On the way to Whitefish Point, there was a glorious view of Lake Superior, “Warning Moose” signs, white tail deer in the road and a wonderful ride. If Whitefish Point sounds familiar to you think about “The Ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. There is a light house, the Shipwreck Museum and an amazing view across the lake at the point. Today, there were several lake boats tracing the Edmund Fitzgerald’s track but on a much calmer lake. We dipped our toes in the third Great Lake of the trip and could only imagine how the cold winds of December would blow.

We retraced our path to Paradise where the town sign says “Welcome to Paradise, Glad You Made It” and turned west for the first time. We found the Tahquamenon falls, sometimes called the Root Beer falls because of the foaming water rich with tannin from the swamps of the UP. The falls, its local scenery and the walkways along the river made for a pleasant side trip.

Now since the falls are one of the few sights around we found the exact people we were trying to get away from, “tourista stupida”. I must say that none of these creatures have any concept of the meaning of common courtesy or even a rudimentary knowledge of driving. Big trucks that back without looking and rude people who have only themselves in mind at all times. Give me the log trucks anytime. At least I know what to expect from them.

After visiting both the upper and lower falls it was starting to get late. We got back on the road and continued west. This part of the UP is pretty remote and restaurants are not plentiful. We stopped for some dinner groceries and started looking for a campground. Our first try did not look good so we kept driving. The light was starting to dwindle when we found the road to another campground. It was a dirt road and did not look promising but it was getting late. We drove a mile or two down this dirt road and turned into what looked like a barn yard full of parked trailers and campers. It still did not look good. As we turned the final corner into the campground, the most beautiful lake filled our windscreens. We were greeted by a standing ovation from about a dozen campers gathered around a campfire and we knew it would be a good night. We camped on the shore of a lake that looked like pink and purple glass in the light waning with the coming night. Our neighbors that night were two families of farmers from Wisconsin who were also car guys and we shared car stories and lies before it got too dark. Dinner was sausage and cheese and bread and the inevitable beer and it fit the scene and the day perfectly. We enjoyed the fire, the stars and the beer as we remembered the day.



Did I mention the satellites? In the darkness of the UP, you can see satellites crisscrossing the sky in every direction. If you spend a few minutes watching the sky you will certainly find several twinkling satellites moving across the sky only to wonder if they are watching you. I just smiled and waved.

Saturday
The Loon alarm goes off early on this lake and the sun was bright and warm through the tent. No day to spend in the tent! The sun and sky were beckoning us to get up and get going. We brewed some coffee while we packed and were ready for the road in a jiffy. We set off in search of a diner. Nothing much along these roads and when we saw the sign for Dreamland Café, one mile it was a unanimous choice.

Dreamland is on Route 2 and with nothing else in sight it really was a dream. It is a 50’s style café, motel and bar with red checkered table cloths and a dozen freshly baked pies cooling on a table. What a welcoming smell for a summer morning! We had our fill of homemade sausage, pancakes and coffee that would fuel us all the way to Wisconsin. We continued west on Route 2 along the northern shore of Lake Michigan and around to the Wisconsin shore. The roads were nice but there was too much traffic to make it really pleasurable. We drove out of the sunny morning into an increasingly overcast and gray evening. The weather really made it feel like our trip was coming to an end but this was better now than at the beginning of the trip. The rain eventually came as a heavy mist, too wet for a campfire but not a real rain either.



Dinner at a local bar about 3 miles from the campground and back to the tents for an early night. It had been a good day and it was only spoiled by some unpleasant neighbors who thought we stole their campsite. Too bad they did not have any manners but we were soon asleep and didn’t notice.