Visiting beautiful Marquette, MI

We left the Odonah Indian Casino in Wisconsin yesterday.  We were there for 3 days with no phone service. No cell phone, no data service from Verizon.  We had a very relaxing time.  We did have a little WiFi from the casino that stopped and started numerous times throughout the day.  We looked forward to better Verizon service when we left, but no such luck.  We picked up a signal for about 5 miles as we passed the small towns along Hwy 28 from Wisconsin to Michigan. 

The trip was beautiful as we traveled through green forests, lots of lakes, and some drizzle.  The wildflowers in Michigan were profuse along the road.

Our friend, Nick Russell had emailed me to tell me the best places to stay as we travel to Sault St. Marie.  The Ojibwa Casino in Marquette, MI, was one of the suggestions.  Nick said it was free, had electricity and even paid you to stay.  We also heard the Odonah Casino was free, but they are now charging $21/night with water and electric.  So when we pulled into the Ojibwa parking lot and called the Casino, Pat in Guest Services told us to take any spot and come in sometime that evening to register.  We got set up. 

Maybe you noticed the white things in the back on DA PAD.

When we were in Odonah we heard a very loud crash early one morning.  I though something had hit DA PAD.  Tom checked it out and discovered the spring that keeps the topper cover on the back slide tight had broken.  We were concerned about how it would retract when we moved.  No problem.  The slide came in and the topper gathered up and laid down on the top of the slide and the slide came in without a hitch. 

Then we got to Marquette and had some gusty winds and the topper ballooned up, flapped, and made lots of noise.  This, at the left, was the perfect temporary solution: a hose. 2 pieces of a towel to protect the paint, and 2 clamps.

We need to check if the spring is broken or just has come out at the end where it connects to the mechanism.

After securing the topper we walked across the parking lot to the Casino.  I brought my money just in case it wasn’t free.  We showed our driver’s licenses, signed the registration, and were handed 2 player’s cards, 3 free drink tickets, 2 vouchers tor $5 each – cash, and no charge to stay.   Now this is what we need more of, what with diesel prices going up.   Tom had beer and I had a wine and we met Steve, a native from the UP, Upper Peninsula to the locals.  We had the best time with Steve telling us exactly how he was growing the ‘world’s largest pumpkin’.  He doesn’t know if he will make the record, but he is doing some extraordinary things to his pumpkins.  He planted in April. In April the UP is under snow.  Steve used a cover, umbrella and heat lamps.  He used water bricks and 5 year old manure 15 feet out from the stem to ‘force’ the roots out.  He uses Miracle Grow, reburies the vines to promote more roots, and tenderly cares for the pumpkin, one per vine, so it does not get bugs, or holes. What a fun conversation; we laughed so hard with Steve on his project.  When we see the world’s record for pumpkins has been broken by a guy named Steve, we will be able to say we met this guy and he certainly deserves the win.

Today we decided to go to the movies.  We had seen the previews for Hope Springs and it looked so funny, we decided that was what we would see.  It was cute, funny, heart tugging, and we were glad we went.  I think Tom was the only man in the theater.  Now that was funny; I feel sorry for those ladies, maybe their husbands were like the Tommy Lee Jones character, Arnold.  Luckily we had brought our crackers because a large tub of buttered popcorn was $17.50!  What the heck… the tickets were only $5 each.  So we bought a medium diet coke for $4.25 that was so big we left the theater with the cup still half full.

We visited the Marquette Maritime Museum, a small and interesting museum that features many shipwrecks on Lake Superior.

 

There was a very interesting display about the Edmund Fitzgerald.  Remember the song about that ship wreck?  I didn’t realize this ship was launched on June 10, 1958, maybe even the day that Tom graduated from High School.  The first bad omen was when it took Mrs. Fitzgerald three strikes with the Champaign bottle to christen her.  Next, an onlooker was so scared at the noise of the launching he had a heart attack and died.  Suspicious sailors still wonder if the “Fitz” was doomed.

Edmund Fitzgerald VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The “Fitz” had hit the side of the Sault St. Marie Locks 3 times and had to be put into dry dock.  It was overloaded, the hatches were found to be leaking, and they were in a huge storm that November when she went down in 1975.  Of course she was not the only ship to be lost nor men to die in Lake Superior and this museum is a memorial to the ships, the men, and the men whose job it is to save them, the Coast Guard.  There is also a nice display of lighthouse lights.

Keeping sailors safe VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We had seen a strange kind of pier as we drove through Marquette and asked the museum guide about it.  She called it an iron loading pier.  We saw a model of this in the museum.  Iron ore is hauled out on the pier in little coal cars. They dump their load into chutes that drop down from their vertical position on the pier into the waiting ship’s hold.

We left the museum and drove along Lake Shore Drive and got these pictures of the real pier. You can see the close-up of the chutes at the right.

