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What we saw of the beach was not overly inviting. Near one picnic area is a public entrance to the lake. The lake here is a little rocky, and the swimming area didn't seem very large - and we were the only ones swimming at the time. For some reason, campers or swimmers feel the need to drag picnic tables into the water at this spot, which also deteriorated our view of the swimming hole. If you are accustomed to sandy, wide beaches, Calumet County Park is not your first choice. But, it was clean and nice and overall, a very pleasant place to camp. Most of the sites we saw were huge, especially when compared to those in Michigan State Parks. An added benefit was a nearby bar/restaurant. The food there was good, plus the owner filled us in on what we had missed of "Survivor" the night before. Our memories of the area are very pleasant, even considering huge lightning/rain storms our first two nights there. We got so much rain, one camping neighbor joked about seeing an ark. The grounds handled it well, though, and standing water was not the problem it could have been, considering the downpours we got.

Lake Winnebago is quite a large lake, and may be one of the few with lighthouses on it. There are three listed on the lake, but at least one is privately owned. The lighthouse at Fon du Lac is part of a public park, and is open to walk up. We had a pleasant lunch at a nearby A&W, then toured the lighthouse area for a half hour, before continuing our drive around the lake. If my memory serves me, it is about 8 miles long, and 3 or 4 miles wide at some spots. We spent a lazy day exploring a little, and generally taking it easy. Our time at the campground was most restful and enjoyable. We did take a day to tour the Wisconsin Dells, and parts of Door County, but those are stories to come.

Like many tourist traps, the town doesn't handle traffic especially well. We were there on a beautiful summer day, and the town seemed very crowded. One of the bus drivers who transported us between tour stops said the town was a little less crowded than usual. Still, the traffic was bumper to bumper through most of the downtown area. I guess what caught us by surprise was the fact that only a mile or two out of town, there was no traffic to speak of.

We were only slightly prepared for what we found there. As we were getting into town, we saw a number of tourist guide booths. We decided to check one out. I think most of them are set up to sell the tourists different package plans for the attractions. So exactly what are the attractions? Originally, the Dells was simply a wide spot in the Wisconsin River, with some interesting rock formations. It started, for the Europeans who settled there, as primarily a lumbering center. As the area grew, inns and taverns developed, and more settlers came. One such settler was H. H. Bennett. As a carpenter turned photographer, it was his pictures that opened the eyes of America to the wonders of the Dells. Depending on your point of view, the natural beauty has either been exploited by those who followed, or opened up for all to see. Today there are boat trips to take on both the upper Dells (above the dam) or the lower Dells (below the dam). But don't think the attractions stop with nature. The booth we stopped at had arrangements with 50 or more sites to see, including water parks, amusement parks, go kart tracks, thrill shows, a variety of museums... you get the point. We were confused with all the possibilities, but figured we were there primarily for the river, so we took boat tours on the upper and lower Dells, and signed up for time at a combination amusement/water park. With three you don't get egg roll, but you do get a small discount. I think Deb and I paid less than $50 apiece for about 6 hours of entertainment. The prices didn't seem outrageous, although the amusement park was a disappointment.

Both the upper Dells boat tour and the lower Dells Duck Tour focus on nature. The upper Dells has several neat sights to see. The most famous might be Stand Rock, where photographer Bennett was one of the first to capture live action in a still photograph. I'm not sure I would have used my son as a guinea pig for the jump between rock formations, but Bennett did: 18 times! Finally he captured his son on film, in mid air, 40 or 50 feet above the surrounding land. Tourists are encouraged to try to recapture the event as a trained German Shepherd leaps back and forth. I wasn't quick enough, but I do have pictures of the dog on both sides! Another impressive sight is Witches' Gulch. It is a narrow canyon with beautiful views. Even this is a bit touristy, as you are dropped off to walk up the canyon, to a combination gift shop/snack bar. The walk was cool and refreshing on the hot summer day we took our tour. The upper Dells boat tours are conducted mostly on ferries with 2 levels, the upper level being open-air. I am sure the area is fantastic during the fall color season, but even in mid summer it was truly beautiful. ,p> We opted for the "Duck" tour of the lower Dells. For those not familiar with the vehicles, the ducks used in the Dells are former military amphibious vehicles. You can see them driving around the town some, but most are stationed near the dam, where the lower Dells begin. They have an elaborate set-up to load the tourists in, and they send out one Duck after another, each holding around 30 riders. The ride is combination history/nature/water/roller coaster/boat tour. You may get wet a little, but I think the driver can control this somewhat. He gave us the option of how wet we wanted to get at one water entry point. But, how do you get 30 passengers to agree on anything? He took it pretty easy on us as we went in fairly slowly that time. Other entries were all slow enough that only a slight splash occurred. The Duck tour has stone formations to see, like "Hawk's Beak" and others. There is a Fern Gully to go through, and other forests to enjoy, complete with wandering deer. Some time is spent on Lake Delton, a small lake formed by damming a creek leading to the Wisconsin River. Our driver let kids drive the duck as we cruised the lake for 15 minutes or so. There are historical buildings to see, and old statues brought up from Chicago to view, too. Because of the variety or terrain (hey, it is an amphibian), we enjoyed this trip a little more than the upper Dells boat tour. If you can only do one, choose the upper Dells for scenery, the lower Dells for variety and excitement.

