Author: Gowan

I am the owner of this place
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Michigan NorthCentral UP – Munising & Pictured Rocks

One of the reasons operations like the one in Fayette closed down was the growth of the steel industry closer to their industrial customers. The iron ore was still being sourced from the same area on the West end of Lake Superior, but now it was being carried down through the Soo Locks by big freighters like the Edmond Fitzgerald. I wanted to see the business end of the greatest of the Great Lakes, so I headed back up North to the town of Munising and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Continue reading “Michigan NorthCentral UP – Munising & Pictured Rocks”

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Michigan Southern UP – Lake Michigan

When I moved from Lake Huron directly to Lake Superior I felt like I had skipped over Lake Michigan, so I headed South by SouthWest. After an unremarkable layover at Indian Lake State Park where rain kept me in the camper, I arrived at Fayette Historic State Park on the Northern shore of Lake Michigan.

Here I found a nice wooded campground with a site next to a local with a big yellow lab named Sugarbear, and a spectacularly preserved company town from the turn of the Century to explore. Continue reading “Michigan Southern UP – Lake Michigan”

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Michigan NorthEastern UP – Whitefish Bay

As much as I enjoyed what I’d seen of Michigan so far, it was time to leave the Mitten and experience the fabled Upper Peninsula, or UP.  It was a surprisingly easy drive from Alpena to my next campground on Lake Superior. To reach the UP you must cross the Mackinac Bridge, which spans the mile wide Mackinac Straits that connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron.

Crossing the Mighty Mac into the Upper Peninsula.

This bridge is often referred to as being difficult to navigate with an RV, including tales of white knuckled crossings to days long delays due to weather. My own experience was remarkable only in it’s lack of drama. It was a bright sunny day with mild winds, and they were repaving half the deck, so traffic crawled along the single open lane at no more than 20 mph.  Frankly it seemed a lot like rush hour on 285 in Atlanta. Continue reading “Michigan NorthEastern UP – Whitefish Bay”