Iron Loading Pier VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We were about to drive away from taking the pictures of the pier and saw this mountain of iron ore.

The wind was really blowing and the waves on the lake were spectacular.  Here are some of the many pictures that I took, none of which do the beauty of this lake justice.

The surf was quite high, high enough that surfers can be seen as well as wind surfers.  There were also a couple of kayakers that overturned several times and got back in and kept fighting the surf.

Surfing the Superior VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We got a cache at the breakwater, went to Wal-Mart, and I fixed tacos for dinner.  Boy, were they good!  I haven’t fixed them in DA PAD before, but I know Tom will be talking me into them before too long.  He says it made him think of those many times he had tacos when he was a kid. 

Tomorrow Sault St. Marie and maybe a cache or two to celebrate.

What to do when you break your computer

As we were leaving the Moose Lodge in Grand Rapids, MN, my computer slid off the printer and hit the floor.  It didn’t seem like a big fall, but the battery did pop out.

We drove to Duluth, MN, and stopped to pick up a new fan at Bed Bath and Beyond, check out a parts department at a local RV dealer and have lunch in the Wall-mart parking lot.  We drove the gauntlet through the Duluth/Superior cities (who designed those streets anyhow?).  I don’t know how we would have made it without a GPS. We are using the NUVI as our Magellan stopped working last week. We can trade it in for $110 for the upgraded model.  LATER!

We finally were on a smooth, non-construction road when our 12-volt battery cutout switch broke. Tom did a quick temp fix by bolting the 2 legs of the power together bypassing the cutout switch.  On the road again.  Does it sound like we are jinxed?

We saw some beautiful scenery along Lake Superior.

We checked into the Bad River Casino in Odanah, Wisconsin, got hooked up and that was when I discovered my broken computer. 

We were all prepared to drive the 80 miles back to Duluth in DA TOAD to buy a $899 computer from BestBuy.  I was sick.  Having to transfer all my files, emails, and reinstall programs was not something I wanted to do at this time.  I decided not before I tried to fix whatever was broken in my computer.

This is the saga:

Prep my work area VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Removed the battery, the hard drive and the memory cards.

Turned it over and removed the keyboard. I was careful to release the clips holding the keyboard ribbon.

I removed all screws, 2 from the top and all the rest from the bottom, keeping track of screws.

Removed the motherboard cover after carefully releasing the 3 cables attached to the top.

I then discovered the problem.  The power plug was broken. I held it back in place and dowsed it with Loctite Super Glue. It dried in seconds and is a very strong hold.

I then reversed all the processes to put the computer back together.  Pansy was definitely feeling neglected. 

When I got it all buttoned up and plugged it in, IT WORKED!!!!  I just saved $899 and hours and hours of new computer setup.  Woo Hoo.  Pansy was even relaxed and happy again.

And that’s how I handled this disaster.  If only the GPS, the 12 volt cutout switch, the drawer under the refrigerator and the Jeep tail lights could be so easy.  So we can be back caching on the road again.

A short stay in Grand Rapids

We checked into the Moose Lodge in Grand Rapids, Minnasota with 20 amp and a back-in on level blacktop.  We wanted to pay for our stay and they wouldn’t take any money.  We also had a very nice garbage can right by our plug-in.  We really like Moose and Elks lodge parking options.  The weather  in Grand Rapids was very pleasant, in fact on Sunday it was cold enough that we pulled out our heavy ‘tie’ quilt. 
There is not a lot of attractions in Grand Rapids, but we had lots of laundry to do and we found a couple of nice restaurants to try.  We also saw on our way into Grand Rapids that there was a Forest History Center near by.  We decided to do laundry first then drive out to the Forest HC to check it out.  It had closed at 4 PM, so it was off to Ground Round for dinner. 
This was one of those evenings where our feelings were mixed whether to give a good tip for the delicious dinner that we enjoyed or to leave no tip at all for the extremely poor service we experienced.  We were seated and forgotten.  Our waiter walked by numerous times waiting on others.  I finally got up and asked to the hostess if we had a waiter.  After she disappeared into the back, the waiter who had been waiting on others showed up and said he was so busy – no apology.  We gave our order, it was delivered and we did not get any service until our bill was delivered.  Tip??? 10% no more!
The next day we went to the Forest HC and found this living history center is run by the Minnesota Historical Society which is older than the state itself. We were told that with a lot of pride.  The displays inside were very nice especially the hands-on activities for the children.  We saw a very interesting movie.  The film was projected on a see-through screen with scenery being changed in the background.

After this 8 minute film we met up with the rest of the tour group on the guided tour. We walked the 30 miles to the camp.  It took us about 5 minutes.   Along the way our guide, Miss Nora, explained what we would be seeing in the early 1900’s if we were lumbermen heading out to live for 6 months in the wilderness with the goal of cutting 6 million board feet of white pine.