Our third part of the package was pretty disappointing. The salesperson booking the trips didn't tell us that the water park was scheduled to close at 6. When we got into the park, we were fortunate to be able to ride the water rides until 7, due to the number of people there. We could have only gotten one water ride in had they closed the water park on schedule. The amusement park was a little hokey, too. They had one small roller coaster type ride, one adult go-kart track, several kiddie rides, and not much else. It is probably just as well, though, because by that time we were pretty tired. My sweet wife was kind enough to wait in line with me (more than 30 minutes) to ride the go-karts. All the while I was wishing we had signed up for the park across the road. It looked like it had 10 or 20 different go-kart tracks, some of them looking more like roller coasters than go-kart tracks. If you are going to go to the Wisconsin Dells, take some time to pick out the tours you want to go on. There is an awful lot to see. I am not sure you could take years to see it all, like they claim for the Washington, DC area, but you could spend a good part of a week there, even more if you are into that type of tourist mecca.

Being lighthouse fans, we really wanted to see a bunch of them on this trip. Door County, Wisconsin, bills itself as the lighthouse capital of the U.S., perhaps the world. As a peninsula sticking out into Lake Michigan, it has lighthouses all around it. It also boasts several extremely popular State Parks. I tried to reserve in the county on-line, but all parks were booked in Door County. The closest I could reserve was High Cliffs State Park, on Lake Winnebago. Even that didn't work out, as detailed in an earlier article. We camped about an hour from Door County, and hoped to make a couple of side trips to explore the area. Sadly, only one trip was completed.

The drive into Door County reminded me somewhat of trips around Michigan. We have the "little finger" peninsula of Leelanau County. There is also the "Thumb" near where we live. Another famous peninsula in Michigan is the Keweenaw Peninsula. Door County reminded me most of Leelanau County in Michigan. Being fairly narrow, you get many views of Lake Michigan or the nearby bay, in this case Green Bay. The terrain and climate are similar to Leelanau County as well. That seems logical, since the Michigan county is almost directly east of Door County, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin area seems a bit more ready to handle the tourist, however, as most small towns had some type of museum or other attraction.

We eventually made it about half way up the peninsula to the town of Sturgeon Bay. The bay is actually an inlet off from Green Bay, and was extended by canal to reach Lake Michigan. In essence, the northern half of Door County is now an island, as the Sturgeon Bay ship canal cuts across the middle of the county. We spent a pleasant hour or so touring the maritime museum in Sturgeon Bay. We were about to leave when it was announced over the speakers in the museum that a tour of Sturgeon Bay was leaving in about 15 minutes. We were interested enough to check it out, and signed up, for $20 each.

