It was a short two-hour drive from Houghton, Michigan to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. When you get to Ontonagon, turn left and drive along Lake Superior.
I checked in at the gate house and found my spot. I got out of the cab to decide how to attack it, and a neighbor, Johnny, came over to help. It was a large site, but rather undulating and the power outlet was on the wrong side. We eventually got it slid into place. I went about dropping the trailer and getting hooked up to the power. Then I discovered that my cord wasn’t long enough to reach. I started getting hitched up again to try to get it closer to the power, when another neighbor, Dale, came over to offer his assistance. What a friendly place!
We finally got it hitched up, scooched over and I plugged the cord in. The power still wasn’t flowing to the trailer. I puzzled that over for a while, and finally figured out that the surge protector must have given its all back at McLain State Park. I disconnected the faulty part and finally every thing was hunky and dory.
Dale introduced me to his wife, Cheryl and we had a pleasant little chat. They are fellow Michiganders. (Don’t let my Texas plates fool you!)
The next morning, Dale and Cheryl came over to invite me to join them at the Fourth of July Parade in White Pine. I got myself into my most patriotic attire – my red AZO tee shirt, blue jeans and a white elastic hair tie and joined them. They were similarly attired.
Now, I am not a big parade goer. In the 29 years I lived in Kalamazoo, I don’t think I ever went to one of the many parades they had. But, no one ever invited me. I couldn’t turn down this one!
It was small-town fun at its finest.
We took up a position in the shade of a tree and watched the people on the other side of the street waiting for the parade.
The honor guard.
It seems like the big deal here was the candy. People threw it – mostly at children – from the floats and cars as well as walking along in the parade.
The candy caterpillar wove its way back and forth across the street. Not only did they throw candy, but they gave out bags to collect it in.
The poor little kid was getting rather tuckered out by the time he got to us. She picked him up and carried him the rest of the way.
There were fanciful floats. This float looked like it really could float.
The library was represented.
So was the fireworks company. I hear they do a booming business for the fourth. (*groan*)
The military had a presence.
And then came the cars.
Another float
This one had a musician who was giving all he had to the one note he could play .
And what would a parade up north be without a snow mobile?
Or a lighthouse?
Everyone had a good time.
And then the parade was over until next year.
And even though we were a trio of oldsters with nary a child nearby, they treated us like family.
Ah, but Porcupine Mountains isn’t all candy and parades. There is also Lake of the Clouds.
You drive up and up and up until you come to a parking lot. They have a boardwalk from the parking lot to several vantage points overlooking the lake.
It is nestled between two ridges of the Porcupine Mountains. I imagine that it is much warmer than Lake Superior. While it is a mile long, it is only 15 feet deep. I satisfied myself with the view from the overlook.
Speaking of views, we had one really spectacular sunset of the three nights I was there.
I just loved how the colors rippled across the water.
Everyone enjoyed the sunset, even the kids.
I hear that the brilliant colors we were enjoying were due to the smoke from the Canadian forest fires. There are quite a few this season out west, and the prevailing westerlies and the jet stream are pumping them this way.
I ran into Dale and Cheryl when I went down to the shore to collect some pebbles.
My father always called me “fiddle fingers” – I was always making something. Here’s some of what I made with the pebbles and a spool of copper wire I saved from the tons of supplies I left behind.
I gave Dale and Cheryl some Christmas tree ornaments as souvenirs of their visit to the Porkies. They invited me for dinner!
They made pork chops, a rice dish and green beans, and we ate in the pop-up trailer. The food was good, the company delightful and the trailer was so cool! I have always wanted a screened porch, and this was a lot like one. If I wasn’t already towing a trailer, I might consider getting one.
Now comes the entomological report.
The flies were horrid for the last 24 hours I was there. These weren’t the black flies that attacked up in Copper Harbor. These looked just like house flies, but they bite! The ranger told me that they are barn flies. You know how mosquitoes will hover about and hesitate, as if looking for the right place and time to set down? These just descend en masse. I stepped out of the trailer and I any bare skin was fair game. There would be five or more right next to each other trying to get some of this prime pale skin. They seemed to prefer legs. Bug repellant did little to nothing to discourage them.
When it was time to hitch up the next day, I covered every inch of skin that I could, jammed Dad’s favorite hat down as far as it would go, sprayed myself down with bug repellant, just in case it would help and worked as fast as I could.
Flies still got inside the cab of the truck and I swatted them all the way to Wisconsin. They were even biting me through my jeans.
Luckily, I seem to have gotten rid of them. On to the next state – the Badger State!