Our U.P. Vacation-Day 3

Day 3-Tuesday July 23rd

That weather system that came through here last night and dumped all that rain on us while we were driving to dinner at the Dog Patch in Munising also ushered in some cooler temperatures!  I dressed in layers, since this morning began at 50 degrees and breezy and it will only be in the 70's by afternoon.  What a difference from our typical July weather in Texas! 

Since we missed the turn-off for Munising Falls yesterday, we started our day there today.  It is quite a beautiful setting and well worth backtracking a little ways for it this morning. We lost track on counting the wooden steps here at Munising Falls, however we know it is more than 100!

What goes up must come down!

We are so glad that Greenstone and Thimbleberry and their daughter Jenny told us about Kitch-iti-kipi , and encouraged us to go see it!  Since it was a little ways west of our planned route for today, we would not have gone there otherwise.  It helps to know the "locals"! 

Michigan's largest spring, "Kitch-iti-kipi", located within Palms Book State Park (named for Palms Book Co.), is two hundred feet across and forty feet deep.  Over 10,000 gallons a minute gush from fissures in the underlying limestone.  The flow continues throughout the year at a constant temperature of 45 degrees.
By means of a covered self operated observation raft, visitors are guided to vantage points overlooking fascinating underwater features. Ancient tree trunks, lime-encrusted branches and fat trout appear to be suspended in nothingness as they slip through crystal waters far below.  Clouds of sand kept in constant motion by gushing waters create ever-changing shapes and forms.

We boarded the self operated raft along with several other tourists and Tom began to turn the large wheel that pulls the raft along a suspended cable system out into the middle of the Spring.  As we peered down into the crystal clear water of the Spring, we are truly amazed by the underwater scene!

Tom turned over his wheel-turning duty to two young girls who were vacationing with their grandparents and were eager to give it a try.  Together they gleefully managed to turn that wheel and get us back to the dock.

Here the Kitch-iti-kipi Spring water flows through this outlet and into Indian Lake.

We like this poem on a sign in the Palms Book State Park:

We head down to Manistique, Mi. where we will pick up U.S. Hwy 2 which will take us along the coast of Lake Michigan toward Mackinac Island, which is our destination for tomorrow.  As we pass through Manistique we see the Manistique Lighthouse.

 

Greenstone loaned us their Michigan Road Atlas to use this week and we see there is a road that completely encircles Gulliver Lake which is just ahead of us, so we turn off Hwy. 2 on the Gulliver Lake Road.  Gulliver Lake is pretty large and has lots of comfortable-looking homes all along the water's edge plus a nice park.  It is a windy day today creating small whitecaps on the water's surface.

 

 

I see in the Michigan Road Atlas that we may have beach access at Michigan Shores Road beach, which is about halfway around Gulliver Lake, so I direct Tom where to turn and when we come to the end of this road, we park at the edge of the pavement and hike over the dunes to the beach on Lake Michigan.  I take my sandals off to wade into the water which by the way is cool, but much warmer than Lake Superior's water yesterday!  We do not venture either way down the beach since there are signs each way informing us that it is private property of the landowners whose homes face the water.  That's O.K. as long as I get to put my toes in the water of Lake Michigan.  That makes Great Lake #2 for me!

 

 

We are impressed with all the Rest Areas along our drive today, most are right on the shores of Lake Michigan or have a commanding view of the Lake, and are very clean and well maintained.

 

 

We stopped in the small town of Naubinway at Country Girl's Café for lunch where Tom decided to try a "pasty" (rhymes with nasty) which is a popular menu item in Yooper Land.  It resembles our Southern fried pies, the familiar half-moon shape, only pasties are baked and are often covered in brown gravy and served with coleslaw.  Tom ate it all but was not impressed.  (Guess that's why I never tried one.)

 

We soon arrive in St. Ignace which is just across the water from Mackinac Island and are too early to check in to our Comfort Inn Beachside, so we decide to drive across the famous five-mile long Mackinac Bridge, which is the only bridge that connects the Upper Peninsula to the lower mainland of Michigan.  It was opened to traffic in 1957 and had its one millionth vehicle crossing on June 25, 1998.  Currently there are approximately 5,000,000 vehicles crossing per year .  Is that not amazing!!  It took 41 years to have one million vehicles cross, but in the last 15 years that flow has increased to 5,000,000 every year!  It is incredible the fixation we Americans have with our automobiles.

 

But first we want to go a couple of miles up the road to check out Castle Rock.  At one of the rest areas on Hwy. 2 earlier today a fellow tourist told us not to miss it!  Oh boy, what a tourist trap!  From the parking lot we are directed thru a huge souvenir shop before we reach the 198 steps up to the top of "Castle Rock".  But what an incredible view of the surrounding countryside and Lake Huron!

 

 

And now to the Mackinac Bridge!

 

 

Just look at that sky in these photos!  Too awesome!

 

After crossing over Mackinac Bridge to Michigan's mainland we saw a sign pointing to a lighthouse off to the west so we headed off to check it out.  When we got there, we decided not to stop since the tiny parking area was so crowded, we just snapped a photo and continued on down a short but steep gravel drive down to the huge rocks on the beach.  (This is not the first time this week that we have taken our rented VW Jetta down some gravel roads!  Don't tell Budget Rent-a Car!)

 

 

Again, I just love the sky!!  On our drive back to Mackinac City which is at the south end of the Mackinac Bridge, we passed this neat old barn!

 

 

We make it back across the big bridge and enjoy the indoor heated pool and hot tub at our hotel before walking next door to Java Joe's for dinner.  We order an appetizer of garlic parmesan bread and agree to share a medium supreme pizza.  We are shocked with the "platter-sized" garlic parmesan bread but it is delicious!  Next we are served our supreme pizza!  Needless to say, we can only eat about half of the appetizer and half of the pizza, so we asked for a to-go container and stowed it in the fridge in our hotel room.  It will make for a good picnic tomorrow following our bike ride on Mackinac Island!