Motel Hell Part II

On our second day driving north, we hit Michigan before 8 AM--leaving around 7:30.
It's very wooded with pines and birch trees and looks like ferns. They seem to be branched, and tall. Beautiful, in any case. We take 45, past Route 2, into Michigan, going beyond where we'd gone before. A new adventure for us. We like that about traveling. We never know what we'll see.

This road is perfectly smooth and hardly any traffic. We've decided against going or staying in Duluth. We want the quiet, open roads and wilderness around us.

At some point my phone switched over to Eastern Time. Never been on that before, sort of strange. You get hungry earlier than they serve lunch, and that's not to our liking. (There were times on this trip we had trouble finding a place to eat, and were eating way later than we'd like--and I mean once it was 1:30 before we ate lunch, and we like to eat around 11:30, normally).

We did the "rabbit ears" of Michigan, as Dennis wanted. The first part was all woods, passing little or no traffic, and a few camp sites (something we note because we may do an RV in a few years down the road). It was cool, dry 70's up here, exactly what we were hoping to enjoy, instead of the humid 80's of Illinois.

At the end was a small town called Copper Harbor. This is where they used to mine copper from the waters. We ate at a cute little diner. Again, our tummies were hungry, but we were eating later than we wanted. I don't recall the name of the restaurant, but there were few choices. We both had sandwiches, and ice tea. Enough to keep us going, and we were now on the Lake Superior side, which was a goal. We continued on Rt 2 and got the scenery we'd hoped for.

While Dennis made a video, I collected a lot of rocks. I'm a rock hound, by the way. The flat rocks were interesting. Some had holes in them, and you could see the blue, which would be copper, spotted throughout some.

We stopped in Cornucopia, where we'd stopped the last time, seven years (I think) ago. There, you could access a beach.

I took off my shoes and stuck my feet in.

That was fun.

Also took picture of this boat.

I've done a watercolor of this boat, and I'll share it at some point.

Our plan was not to go so far today, and walk around in and out of shops and do some shopping. And here I am in front of one of the shops, note the boat above is behind me in this shop.

The homes build along the lake were, let's just say, high-end.

We continued on Hwy 2, and got to Ashland, following a state trouper the whole way. Funny how no one passed him, even though it was a 4-lane road.

We took a break at a pull-off park where I found red raspberries and ate a few. I remember hearing at some place men discussing that the raspberries were at the end of production and blueberries were just getting ripe.

Next up--Bayfield, and lunch choices.

Motel Hell Part I

It's the luck of the dice when you go from one motel to the next, not knowing what you'll pay. Sure. We could have made advanced  reservations, but my husband doesn't like to be tied to some schedule when he travels. So, we just get to a town and hope for the best.

If you've never stayed in a motel/hotel, I've gotta say one thing, you get what you get no matter what you pay. You get a bathroom, bed, TV, and maybe you'll get a refrigerator/microwave, and a window over the parking lot. Some motels include the usual "continental" breakfast. As if the word "continental" is something special. You get bad coffee and stale donuts at the very least. Other places will give you a hot breakfast, actually prepared by someone. Usually this is some sort of fried meat, maybe potatoes, scrambled eggs that look like something from a M.A.S.H. unit, and lumpy oatmeal. There could be waffles, there might be pancakes, it all depends on what the motel is willing to fork out (it's not "free", you've paid for it).

My experience is, you sometimes get lucky. Luck in finding a place to eat nearby (dinner and breakfast), that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Our first stay was in Eagle River, Wisconsin. We try and find the "Ma & Pop" style motels, because, usually they don't cost much--around $60-$70, tops. Plus, you can usually park right in front of your door. This is good for when you have a lot of heavy stuff to haul in, as they are usually only one-story deals.

We found a place called "Edge Water Inn", it was right off the river, next to a restaurant that we went to the last time we stayed in this town years ago. When we got out, there was only an old Golden Retriever laying under the patio table in front of the office. She was friendly, and came right up to us. When we saw the note on the door saying the person in charge was "relaxing" on the dock out back, we wondered how to get there. No fear, the dog, being as smart as most Goldens, walked to a narrow opening through to the back of the motel.She waited for us to follow. And we found the middle-aged, rotund woman down a flight of steep steps in a lounge chair on a deck off the water, blowing up some sort of individual rafts.

