2002 Trip: J.W. Wells State Park to Tahquamenon

Sunrise over Green Bay -- Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Our Tuesday travel on October 1, 2002, took us from J.W. Wells State Park along the shore of Lake Michigan all the way up into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We drove 273 miles that day. The fall colors were streaky; you could drive 40 miles without seeing any bright leaves and in next mile the color would be show stopping.

Cable driven raft on Big Spring

One of our highlights was seeing the Big Spring at Kitchi-ti-Kipi in the Palms Book State Park near Thompson, Michigan, just west of Manistique. The spring is the size of a large pond and is viewed by looking through the bottom of a raft that is controlled by a handwheel and cables.

Ed, Stan and Val on the raft

The brilliant emerald green of Big Spring is a wonderful surprise that you experience while floating on the raft. Ed ran the handwheel and we all marvelled at the verdant green water and the towering pines on the edge of the spring pond.

Sea mist on the harbor at Grand Marais -- Grand Marais is on the east end
of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

We ate lunch in the RV at the Manistique Harbor. The day was overcast so the views of the red lighthouse were not photographic. Then we drove up MI-77 to Grand Marais which is a little town on Lake Superior. This was our first view of Lake Superior and we enjoyed watching loons in the harbor at Grand Marais. The colors were vibrant in some spots along MI-77.

Upper Falls of the Tahquamenon River -- Tuesday, October 1, 2002

 

By late afternoon we were in Tahquamenon country. This is the country where Ernest Hemingway came to fly fish. The Big Two Hearted River and The Tahquamenon River run through swamps and forests of cedars and hemlocks and pines. There are two falls on the Tahquamenon. The Upper Falls is always spectacular. The river runs a coppery color here due to the tannins in the cedar forests that the river runs through.

We ate dinner at the restaurant at the Falls. Dad enjoyed a pastie, an Upper Peninsula speciality. Pasties are meat, potato and vegetables wrapped in pastry. The Cornish miners who worked the mines in the UP brought pasties to the this country. Val liked the wild rice soup and we all savored the Fruits of the Forest (strawberries, rhubarb, apples, blueberries) pie.

By evening, we were camping at the Tahquamenon Rivermouth Campground in Paradise, Michigan. We were tired. It had been a full day of travel and visiting the natural wonders of the north woods.

Tomorrow's Blog Post: Tahquamenon to Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Several more photos from Tuesday, October 1, 2002 travel

Val looking at the spring through the bottom of the raft

 

A friendly motorcyclist asked if we would like to have our photo taken. "Yes," we said!
Ed, Wanda, Val (Mom), Stan (Dad)

 

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler
(who is finding it takes much longer to write a travel blog post than a regular Willow blog post)

2002 Trip: Wisconsin Farm to J.W. Wells State Park

Ten years ago today, on the Fall Color Trip, we started out from Sunnyside Farm near Lomira, Wisconsin and drove up the east side of Lake Winnebago through orchard and farm county. We headed up U.S. 41, through Green Bay to the twin cities of Marinette, Wisconsin and Menominee, Michigan.

One of the side goals of the fall color trip was to show me the country church where I had been baptized in in the late 1940's. Dad guided us out to Center Emmanuel United Methodist Church, on Hample Road north of Appleton, to see the church. Dad has amazing built in GPS skills, so it was easy to find the church, even though so many of the landmarks had changed.

Dad served this church (and two others) while he and Mom lived in Appleton. He was attending college at Lawrence in Appleton and also at Oshkosh. He told us that his salary at this first parish was $1200 per year. We lived in a small white frame house on West Wisconsin Avenue, a house that I have no memory of whatsoever. The stop at Center church brought memories for Mom and Dad. They entertained us with stories about their early years of being parents and serving small churches around Appleton.

I also seem to remember that Dad said that I was baptized three times on that Sunday long ago, once in each church that he preached in. Thrice blessed that day, I might be wrong about this memory. Dad will have to corroborate my story sometime. It sort of makes sense -- a young pastor wanting to please three congregations, so the little head would be sprinkled three times in three places. Not a bad entry into faith life, I would think.

