MAY to JULY 2021 - GREAT LAKES TOUR

GREAT LAKES - SUPERIOR

Saturday, May 29, 2021 - Forest City, IA, to Dubuque, IA

Sunny but cold first thing, and the usual puzzle as to why it took so long to get on the road...

Finally hooked up and heading south on Route 69 just before 8:00am, heading alternately south and east on straight and largely flat roads before planning to join the scenic and twisty and hilly stuff at West Union.

The day going well, roads clear, no cross wind, a coffee break not far ahead... and then the check engine light started to come on intermittently and flash slowly, but then would go off.

Online research during coffee break suggested this would likely be unburned fuel getting through to the catalytic converter on an undetectable misfire.

Hmmm... out in the boonies, no Ford dealer around. Decided to carry on gingerly - though the day's enjoyment of 30-minutes ago now a distant memory, scenery ignored as I was fully preoccupied with the engine issue and my tunnel vision focused on the dash display and warning lights.

And then it happened... a definite series of misfires under load at moderate rpm and the check engine light came on and stayed on.

Manually shifting down a gear got rid of the misfires, and running uphill at 3,000rpm in 3rd or 4th gear everything seemed fine - though the check engine light was still illuminated. But I decided to bail out on the day's plan and head for the nearest Ford dealer, in Prairie du Chien, just across the Mississippi in Wisconsin.

Traffic was backed up crossing the Mississippi River as time ticked away... meaning I arrived too late at the dealership for the service department which, of course, closed at noon.

Decided to press on for the next nearest Ford dealer, in Dubuque, where the night's campground reservation had also been made.

Needless to say the service department there also closed... so rather dejectedly I decided to head for the campground I had booked and ponder.

Settled in the campground, in full view of the Mississippi River and surrounded by weekend campers, just after 4:00pm... but continuing to feel unsettled in my mind as to what to do.

Undoubtedly a poor night's sleep ahead as the engine issue rumbles around in my mind and I continue rumination...

...though turning in early was pretty much out of the question anyway, with several of my campground neighbors deciding to congregate right outside my bedroom window and make a serious start on the holiday weekend's socializing, continuing late into the evening.

Sunday, May 30, 2021 - Dubuque, IA, to Waterloo, IA

Up reasonably early, and out for a run at 7:00am before most fellow campers had stirred.

Then off to track down an OBD (on-board diagnostics) scanner at an auto parts store to try to glean more information about the misfire and engine warning light.

Detoured via downtown Dubuque on the way back to the campground to check out a rather prominent building I had seen in the distance from the highway on the way in, which turned out to be the County Courthouse.

Plugged in the scanner back at the campground to learn that cylinder number 2 has been misfiring, confirming the diagnosis I had made from on-line research.

On-line research also revealed that there was a Ford commercial vehicle dealer about 20 miles out of town, which would be a much better place than a regular car dealership to try to get a fix on Tuesday morning after the holiday weekend was over.

So although not entirely to be recommended, I decided to drive the RV in its current state and head out to a campground beyond the Ford commercial vehicle dealer, stay there for tomorrow and get a few things accomplished, and then head back to the dealer first thing Tuesday morning.

Vacillated somewhat over which campground to head to but finally decided to go to the KOA campground in Waterloo, even though this was further away from the dealership, since I would have WiFi there and a chance to get some laundry done.

Arrived around 4:00pm, pleasantly surprised by the facility - reasonably new, large, good infrastructure, well-spaced sites, good WiFi even though crowded on this holiday weekend.

Monday, May 31, 2021 - Waterloo, IA

A day of RV chores that had been put off for a while... sorting and rearranging storage compartments, cleaning storage door surrounds (dirty from wet weather driving), proper cleaning of windshield and mirrors, filing sharp edges on storage compartment door catches, cleaning slide rubber seals and subsequent lubrication, laundry...

