October 9 - Picking up Blue Belle

As we left home, we could see smoke and light toward Bellefonte but didn’t know what was happening yet. We turned IDa toward state College and promptly saw a fire vehicle in the road with a sign “road closed.”  Still didn’t know anything. Then Linda Zubler texted me that the Fillmore Church was on fire. This is the 3rd church in our area that was burned or attempted to be burnt. So sad. 

We are on our way to Connecticut to pick up our new RV, Blue Belle. Exciting but scary. New things to learn. 

Leaves are changing more here than at home.

We arrived in Danbury around 12 noon at Blue Compass, the dealership. Met with the salesman who told us they were almost finished with the RV. Keep in mind that we purchased Belle at the Hershey RV Show September 10. They had a WHOLE month to have her ready Gresh. No happy.  After 2 hours, Leeann, one of the technicians, gave us a demo. She was great and could answer most of our questions. We aren’t sure that they tested everything because when I asked if they could lower the loft bed, it didn’t work (it worked at Hershey). Still wasn’t fixed when we left. Leeann diagnosed it some and thinks it needs a relay. She will order it and Bill will install. 

Finally we were on our way to our first night’s stay near the dealership, Quiet Time, a Harvest Host. This site used to be a quarry, that’s why the rock wall is there. 

Road was narrow getting to her place but once we arrived it was a good spot. 

We will drive home Thursday to start filling up Belle with our essentials. We have a trip planned to Prince Gallitzen next week. 

September 29-30 - L’Anse Twp Campground

We found a gem of a campground. Only have electric but the view of Keweenaw Bay is gorgeous. 

On Monday we drove farther north to Keweenaw National Historic site to get a stamp for my Passport book. This area was a huge copper mining business but now Montana produces more copper than this area. You can take a tour of the mine but decided that we had already been down in a WV mine so didn’t need another one.  

We continued on north to Copper Harbor, a small town at the tip of the Upper Peninsula. Stopped for a beer at Brickside Brewery before starting back to the campground. 

Sunset from our campground 

Monday we drove 11miles on a well maintained gravel road to Point Abbye, the tip of Keweenaw Bay. So worth it. A nice drive and a beautiful spot to sit and have lunch. 

After this we tried to find some water falls but all we saw were more backroads. 

Made it back to camp safely for a fire, smash burgers, and time to read. We had some delicious smash burgers at a brewery in Marquette so Bill decided to try making some. We made chili smash burgers that were yummy. 

Sunsets across the bay were beautiful. 


Tomorrow we start the trek back home. The Gourd Farm will be our next stop near the Mackinac Bridge. 

September 28 - Biking, Flat tire, Brewery

From Otter Lake Campground, we drove back into Marquette to bike on their trail system. We started

Out on the same one but went north through town and continued on through woods. It was another beautiful fall day, blue skies with temps in the low 60s to mid 80s. 

Everything was going along great till Bill’s bike had a flat tire. 

I was amazed that Bill remembered how to change a tire. Looked complicated to me but he has the tire off in a couple minutes. We were fortunate that where the tire blew was about a quarter of a mile from a bike shop. I called and they had a tube the size we needed. So Bill jumped on my bike and road to the bike shop, picked up a new tube and was back quickly. Unfortunately, not everything was right so back to the bike shop. Finally had what he needed, changed the tire and we were back on the trail again. I had planned to stop at a quilt shop in town but they were closed by the time we were finished. But the brewery wasn’t. That’s where we went. Two brews and everything was good again. 

The brewery had one of the largest pumpkins I’ve ever seen. 

Back at camp we had a fire and s’mores for

Our last night at this campground. 

Tomorrow we will drive farther up the UP near Cooper Harnor. 

September 27 - Quilt Shop, Hike and Falls

We’ve stayed at Otter Creek  campground because it’s central to a lot of steering. Today we drove to Grand Marais, east of Munising and the end of Pictured Rock National Lakeshore. 

We hike through woods and down 168 steps to view Sable Falls, a 75’ cascade. 

Once back in Munising, I visited a quilt shop that had topper Fabric and they were having a shop hop so fabric was 25% off. Of course I had to buy some for the memories!

Then we stopped by By George brewery   IPAs were tasty. A winery was just down the street so of course we tried a flight of their wines. 

Back at the campground, we had some cheese and crackers by the lake. A relaxing end to our day. 

Sept 26 - Marquette and Pictured Rocks Boat Ride

We decided to drive about 44 miles west  to Marquette, MI to ride their Iron Heritage bike trail. Was worth the drive. We ride about 16 miles along Lake Superior. 

Our first stop was at the recreated iron furnace. 

Rode to Presque Isle where we turned around. 


A stop at a brewery in town before packing up the bikes to drive back to Otter Lake Campground. 




After our bike ride, we dropped the boys off at the RV to take naps and we drove back into town for our Pictured Rocks boat ride to see the colorful sandstone cliffs. The name Pictured Rocks comes from the streaks of mineral stain decorating the face of the cliffs. 

September 25-Otter Lake Campground, Munising

Drove across Mackinac Bridge into the Upper Peninsula. 

The drive was scenic with mostly trees, which are beginning to change color. 

Once we got to Otter Lake Campground and setup, we drove to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We hiked to Miners Falls and Miners Castle. 

Tomorrow we are driving to Marquette to ride bikes and then a boat ride to view Pictured Rocks from the Lake Superior. 

September 24 - Mackinac Island

Although it’s a gray day with the possibility of rain, we still decided to take the ferry across to Mackinac Island. Since there are no cars allowed on the island, we had hoped to take our e-bikes but at this time no bikes with a throttle are allowed so we just planned to walk around the island. 

The ferry boat was a little rocky over the water but no one got sick 😁. Water would splash up on the side of the boat from time to time. It’s about a 20-minute ride to the Shepler Docks. 

Once we arrived, we got our bearings and decided to see the fort first, following Ashley Cummings’ recommendations. 

Once we climbed to the top of the fort, the view of Lake Huron and Mackinac was impressive. 

The fort is an 18th-century fort and fur trading village, reconstructed based on historic maps. We walked around the fort and through the buildings, reading about the history. 

From the fort, we hiked to Arch Rock, another recommendation from Ashley. It was a nice walk through woods and the botanical garden. 

Arch Rock was formed over thousands of years by wind and water. It rises 146’ above the water and spans 50’ at its widest. 

Walking back towards town, it started to rain a little. We passed beautiful large houses, hotels and bed and breakfasts. 

We decided to eat at Michigan’s most historic  tavern, the Mustang Lounge. We ate soup on the porch and had a few beers. We met a young couple from Chicago and enjoyed talking about where we and they have traveled. 

Since it was still raining, we decided to take the ferry back to our RV. 

Tomorrow we drive to the Upper Peninsula.