IRON MOUNTAIN, MI – Four years ago on our way back from Alaska, we stayed at Rivers Bend RV Park, the same campground we’re at tonight. At that time, it was in high season, and the wi-fi was operating. This time, however, we hit the park just prior to May 1 when the camp’s wireless internet contract resumes, so we are bereft of our connections – not only as regards the internet, but also our cell phone. It is like being in the dark ages.
Today we covered the longest distance of our entire trip – 411 miles in all. As I write this, Val is asleep in his easy chair, having been at the wheel since 6:30 this morning when we rolled out of the KOA. The fields were still sparkling with frost and the sun was barely above the eastern horizon. We had to scrape the frost off the windshield before we could head out! Nevertheless, it was a lovely clear morning that bloomed into an even lovelier day, with the mercury reaching 68 degrees before day’s end.
Using our road atlas, I plotted a route that took us on a couple of interstates plus some state highways of reasonable quality to get us here as directly as possible. We crossed the entire state of Wisconsin and are just inside the Michigan state line. Tomorrow we cross into the Eastern time zone and our watches will match Ottawa time for the first time in weeks.
Our introduction to Wisconsin was through mist and cloud that had settled in the valley, through which flowed the Mississippi River. As we drove across the bridge, it was like driving into oblivion, as cars and road were swallowed in mist! The river itself was very wide at this point, and high as well. The trees were standing in water up to their knees, and the water’s surface was not far at all from the underside of the bridge. Aside from swollen banks, however, there was no other sign of flooding.
We’d heard on the radio, and saw in the newspaper we bought, about the terrible devastation caused by tornadoes through the southern central states. It made us grateful that we had altered our original travel plans to avoid that corridor. There are a lot of people who have no homes tonight because of the storms. I imagine they count themselves lucky though, because they are still alive. We actually passed an area where a similar wind storm must have recently hit, because we saw big trees snapped off and houses with siding ripped away, and crews clearing lots of brush with chain saws. Mother Nature can be pretty severe at times.
We really enjoyed seeing pine trees, lakes and forests that remind us of Canadian landscapes. It’s easy to feel close to home when there aren’t saguaro cacti, yuccas and ocotillo plants on every side (beautiful and exotic though they were)! We spotted some deer today – one young buck sauntered up onto the shoulder of the road, hesitated and then scampered back when he saw us and our big rig coming at him. It caused us some angst before the beautiful creature made his wise decision! We also saw a couple of wild turkeys, plus a whole flock of turkey hens, in our travels.
I had hoped to call up some video clips of the royal wedding this evening, just to see how things had unfolded, but that’s not possible. I did locate the shortest of clips at around 5:30 this morning on the laptop before we set out, so I got to see Kate’s dress, hear a bit of the choir music, and see William slip the ring onto his bride’s finger, but that was it. I guess I’m one of about a dozen people on the planet to have missed pretty well the whole thing. When we get to civilization, I’ll have to get caught up.
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