Home Again

Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows when you are on the road. Mark and I have completed our Fall 2017 Adventure and I thought I should document  a few of the mishaps that occurred that I haven't mentioned. We had to make an emergency trip to the vet in Michigan's UP because Starbaby drank stagnant water and we thought she might have Lepto....she didn't....but it was pretty ironic that this poster was in the vetenarian's waiting room as we waited to see a Dr. I lost my prescription glasses somewhere in Missouri.... I never found them but had plenty of spare contacts to get me home. When we came back from a hike in Illinois we heard from fellow campers that while we were gone a hickory limb fell on the roof of our trailer and left a dent....the good news? Nothing else was damaged and Mark burned the limb for fire wood!

Other than these few hiccups, it was a Mary Poppins adventure; "Practically perfect in every way!" We are excited about being home, to touch base with family and friends, but are already planning our next exploration of the lower 48!

The Bluegrass State

Our reason for traveling to Dog Creek Campground, in Dog Run, KY, as we make our way home, was to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. This is the only National Park I had visited, that Mark had never been to. Our campground, situated right outside the park, is an Army Corps of Engineer Park and one of the nicest we've stayed in. We loved exploring the area, taking a cave tour and mountain biking in nearby Nolin Lake State Park.  One cool thing about getting to the National Park, from our campsite, was taking the free ferry across the Green River.

Eclipse

Ironically, as we were preparing to leave Illinois, we stumbled on the Eclipse Kitchen , in Makanda, IL, where we decided to go for brunch. Because our trip started in Nashville, with the 2017 Eclipse, we were surprised to discover Makanda is a small town that not only witnessed totality in 2017 but will be in the line of totality again in 2024. The mathematical odds of anyone witnessing a total solar eclipse where they live (without traveling) is approximately 3 times every 1000 years. Makanda residents will witness two in just seven years.

Bartering

Meeting people on the road has been a fun part of traveling we weren't expecting. In an effort to follow the rules in most parks these days, about not bringing firewood in from other states, (to help combat the transfer of pests that might be in the wood) we have tried to buy only as much wood as we need in each park we visit. In Illinois, we miscalculated and ran out, but Mark discovered how to barter, with a Kentucky product we had on hand, thanks to our neighbor, Mike.

Land of Lincoln

We've arrived in Illinois and continue to love taking as many back roads as we can from one place to another. I had to make Mark stop to get a picture of this barn because a big reason for starting this blog was to share pics with my mom of the places we end up. This barn picture is for you, Mom. Most of the pictures I post are made by Mark so I loved this recent picture I captured of Markie making a picture on our daily hike.

We discovered that most of the parks we wanted to visit in southern Illinois, have 20 or 25 walk in sites that you don't have to reserve (first come first serve) so this last part of the trip has been less planned and more spontaneous. We didn't know Illinois had a Little Grand Canyon and It ended up being one of our favorite hikes!

Yoga and Weights

Mark Twain State Park was so peaceful; being there mid week, we missed all the weekend campers. Mark and I took advantage of the solitude and loved the freedom of our isolated campsite. I usually do yoga in the camper, so it was fun to use our picnic table as a platform in this beautiful outdoor studio. Starbaby seemed to enjoy doing "up dog" instead of "down dog" with me. Since we don't carry any free weights with us, Mark has been filling up our water jug so he can do some of his weightlifting routine on the road too.

Show Me State

The state park we chose to visit, for our brief stay in Missouri, was Mark Twain State Park. It sits on the banks of Mark Twain Lake, near Florida, MO, where the writer was born. One of the first books that made me think, when I was growing up, was Huckleberry Finn. It was cool to see the humble beginnings of one of my favorite authors and literary figures.

We've also loved the state park's peaceful setting, hiking trails and beautiful fall colors!

Mark Twains birthplace 

Transition Days

Sometimes the translation days, traveling from one campsite to another, are pretty interesting days too. While traveling across Michigan, after battling mosquitoes in our campsite at Tahquamenon Falls, we passed this Inn that doesn't bother denying  the reality of the area but instead embraces it. Today, as we travel through the state of Iowa, I've loved  passing through Amish country and feeling like I'd been transported back in time then rounding a corner and seeing a futuristic windmill farm.

Iowa

We crossed the mighty Mississippi River and have landed  in the state of Iowa (a first for me). We are camping in a state park called Pikes Peak. We rode our bikes out to Point Ann to an overlook of the river. But for those of you who think all we do is bike ride and hike, here are a couple pics of a typical Saturday on the road. Markie planning on the computer and watching college football and me making homemade pimento cheese....with Wisconsin cheese, of course!