The trip consisted of a tour of the Sturgeon Bay ship canal, lasting almost 2 hours. It was aboard the Fred A. Busie, a retired Chicago fireboat. The Busie has been refitted to accommodate tourist seats, with all but one water canon removed. The galley served pizza, beer, and other essentials for a short trip. The captain/tour guide, along with his deck hand/galley master, kept us informed and comfortable. As we headed west, we passed under the Sturgeon Bay drawbridge. This bridge opens hourly for ship traffic. Those boats that do not time their passing correctly have to wait most of an hour until the next opening. The Busie continued westward for most of 30 minutes, almost long enough to see the lighthouse at Eagle Bluff. Our picture of the area shows the lighthouse as a speck, in the middle of a bunch of trees. We had to go back, though, in order to catch the next bridge opening. Travelling eastward, the next half-hour was obviously repetitious, though pleasant enough. Once we went under the bridge, the captain again noted the points of interest, including developing marinas and new homesites. The area does not seem to suffer from the over-development which parts of Michigan have. The eastward portion is mostly the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. Here we got considerably closer to the lighthouses. We also got a decent photo of the North Pierhead lighthouse on the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. Both of these lights are part of a Coast Guard station, and are technically not open to the public.

For a change, I didn't get lost as we made our way from our Calumet County camp beside Lake Winnebago north to Michigan's upper peninsula. We might have stayed on course because I had just made about half the trip a day or two earlier when we visited Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Then again, using US 141 from Green Bay to Crystal Falls, it almost seems like you are lost, as you go from Wisconsin to Michigan, to Wisconsin, and back to Michigan again. It's a good thing Deb isn't a minor, because I could have gotten locked up for transporting a minor across state lines three times in two hours if she was. For the most part, the trip into upper Michigan was uneventful, though we did run into some construction and rain delays for a short time. We had a pleasant lunch in Iron Mountain, Michigan after traversing the state line the first time. We then crossed the lines twice more, as noted above.

Our main objective was Copper Harbor, specifically Fort Wilkins State Park. On the way through Houghton, however, we stopped to check out Isle Royale National Park headquarters. We had thoughts of making a day trip to the island. We knew the lodge was fully booked for the time we were in the area, and we knew we were not prepared for the rustic camping allowed there, but we hoped to explore a little bit. When we learned the ferry would cost more than we planned (I think it was $80/person round trip), and we knew we would only have a little time on the island, we scrubbed that trip. In the course of talking with the ranger, we mentioned that we were camping at Fort Wilkins. His comment was something like, "Fort Wilkins, they have bear problems up there..." It was not exactly what we wanted to here. We drove on, because that's where we had our reservations. We drove on with a whole new set of reservations, though.

The drive from Houghton to Copper Harbor can take at least 3 routes. I chose to use the westernmost route, state route 26, because it went close to the Lake Superior shore. I figured it would be the most scenic, and we would see the most lighthouses. Before the state route splits off from US 41, you get to go through a stretch of 7 or 8 small towns, in about 10 miles. One town after another, none of them large enough to be a burg, let alone to have suburbs. You have to wonder if no one gets along with anyone else up there, 'cuz it seems like it should be one small town instead of a ton of tiny ones.

After the state route split west, there were only a few small towns. Eagle River comes first. It is situated where the Eagle River enters Lake Superior (I wonder how they came up with the name?). A few miles up the road is Eagle Harbor. Both have lighthouses, and both are about 200 miles north of Eagle Bluff lighthouse in Wisconsin. We didn't see any eagles. Then again, we were still looking for bear.

At the Fort Wilkins State Park campground, I expressed our concerns about bear. One campground ranger blamed the bear scare on campers who purposely baited the bears. She said there were some tourists who wanted to see bear, so they left food out for them on their campsites. She warned us to keep no food in our tents, even inside coolers. She also warned us to lock our vehicles. Apparently these bears are smart enough to open coolers and car doors. Thankfully, they haven't learned how to pick locks. When we were setting up camp, I felt considerably safer. We had campers all around us, and it didn't seem likely that Yogi or BooBoo would be visiting our subdivision/campground. My worries were only slightly lessened when I heard camp staff mention that the trash was picked up every night from the dumpsters about 3 sites away. This is to discourage bears from showing up.