And a little desk work, courtesy of the good campground WiFi, including researching and discovering that the engine misfire I'm experiencing is a known issue for which Ford has issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), a copy of which I printed out to take along to the commercial Ford dealership tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - Waterloo, IA, to Dyersville, IA

Awake early... a little anxious about the drive back to Dyersville and the Ford dealership there, and whether they would a) be prepared to take a look at the misfire issue; b) get a good diagnosis and solution - and have the necessary parts; and c) be able to undertake the fix within the space of a day or two.

Out of the campground at 6:00am, a couple of misfires on a frequently misty 60-mile drive to the dealership.

Pulled into the dealership parking lot at 7:20am and explained my situation to the young guy on the desk. He didn't seem too keen to engage with the issue but spoke to the service manager who was a lot more accommodating, especially once shown the Ford TSB I had printed out.

So I moved the RV out of the way to a corner of their parking lot with the promise that someone would look at it in the afternoon. The dealership WiFi signal reached me there just fine, so I got on with some desk work, though I couldn't hold out for a coffee much beyond 9:30am.

In the event, the young service guy and a mechanic came to get an orientation around 10:30am, relieved to see good engine access with the doghouse cover removed - lucky I had figured out how to remove this a couple of days ago...

A return visit promised for later but within half an hour the service guy came over to ask if I wanted to go fetch the necessary parts (ignition leads) from another dealer or wait for them to be ordered overnight. I happily volunteered for the collection job and headed off in the Jeep to Davenport, about a 180 mile / 3-hour round trip, arriving back with parts in hand at 2:15pm...

...and after an hour and a quarter wait the RV was taken away for mild engine surgery, handed back just before 5:00pm with 8 new ignition leads.

I asked if I could stay in the dealership parking lot overnight as it was too late to get anywhere else at that point in the day, and this was readily agreed to.

After a quick mouthful of food to sustain me, I headed off in the Jeep to the Field Of Dreams movie set, only 4 miles away, though as the corn had only just gone in the ground the surrounding fields won't actually look the way they did in the movie until October.

Returned to the RV in the dealership parking lot, moved the RV to a flat spot for the overnight stay, hooked up the Jeep, and cracked a celebratory beer...

So where do we go from here...?

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 - Dyersville, IA, to Whitewater State Park, MN

Plenty tired last night, after all the stress of the last few days, so slept pretty well tucked up in a corner of the dealership forecourt.

Up at 5:45am for a prompt shave and shower, heading out well before the dealership opened, driving 20 miles west down Route 20 to Manchester, stopping to fill up with gas and then on to the Walmart store there for my bowl of breakfast cereal, top up on groceries and to borrow their WiFi for route planning and campground reservations.

Hugely frustrated by the state booking websites for Wisconsin and Minnesota, both requiring accounts to be established and neither seeming to refresh well when amending dates. And although I managed to get tonight's campground booked, I then struggled on the next two nights, with final payment screens hanging.

Far too much time being sucked up, so I let rip with some choice curses and headed out on the day's drive, first stop an hour away being McGregor, a small town on the Mississippi River, spread out along Main Street.

Very quiet in town, wonderfully warm in the midday sunshine. Stopped for coffee at an independent deli, choosing their double cappuccino in the hope it might have some taste - which it didn't - and a rather flat and doughy blueberry scone to accompany it...

...both consumed at a sidewalk table outside, watching what little world there was go by and, fortunately, managing this time to get a campsite booked for tomorrow using my iPhone.

Walked down to the north end of Main Street before getting back on the road to cross the Mississippi to Prarie du Chien - over the same bridge I had crossed almost exactly 5 days ago to the minute, nursing a misfire, and construction there was still holding up traffic.

And then on up the scenic Great River Road on the Wisconsin side, this time actually following along the banks of the river and with very pleasant views.

The road surface not quite so pleasant, unfortunately, and particularly bad heading through La Crosse - which I think I could have largely avoided if following the Google route rather than my dashboard Garmin GPS.

Pulled over on the way into Trempealeau for a late bite of lunch, initially rather annoyed at the guide book singling the town out for a stop before spotting the more interesting and historic river end of Main Street as I was leaving.

So pulled over again for a walk down to the river, and treated myself to an ice-cream on the way back to the RV.

