July 29, 2008 - Michigan

Note that photographs from Michigan are not completely loaded at this point.

I stayed in Romulus, MI which is near Detroit. Most of the day was spent driving up to the Mackinac Bridge which connects Michigan's Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula. I wanted to get there while it was still daylight in order to swim in Lake Huron.

But, I did stop once in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. I visited the Cross in the Woods Shrine in Indian River. The area kept giving me the impression that I was in Maine. It just had that feel to it. I had to keep convincing myself that I was in Michigan.

I was apprehensive about driving on the Mackinac Bridge. This is a five mile bridge and is the longest bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It is part of I-75. The speed limit is 45 mph. Once I got on the bridge, the apprehension went away. The views from the bridge are breathtaking. I actually stayed behind a slow moving truck (passing is allowed for cars) simply to get a longer view.

Although I had briefly seen Lake Erie a few years ago as a friend showed me around Buffalo, NY, this is the first time I really got to see the Great Lakes. They seemed like oceans. The bridge runs between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

I stayed at the Comfort Inn in St. Ignace, MI. The hotel has a private beach along Lake Huron. The hotel's beach is okay, but not great. Everything was hazy and overcast, so there were not a lot of nice photo opportunities.

I visited "Downtown St. Ignace" that evening. There is a boardwalk along Lake Michigan and a main street with a bunch of shops. Again the types of shops there kept making me think I was in Maine.

St. Ignace had a lot of historical sites devoted to the Objibwe Native Americans. (On 7/31, when I went to northern Wisconsin, I would see a recreated Objibwe village and a museum.)

Some of the gift shops had signs and various other trinkets indicating a sort of humorous rivalry between the people of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The people of the Upper Peninsulas are apparently called "Yoopers." There was a postcard which said only trolls live under the bridge (referring to residents of the Lower Peninsula, being "below" the Mackinac Bridge). There were many books and various other gifts related to the Mackinac Bridge itself.

After getting back to the hotel, I waded in Lake Huron for a bit. It was not the best. The ground had lots of large rocks so it was difficult to walk around. In some cases, there is disgusting mud.

There seemed to be some very different insects around here. On the ground of the parking lot, there were lots of winged insects that would just stay in one place on the ground. They were everywhere. They also attached onto the exterior doors and windows of the hotel. They looked a bit like dragonflies though they were only half the size. They didn't bother people so that was a plus. They were gone in the morning.