We made a daily trip to a coffee shop. Often this was the only access we had to wifi so it was the way I uploaded my blog posts. One was outside, but there were benches and great wifi so I posted from there. Food often was ordered in addition to coffee and we took advantage of local specialties. All visits were in Michigan.
Hancock
Calumet
We drove up Brockway Mountain to take photos of the lake and the valley by stopping at multiple points along the road. The leaves are just beginning to turn, but there was enough color to provide some interesting shots. You can click on an image to enlarge it.
I take photos for weather stations because I maintain my own station on the dock of our lake home. This one was more sophisticated.
Cindy wanted to give the Jam Pot a try. I didn’t. I did not think it looked big enough to have places to sit. It turned out we were both right. My first glance impression was the establishment was run by a last stand group of 60s hippies. I was close.
The Jam Pot is operated by a skete. Some online research informed me that a skete is a small group of European Christian monks who organize seeking isolation and solitude. They certainly found the perfect place. They run a small business making jams from local berries and a bakery. They take the winter months off which provides the solitude they value for prayer and meditation.
We did not purchase any jam, but we bought this giant thing I first thought was a loaf of some exotic bread. It turned out to be more the consistency of a very, very large muffin - banana, walnut, cherry something. Incredibly good.
You get used to cellphone access for everyday tasks. It is not so much that I make phone calls, but I do miss Internet access. Where is the nearest coffee shop? In the UP, you can find yourself in locations even towns with no phone access. People here must use landlines.
It turns out that our present campground has wifi. The bathrooms contain a wifi hopspot that is good for about two camping spots from the bathrooms. So, you have to find a seat (there are a couple of benches) outside to take advantage of the service.
I really intended to write about firewood and was distracted by not being able to find a way to upload my comment. Camp fires are one of the joys of camping. You sit outside after dark around a fire. This is just what you do. You can stare at the fire or roast marshmallows. I mostly just stare.
You are not supposed to bring in your own wood. I literally have a ton of wood at our lake place, but left the free wood behind. State campgrounds provide wood at a price. Our first campground charged $5 for a bundle. A bundle is about enough for a decent fire. We are now at a park that charges $7 for a smaller bundle. This bindle contains some smaller sticks for kindling which means it probably required more labor to put the bundle together and tie it with twine. I also think this wood was kiln dried because it burned much faster. The expense of drying increases the cost, but also eliminates the bugs that are the reason you are not supposed to bring your own wook. Keep the forests safe.
We are revisiting a state park we last used in 2019. This was not planned, but like the smoked fish market we like what we like. One issue I encountered was that I could not find much about these same locations in my posts from 2019. So, I plan to remedy the situation this time around.
The following images are from McLain State Park (near Houghton, MI).
One of the delicacies we like when in the Great Lakes region is smoked fish. I am a fan of raw fish in Kauai and smoked fish in the Upper Peninsula.
We drove to Petersons Fish Market and Cafe to see what they had. Turns out, we had also visited this market when we did our Circle Route trip to explore the Great Lakes in 2019. The 2019 visit was pretty memorable. A truck with a load of wood to be used in smoking fish was waiting for traffic to clear so it could turn into the Petersons facilities and it was rear-ended by a driver looking at her phone. There was wood scattered all over the highway and we watched the driver of the truck clean up the mess. No injuries to any party.
This visit was less eventful. A chunk of smoked whitefish, a chunk of smoked lake trout, and some smoked fish cracker spread. The cafe was serving and we wanted some fish chowder to take home. The ambience was perfect so we stayed to have our chowder there. Great food.
P.S. If the chowder looks a little green, that is just the jalapeno glaze on top. You mix that in before consuming.
We haven't had the rPod on the road since last year. We finally found some time when we did not have medical appointments (mostly the four different dentists of different types I need or at least pay) and the campgrounds have some openings. This is a great time of the year to travel up North with crisp temperatures and the leaves beginning to turn.
Getting things going always presents some challenges. The first barrier was tire pressure. Our car informs us when a tire is low and which tire is at fault. However, our car is getting along in years and some quirks are beginning to surface. Trying to get the tire pressure within an acceptable range might seem simple, but the auto sensors and my tire gauge do not provide consistent readings. It also takes some time for the sensors to adjust to adding air and the tires warm up as you drive. Cold days lower the pressure which changes when you drive. Too many things to figure out, but I am cautious about having a tire explode which did happen to me once when we lived in Grand Forks. When I get anxious about this problem, Cindy reminds we drove for many years with no clue what our tire pressure was and survived with no problems. I like to have something to worry about.
The State Campgrounds tend to have electrical, but not water hookups. This means you fill a large water tank in our camper when you arrive and use a pump within the vehicle rather than the pressure from a tap to pressure the system. The pump would run, but no water would come from the faucets. It took several hours to finally find the problem. When you winterwise a camper, you use a type of antifreeze to keep the plumbing from freezing. There is a hose provided that sucks antifreeze from a container into the system. The system includes a valve to switch the input from the water supply to the antifreeze hose and back. When the rPod was winterized by a dealer a year ago, the technician left the valve turned to the antifreeze setting and this turned out to be the problem. The water pump is under the bed and cramped quarters make removing the mattress and the wood panels underneath to get at the pump a challenge. YouTube provided a hint about the issue with camper water systems from a different camper and we made the leap. A frustrating issue, but a satisfying problem-solving experience for us. Hopefully, we have solved our problems for this trip.