Then the last hour's drive of the day to Whitewater State Park, buried away in the hills where there are two questionable TV stations and an intermittent cell signal.

I seemed to have selected a campsite with more of a slope than I would like, so had to do some fiddling with ramps for the front wheels and blocks for the front jacks to be able to get the RV somewhere close to level.

Thursday, June 3, 2021 - Whitewater State Park, MN, to Pattison State Park, WI

Still pretty tired, I guess, as I slept for a solid 8 hours.

Awake just before 6:00am, a quick mouthful of banana, got the bike out of the back of the Jeep (first time I've slung my leg over the bike since my spill) and headed off half a mile up the road to Chimney Rock hiking trail.

A fairly short hike, though mostly steeply up or down, the overlook part-way round only looking back into the small valley area of the state park and not out east towards the Mississippi. Chimney Rock itself at the top of the trail, perched on stumps of rock rather than being solid at the base.

Quick shower back at the RV and then fairly promptly on the road.

I succumbed mid-morning to the quick and easy option of coffee from Starbucks at a Target store in Red Wing and then drove across the Mississippi onto Route 35 in Wisconsin for the remainder of the day's drive.

Pulled over in Somerset for a quick bite of lunch before the final 120 miles of a fairly long day's drive - most of it scenic, but much of the road surface poor once again - reaching Pattison State Park just before 4:00pm. The campground clearly has few Class A RVs calling in, as roads were tight, branches intruding and hanging down, and the "pull through" campsite a right-angled jink.

And with the downslope in the campsite, leveling the RV with the hydraulic jacks left in 3 out of 4 wheels off the ground. Not an entirely happy situation...

Had a quick late afternoon snack before walking down to Big Manitou Falls, which had a fairly impressive 165ft drop, apparently not only the highest in Wisconsin but the 4th highest east of the Rockies.

A few TV stations were coming in over the air, rather surprisingly, so I enjoyed a 30-minute Big Bang Theory fix before getting dinner prepared and working a little more on this weekend's itinerary...

...particularly the recurring challenge of finding a campground spot for Saturday night.

Friday, June 4, 2021 - Pattison State Park, WI, to Cascade River State Park, MN

A quiet night, but with dawn coming early in these northern latitudes I was awake around 5:30am, hopped out of bed to switch on the water heater and then snuck back under the duvet to check news and continue to ponder the weekend's itinerary, overnight campgrounds in particular.

Shaved, showered and breakfasted and ready to decamp by 6:30am, creeping very gingerly along to minimize the scraping of overhanging branches on the way out of the campground.

Stopped for gas on the way into the town of Superior and to assess options for the weekend, finally on Plan C (or possibly D), abandoning my previous campground booking for tonight, requiring a 150-mile round-trip detour inland, and managed instead to get a couple of campsite reservations in state parks on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Very relieved to have a more sensible plan, though all rather last-minute, but it did mean I was facing a very much more relaxed day ahead.

Drove on into Duluth, with its massive grain and iron ore terminals, pulling into the spacious aquarium parking lot so that I could walk down to the water for a photo of the historic and iconic aerial bridge.

Spotted a large gathering of lesser-spotted yoga-mammas on the way back to the RV...

Just outside Duluth, I turned onto the (very) scenic byway to Two Harbors, running past rather attractive properties along the shoreline (presumably summer homes only, given the brutal winters here), stopping in a pull-off right at the water's edge for early coffee, a chilly mist rolling in off Lake Superior.

If I didn't know I was in Minnesota, I would think I was in Maine... rocky shoreline, fog, silhouettes of pine trees...

Detoured on the way through Two Harbors for groceries and 20 miles further on stopped at the (apparently famous) Split Rock Lighthouse, which was built in 1909-10 in direct response to a storm in 1905 that sank or damaged 29 ships on Lake Superior.

Although the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1969, the very simple mechanism that keeps the massive Fresnel lens turning is still operational and in full view 32 steps up the internal spiral staircase.

More photos taken from the vantage point of the lighthouse rock, so very reminiscent of coastal Maine...