We first visited the store where the men could buy replacement clothes if theirs were damaged or lost.  The store also sold tobacco and medicine, but no alcohol (except that in the medicine ).

The store owner and this helper slept in the store.

We visited the bunk house where the smells of the day were explained is such detail, I think some of our group was actually cringing.  Most of the lumbermen slept here.  We were told that you could tell the sawyers by the smell of kerosene that they used to remove pitch from their saws.

All of the men ate together in the mess hall, the men with the most responsibility or the most dangerous jobs ate at the tables nearest the stove.  Those lower down ate nearest the door where sometimes the door had frost on the inside of it.  Outside might be –40* or colder.

The men ate really well and as much as they wanted.  They were served breakfast in the mess hall, hot lunch hauled out to them in a covered wooden sled, and dinner back in the mess hall.  They ate in 20 minutes and there was no talking in the mess hall.

The saw shop was next.  All saws are dropped off at the end of the day and a sharpened saw pick up the next morning.  The saw sharpener did not stay in the bunk house as he had to stay up late to sharpen.  Lights out was 9 PM in the bunk house.  After his demonstration, we moved outside to test how sharp the saw was.

A sled that hauls the logs typically weighs 40,000 pounds and is pulled by just 2 horses.  How does that work?  The roads are groomed every day by the ‘Water Wagon’ that adds water to the ruts which then freezes.  The ruts are where the sled runners ride and there is little resistance so once the sled starts to move, the horses can pull it easily. This is the wagon that holds the water, loaded by the barrel on skids on the side. The sled is holding the logs loaded by a ‘Jammer’.


We visited the 2 beautiful Percherons horses. They were the bred of choice for this work. They were taken better care of than the men.

Then we went to the blacksmith/carpenter’s shop.  This is where the horse shoes are fitted, chains are repaired and other metal work is done like fixing the cooks implements.  That gives the blacksmith extra points like special treats from the kitchen.
This was a wonderful exhibit.  If anyone is in the area it should not be missed.  This is easy to miss as there is little advertising of this.
As we were leaving it started to sprinkle.  By the time we got back to DA PAD there was nothing left but a rainbow.

The next day, Sunday, was Tom’s birthday.  We went to Home Depot to look for a latch for the drawer under the refrigerator.  We didn’t find a latch. We did find a birthday present.  This will help organize the bay.  We discovered Tom needed a dedicated tool box just for the electrical stuff he carries when we worked on the Jeep lights.
We went geocaching and found a cache right at the beginning of the “Edge of the Wilderness” scenic byway.  So we drove it, at least the first 20 miles of it.  I think it would be spectacular in the fall with the fall colors, but it was still lovely to drive the up, down, right, left curvy road through the forest and by the many lakes.  At mile 20 we stopped at an information pullout.  Wow, the stuff we learn on the road.  This was the east-west continental divide called the Laurentian Divide.  Water north of here flows to the Hudson Bay and water south of here flows into the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Edge of the Wilderness Hwy VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Now it was time for Tom’s birthday dinner.  We went to Forest Lake Restaurant.  We were seated by the window with a beautiful view of Forest Lake.  Tom ordered steak and ribs.  I thought for sure we would have to have to-go boxes. NOPE… he ate it all. 
We finished out day with a visit to the Moose Lodge bar to say thanks, drop a donation (we insisted), and to say goodbye. 
We left the next morning to drive to Duluth, MN, to exchange our 3rd fan that didn’t work from Bed Bath and Beyond.  They had tested it and had it waiting for us.  We also stopped at an RV parts house to check if they had a 12 volt cutout rotary switch.  Ours would stop when we unplugged from power or when we stopped the generator.  Tom had reset it about 5 times since Bismarck. They did not have one.  We continued on toward Odanah, WI, to stay at the Bad River Casino.  We had only driven about 45 minutes with the generator running, so we shut it off. Yup, the 12 volt went off.  We stopped and when Tom tried to start it the switch just went round and round and no 12 volt.  We drove about another 20 minutes and found a big parking lot at a high school and removed the switch and bolted the 2 leads together as a temporary fix.  The inside of the old switch was fried!  We got checked into the casino parking lot, $20/night for 50 amp, water, and a dump near by.  We have Wi-Fi from the casino though it’s a little slow. 
I then discovered the 2nd big mishap of the day; my computer had hit the floor when we pulled out of the Moose Lodge.  I went to plug it in and found the plug and the power supply plug had been jammed into the computer.  Broken computer! Soooo sad!!!!
I researched computers from Costco, BestBuy, and Amazon finally decided on a $899 model that was in stock in Duluth from BestBuy.
To see how I handled the situation, check in my next blog.