stop so we can do SOMETHING. David and I are wanting to take the boat trip out on Lake Superior to see Pictured Rocks National Park. I'm not sure the others are going. There are several waterfalls in the area. Perhaps some of us will get a chance to see them - if the rain ever stops.

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