Bought the T-shirt, had lunch, and continued up the Route 61 coast road, arriving at Cascade River State Park at 3:30pm, purchased my required vehicle pass and drove down the half mile of dusty gravel road to the campground, my site being - rather fortuitously from my perspective - all alone and quite away from the main campground.

I did have to unhook the Jeep to back the RV into the relatively small campsite, however - which I think was pretty much the first time I've not had a pull-through campsite since heading off on this trip.

After getting set up camp, took a walk to the Cascades River and the several waterfalls rushing down through the gorge.

All very picturesque, and all the more enjoyable due to the continued relief of being in this campsite and on route on the shoreline rather than 75 miles inland.

Saturday, June 5, 2021 - Cascade River State Park, MN, to Grand Marais Campground & Marina, MN

A fairly relaxed plan for the day... out at 8:30am in the Jeep to drive the short distance to Grand Marais - cutely touristy town built around a natural bay that has been turned into a well-protected harbor.

After obligatory photos of the lighthouse at the end of the entrance jetty I drove out of town and up onto scenic Gunflint Trail, climbing steeply inland. Pulled over at Pincushion Mountain and decided to hike a little along one of the trails to get some exercise.

After a mile or so following a trail and not really feeling as if I was getting anywhere, I backtracked and took a spur trail, only to find that eventually led me back to the parking lot. Hopped back in the Jeep and drove another 10 miles up the road to the Northern Light Lake Overlook Trailhead for the "strenuous but short" climb up to the overlook... which was a serious disappointment, frankly, as trees blocked a decent view of the lake.

Back down the trail, and back towards Grand Marais, I took a turning signed to "Elbow Lake" and drove half a mile down a gravel road to at last get something of a view other than trees.

All of which had taken me beyond morning coffee time, so I drove back to Grand Marais to the Java Moose for coffee and muffin...

...enjoyed perched on a rock overlooking the bay, watching a schooner set sail and head out - presumably taking tourists for a cruise.

Coffee over, it was back on the coast road to drive up to Grand Portage, within a few miles of the Canadian border.

Having not really known what to expect there I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed by the recreation of the North West Company's headquarters, a far-flung fur-trading empire in the 18th Century that established a year-round base to receive, pack and ship onwards the thousands of pelts collected by hunters from the rich fur-trapping grounds of the Canadian wilderness.

Called in at the state park campground booked for the night - Judge C R Magney - half-way back to the RV to assess the viability of the campground and campsite. And I was very glad I had reconnoitered this, as the roads were narrow, badly overhung with tree branches, and the campsite a tight fit.

So I decided to check availability at the commercial campground I had seen in Grand Marais and, calling in on my way through town, I was indeed able to get a spot for the night.

Hugely relieved at this, since the campsite at Judge C R Magney really wouldn't have worked, I drove straight back to Cascades River campground, had a quick bite of lunch, hooked up the Jeep and headed happily back to Grand Marais...

...rewarded with a pleasant evening and only a few steps from the campsite to late afternoon views over the harbor.

Sunday, June 6, 2021 - Grand Marais Campground & Marina, MN, to KOA Duluth, MN

Leisurely start to the day... with a walk around to the other side of the bay and the lighthouse, planning to pick up an early morning coffee on the way back.

The schooner seen a couple of days ago out again on an early trip, in lighter air this time so with both mainsails set. And although light, the breeze was fairly chilly... not enticing for a sail.

Walked, with a good deal of clambering involved, out to the light at the end of the jetty, mooched around a little, by which time the schooner was coming back into the harbor.

I decided to skip coffee at the Java Moose coffee shop in town when I saw the line snaking out of the door and so brewed up back in the RV before hooking up the Jeep and heading out.

For a break, I decided to stop at Split Rock Lighthouse again, conveniently half-way along the drive back along the north shore of Lake Superior to Duluth.

Parked this time near the lighthouse and then pulled the bike out of the Jeep to cycle half a mile down the coastal cycle path to get a few shots of Split Rock Lighthouse from the shoreline.

