Made it to New Mexico

We made our journey from Michigan to Albuquerque and Las Cruces without incident. We are quite thankful for that. We had a couple of extra days with Harold's brother, Arlo, and his wife, Linda. We visited the Albuquerque Balloon Museum and the Albuquerque Biopark, taking full advantage of their museum memberships.

Up, up and away

Look at those smiles

Then we headed to Las Cruces, where we were delighted with the view from our campsite at the Las Cruces KOA Journey. We enjoyed many a morning cup of coffee looking at the mountains and pecan groves. I often sat outside to write blog articles and research campgrounds.

Distant mountains and pecan groves

Where Are We Going Next?

Motorcycles, Space Capsules, and Salt

When we left Michigan's Upper Peninsula, we were on what we considered a bomb run to New Mexico. Harold's work schedule at White Sands had shifted left on the calendar. With just shy of 1800 miles to travel and some shake down issues with the new rig, we wanted to get the bulk of the distance behind us quickly. Extra time would be spent in Albuquerque, where Harold's brother and his wife live.

Even rushing it for us, we still found time for a few museums along the way. First up was the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa. Harold was almost speechless at the sheer number of motorcycles. He just kept exclaiming, "Wow!" From Evel Knievel exhibits to early bicycles, including a steam cycle, the place was filled. I think the one that made me smile most was the Hopalong Cassidy bicycle, complete with a pistol and saddlebags. Harold noted the Roadog.

Roadog

Just a portion of the vast collection

Hopalong Cassidy

The next day, we opted to stop for two nights in Hutchinson, Kansas. Hutchinson is home to the Cosmosphere and Strataca. The Cosmosphere, an affiliate of the Smithsonian, is home to the Liberty Bell 7, and an Apollo exhibit which were Harold's main reasons for wanting to visit. The museum also had a German V-2 exhibit. They didn't have a cutaway of the rocket like White Sands Missile Range Museum did, but it's still a rather unique artifact. 

Liberty Bell 7

V1 and V2

V1

The next day, we headed underground. Strataca is an underground salt museum. It is 650' underground in an older portion of a salt mine. I was amazed at the vast space that had been mined. The openness of the salt mine compared to coal mines and gold mines was extraordinary.

I was recalling news stories about underground doomsday condominiums for the ultra-rich. Although from what I've read since, those are disused missile silos, the vastness of the salt mine made it seem more real. The salt mines are being used for underground storage of films and other data. 

A block of salt and a glimpse of the vastness

Serious equipment

Carey Salt Company ore car

UV&S  storage exhibit

 Where Are We Going Next?

Rhymes with Phenomenon

One of our last day trips from St. Ignace was to Tahquamenon Falls. Tahquamenon, rhymes with phenomenon, would have been easier accessed from our Monocle Lake or even our Aune Osborn campsite. Everyone kept saying the falls were worth a visit. So, we made sure we visited.

There are two sets of falls. The lower falls is a series of falls around islands. You can rent a rowboat to head over to the island where a lot of people swim. As I was writing this article, I stumbled across the news that the park has just installed a pedestrian bridge to the island. So now there's a second option for accessing that area.

The upper falls are the larger and they are one of the larger waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. The falls are full of tannins and reminded me an awful lot of Blackwater Falls in WV. 

If you're feeling ambitious, you can hike the four miles between the upper and lower falls. A vendor offers a one way ride in case you don't want to hike it round trip. We decided a hike described as strenuous on a rather hot day was not for us. We got plenty of exercise going down and up the sets of stairs at the Upper Falls, 94 steps for one view area and 116 for the other.

We enjoyed our Upper Peninsula visit. The Great Lakes are impressive. There's still a lot we didn't see and will probably try to incorporate in another visit to the area in the future. 

Lower Falls area

Lower falls series

Upper Falls

Where Are We Going Next?

St Ignace/Mackinac Island

After leaving Sault St. Marie, we headed about an hour south to St. Ignace. We stayed at the St. Ignace KOA . While there are far more options on the "mitten" side of the Mackinac Bridge, most were already booked or far pricier. So, we stayed in the Upper Peninsula side. 

As far as a town goes, I liked Sault St. Marie better than St. Ignace. I think it was due to the shopping and the proximity of the Soo Locks. However, St. Ignace had more of the Great Lakes feel to it with the Mackinac Bridge views and various islands, including Mackinac Island, where autos are not allowed.

We took a day trip to Mackinac Island via ferry. The price to haul the bikes on the ferry was far less than the rental of bikes on the island. With no autos, one can easily imagine it in its early 1900's heydays.

The Main Street area of Mackinac Island is rather busy. We were quite glad we were not there on a weekend. Bikes and horse-drawn carriages are everywhere, intermingled with pedestrians. Watch your step, and the smell of horse pooky on a hot day can be a bit much. 

Once you're away from the Main Street where all the ferries arrive, it's not too bad. In fact, it can be quite relaxing. We rode our bikes around much of the eight mile perimeter. There was a section closed for repairs. Apparently there had been a rock slide earlier in the year. It figures, even on an island, we manage to hit roadwork!

We had been encouraged to stay the night on the island. However, when Harold checked on the price of a one night stay at the Grand Hotel, it was $950.00. Yeah, that's not happening. We didn't investigate further. Just to walk across the hotel grounds, it's $10 per person. While it would have been kind of fun to walk across the world's longest front porch, 660 ft, we decided just to take a photo.

We both agreed that we were glad to have gotten a taste of the island, but neither of us feel that we have to return.

The Mighty Mac

Seriously?

No autos, but there is an airport

Mackinac's version of the garbage truck

Arch Rock

Viewpoint

The Grand Hotel

World's Longest Front Porch - 660 ft.

Mackinac Fudge

Where Are We Going Next?

Sault St Marie

So from our Drummond Lake campground, we headed east. One of the places that kept popping up in photos posted on forums and groups was Sault St. Marie. Our stopovers were at Pete's Lake Campground and Monocle Lake Campground. Both were national forest campgrounds without any hookups. So we had the opportunity to exercise our generators. Both were great campgrounds and we really liked our site at Monocle Lake. 

Monocle Lake - plenty of room

Freighters navigating between Lake Superior and Lake Huron pass through the Soo Locks at Sault St. Marie. The city owns a campground right on the St. Mary River, the Aune Osborn Campground. Hookups are 30 amp and water only, but the views of the river traffic are worth it. The campground can be hard to reserve, so plan early or only plan on a day or two. 

We were there for three nights, plenty of time for us to visit the Soo Locks and the tourist downtown area. On our last night there, we had the opportunity to meet up with other Newmar owners. The Michigan State Rally started the day we were checking out, but a number of folks arrived early. You might find a couple of familiar faces toward the end of this blog entry from a fellow Newmar owner here. 

Yabba Dabba Doo!

The Antlers Restaurant

Approaching the locks

Panorama of the largest ship and a tour boat

Ship passing the channel near Rotary Park

Beautiful old power plant

Good morning campground view

Where Are We Going Next?