The Minis take Michigan - 2023 Michigan Road Trip Day Nine: A Superior Day
August 27
The day started with me having to go in and rebuild the past two days of posts because I completely messed up last night. The day surely will get better, right? (Fear not, it does.)
The ferry was a hydro-jet, so after waiting about 20 minutes for a ferry to arrive, we loaded up and were on the island in about 15 minutes.
Oh, I forgot
I forgot to mention yesterday that when we were at Mackinac Island, Tony took a selfie with a bronze statue. Then the statue handed him a business card. Turns out Robert Shangle is a world-champion stay-stiller, part of the three-generation LiveStatue champions with his sons and grandchildren. Robert has won first place in the time-based ArtPrize competition.
So, today
Packing up was uneventful, and we decided on the route that would keep us overlooking Lake Michigan for as long as practical. The day was absolutely perfect. Big puffy clouds floated in a beautiful blue sky.
Lunch
We made good time, and were due to arrive at the campground before actual check in time. So, we thought we would stop for pasties for lunch. The town of Munising was kind of crowded, being one of the last Sundays of summer, and an absolutely gorgeous day. We found parking in a bank lot that was available on weekends, and walked to where the pasty place was listed on the map. Unfortunately, they had moved and since we were already parked, we chose Eh Burger instead. To me that is a funny name. In my mind I hear it like “meh” like it’s really unimpressive. Tony, however, pronounced it like he was from Canada and it came out a little more like “hey, Burgers!” Their slogan is “A ‘holy wah’ in every bite.” I googled to learn that it’s a northern Michigan expression.
Superior Views
Eh Burgers does have a Superior view. And by that I mean it was not only lovely, it was also overlooking Lake Superior. So, we’ve now seen three of the Great Lakes! I didn’t think to dip my toes in Lake Huron when we visited Mackinac Island. Perhaps I’ll manage Lake Superior.
Between Munising and camp, is the town of Christmas! We’ll have to go explore that while we are in the area.
Bay Furnace Campground
It was just a few minutes from Munising to our campground at Bay Furnace Campground. First stop was the dump and fill station. We had empty waste tanks, but also an empty fresh tank. We got to really test the repair Rockwood had done while we were at the FROG rally; the water flowed into the tank effortlessly.
When I made the reservation, we could only get one night in a site, and three nights in a different site. Knowing we were going to have to move in the morning, we left the truck hooked up. We were a bit worried about solar exposure, because there are so many beautiful trees here!
About half the sites at this campground are first-come, first-served so we walked around both loops looking for sites that would be available tomorrow, that had better exposure than our reserved site. We stopped by the camp host, and she told us that if we found a different site in the morning, let her know and she would handle the details.
Ham and Lazy Days
One of the sites that looked good for us, was occupied by a man named John who camps in a Lazy Days motorhome. That company isn’t making RVs anymore, and John has a 2021, so one of the last units made. He was setting up an antenna and then his laptop and other equipment. I couldn’t resist my curiosity, so I went to talk to him. For one thing, I wanted to know if he was leaving tomorrow (he wasn’t) and I also wanted to know what his setup was. He explained that it was a ham radio setup. Tony walked up and John told us about the levels of license and the other options for being a ham radio operator. Tony has had a few friends suggesting he try that; seeing it in action was pretty cool.
Evening
We were camped in a different loop from Bill, and we didn’t set up the Starlink, so we just sat outside and read until time to go inside. Tony decided to try his zero-gravity chair inside. It fits just fine in the slide, and is much more comfortable for him as long as he isn’t trying to do more than use his laptop.
We went to sleep knowing that tomorrow, we would be getting a different, and hopefully more sunny, site.