A pretty straightforward drive southwest from there, through Duluth, to the campground, checking in around 3:30pm and spending a few hours getting caught up with desk work courtesy of the campground WiFi.

Monday, June 7, 2021 - KOA Duluth, MN, to Kreher RV Park, Ashland, WI

Up, showered and breakfasted a little after 7:00am to then dedicate a couple of hours to figuring out the itinerary and overnight accommodations for the week ahead and making reservations.

I really wish I didn't have to make these commitments so far in advance, preferring the flexibility of seeing how I feel as I move along and the trip develops. But with the number of people now cramming into state campgrounds and RV parks it's pretty much a necessity.

By the time I was through with all that it was close to 10:00am so I decided to brew coffee before getting on the road at 10:45am.

Followed the scenic route along the south shore of Lake Superior, though the lake was only glimpsed occasionally between long stretches of road with solid trees on either side, the road surface in places forcing me to keep the speed down to 45mph.

Pulled over for a brief bite of lunch in Cornucopia, a small town blessed with an abundance of natural artesian wells and with a small harbor housing a few sailboats and a few traditional "fish tugs" that still fish on Lake Superior.

Stopped in Washburn to double check some research about a city campground in Ashland and also to check the site I had booked in Copper Falls State Park... which turned out on closer inspection (overlooked when booking due to my joy in nabbing the only campsite left open) to have no electric hook-up.

With temperatures in the mid-80s, that was not an inviting prospect, so I pulled over in Ashland a couple of blocks from the city park and walked down to check it out... and what a find, directly on the lake shore, electric hook-ups throughout, gravel site pads, no overhanging trees and barely half full.

Resisted the temptation to run back to the RV in my excitement, drove down to the campground, made one loop and took the last remaining site backing onto the lake. What a relief to be here and not 20 miles inland in a stuffy wooded campground with no electric hook-up to run the A/C.

Unhooked the Jeep to back into the site, and so decided to make the most of having the Jeep available and drove back to Bayfield to stroll around and see what I had missed when driving through earlier.

Bayfield a cute, slightly touristy, town on the water with a good-sized harbor full of sailboats, and a ferry service over to one of the Apostle islands, Madeline.

The town was quiet late on a Monday afternoon, with most places closed up...

...but I did manage to find a little ice-cream shack open, run by a friendly lady who had lived there for 63 years and who gave me a little insight into the place.

Stopped for groceries (which I seem to be doing at almost every opportunity) and beer on the way back to the campground.

Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - Ashland, WI, to Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, MI

With a day of sitting behind the wheel ahead of me, and a paved waterside trail beckoning, I headed out for an early run, although it hadn't cooled off a great deal overnight so temperature already around 70 degrees.

Brewed coffee before leaving the campground so it was around 10:00am before I actually headed out of town - 10:00am Central Time that is, with an hour due to be "lost" before long once I entered the Eastern Time zone, which I did about 30 minutes after crossing into Michigan.

The day's "scenic" route mostly empty roads, many poorly surfaced, and running through forests... so mostly a monotonous avenues of trees.

Pulled over in Ontonagon for an early lunch and a stroll around... from which nothing much to report other than discovering that Route 45 runs 1300 miles from there to the Gulf of Mexico.

Stopped briefly in Houghton to get a picture of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, apparently the world's widest and heaviest double-deck lift bridge, providing 100ft of clearance for ships, and connecting the towns of Houghton and Hancock which sit on either side of the canal dredged across the peninsular in the 19th century.

Made it to Copper Harbor and Fort Wilkins Historic State Park at 4:45pm, purchasing a required $34 annual vehicle pass for Michigan State Parks on the way in.

Torn between riding into Copper Harbor for photos and ice-cream or the opposite direction to the reconstructed Fort Wilkins... and Fort Wilkins won out, although fortuitously I discovered a campground store in the fort grounds which, apart from camping supplies and the usual tourist memorabilia, sold ice-cream.

A few snatches of sunlight overhead when I arrived at the fort had been largely blanketed out by a very chilly mist rolling in off Lake Superior by the time I had done with my ice-cream.