We got gas and went shopping for groceries, chocolates and quilt fabric (of course) in Menominee, Michigan. Our travel records show that we drove 178 miles that day, stopping at J.W. Wells State Park, north of Menominee on M-35, along the shore of Green Bay.

The cool fall air felt good so we ate supper outside. Our meal was corn chowder, toast, fresh red grapes and s'mores by the fire. My notes remind me that Val did not like burnt marshmallows. I'm recollecting that my chowder recipe of choice back then was the cheesy chicken chowder that I often make with shredded deli turkey, a bit of bacon, corn, and shredded parmesan.

A thunderstorm brought ran and wind during the night but we were comfy and cozy in our rented RV. Ed slept in the bunk above the cab. I had a pullout sofa. Mom and Dad got the bed. We had a stove and frig and good food. We were on our way to an adventure, seeking autumn leaves and wondrous sights in the Northland.

Tomorrow's blog post: Tuesday -- J.W. Wells to Tahquamenon

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Fall Color Trip, Ten Years Ago

It was the trip of a lifetime. Mom and Dad said they would like to see the fall colors up north. We agreed that would be a good idea and rented an RV for a week.

That was ten years ago this week. Mom has been gone since 2007. She died in January of that year. Dad turned 91 in April of 2012 and lives on Mom's home farm in Wisconsin. His home farm is just around the corner and he loves living in the neighborhood where both he and Mom grew up. Ed and I, well, we were ten years younger back then.

I guess that we had an inkling of Mom's oncoming dementia. There were constant signs of it that we could not avoid as we travelled together for a week. But, oh, did we have a good time! We played games at night. We cooked good food. We saw the grandeur of fall color in the northern forest. We savored the northern lights.

I had a digital camera, maybe a 2 or 3 megapixel wonder, back then. It was enough to document the travel. Now, after ten years, these images tell a story of travel and family and fun.

I'm going to document the trip in five blog posts. Join me this week as I reflect on that long ago trip in October of 2002.

Tomorrow's blog post:  Monday -- Wisconsin Farm to J.W. Wells State Park

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Farver Road Sunset

Traces of September clouds at sunset highlight the wind turbines along Farver Road in Huron County. These turbines are a part of Harvest Wind Farm in Oliver Township, between Elkton and Pigeon.

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler

On The Rocks

Lake levels in the Great Lakes are really low this year. The bottom of White Rock Shoal on the east side of Huron County has been visible for several weeks. It was time for a walk out on the shoal this week.

White Rock Shoal, a rocky shelf that extends about three quarters of a mile out into Lake Huron is rimmed by bluffs. The shoal is named for a large rock formation on the south of the shoal that was used as a survey point for early mapping of the Michigan area. Usually the shoal is covered with water, enough water that canoes and kayaks can navigate most of the shoal, except for the shoreline areas.

 

 

The Army Corps of Engineers reports that the level of Lake Michigan-Huron (these two lakes join at the Straits of Mackinac and are considered one lake for purposes of water level measuring) is 12 inches lower than levels of a year ago. You can see from the water levels on the big rock that my shadow is near that the water levels were much higher at one time.

 

Copyright 2012

Wanda Hayes Eichler

 



Volunteer Pumpkin

Have you ever sat next to someone on a plane or a train who just couldn't quit fidgeting? Someone who talked all the time, or fiddled with their mobile, or rustled a newspaper? Some people just exude excess energy.

There is a volunteer pumpkin plant growing in our big compost pile that is like that. It just doesn't know when to quit. It has not been singed by the early autumn frost. It survived the summer drought. It is still sending out blossoms.

 

 

This pumpkin plant is like the Tenacious Geranium that I write about. It just keeps on, keeping on.

 

I know that there is a botanical term (like tomatoes being "determinate" or "indeterminate") for this quality in a plant. While I don't know botany well enough to know that term, I must say that I admire plants and people who just keep on blooming, even in autumn, even as the growing season slips away, and even as the sun fades from the sky.

 

 

Copyright 2012

Wanda Hayes Eichler

Late Coneflower

Even a late coneflower has innate beauty.  Pink petals are seasonally subdued, almost mauve. Twisted, burnished leaves hang on toughening stems.

Morning light heightens the graceful lines and gives a luster to a plant whose days are numbered by the coming frosts of October.

Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler