St. Ignace, MI

Monday, June 23

Our drive from Harrison, MI to St. Ignace was pretty and interesting.  First, me, ... I drove all the way to the campground.  Great practice.  As we were headed north, we saw a sign that the next rest stop had a lookout.  We were driving between 2 lakes, so I decided to pull in.  It was actually a short hike to the overlook platform.

This was the start of the trail to the overlook.

At the overlook we could only partially see one of the two lakes.  I was disappointed in the view, but it was good to get the activity.  

Since I was driving, Tic took this picture of Mackinaw Bridge from 5 miles away.

This picture was taken from 2 miles away.  The towers look so big from here.

Here we go.  This is the first time I've driven the coach across a big bridge like this.

It has been overcast and sprinkling the whole drive.  Now one lane is closed.

Tic was able to get a closeup of the suspension cables.

The closed lane opened up for a short distance then was closed off again.  At that point the center lanes became grates.  That resulted in a strange steering experience.  As soon as the right lane opened again I moved over to that lane.  The bridge was about 5 miles long.

We finally got across the bridge and there was a $14 toll for us AND I got to pull into a toll booth lane.  We are in "UP" MI!

Here is Castle Rock campground where we will stay for the night.

The trees make the site tight enough that we cannot open our awning, but then there is enough shade that it is not an issue. The temperature is about 67 and slightly overcast.  The sprinkles have quit.  We arrived about noon and had a quick lunch then went site seeing.

We decided to climb Castle Rock. LOTS of stairs.  Not sure how many.

Paul Bunyon and his Blue Ox are here at Castle Rock.  This particular Paul Bunyon is the only one nationwide that is sitting.

This totem pole was next to Paul Bunyon.  Now the stairs.

This view is from the top of Castle Rock.  Tic took great pictures even though his knees were shaking.  This is HIGH.  You are looking at the exit off I-75 to the town of St Ignace.

This view is up coast.  It is really beautiful here!

We checked out riding the ferry over to Mackinaw Island.  It would cost $50 total. OUCH!  We decided not to.  Here is one of the ferries coming back.

We saw this trimaran in the local bay.

Here is another ferry.  The ferries did not take cars only people.  So when you get to Mackinaw Island you are on foot or rent something.

At St. Ignace there is a small lighthouse to alert ships on Lake Huron.

The land on the left side of the picture is part of Mackinaw Island.  This lake is so big it looks like the ocean.

As we walked thru town we saw these large ships and thought they were docked.  This picture is zoomed a lot.

As it turned out, all the ships were dry docked ready for repairs.  The first 3 ships are actually large catamarans.

Look at this huge boat lift and yet it is not big enough for any of the ships dry docked here.

When ever we are near the water, there are thousands of these black flying bugs that look similar to mosquitoes without the blood sucking part.  We were told they are gnats.  Look at how many were on just this part of the pickup parked next to us.  We were told that they are the State Bird of Michigan!

We got ice cream AND 3 kinds of fudge then went home.  We have a longer drive tomorrow.