But the fort buildings were interesting to walk around, with helpful and informative displays in most of them.

A short chilly ride back to the RV, where there's no TV reception and no cell signal. So a quiet evening ahead!

Wednesday, June 9, 2021 - Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, MI, to Baraga State Park, MI

Must be all this lake air, but I slept soundly again last night - a good, solid 8 hours.

And woke to a silent morning, dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, a light breeze and very pleasant high 60s that would build slowly into the mid 70s later in the day.

A much shorter driving day ahead, so plenty of time to fit in overdue chores - self-administered buzz cut, A/C filter cleaning, tire pressure adjustment (2-3lbs let out), windshield clean on RV and Jeep - before pulling out the bike and riding into what little there was of Copper Harbor, then back via the lighthouse overlook and the fort - now enjoying a sunny and mist-free morning.

And after brewing a late morning coffee, pulled out of the campground around 12:15pm, taking the less direct - but much more scenic - coast road for the first 20 miles of the day's drive.

Stopped in Eagle Harbor - the first place I've seen with a sandy beach - and pulled out the bike (yet again, getting good at taking the front wheel on and off) to ride to the lighthouse on the point.

A couple more quick stops for photos, at Eagle River and then at the Church of the Assumption...

...and then a longer break to walk around Calumet, an old copper mining center but now a very odd, partly hollowed-out town, with every other building downtown seemingly empty.

Then the final driving stint of the day, retracing my route back over the Portage Lake Lift Bridge in Houghton and heading on down to the state park in Baraga.

Thursday, June 10, 2021 - Baraga State Park, MI, to Munising, MI

No rush to get going, with a short day of driving ahead, but I planned to keep an eye on the weather this morning, as a disturbance was forecast to blow through slightly to the north.

And in fact on checking the forecast at 8:30am, and pulling up local weather radar, the disturbance seemed to be heading further south and reaching this area more quickly than anticipated. So I scampered out of the campground to try to keep ahead of the rain, stopping after a couple of hours in Marquette at a Lowe's, a grocery store and finally a Starbucks for a late coffee.

By which time the weather was catching up to me, with large drops falling just as I stepped back into the RV with coffee in hand, so I got back on the road right away, the windshield wipers going for a few miles until I got ahead of the weather once again.

Arriving at Munising a little early for campground check-in, I pulled over at a scenic overlook just outside town, before picking up a lunchtime sandwich at Subway on the way through.

Finally checked into the campground at 1:30pm, getting set up well ahead of the forecast rain arrival... which in the end seemed to pretty much evaporate.

But this did leave a good stretch of the afternoon available for some desk projects, with decent WiFi available in the campground.

Friday, June 11, 2021 - Munising, MI, to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, MI

Rain overnight, leaving spatter marks on the tires and lower bodywork of the RV from the dusty campsite surface.

Some more deskwork time, looking at potential route and overnight stops for next week, and the usual dithering, particularly about this coming weekend... still unresolved as I started preparations to head out of the campground at 10:30am.

Roads pretty much dry after the overnight rain, and a relatively short day's drive of 90 miles ahead, dead-straight east for most of the first 30 miles, at the end of which I pulled over at a rest stop to brew coffee and ponder further the options for the weekend and week ahead.

Arrived at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park campground around 3:30pm, did a little shuffling to unhook the Jeep before backing it into the campsite before backing in the RV and hooking the Jeep back up ready for departure.

Then I headed out to the nearby Lower Taquamenon Falls, a short quarter-mile walk, to check them out. Several individual falls cascading around a small island, all viewable from a boardwalk.

I had thought I would hike a trail 2 miles to the Upper Falls, but signs indicated that the regular trail was being worked on and that the detour was rough, rooty and would take 2-3 hours.

So I headed back to the campsite, pulled the bike out of the back of the Jeep and set off for the 4-mile road ride up to the Upper Falls, most of which was strenuous uphill work.

The Upper Falls apparently one of the largest east of the Mississippi, more than 200ft across, with a maximum flow recorded of 50,000 gallons a second.