We asked if she had any rooms available. She had two double queens--"maybe". Well we wanted to get that confirmed. She finally got up, saying she had a family reunion and there weren't many rooms left, said something about apartments too. We noted that there were rooms down below the main rooms facing the river, and those must have been the apartments (or suites). Eventually we got a room, near the end, away from the office and all the "family reunion" stuff, and got settled. We realized we had a door to the back deck, and this is where we spent some time relaxing that evening, watching the boats go by.

We paid $94.00 after tax, and for that money, I'd give the room itself a 3, since it needed dusting, but otherwise clean. But the view was a 5. However, the place really needed some up-keep. We didn't lean on the railing, as it was a bit wobbly, and could have used a coat of paint. The decks were rather worn, and should have been stained, and a few boards should have been replaced. Up-keeping on such a place should really be #1 in priority, especially where railings could fail. But this was an older couple, neither of which looked energetic enough to make beds, let alone some of the up-keep needed.

Their reunion commenced as promised, and even though she said we could join them, we aren't that interested in other people's relatives. Thank you. It was a good thing they pretty much contained their partying on the outer-most deck, shown below.

The restaurant next door is called White Spruce, and can be pulled up to via boat, much like this motel. They have a beer garden on their deck. I remember it from last time, but since it began raining, and there was thunder, they didn't seat anyone outside. Bummer. As usual, more than enough food was served. Salad is always first, and it was very good. I had eggplant Parmesan, and Dennis had something called "smoked meatloaf", which he didn't care for. I think my husband could have been a food critic. He really missed his calling.

Getting back to our room, we had difficulty navigating through the stations on the TV. This was Direct TV, with a thousand and one stations, and I do believe you need a PhD in order to understand how to use it. We wound up watching a Harry Potter movie, and could not find any news stations anywhere, not even in the morning.

Even though motels say they have coffee in the morning, they don't have coffee until they've rolled out of bed and made it. We resorted to our old standby by getting into the truck, and finding a gas station store, which always have coffee and some sort of sweet rolls. Plus, we needed ice. 'Nuff said. We got down the road heading for Land O' Lakes, and wherever the road takes us next.

It's beautiful country up this way, and I like it because it doesn't get boring (like 200 miles of Illinois and more than 300 miles of Iowa). I'll be back with rest of trip and Motel Hell Part II.

The Get Away

Hi, all. My husband and I went on a 6-day road trip. We traveled up through Wisconsin, stayed in Eagle River, and on the river, which I'll post pictures of. Went on up into Upper Peninsula of Michigan to what they call "rabbit ears" to see Lake Superior and get away from heat and humidity of Illinois. And we did, although a number of the natives were saying it was hotter than normal, even more humid. To us it was a wonderful reprieve from our 60%-70% humidity down here.

I'm just going to post some pictures, and throw in some descriptions below.

Trip through Wisconsin is always more enjoyable than going west through Illinois and Iowa.

Me relaxing with a drink at Bridgewater Inn on Eagle River. I felt for the price of the view it was almost reasonable, but the upkeep could have been better. 

Boats on the river, they had a posted speed requirement, we watched them all slow down at this point.

The next day we headed into Michigan, the Upper Peninsula to reach our goal destination.

Lake Superior is the larges fresh water lake IN THE WORLD! Thus the name.

Above this trail beckoned us to go to the sandy beach, where I put my feet in and acted like a kid. I think acting like a kid keeps me young.

Thanks for joining me.

I'll post rest of trip pics later this week as time permits.

TRIP JOURNAL: DAY ONE

NOTE: Trip was 3,800 miles round trip; covering 5 states , two time zones, an awesome driver (husband), and sidekick/map reader/journalist (me).

Aug. 1
We got underway @ 5:50--a good time to hit the road. We'll still hit rush hour traffic up around Rockford. We will head north into Wisconsin, gradually into Minnesota.

We encounter fog as we drive on Perry Road, from home. Some is only mid-level, and not dense. This is not what we have seen early in year when it became very dry and hot, and there was no rain (drought). We've begun getting rains--some mostly spotty. But maybe now the weather has switched back--gradually--to normal.

9:11 - We're on I-94 heading to Eau Claire, and presently driving through thick woods. Cool how the other half of the Interstate is obliterated by an island of trees. A much better route than taking the boring I-80 through western Illinois, all of Iowa and Nebraska with pretty much the same sites, albeit a little more hilly.