We stayed up a little past dark, like we usually do when we are camping. We went to bed only slightly anxious of visitors. Sometime around midnight, the neighbor's light turned on. I think he had a motion sensor. A couple of dogs were barking in the park. Deb and I were awakened immediately, though we didn't say a word to each other. With the neighbor's light on, I could see what looked to be the shadow of a bear, hunched over, by the front of our tent. Deb said she heard sounds of something brushing against our tent doors, repeatedly. I didn't hear anything, but men hear what they want to hear, don't they? I was trying to figure out how to get us out of the tent and into our locked van as quickly as possible, all the while being too scared to move. I was praying pretty quickly, though, and I guess He heard. I am not sure if it was a bear, it could have been a raccoon or skunk with the right lighting to expand the shadow. Whatever it was, it left without really bothering us, other than the good scare. I am thankful to Coleman for their tent designs. We have a door that closes completely with three zippers. We also have an outer flap that only has a vertical zipper, leaving the horizontal loose. Deb is pretty sure she heard something rubbing the outer flap up and down. It wouldn't open, because it needs to be held down with another hand (or paw?). Maybe some people at Coleman had similar experiences? Then again, if they had, would they have lived to fix the problem for the next campers? Then again and again, maybe we were worried about nothing.

The next day we explored the town of Copper Harbor a little. We took the boat trip from the town's marina to the peninsula to see the Copper Harbor lighthouse. The tour is run by the state park service. I believe the cost was $11/person for a two hour trip. On the lighthouse property you can tour the keeper's house. It has several historical items, and is more like a museum than a home. There is a ranger who lives there, though, if I remember correctly. The original lighthouse has been replaced by a metal structure which is still in service. The ranger/tour guide told us about the lighthouse history and showed us some copper boulders still in the area. It was a very enjoyable trip, even though the weather was questionable. The ranger/tour guide was planning to cancel the next tour because weather reports predicted a squall to be coming through the area shortly after we got back. We returned safely, and a summer storm did blow through, right on schedule.

The start of the scenic drive by Copper Harbor is narrow and hilly. Within 3 miles there is a scenic turnout, where we took the pictures. At Fort Wilkins State Park, just north of Copper Harbor, one of the presenters during a show mentioned that most of the lakes on the peninsula had been named for wives or sweethearts of fort personnel, in the mid-1800's. All the lakes have reverted back to more natural, native names, except Lake Fannie Hooe. That must have been one special Fannie!

Continuing south and west on the drive, you come to another scenic spot. This one is larger, with restrooms and a gift shop. From here you can see Lake Superior west of the Keweenaw peninsula and Keweenaw Bay east of the peninsula.

While we were there, we decided to check out the gift shop. It is in a small (14'x60') trailer, right on top of the mountain. We were inside when a brief storm came up, bringing rain and more wind. The trailer was being shaken by the wind, and the rain was pelting the building quite noisily. We shopped until the rain quit, then got back in our van to continue on. I proved my mettle, however, when I insisted we return to the gift shop. The wind hadn't let up enough to have me feel comfortable driving around a mountain I didn't know, and possibly being blown off a cliff somewhere. We left after another 15 minutes or so, returning to Copper Harbor and the safety of our campground. At least there we only had bears to worry about.

The nicest part of this little trip is the expense. It is a public road, and the only cost to us was for gifts in the gift shop. If I remember correctly, there are picnic sites along the way, and lunch could be picnic style, and cheap, as well.

There are a lot of other things to do in the Keweenaw Peninsula. We took a tour of the Delaware Mine, an abandoned copper mine opened only for tours. It was interesting and pleasant. It was less than $10 per person for a tour of the grounds and mine, lasting about 90 minutes. There are lots of museums in Calumet, Houghton, and Hancock to see, as well as other mines to tour and visit. The Keweenaw has been named a National Historic Park, with various businesses contributing to the historical tours and sites. If you want to go there just for the nature, it is a beautiful place. If you want to see historical sites, it has its share. It truly is a special part of Michigan.

Just driving the state route to Copper Harbor will get you within sight of at least two lighthouses. Eagle River and Eagle Harbor are on state route 26, and their lighthouses are just off the main road. We got nice pictures of them. While we were in Eagle River, we happened to stop in to a little general store for ice cream cones. By chance, we ran into a former secretary from my school system. She and her husband had just purchased a B&B in the area. More than 500 miles from home, we still ran into people we knew, small world.

We had plenty to do at Fort Wilkins State Park, had we been planning on staying there. They have shows almost every night at the fort, which is part of the campgrounds. We did see a couple of those. One was put on by students, mostly from Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech. It had the students in costume, portraying various people from the time the fort was in operation, shortly after the Civil War. A second show was led by a naturalist from the area. He spoke of winters in the area. It didn't sound like something that I wanted to experience first hand. In fact, there is a marker on the peninsula marking what they call the snow capital of the Midwest. At the spot they have a display noting the 32 FEET of snow the area got a few years back. That is a bit too much for me. The state park also had fishing and swimming in the adjoining lake, Lake Fannie Hooe. We didn't bring the proper gear to enjoy this thoroughly, so we passed on all but the fort tours and shows.

