GlowbyPics: October 2007

My original vacation plan was to follow U.S. Route 14 from end to end. So, I drove down to Chicago to catch the official end (beginning).

...and I headed west toward 14's other end - the entrance to Yellowstone Park in Wyoming.

Just before the Minnesota border, I checked into a motel in Wesby, Wisconsin. The weatherman promised a winter storm was headed straight for Yellowstone, and would probably stall there a few days.

Since I didn't pack my snowshoes, I decided to head northeast to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It wasn't long before I drove into Wisconsin's autumn.

It was U.S. Route 2, not 14 that I toured for the week. In Michigan's UP, this highway is loaded with beautiful rest areas, parks and public beaches.

Farther up the road, I caught the sunset on another beach.

The next morning, I began exploring.

Unfortunately, I'd already learned about the illusion. (And I wasn't willing to pay the $8)

The fall colors were peaking an many areas. Here are some roadside shots...

Fall colors with crop circles!

On Lake Superior's side of the UP, I found more very pretty beaches.

The tides had decorated this one very nicely.

Near the northern coast, near this town...

...is Tahquamenon Falls.

The lower falls.

The upper falls.

Even some mushrooms had fall colors.

Surrounding the upper falls is an old-growth "climax" forest. There has not been a forest fire for many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. But around 1990 it became infested with beech bark disease. It wiped out most of the beeches, and continues...

When I visited here in 1981, I saw little sky see between the tree-tops.

A little farther east on the Lake Superior coast, I came across this lighthouse.

I could see across to Ontario, and this field of wind-powered electrical generators.

I made it back to the southern coast, on the shores of Lake Huron, in time for sunset.

I was having trouble finding a motel, so I stopped for dinner in the town of Detour. A lady there called a friend, who called another, who knew another who ran a motel, but had closed it for the season, but let me take a room anyway. After I arrived, the motel was 25% full.

In the morning, I took a ferry to Drummond Island.

On its main road, I found this scene...
(Zoom into the trees)

There were few public beaches to be found, so I cruised around the island's extremities.

This place wasn't very tourist-friendly, despite the signs.

I decided to give the lower part of Michigan a try.

There's a very nice park on the south side of Mackinaw bridge.

Some folks were flying cool kites.

Bart Simpson?

I began going down the Lake Michigan coast.

But this was the last free public beach I saw. I wasn't on U.S. 2 anymore.

There were some great views...

...but the shoreline was all privately owned. Hotels and motels were really pricey too. I was outclassed and irritated. I was lucky to find a place for under $100.

Rain fell in the night, and took down a lot of leaves.

I decided I felt more at home in the UP, and raced back up there.

The rain started again. Mackinaw Bridge was not so picturesque.

Where the Cut River flows into Lake Michigan, there's a very nice park.

I climbed up and down these stairs twice. A thunderstorm forced me back into the car for a while...

...but I really wanted to see more.

I settled into the town of Manistique for the night. I asked the guy what this was...

It's a modified deer's butt!

Across the street was a large park with a shoreline boardwalk...

...and a lighthouse. The sun was setting.

I looked for a place where I could get a photo of it coming through the lighthouse.

But at the last minute...

Even some very small motels offered free high-speed Internet connections. (Even the Deer-Butt Inn had it.) But finding a public PC was another matter. I finally got a chance to check my emails at breakfast here...

...at the Manistique Big Boy!

I wanted to check out some more of the Lake Superior coast, via the roads through Hiawatha National Forest.

On the way I stumbled across another lighthouse.