July 14-17 (MN, WI, MI)

Rain, rain, go away…come again another day.

Well the weather fairies got it right for a 2^nd day in a row and we woke to clouds so low that I doubt the local airport will be allowing any landings for a couple more hours. It was also raining as expected. We knew the day was going to be long & wet but what we did not expect was the partial closure of Hwy 2 mid-day, (the rain two days before washed out part of the roadway) which required an extra hour-long detour through the tip of Wisconsin. Although unexpected, it was a pretty route that would have been more enjoyable if not for the rain. Hwy 2 looks like someone's long driveway - lined on both sides with evenly spaced trees. We also learned that the Wisconsin highway dept has the most inconspicuous, unmarked cars of any state we’ve travelled through thus far. Late in the afternoon we had an opportunity to meet a very nice County Constable Mr. Guinn along the way who took exception to my passing technique. (honest I left plenty of room in front of him) He was kinda cranky until we got to talking about travel, watching out for deer, how he was a volunteer ‘hotshot’ and how a few years ago he spent some time in Prescott fighting fires. Anyway, he politely asked us to slow down until we cleared his state.

As Justin pointed out by lunch time we would be riding very close to Duluth MN so we stopped at the Aerostitch Warehouse & Factory for a brief respite from the rain. Even though we did not purchase anything the staff could not have been more welcoming. (And, speaking of purchases, James I have not forgotten we still owe you some money.) For those of you not into motorcycles, Aerostitch is to the motorcycle community like Bass Pro Shops is to the catch & release crowd or Cabela’s is to the elk & deer hunters.

Home for the night is Iron Mountain MI home of the Big John Iron Mine

Big John himself

 

Like the look? Helmets & jackets mandatory

 

 

Totem pole made with axes & shovels embedded in pole

Old mining equip

 

More old mining equip

 

tour entering mine

 

 

Tour guide

 and the World’s Largest Pasty.

We took a tour of the underground mining operation and learned how horrible the conditions were in those days of mining; candle power, no power tools, hand drilling by hammer & chisel, all for a whopping $.18 an hour.

Traditional pasty

The pasty is to the miners what the lobster roll is to Maine, the burrito is to Mexico, roti in New Zealand & the BVI, and the calzone is to Italy…a lunch sized meal made from leftover meat & vegetables, molded into hand-sized pastry dough for easy handling. The pasty was okay but it was the fresh pineapple cream pie that would win the blue ribbon at the state fair!!!

We’re in Marquette Michigan for the weekend; the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan, along the southern end of Lake Superior.

First let me share a few Lake Superior trivia:

·         Surface area: 31,700 sq miles

·         Max Depth: 1,276 ft.

·         Volume: 3 quadrillion gallons of fresh water. In fact Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by area and holds 10% of the world’s surface fresh water.

·         Aver water temp: 40 degrees F (4.4 C)

We spent the better part of the morning riding a very pleasant Lakeshore Blvd which provides visitors and residents alike with a safe bicycle and walking path as well as several tables/grassland areas for family gatherings and picnics.

These are some shots of ships used to carry iron ore from the mines to the processing facility. The rail cars are driven out onto the pier where they are unloaded directly to the ship in the water below via chutes. We were watching long enough to learn there is definitely a specific pattern used in the loading sequence along the length of the ship.  The ships then traverse further south to processing plants.

 

Next on the agenda was a tour of the Marquette Maritime Museum and the Harbor Lighthouse. The museum houses one of the largest collections of Fresnel lenses on the Great Lakes, a special display honoring the tragic November 1975 loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and several displays of past shipwrecks which occurred in the lake.

yours truly

guess who?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The skies opened up again right after lunch with fairly heavy rain, wind, thunder & lightening putting the kibosh on any walking around downtown so we stop at Walmart for microwave dinner & snacks on the way back to our hotel. A check of the weather channel shows that this ridge of storms will run all night and most of the next day (Sunday) so we decide to stay an extra day/night in Marquette before moving on.

On Sunday we took advantage of a break in the weather to pay a visit to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum. The museum is located in the forested ravines of the Marquette Iron Range overlooking the Carp River and the site of the first iron forge in the Lake Superior region. The museum has quite the collection of artifacts from the forge and various mines, interactive exhibits and outdoor interpretive paths depicted the large-scale capital and human sacrifices that made Michigan an industrial leader.

 

We expect the wet weather to be out of the area later today so we’ll be moving on to Sault Ste. Marie Canada on Monday.

But before we leave Mother Nature drops in one last severe thunderstorm and tornado in the neighborhood just as we were leaving for dinner. So we had Mr. Domino to deliver one of his specials instead. Look at this nasty cloud formation. After seeing the tornado warning on the TV we went outside and watched this formation come together in just over 15 minutes to the north of us.