We left our last campsite in the Houghton/Hancock area on the Keweenaw Peninsula on Friday since the campsite was going to close down for the winter in a couple of days. We wanted to go to Door County in Wisconsin, but the campgrounds there were full until Sunday because of campers wanting to see the changing leaf colors.
In Georgia, felled trees are kept long and are stacked lengthwise from the front of the truck to the end. In Michigan, the logs are cut the length that the lumber mill wants and so can be are carried side-wise. Just an interesting difference.
We found a site at Rivers Bend Campground in Iron Mountain, Michigan, not realizing all that we were going to find.
One find was snow on the ground the first morning. Luckily the weather is supposed to be warmer as we travel.
Another find was the owner of the campground. Willie Erickson was an Olympic ski jumper in the late 1950s and early 60s. He grew up in this town and learned to jump on the ski jump in town that’s still part of competitions. The next one is in February 2019, and we’ll be watching.
On Saturday we found the Jake Menghini Museum in Norway, Michigan. From an early age Jake collected whatever items he could find. Now the town has this museum showcasing what he had stored away. The curator set it up as a small town’s boardwalk so each shop could house those items associated with it. Very clever, and it made viewing easy.
The museum was built next to a family homestead. The patriarch had created a soda pop recipe that was popular in the area but has since been lost. We were glad to see this snapshot of history since the museums in Iron Mountain were already closed for the season.
A nearby artesian spring that had opened up when miners were drilling provided some great water. It’s going to be closed up soon for the winter. Glad we got there when we did.
We did laundry and cooking while we were at the campsite to get us ready for the next week, and we’re ready to go to Wisconsin. Bye Michigan!
