40 days and 40 nights

31-Aug-2018

Shingleton, Mi

Michigan Upper Peninsula

We’ve been on the road for 40 days.

This trip we’ve spent most nights in the gunship.

Perhaps the team’s overall personal hygiene will need some tweaking upon our return to civilization.

Perhaps its just Captain Bob

Probably need to find the 3 day old smoked whitefish I know I left somewhere in the Gunship

Anyway we did 7-8 miles on the 12mile Beach Section of the North Country Trail.

Mostly along the coastline of Lake Superior to Spray Falls.

Single track with some recently repaired breakdown.

Derrumbe!

The monarch butterfly migration appears to be gearing up.

Any big patch of goldenrod seems to be holding. 

We counted a half dozen just around a visitor center yesterday.

Also a few that weren’t monarchs.

Last night we had dinner at the Tanglewood Inn in Shingleton. 

All you can eat baby back ribs and Bells 2 hearted ale.

Miss Sciency had the Chicken Avocado Club and pink wine out of a small bottle

We slept in the gunship in their parking lot and used the restaurant WiFi to watch the movie “Fargo”.

Observed no malfeasance whatsoever.

Slept like a rock.

Woke up and came inside for coffee and to work on the blog.

Just ordered pancakes.

Red State, Blue State, Purple polka dot State.... does it matter?

29-Aug-2018

Outside Carp Lake Michigan

Let us unite and agree this sign transcends political party.

Easily the best sign seen the entire trip.... so far anyway.

On the big Lake they call Gitche Gummi

30-Aug-2017

Marquette Mi.

Others besides Lightfoot and Longfellow have written about it.

Apparently the Ojibwa people who gave it the name spell it differently.

In their language it means “Big Water”.

It seems as big as any ocean. 

The French called it Superior- a name that truly fits.

It is magnificent!. 

An ocean inland. 

Beautiful Coast. 

Even surfers.

And the Sun came out to give us a pretty day.

You gotta put your feet in it

Porkies?

29- Aug-2018

Presque Isle State Park

Porcupine Wilderness

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Campsite along the lake

Nice enough for a hike along the Presque Isle River

The weather is clearing

Our Campsite

Fish Tugs... Plenty of them

29-August-2018

Cornucopia Mi

They still ply the waters.

Distinctive net boats build for the waters of the Great Lake.

Here in Cornucopia the hulks of a few no longer ready to have lines slipped.

Still a bit cloudy but it’s time to eat

Great Lakes fish tug

Out of the Smoke .... Into the fog!

28-August-2018

Superior Wisconsin 

Recent battle damage to the gunship (damage Control Report!) necessitated significant repair.

Translation: We paid a guy $50 at a Fargo RV Center to climb on top, splooge some goo around the fan opening, and tighten a few screws.

After lots of rain... it seems to be holding..... at least its not leaking.

We stopped just across the Minnesota Border and had a pretty good hike at Buffalo River Park.

The monarchs have definitely started the fall migration. We counted at least 15.

Also a few garter snakes, some frogs, a few raptors and some birds here and there.

For a mid morning hike, there was plenty of wildlife to be seen.

Onward to the Eastern we trekked after the hike.

Hit the Iron Horse Bar & Grill in Nevis Mn.

Fried Cheese Curds, Bamidji IPA, and a great sandwich (Miss Sciency liked the ribs) hit the spot.

We made Superior Wisconsin at the end of the day of cloudy weather with a magnificent thunder lighting rain hail, danger warning on the radio caliber storm.

We docked the gunship at the Wal Mart which just happened to be adjacent to a very busy rail line.

I slept OK but Miss Sciency mentioned the noise... a couple of times

Looks like we’ll be dealing with clouds and rain as we make our way up the upper peninsula.

What’s in a Name (North Dakota Grasshopper)

26-Aug-2018

Fargo North Dakota

Yesterday we hiked the Maah Daah Hey trail in western North Dakota.

We started on a piece of the 140 mile trail near the town of Medora.

It was a pretty tight single track with lots of grass grown up and some muddy spots.

Weird to see mud.

Anyway along the trail I thought I heard a cicada or grasshopper sound

I noticed Miss Sciency (on point) was high stepping and moving out.

I looked down to see about 2 feet of  a much larger rattlesnake (the rattle end thankfully) exiting the trail post haste.

At that moment I uttered the phrase “ Maaaahhhh Daaaaah Heeyyyyyyy” , apparently to signal a warning.

Now at least I know how the trail got its name.

We trekked on a mile or so but the track stayed skinny and turned off the river.

We checked out another section of the same trail in a State Park but Mr Rattler had cooled our desire for trekking for the day.

We rolled on to Bismarck for Dinner, a short nap near the Missouri and made Fargo shortly after dark.

We then learned that the gunship has sprouted a leak around the fan housing on top. 

Bit of an inconvenience during the night but we persevered. Will have to deal with this pretty soon.

Starting with a photo from the Medora Musical we attended the night before last

It’s worth 1001 words

Make sure you read the part about SNAKES!

A derrumbe in progress along the trail

A fence gate we’ve not seen till this trail

Eyes out for rattlers!

Pretty far for the lens but who doesn’t like a bluebird.