Newberry Mi

The U.P. is awesome! We were on route 2 most of yesterday. Traffic was very heavy but there was a really wide shoulder. It was beautiful! The road wound along the lake shore. Often woods and wetlands on the right and great views of Lake Michigan on the left.

We had not been on the road very long when we a saw carry out pasties resturant. We stopped for our second breakfast.

We each got one of the Michigan traditional pasties. It was the resturant’s number one seller . The crust was delicious, almost like a pie crust. It was filled with ground beef and potatoes. I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy and I like food that is eaten by hand so this could be a perfect meal for me. I would want a little more spice or seasoning though. Maybe some jalapeños, onions, garlic and of course cheese! Or at least some hot sauce. They were very filling and kept us fueled up untill we reached camp.

The wind was really strong. Gust up to 25 mph. It wasn’t a headwind thankfully and we continued to make good time but between the wind and all the traffic we were ready to stop for the day around 3pm. The traffic is to be expected. It is a holiday weekend and there is really only 2 main roads. Route 2 and Route 28. But the steady stream of cars makes it impossible to relax or let your guard down. While taking a short break we checked the map for campgrounds. Hog Island State Park was only a few more miles, so we headed there. It was a small Forest Service Campground without any staff. These are set up as first come first served and rely on the honor system for payment. There is usually a secure place to put the payment. Unfortunately we only had $10 dollars of the $20 dollar fee. We stopped at the only store between us and the campground but they did not have an ATM machine. While Rose was looking online to see if there was another way to pay, I struck up a conversation with a lady traveling in a small rv. I told her what was going on and she said no problem I’ll give you guys a $10! I asked for her address so I could mail it back to her but she refused and just said pay it forward. We definitely will. Thank you so much!

With all the wind Lake Michigan resembled the ocean more than a lake. We were hot and sweaty and realy wanted to swim. But the water seemed too dangerous. We settled on only going out knee deep, sitting down and letting the waves crash over us. We were cooled off in no time.

Dinner was leftover pork chops and instant mashed sweet potatoes.

While preparing dinner we had smoked whitefish and cheese on onion crackers.

A couple more pictures from from route 2

Today we headed pretty much North. We were happy to be on roads less traveled. It was right into a brisk head wind but tomorrow according to the Windy app we will have a tail wind.

Today was beautiful weather. The high was only 63 degrees. The cooler temperatures we welcome. I told Rose when we started out today that the number one goal was to see a moose. That didn’t happen but according to this sign we are in the right place.

If you are a long time reader you might remember how badly I wanted to see a moose when I rode through Maine and New Hampshire. I never saw one then so this is like my second chance. We sure went through some areas today that looked very moose friendly. It is really real wilderness. The Upper Peninsula even has a healthy population of wolves. I guess I would rather see a few of those then moose. Maybe I’ll be super lucky and see a big old moose fend of a pack of wolves.