So Long Wisconsin

Not only have we enjoyed hiking in this area of Wisconsin, but we also enjoyed getting to know a new friend, Cherri, from Chicago. Cherri is fun, open and pretty impressive traveling solo on most of her camping adventures (other than her little dog Maggie) in her TAB trailer. We hope to meet again somewhere down the road.

Feeling small

Devil's Doorway

Cherri & Maggie

Devil's Lake State Park

Traveling south, but still in central Wisconsin, we arrived at Devil's Lake State Park; a beautiful park that surrounds a natural lake formed by glaciers. It is Wisconsin's largest state park. This is a picture of Balance Rock located on one of the bluff trails. The Ice Age Trail also runs through the park but Mark and I had to wait for a cold front to move through before hiking a section of it. It just seemed inappropriate to do anything Ice Age related with the temps in the 80's.

The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail that stretches 1,200 miles through the state of Wisconsin.

Welcome to Wisconsin

We arrived in Wisconsin on the first day of fall and the hottest day they've had all year. This warm snap is expected to be brief but I'm so glad our first campsite in Wisconsin is our shaddiest. We are at our first county park and it is so peaceful and beautiful. The name of the park is Big Eau Pleine. I would highly recommend this park. The only drawback for us has been no shower facilities and because our water pump is leaking we decided not to use the shower in the camper. No worries though because the nearby town of Wausau, WI has a wonderful YMCA that allows us to use their facilities for free since we are members of the Y at home in TN.

Starbaby seems to be enjoying our decision to run the air conditioner in the camper for the first time.

Presque Isle River

With only one evening left in the UP we decided to drive out to the far end of the park to see the Presque Isle River, it's waterfalls and hike out to where the river dumps into Lake Superior . It was an absolutely incredible evening and we had the whole place to ourselves since it was so close to nightfall. We couldn't believe our luck when we hiked to the end of the river and witnessed a beautiful sunset. The icing on the cake was while driving back to our campsite we had to stop our truck to let a large porcupine cross the road. It was the perfect ending to our stay in the Porcupine Mountains!

Museum porcupine 

Agates

As for Agate hunting, the beaches here are mostly made up of small rocks and sand. We had noticed people on many of the beaches picking up rocks much like we would pick up shells on the beach in Florida. We discovered the "prize" most are looking for are agates. Mark talked to a park ranger who shared that his wife was an exceptional agate hunter and had a nearby location that she kept a secret....especially from tourists. He told us about this secret location, so even though I can't disclose where we went I can say Mark found his first agate. It is the small rock at the bottom of the picture.

Pasties

A couple things left on our list of "things to do" in Michigan were eating a pasty (pronounced pass-ty not paste-y) and going agate hunting. After talking to a fellow camper, who comes to this park regularly, we were told to visit Ontonogan, MI (about 15 miles away) and give Syl's Cafe a try. Syl's had the atmosphere we were looking for and we discovered we love pasties!

Ski Slope Disc Golf

Another cool thing about this park is that many of the trails become cross country ski trails in the winter. When we checked out the local ski resort we discovered an 18 hole disc golf course with moveable baskets. We were tempted to move them closer to the tee boxes but resisted and still managed to par a few holes. I think we are getting better, but even if we aren't we are having lots of fun with this new (to us) game.




Markie taking it easy at the snowless, deserted chalet. I loved that the benches were made from old ski lift chairs.

The Porkies!

The Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park is 60,000 acres and is one of the few remaining large wilderness areas in the Midwest. It has the biggest tract of virgin northern hardwoods in North America which means beautiful fall colors. Where Copper Harbor prides itself on being a mt. biking Mecca, the Porkies beat all the Michigan State Parks we've visited with their varied and extensive hiking trails. Every day we choose a new trail to hike and are astounded at the uniqueness of each one.

   

 

Copper Harbor

We were convinced that 70/80 degree days were over but our last day at Copper Harbor was in the high 70's. Annie and Jon gave me this coffee concentrate system to make iced coffee for our travels so I haven't been tempted to give up on iced coffee yet.

Fall comes earlier to the UP and we are excited to possibly have the longest autumn of our lives as we follow the changing leaves south over the next month.

Even though we were sad to leave Copper Harbor after eight days we were created with this beautiful sunrise to welcome us to the Porcupine Mountains which will be our last week in the UP!