Deb and I planned one day for seeing area lighthouses. I had thoughts of driving to Ontonagan. I knew we could see Lake of the Clouds, as well as the lighthouse in the area, and perhaps more on the way. When we figured out how long we would be driving, we made alternate plans. The drive would hopefully only be half a day. We, of course, didn't plan in all my normal side trips.

Leaving Copper Harbor, we took US 41 south. As I said in an earlier article, there are at least 3 routes to Copper Harbor from the southern part of the peninsula. US 41 is a truly American road, going through eight states on its way to Miami, Florida. We had been to the southernmost end on our way to Key West, two years earlier. We drove to the northernmost end while we stayed at Fort Wilkins. It ended about 1 mile north of the park, in a woods. There was a dirt track which headed even farther north, but we were warned against driving it with our van. Apparently 4-wheel drives can handle it, but others get pulled out regularly. They either get stuck or break something in their drive shaft.

The drive to F.J. McLain State Park was very pleasant. This is one of about 7 Michigan state parks on or very close to Lake Superior. McLain is special because it has a lighthouse, the first of several we saw that day. Not far from F. J. McLain State Park is the start of the Keweenaw Waterway. Like the Sturgeon Bay ship canal in Wisconsin, it is a man-made canal designed to cut shipping time on the Great Lakes. At the northern end of the waterway we saw the Upper Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse. The wind and waves discouraged us from walking close on the adjoining breakwater. It is about a half-hour drive from here to the towns of Houghton and Hancock. They were once mining towns, and today there have museums and schools which focuses on mining and engineering, such as Michigan Tech.

The trip was then supposed to parallel the waterway south and east to the end of the Keweenaw Bay. We looked for the lighthouse here, but only found a county park with a pier on the south side of the waterway. The picture we took of the Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse from the southern part of the waterway was too far away to be used. I gave up trying to find the lighthouse I thought was on the southern part of the bay. We returned to Houghton, determined to find the lighthouse we knew to be on the northern part of the waterway.

Trying to find the town of Jacobsville is a bit difficult. We asked for directions at an area corner store, and they led us in the right direction. The real problem is, the town of Jacobsville didn't appear to exist, at least we didn't find any town to speak of. We did find another county park, and the best access to the Keweenaw Upper Entrance Light. That is where we took our best picture of it. after walking about 50 yards out on the breakwater. The lighthouse we were looking for south of the waterway was actually on the northern shore. The wind was splashing waves upon the walkway, so I wimped out, laid down, and Deb shot the picture. If the wind had been less, you could walk pretty easily out to the lighthouse, even though the book we used said this lighthouse is inaccessible. The book actually says the lighthouse can be viewed from the south side of the waterway, which it can, but the best access is from the north.

The book also led us astray on the top lighthouse, the one known as the Portage River, or Jacobsville, lighthouse. We drove around a bit until we got close to it. A neighbor working in his yard gave us good directions to find it. The neighbor also pointed out that the lighthouse is on a public road, so you can drive up to it to take pictures, without bothering the owners. The book said the lighthouse was privately owned, and the owners wouldn't want to be bothered. I don't think we bothered anyone as we shot our picture from a public road, then drove on.

I have taken some pot shots at the book I used to locate most of the lighthouses we saw on this vacation. We actually shopped quite a bit before picking that book. Copper Harbor had several stores with lighthouse books, so we had plenty to choose from. We picked the one we used because it had lots of photos, and because it had a check-off spot with place for date to note the lighthouses you visit. If I had read more thoroughly, I would have noticed that the author did not try to visit every lighthouse, and admitted that he might be incorrect in some aspects. Upon more thorough reading, I found several lighthouses he didn't comment on at all, and I have found a couple of lighthouses not even mentioned in the book that do exist. I guess the purpose of this last paragraph is to warn the buyer to beware, as always. What you see may not be what you want.

