Rain, rain, go away…come again another day.
Well the weather fairies got it right for a 2nd
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
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| Big John himself |
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| Like the look? Helmets & jackets mandatory |
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| Totem pole made with axes & shovels embedded in pole |
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| Old mining equip |
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| More old mining equip |
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| tour entering mine |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| yours truly |
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| 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.
