Day 13 – Sunday, May 25, 2014

Madeline Island, Wisconsin to Iron Mountain, Michigan – 224 miles

We vacated our campsite at Big Bay State Park at about 7:30.  The weather was clear and the temperature in the low 60’s – it looked like we were finally back in temperate weather.  There was no dump station at the state park, so we had to go down to what  is I guess the one and only RV dump station on the island, oddly located at the airport.  So it was 8:15 by the time we got to the ferry landing, in plenty of time to make the 8:30 ferry to the mainland.  But we goofed – the ferry left at 8:00, so we had to wait for the next one at 9:15.  We passed the time watching one of the smaller ferries play icebreaker in the harbor since the wind had shifted overnight and all the ice that had been floating out in the bay had blown against the shore on this side of the island.

Because we had skipped breakfast before leaving the campsite in order to get away early, our first stop in Bayfield – the town where the mainland ferry dock is located – was at the Egg Stop, a breakfast café that someone had recommended.  We had a huge breakfast – huevos rancheros for me and the “special” egg and sausage muffin with a really big serving of hash browns for Jeanette.  Needless to say, we skipped lunch today after that overindulgence.

After breakfast, we walked around town and did a little shopping, then got on the road about noon.  After leaving the shores of Lake Superior, we traveled through the north woods of Wisconsin – Paul Bunyon country.  The deep, dense woods of yore are long gone, logged over years ago.  What’s left now is all smaller second or third growth pine mixed with birch and a few other hardwood species I couldn’t identify (note to self: gotta get a good tree book).  We steadily climbed in elevation from just under 700 feet at Lake Superior to a maximum of almost sixteen hundred feet, driving through gently rolling hills.  We entered the land of lakes – big lakes, small lakes, mere ponds, and wide rivers, all packed with boats on this Memorial Day weekend.  Most of the small towns we passed through had their streets lined with American flags in honor of the holiday.  This is really the first weekend of decent weather in this part of the world, and people were out in droves.  It was good to see all the families out together, and good to see people in shorts and T-shirts instead of bundled up in sweaters and jackets.  On a side note, when we were on Madeline Island, it was cool enough along the waterfront to need a jacket even at mid-day, but if you walked inland only a block, it was short-sleeve weather, at least yesterday.

We reached Iron Mountain, Michigan about 4:30 this afternoon, and checked into a crowded, but pleasant commercial RV park.  Again, it is full of families, with kids running all around while groups of parents sit in circled lawn chairs around campfires.  A true modern day American scene.

 

"Icebreaking" ferry at Madeline Island.

Approaching Bayfield, the mainland ferry terminus.