Monday morning, at 9 a.m., we went back to the store where we signed up, but it wasn't open. It seems they like to sleep in a bit, or take it nice and easy, like they are on vacation or something. After waiting about 15 minutes, other tourists showed up to take the trip with us. The naturalist showed up next, asking us if we had everything we needed, like water and snacks and such. If he had told us about it when we signed up, we would have been prepared. We quickly ran (as quickly as a 50-year-old fat guy can run) to a nearby store, and we were ready to go before the last of the travelers arrived. Our guide then proceeded to drive us southwest out of Copper Harbor on US 41, then southeast on a county road, and finally on an old logging trail to the northwest coast of Keweenaw Bay. We ended on a property once known as Smith Fisheries. By this time we had been on the road for most of an hour, so we stretched our legs a bit before the hike began. We went down to the old pier, looked into the old fish house, and generally nosed around before starting out on the hike.

We were led past the nice vacation home on the property (complete with newly built sauna) onto another logging trail. We paralleled the coast of the bay for about 15 minutes, until the logging trail fizzled out. Supposedly we were then on an old hiking trail, though there were a good many times we felt like we were blazing the trail. All the time we were walking beside Lake Superior's Keweenaw Bay. Mostly we were 20 feet or more above the water, on a small cliff. There were trees all around us, but surprisingly little wildlife. We heard some birds, but mostly it was the wind or the waves making noise. We saw some evidence of deer and bear around, but not even a lot of that. There weren't even many mosquitoes out. My wife, Deb, was bothered by them some, but she’s a lot sweeter than I am.

After about 45 minutes of hiking, we made it to the lower falls on the Montreal River. Our guide had worried that there might not be much water going over them, because the summer had been so dry. He did say, though, that this river usually has a good supply of water, no matter what the weather. It did have a nice flow and a picturesque waterfall. The Montreal River empties into Lake Superior at this point, and a small, rocky beach is nearby. We spent 30 minutes or so looking for rocks, getting our pictures, and generally playing tourist. The naturalist had lots to say of the beach stones, the area, and the history. By now it was getting close to noon, and he let us make the decision: move on to the middle falls, or return. All six hikers opted to move on, since he said the middle falls were 10 to 15 minutes up the hill.

Thirty minutes later, we found the middle falls. I do mean found the falls, since the trail was by no means clear, and the only real guide was the river on our right. Once the falls were found, we played tourist again with pictures and exploring a bit, and got to make another choice: press on to the upper falls (another 10 or 15 minutes further?) or return. We again opted to hike on.

Forty-five minutes later we again found the falls we were looking for. Each waterfall is relatively small, but pleasant. The hike was actually quite pleasant as well, especially since I got to spend time with my beautiful wife. The guide knew tons of stuff about the plant life, the wildlife, the geology, and the history. The only real problem was the planning.

By the time we got to the third waterfalls, it was close to 3. Naturally we didn't spend a whole lot of time there, since we knew we had a two-hour hike back to the vehicle. On the way back, the youngest couple trekked off on their own; we didn't see them until the end. The guide, the mother-daughter pair, my wife, and myself were considerable slower. The trip might have actually been done in the time limits suggested by the guide, had we all been in our teens or twenties. Our guide had had knee surgery a year earlier, and this was his first trek of any length since the surgery. The mother in the mother-daughter combination also had knee problems, and slowed the party down considerably. She also fell on the way back, giving us all another scare. No one was looking forward to carrying anyone out from the wilderness.

Once back to the vehicle, the guide drove us out on the logging trail, then took another side trip past a county park that was quite popular. That was almost the highlight of the trip, since on the turnaround we got to see a lighthouse that we probably would have missed. I actually paid enough attention to the directions to find the lighthouse again before we left the area. By then it was getting close to 6 in the evening, so we were all anxious to return. No one had even packed a lunch, since we had been led to believe it would be a half day tour.

The tour we thought we signed up for should have been about 20 dollars each. The tour we took probably should have been 50 apiece. The guide didn't really give us a set price, so we paid him $60, figuring the longer trip wasn't totally our fault or our choice. The other couples also fudged a bit on the price, too, I believe. All in all, it was a beautiful day with Deb, even though the hike was a bit trying and difficult at times. If I had a 4-wheel drive (or an old van I didn't care about, like the guide did) and a little more confidence in finding the logging trail, I would be willing to give it a go again. This time, though, I would be better prepared to really enjoy the hike.

