North to Alaska - 2010

Michigan

We have finally started our trip to Alaska. We left Midland, Michigan, Sunday May 9th, and proceeded north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There really weren't any outstanding things that happened although to me, crossing the Straits of Mackinac - pronounced Mackinaw - is always eventful for me as I have a problem on the bridge. It is 5 miles long - from entrance to exit - and at it's highest most peak 552 feet with the water below it at 295 feet deep. although the view is outstanding and the colors of the water spectacular, all deep blue and greens, it scares the heck out of me every time I go over the darn thing. I kept myself busy by taking pictures and that helped a bit.

On the bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The ferry to Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel - Mackinac Island

And this one is my favorite - isn't it beautiful??

We stayed the night at the Little Brevart Lake North campground. We wanted to stay at the South campground but missed the entrance so continued a little farther. It is a small campground, only 20 sites with no hook-ups. The Little Brevart Lake is a very small lake, but very picturesque. The only banks on the lake are where the campgrounds are. Other than that it is lined with trees.

As I stood on the bank and looked across, I saw what appeared to be an "alligator" swimming. Now wait a minute - they don't come this far north, so I looked again and I am pretty darn sure it was a snake. Whatever it was it stayed like this until I got a picture of it and then disappeared from view. H-m-m-m interesting!

Traveling through the upper peninsula of Michigan is interesting from the viewpoint that it is mostly wilderness with a few small towns to pass through and of course, the glimpses one gets of the land-locked Great Lakes. Lake Michigan is on the south and the coastline is spectacular. What grabbed my attention the most was the color of the water. You would think this far north, the water would be dark and forbidding but it is the opposite. It reminds me of "blue water" that you see in Florida - green in the shallow parts, darker bluish-green as it gets deeper and above all else, so clear you can see the rocks on the bottom.

On the north side of the peninsula is Lake Superior which is a different color from Lake Michigan. Again the shoreline is spectacular and the color of the lake is a light blue going into the deeper shades of blue as the water deepens. Again, this lake is also very clear. Off in the distance you can see the Keewenaw Peninsula. On this peninsula is Michigan Technical University in Houghton, 2 copper mines and one or two ore mines.

As we head west we have seen 2 swans, 2 turtles and three deer. The cemetaries all have one thing in common - aside from the headstones - they are blanketed with flox - pinks and purples. It looks like someone covered the plots with a carpet of color. The white birch and aspen trees are just starting to leaf out and we have spotted daffodils in bloom - spring has finally arrived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are traveling through the Gogobic Iron Range into Wisconsin. See you there next time.