And it Rained All Night

Turns out it's pretty hard to find a boat rental around Voyageurs National Park in October. The park is open year-round, but the visitor centers close up shop in September, so there was very little information to be had. In the frenzy of packing and moving, we didn't have time to research all of this beforehand, and felt a little like the Griswolds arriving at Wally World. Sadly, there was nary a hint of a John Candy-like character who we could force at gunpoint to give us a tour.

We ended up camping at Woodenfrog State Forest Campground, which was pretty sweet, and I'm sure about the same as camping in the actual park. It's just that it's on the shore, instead of on a tiny precious little island. We were right on the water though, we had an incredible view, and once again we had the place to ourselves.

The forecast was grim (all rain, more rain, rain forever) but we were lucky our first day there and stayed completely dry. We took a little hike on this cross-country skiing trail. When there's no hill it doesn't really feel like a "hike," but that's what the sign called it. Anyway, it was really pretty and very, very quiet.

During the summer you can rent these big houseboat things and motor slowly around the park, spending the night at various campsites. Or docks maybe. I don't know. The biggest one is about $1800/week or something and holds around ten people.

Anyway, we had a good day and evening at ol' Woodenfrog, finishing it off with some mulligan stew (that's hobo food for you non-campers) and cans of Leinenkugel.

We decided to leave the next morning because it had started raining really hard in the middle of the night. Without the ability to get into Voyageurs, and with foul weather making more exploration a little daunting, we figured we'd seen what we could of the area, and would be better off allowing ourselves more time in the West.

We drove through some interesting small towns such as Blackduck.

Minnesotans are really serious about their Halloween decorations. This one was really cool.

They also seem to like larger-than life statues. I tried to convince Emily that we should epoxy one of them to the roof of the Jeep but that was a non-starter.

The senate race between Al Franken, incumbent Norm Coleman, and independent Dean Barkley is really heated and there are signs all over the place. We heard part of their debate when we went to buy groceries in International Falls. Of course we already knew Al Franken was funny and well-spoken, etc., but the way he brings his style to running for political office is very effective. You'd have to be some kind of wonk (I guess…?) to care about some other state's Senate race. Regardless, I recommend checking it out here.

Next stop: Fargo, North Dakota.

On to Voyageurs

Lake Huron

Major Dick Bong, "America's Ace of Aces"

All politics is local

Welcome to Minnesota

We started the morning in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and drove all the way north to the border at International Falls, Minnesota, near Voyageurs National Park, ending the night with a few beers at the Viking Lounge. Someone bought the entire bar a round, and when we reciprocated, the entire tab came to $13. Granted there were only about eight people in there, but still…. We're in a little motel now, and tomorrow we'll go to Voyageurs and find out about kayaking or motoring into the park (you have to boat into Voyageurs, because the whole park is made up of little islands between Minnesota and Ontario).

[Note to self, remember the words of your buddy Josh Hansen: "Be careful in Canada. There are Canadians there."]

The UP and up

The first thing you notice when you cross Mackinaw Bridge onto the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is all the signs for pasties. Being that I am eleven years old, I thought this was hilarious, until Emily informed me that it's pronounced "pasties" (like it rhymes with "nasties"). A pasty is a little English pie, basically a pot pie like the ones you used to get for dinner when your parents went to a party and left you and your brother home to build a fort out of chairs and blankets and watch, in order, Buck Rogers, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hee-Haw, and Saturday Night Live before falling asleep in the fort. So, yeah, basically a pot pie, but without the pan. A cross between a hom bow or a knish and a pot pie. Apparently pasties have been a popular food on the UP for a couple hundred years. I knew that at some point I would have to get me one-a them pasty pies.

But first things first. We found a state forest campground down this long dirt road.

It was on a little lake just north of Lake Michigan. The sun was going down when we got there and quickly set up camp.

Janice and Anna brought a big bag full of Bud Light tall boys to our going-away party, and we're still drinking them. Thank you, Janice and Anna, for the gift that keeps on giving.

It was really damp and cold but we got a fire started and warmed up right-quick.

Emily made a little fire stick and wrote her name in the air. It was like our own little frickin' Fourth of July.

We got up really early the next morning for a long drive northwest to Minnesota, and the lake was glass.

And I did get me one-a them pies. And it was delicious.

The LP

Thursday night we were in Detroit, having extended our stay to two nights so we could watch the debate in the comfort of our hotel, with room service. We got a sixer of Bell's and a New York Times from the grocery store down the street, and ordered room service. [Oh yeah, and Sarah Palin is still a liar and a manipulator and a puppet of the GOP as much as she is a climber…among other things. I think Biden did pretty well. He didn't hit it out of the park—I didn't like it when he'd smile at her while she recited her talking points—but overall he seemed very real and explained the platform well. I'd say Biden's best moment was his frank explanation of McCain's health care plan. It looks like that's shaping up to be the issue the campaign will hammer home in these last four weeks, as it's important to older and/or Floridian voters, and is also a way to discuss the economy without sounding all gloom-and-doom.]

But enought about all that. By the same time the following day we were long gone, having cruised in a northwesterly direction toward Lake Michigan at the top of the Lower Peninsula. They call that the LP, and the Upper Peninsula is the UP.

We spent the night (the cold, cold night—it is October, we keep forgetting) at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and had an entire loop of the campground to ourselves.

You can't tell from the photo but Emily is wearing about nine layers. It was really, really cold—we even had a bit of lake-effect snow in the middle of the night.

The next morning we walked out to the Lake.

Michigan is a beautiful state—I don't think it quite makes my top ten but it is pretty in a subtle way.
This theater in a town near the campground was showing It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Huh. Kind of a cool house, but a little too out-of-place, even for me. I would like it more if it was surrounded by trees, but it was just sitting on a hill above the road and a bunch of farmland. This is why people get mad at modern architecture.

I like this guy's bumper stickers: a Dale Earnhardt memorial, an Army Ranger emblem, plus "Do I Look Like a Fucking People Person" and "Doing My Part to Piss Off the Religious Right."

We took the long way and eventually crossed the Mackinaw Bridge to the UP. It feels like we have left the East now.

New Acquisitions, part 2: Detroit

We didn't hit that many places in the D, but I did have some good luck at People's Records (thanks to Josh Dunn at Wax Poetics for the recommendation). It's a great store, and I only spent about 45 minutes there.

Dionne Warwick You're Gonna Need Me mp3

Minnie Riperton Les Fleur mp3