The trip across the Michigan was almost more excitement than we had planned. Someone forgot to tell the deer in the state to sleep in as well. We saw a dozen or more, several close enough to the road to be a hazard. I know camping is supposed to be roughing it, but it seems a bit too rough to scrape off road kill before the trip really gets started. Luckily, we dodged Bambi, his parents, and all his siblings.

We left early enough that we arrived in Ludington almost an hour before the car ferry was to take off. New problem: there was no ferry at the dock. The Lake Michigan CarFerry Company has their schedule down pat, though, and the ferry arrived from Manitowac, Wisconsin in good time. When making our reservation, I mistakenly thought it would be a rather small car ferry like I had seen in other parts of the state. I worried that it couldn't hold our full size Ford van. I made an extra call to the car ferry company to confirm it could handle our "big rig." When the first vehicles off the incoming ferry were an 18 wheeler and a double-decker tour bus, I guessed that I had sounded a little ridiculous with my worries. Oh well, live and learn.

The Badger is actually the size of a small cruise ship, specially fitted to load and carry cars, trucks, busses, passengers... pretty much everything. We had been offered the chance to book a "stateroom" with our reservation, but declined at first. Once on the ship, though, we were tired enough that we thought a bed would be nice. Thankfully, there were still some available to book. I would recommend to anyone considering this trip to book early, including a stateroom if you are at all considering it. We were just lucky one was open. Though it was small, we did catch a couple of hours of sleep, and it made the rest of the day much more pleasant. The alternative is sleeping in chairs in one of several common rooms throughout the ship. I think our room, though tiny, was more comfortable.

We stayed awake long enough to take photos of Ludington as we left. Very shortly after we took a picture of the Ludington North Pierhead Lighthouse. We took one of the lighthouse at Manitowoc as well. The lighthouse pictures don't appear impressive, because we were looking down from a ship about 5 stories tall. Somehow the lighthouses dwarfed in size. We figured that we only saved an hour or two by taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. Had we lived closer to Ludington, or been planning on staying closer to Manitowoc, the time savings would have been greater. We went more for the adventure, to be able to say, "been there, done that." We were happy enough with the crossing to consider doing it again. Then again, we had a beautiful day to cross in mid summer, with little or no waves or wind. I am sure there are times when the weather isn't nearly so cooperative, but the company brags of having had no loss of life in many years of crossings.

Calumet County Park is a very nice campground, with large sites and electricity, and pleasant views. I hope to tell you more about the trip with my next free form entry. > Read Less

On the way, we continued to see how often I could get lost looking for lighthouses. The first lighthouse pictured was not even listed in our lighthouse book. The L'Anse Indian Country Sports Lighthouse is a homemade lighthouse which has been approved by the Coast Guard. The owner once had his business nearby, but wanted to rebuild. He had always said (to himself or others, I'm not sure) that when he did rebuild, it would include a lighthouse. He did exactly that, and was quite eager to show us around. We got pictures of the light and of the view from the tower. It did help that he didn't have any customers in his store at the time. We were quite impressed with his friendliness and ingenuity. He also gave us directions to the second lighthouse pictured, which was nearby.

The Sand Point lighthouse is also privately owned, but on a public road. If my memory serves me correctly, there was a state our county office nearby that also helped us find the place. I can use all the help I can get!

The Marquette Harbor Lighthouse is a bit easier to find. It reminds me of the lighthouse called "Big Red" on Lake Michigan, the one in Holland harbor. It, unfortunately, is also privately owned, and the access is blocked by Coast Guard property. Apparently the owners have been bothered enough by us lighthouse fanatics, for the access drive has signs making it clear that the area is private. The beach isn't totally private, though, which is where we got our photos.

The final lighthouse picture is from the Grand Harbor range light system. It is fairly easy to find if you don't drive too fast on M28 between Christmas and Munising. It sure is a good thing I have an understanding and patient wife, because we passed a couple of times before we actually got the pictures. There is another light in the system, but it was not quite as noticable. The Munising area has several different lighthouses and range lights, not all of which we were able to capture on film. I do have another lighthouse on the next segment (Munising, Michigan), along with some pictures of Munising falls. (Just thought I'd give you something to look forward to!)