First Big Road Trip: Michigan Upper Peninsula to Copper Harbor & Isle Royale

[BroncoRick]

120+ year old recipe for pasties.
Make these a few times a year.

Delicious! Making me hungry for them again.

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[BroncoRick]

I got most of the way through this thread and suddenly I realized I was singing the words to "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald ". Good storytelling apparently

Yeah that crossed our minds many times while we were up there... Up on Superior the lack of boats is eerie... and then you occasionally see a freighter off on the distant horizon...

 

[Scopebit]

Delicious! Making me hungry for them again.

Thanks for sharing Rick! My family and I are blessed to spend a week every-other year in the UP at my Uncle's place on Chaney Lake. My favorite place to travel for vacation! Pasties, sauna, oh boy there...good times! The first time we traveled there we roadie from Knoxville, TN up through Mackinaw, Sault Ste. Marie and then across the Lake Superior shore. As you've illustrated, incredible. When we get the Bronco, gonna roadie from the PNW there and back. Can't wait...

 

[FuzzyBobMichigan]

Native Michigander here, and love the UP also.

https://goo.gl/maps/Mskkwx419TwQ8RR89 A list of some things to see

Waterfalls: https://gowaterfalling.com/waterfalls/maps/statemichigan.shtml
Some easy to get to, some are a bit of a hike, some are quite a hike/need a 4X4 and then a big hike.

Pasties: Big debate here. Myself, I like Muldoons in Munising. Others favor Jean Kays in Marquette, and some like Lehtos just into the UP around St Ignace.

Clyde's has great burgers. The original is up by Sault Ste Marie (https://goo.gl/maps/Raa9Mh5oGxBZm2NW9) where there's the Soo Locks are which can be interesting if you like big boats.

Fun Fact: There's actually vineyards and wineries up there.

Not so fun fact: Black flies. Do some googling about their season, preventative measures and bug netting to wear.

 

[the paws]

If youse go to da UP eh, den look up dis…VVMapping.com. Shows all da public RV roads, hunderts of miles of dem, eh. Den dare are da old loggin’ roads tru da paper companies lands. Probly 1000 miles. Many square miles. Check around Perch lake, eh. Bring da fishin’ rods with some night crawlers. Eat first class. If youse camp in da woods, bring your 12 gauge, eh. Dem bears smell da bacon a hundert miles away. If you see a cute liddle one, run fast or clime a tree quick. Advice from a old UPer, eh.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Before reaching Houghton and the Keweenaw Peninsula, we had to make our way through the Huron Mountains, so a stop for dinner in Marquette Harbor was in order. By this time in the trip, I was beginning to realize that if we were doing this in my old Jeep, we would have been exhausted beyond belief and my back would have been screaming. Not so in the Bronco--the interior is an awesome place to be on a long road trip, the suspension takes all the harshness out of a long drive. And it was occurring to me that the best unspoken feature of this vehicle is the range. I was getting 400+ miles per tank and now upwards of 430+.

Marquette has a pretty nice downtown with a nice view of the harbor. We sat down for food at the Vierling. More fresh catch.

After dinner, a walk down to the harbor leads you to the old, and gigantic, iron ore dock. Apparently, there is one of these still in operation in Michigan, somewhere.

After that, off through the Huron Mountains and into the Keweenaw Peninsula, to Houghton for the night, on the banks of the Portage Canal.

That's amazing! So happy to hear you had a great trip with your Bronco.

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