Arriving St. Ignace (7/20/2015)

Today is a travel day, so we were up and on the move.  We had to drive across the road to the dump station, but once we all got our tanks dumped (Joe got a little shower as he was putting our hose up), we were on the road just before 9:00.  We took Hwy 31 to where it joins I-75 just below Mackinaw City, and got in line to cross the Mighty Mackinac bridge.   "The bridge connects Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. Mackinaw City is located at the south end of the bridge. St. Ignace is located at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge." The bridge is 5 miles long.  As stated in this information I found, this bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere.  And it cost us $14.00 to cross it!

"The Mackinac Bridge is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan became the longest with a total suspension of 12,826 feet. The Great Belt Bridge in Halsskov-Sprogoe, Denmark, which also opened in 1998, is the second longest suspension bridge in the world with a total suspension of 8,921 feet. The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet. The length of the suspension bridge (including anchorages) is 8,614 feet. The length from cable bent pier to cable bent pier is 7,400 feet. Length of main span (between towers) is 3,800 feet.

So we have Lake Huron on the right and Lake Michigan on the left as we cross the bridge.  The lakes are both beautiful, turquoise water.  We spotted one of the ferry boats on its way back from Mackinac Island, and another jet boat that was throwing up a rooster tail. 

We could see an island, what we assume to be Mackinac Island, in the distance.  We will be touring it tomorrow.

As we got through the toll booth (and paid our $14.00), we saw this "welcome" sign.  So we have now officially arrived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

It was a short day today. Our route today took us through miles and miles of cherry groves.  It was all I could do to keep Joe from stopping to pick some, and any time we saw a sign for "fresh cherries," he thought we should stop.  He finally stopped at a rest stop and got out the rest of his cherries that he had bought yesterday.  He and Collins finished them off while we were stopped here.  But I think we had driven out of the cherry country by then, so now he is out of cherries again.

We drove 130 miles, we were off the road by 12:30, and set up in camp by 1:00.  It takes about a half hour to get checked in the campground, find the campsite, and get leveled, the electric and water hooked up, the slides out, etc.  The Brundiges were given a campsite next to us but it only had 20 amp electricity, so they ended up moving over one space -- all that took an hour or so.  Then David was off to the laundry.  But Joe and I took the afternoon off.  Joe took a long nap, still catching up from yesterday's dune-hiking.  And I spent the afternoon reading a book.  I dozed off briefly but woke myself up when I snored so I just resumed my reading.  It had been a nice day, sunny but windy.  In fact, the bridge had a sign restricting RVs to 20 mph because of the wind.  And not too long after we got set up, it started sprinkling, then rained hard for a few minutes.  That went on for a couple of hours, but it cleared back off by evening.

Since it is our last night together for a while -- Collins and Marilyn are taking off tomorrow for their Canadian stomping grounds to visit for a week or so before we get there -- we went into town for dinner.  Then we drove around, checking out the ferry schedules and looking over the town of St. Ignace.  We are looking forward to seeing Mackinac Island, having heard about it for many, many years.  And Mazie and I still need to stick our toes in Lake Huron.