The anticipated easier ride back down to the campground was actually into the wind, so not quite the cruise I had expected, and the evening's late beer and chips fully earned...

Saturday, June 12, 2021 - Tahquamenon Falls State Park, MI, to St Ignace, MI

Rain overnight once again, the morning still and damp in the heavily wooded campground.

With no Internet connection, and no rush to get out of the campground - check-out at 3:00pm, roads still damp, only a short 80-mile drive ahead, no planned diversions on the way - I put a couple of hours into photo clean-up... and then the sun started appearing through the clouds, finally giving way to clear blue skies.

So I decided I would revisit the waterfall locations from last night, even though bright sunlight is less conducive to longer-exposure water shots.

Walked to the Lower Falls (left), then broke camp and drove the rig up to the Upper Falls (congratulating myself on the way for my energetic bike ride up there yesterday).

Found a few more vantage points for the Upper Falls that I hadn't spotted yesterday, which added considerably to my walking time, so coffee brewed very late, around 12:45pm.

Over coffee I realized I had intended to stop at Point Iroquois lighthouse during the day's drive, reaching it via Whitefish Bay Scenic Highway, though the road again mostly a non-scenic avenue of trees as viewed from the driver's seat even though Lake Superior was barely 50 feet away on the left.

And setting the route from there to tonight's campground in St Ignace I also realized that I had thought about heading up to Sault Sainte Marie to view the massive Soo Locks that connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron, a 25-mile detour from the direct route but nothing pressing on the afternoon's agenda, so that's where I headed.

The locks are impressively huge, and my arrival time there fortunately coincided with a large freighter locking through, proceeding at an astonishingly slow pace out of the lock - probably less than 1mph - and I must have waited at least 10 minutes to get this picture of the bow of the ship clearing the lock gates while most of it was still inside the lock.

My late lunch became a very large ice-cream (two scoops obligatory in the waffle cones, apparently) as I walked back to the parked RV and then headed on 50 miles down I-75 to St Ignace and the campground.

Sunday, June 13, 2021 - St Ignace, MI

Woken by the dawn chorus of some chirpy little bird nearby... rather ahead of the time I had set on my alarm or the time needed to get ready to head off to Mackinac Island...

Eventually left the campground at 8:30am for the short drive down to the docks for the 9:00am ferry, tickets booked on-line last night, including the rather outrageous $13 charge for me to bring my bike on board.

It had been cool and misty in the campground and a huge fog bank sat right where the 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge spans the straits separating Lake Michigan from Lake Huron, so the hoped-for ferry detour to view the bridge didn't happen. By contrast, the harbor on the south shore of Mackinac Island was bathed in bright sunshine.

The ferry emptied everyone out onto the dock, the throng joining the exodus from several other ferries arriving from other departure points, all funneling out into Main Street.

Although a little too cute and touristy, Main Street was very photogenic and I was tempted to wander around town and up some of the side streets, camera at the ready...

...but the building crowds were a sufficient deterrent and so I rode off out of town on an anti-clockwise loop of the island, keeping just ahead of the surge of people heading the same way - none of the chairs on The Great Lawn overlooking Lake Huron yet taken and few other people at Arch Rock.

But with the bike rack at the bottom of the steps up to the arch jammed by the time I came back down it made me think that maybe I should scoot back into town to tour the fort before the crowds got too bad there, pick up my morning coffee to fortify me, and then head off on the ride round the island perimeter road.

My 8-mile island tour completed, and the town by now most uncomfortably crowded (this being a Sunday as well as high season), I was inclined to call it a day on the island and take the ferry back to the mainland.

But I hadn't yet seen the famous Grand Hotel, perched above town, so decided to ride up there before leaving.

The place must have been something in its day, and possibly still is given the dress code quite clearly signed on the way up to the hotel.

After snapping a couple of pictures of the hotel, I decided to reward the day's riding miles with an ice-cream from a store there before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

Finally back at the campground a little after 2:30pm and took advantage of the time available to get some laundry done as well as putting in a little desk work.

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