The north woods is thickening with pines. Where there are oaks I see ends of the branches/leave that are brown and dead. They are just as dry as us!
We spotted 2 sand hill cranes flying low and close to the road over a boggy field.

We'd like to eat at Culvers for lunch, if that could happen. It never seems to work out that you can find a good place to eat. No McD's--bluckh!

11:30 - we got our Cluver's fix--had to drive into Menominee to find it, but from there were able to continue back to the Interstate w/o back-tracking. Cool.

Clouds have developed over the area, and I've heard they are calling for storms tonight. So, the clear skies have gone away for now. But scenery is good--hilly forests interrupted by corn fields and farmland, cattle in the fields now and then.

Now we need to take 694 around the Twins--or "the Cities" as our server had called it--so you take 694, and as you get all pass that city crap, it turns back into I-94.

1:40 PM
We got thru the jungle - just stopped for gas in Clearwater. We are heading for Fergus Falls--our stop for the night as planned.
Tomorrow we'll be driving through North Dakota, and be in Montana by afternoon.

3:40 - Got a room and America's Best Value at $72 ($66 bf. taxes). A very simple room with the basics, but have microwave and refrigerator and a big TV. Bed is small, but we're okay with that.

all for today, my pretties. Good night!

Day Two: Lake Superior

I think I like especially the names of towns up here. You have Ironwood, and there is a town called Land O' Lakes. Really there is. That was where we entered Michigan and followed Rt 2 for a while. Very wooded, and a nice smooth road with hardly anyone on it. We followed a logging truck, and once it got up speed, it was well ahead of us. You never want a logging truck behind you. Never!

Now, in my last entry, I told you about the snowmobile signs for those crazy snowmobilers in the winter. People up here also have boats in their drive. And the closer you get to the lake, it's not a fishing boat, but a sail boat.

One of the smaller towns we ventured to--and I can't remember the name of it--had a bay where dozens and dozens of sail boats were docked. There were these cute little shops you can blow money on junk you don't need. I love trinkets and junk I don't need, I just don't have money to buy them. We took pictures, but our camera was acting up, plus we lost sun under the clouds. But we wanted to get a little further, which we would soon be upon, thus got back in and followed our road until we came to a little town called Cornucopia. What this place had was character. Obviously it wasn't as huge a draw as the previous town with a lot of shops. This was older. The old boats which had been sitting on shore a while were on display. We had to pull in and go take a look. Here, there weren't that many people. You can't get nice pictures with lots of people in your way. We were able to walk up a sandy hill, and there was the lake. It looked like an ocean to me. The waves were making those little white caps. And while we stood there taking it in--no one around us--two bald eagles swooped down and went into hunting mode.

The wind was whipping and chilly. Why we thought we would not need our jeans--well, it had been hot up until the day we left. We should have brought the jeans. At least we had jackets.

We stopped inside a little shop. These places--maybe a half dozen--had once been little shacks for people to live in. And I suspect that some lived upstairs. The first one we stopped in was a shop filled with various stuff including antiques. An old, rickety-looking stairs went up to the loft. And a calico cat sauntered down and seemed to take a liking to my husband, who is not really a cat person. But it acted very un-cat like. It sat on its haunches and meowed, trying to get his attention. He later told me that he thought that the owner had changed herself into a cat. Like in Harry Potter, Mrs. McGonnagal's being able to do this inspired this thought.

We went to the last shop--as it was open. Then the rain started, and we were stuck, but the shop owner was very friendly and we spoke with her. She recommended a place to stay close by, but we wanted to get to Superior and Duluth.

We ate at Ashland, a larger town, and it still was cloudy. And very windy! We saw large ships now, in a distance. Then the closer we got to the bridge that spanned the river, we now had a very up-close look at these ships that apparently haul grain.

Duluth was a busy, congested town. We escaped it--thus was not soaked by exorbitant prices both in food and motel. We went on into Minnesota, and stayed in Cloquet. The drive was nice. We had wanted to drive up the Lake Shore Drive the whole way, but we simply ran out of time.

We had a nice room with a large-screen plasma and it had Satellite radio, and we found a New Age station and just relaxed. I took a full-blown nap. God, the day wore me out.

The rest of our trip was nothing to talk about. We should have not come through Iowa, though, just too much happening--that was something I posted when I got back.

I return to the work grind tomorrow--boohoo. It's been great having time to work on my books, and read a few, too. When I get a chance I'm going to talk about one, Dance On Fire by James Garcia Jr.
Have a great week!