Leaving Michigan

 8-31-2021 Tuesday

After much debate last night between the 4 of us, we finally determined that yesterday was Monday, so today must be Tuesday.  It was 55 degrees this morning, I had to turn the a/c off during the night.  And it was lovely outside this morning when we walked down to the Brundiges’ RV say our goodbyes.

Joe talked to a guy yesterday at a propane dealer in town and he told Joe if he brought the RV in by 9:30, he could fill our tank from one of the trucks, so we left the casino parking lot about 8.:45, regretfully turning down Marilyn’s offer to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We got the propane tank filled and were officially on the road by 9:10.  The Brundiges got on the road about 10:00, but they were just going to Ishpeming, about 60 miles, to have their electrical problem looked at.  We didn't know where we were going.

Driving through northwest Michigan and into Wisconsin, we mostly saw trees.  I know Minnesota is famous for it's North Woods, but I'm thinking this qualifies too.  Very dense trees, few towns and few houses.  Here's our view from the window.

It was an uneventful drive.  We crossed the Wisconsin state line at 10:55, the temperature got into the mid-70s eventually.   We pulled into one roadside park for a pitstop and walked around a little, these "waysides" are very nice in this part of the country.  We looked for one for our lunch stop but missed it, so we pulled in behind a church and took a break, and had lunch.  At this time, (1:25 p.m.), we had driven 192 miles, so we were making pretty good time.  And then we gained an hour, so it got even better.  Then we continued on.  

One of the sights we saw was Old Smoky, in Ladysmith, Wisconsin.  It is right beside the highway.

"Steam locomotive 1011 was donated to the City of Ladysmith by the Soo Line Railroad in 1961. The 2-8-2 "Mikado" locomotive was built in May 1920 by the American Locomotive Co. at its Brooks plant in Dunkirk, N.Y. It was the first of 23 Class L-2 and L-20 engines built for the Soo Line. The locomotive and tender are 82.5 feet long and weigh 493,100 pounds. Tender 4003 held 10,000 gallons of water and 17.5 tons of coal. It was hand-fired until a stoker was installed in 1939. It has 63-inch driving wheels and operated under 170 psi of steam pressure. It has its original wooden cab. Used in mainline freight service, it made its last run on Jan. 18, 1955 after traveling 1,496,191 miles. It was named Old Smokey by the school children, who raised money to defray the cost of installation."  We didn't stop to tour it, but we probably should have.

Another interesting tidbit today was we passed a large Jennie-O turkey processing plant in Barron, Wisconsin (also right beside our highway).  There was a sign posted on the building offering $5,000 in sign-on bonus.  Hope some people get off their behinds and go get a job!  Thanksgiving is coming.

We got to our campground about 4:00 (5:00 eastern time).  Our roads today have varied between excellent and needs improvement.  We drove 288 miles, and are about 20 miles from the Minnesota state line.  Our campground, called D  N Campground for Do Nothin, is nothing special, a lot of seasonal or permanent units in here, but the price and location were right.

The bridge is out just past the driveway to the campground, which had me worried.  But we are parked right on the Apple River, which is nice.

We have seen several "bigfoots" this summer, but none have been dressed as nicely as this one in the campground.

Joe was pretty tired today so we went for an early dinner and hopefully an early evening.  We drove over to the town of Amery, had a nice dinner, but that little town is also torn up from road construction.  On our way back, we continued out on the main road past our turn-off on to the little town of Balsam Lake, maybe 10 more miles.  It is a very nice little lake town, right on Balsam Lake, well kept.   The lake is pretty, and pretty clear.

And there were some interesting sights here too.  The local landscaping company had an old truck parked out front, the bed full of flowers, but a cool fountain pouring out of the grill in the front. (I missed the fountain, so Joe had to turn around and take me back to see it.)

The truck was parked on a bed of river rocks, and there were more rocks along the outside edge, which I could have spent some time sorting through, but Joe wouldn't let me.  He told me he was sure they would sell me some.

Another sight we had passed on the way into town is this "Moose Theatre" where apparently at some point in time they had some kind of musical performance here.  With a band.  Not sure what the critters have to do with it, but it was eye-catching.  And probably the only moose we will see this trip.

Just a few feet down the road was this "mosquito" work of art.

and this, which I guess is just to get our attention.  (It worked.)

We finally ended our drive, and our day.  We did see some wildlife today:  Joe saw a baby turtle in the road (I missed it); a big rat or mole started to cross the road and Joe honked at it and scared it back into the bushes, 4 deer, 2 sandhill cranes, and a chipmunk.  Things are looking up again.

We hope to get across Minnesota tomorrow, then maybe have a "down day."  We are now planning one day at a time.  Might be time to think about heading for home.