2020 Big Truck across the Upper Peninsula, Day 13

 Day 13 began with me sneaking out of the Big Truck in my normal routine - escape, let the women sleep, and see what the day has in store. Jealous of this setup.

After some prodding, we were mobilized and ready for action. Today we were returning to Manistique for the first time in probably a decade. Kimberly used to audit the mBank branch up here, so Jordan and I tagged along a couple of times and explored a bit. Jordan was either 2 or 3 years old, so she doesn't remember and it's been so long we wanted to revisit some of our favorites. The first one is called Upper Crust, one of the best delis we've been to and a favorite lunch spot of Kimberly's.

We decided to embrace the 1989-ness of our surroundings, so we were going to wing it with a partial pamphlet map and no internet-enabled assistance. At the exit to the park, you are greeted with this, the first of a growing number of 'spiky' windmills being installed along the peninsula up here.

At no point did we feel at risk of contracting cancer from these, but we also were not listening to them for very long.

I did enjoy the positioning of this particular one, however. It reminded me of many neighborly disputes, and made me imagine them surveying the neighborhood while the owner of this homestead wasn't home, and the neighbor suggesting "Yeah, I'd probably face it in this direction, should be ok".

Our pamphlet showed 2 lines on the map, one was US-2, this was the other one.

After sending it on some random gravel roads for about 45 minutes, we encountered this little fella. He had a clear preference for running on the road rather than any of the surrounding nature, so we slowed down and played along for a while until we stopped to let him cross. Poor little guy, probably kept up with you for the first mile or so...

In Manistique, at Kim's happy place.

After a delicious lunch, we explored downtown in an unsuccessful search for a book I was hoping to read. Given our lack of connection to the outside world on this trip, I had picked up a couple of books on local history and was looking for another that described the Italian Hall Disaster in a bit more detail. Let's just say bookstores are not a very popular retail outlet any more.

We even checked this place, which looked like it came directly from a Back to the Future set. No luck.

From there, it was on to Big Spring. Our first sight on arriving at the park.

About an hour and a half later, we were on the raft. 

The fish are huge, the water stays roughly 40 degrees all of the time, and you can see the springs feeding the pond from the bottom. 

I grabbed this video to capture the bubbling of the spring along the bottom. Looks like mini volcano eruptions.

Takes about 15 minutes to get across and back. We heard the story of how the park was closed for a few months during the COVID-19 state lockdown, and locals kept cutting the padlocks and taking the raft out on their own, ultimately dropping one of the 3'x6' signs from the raft into the spring where it currently sits on the bottom. 

This little inlet leads to Indian Lake, where you can usually see a few kayakers making the trip back to see the spring.

Eager to leave the herds behind, we made our way back toward the campground. On our way to Manistique earlier we had seen a couple of signs for The Dock Grill and Bar, claiming outdoor waterfront dining. That sounded great, and it was only about 10 minutes from our campground.

The view from the deck - and from our table. Not too shabby.

The food and service was excellent (I've been trying the whitefish everywhere, and have yet to be disappointed), and the atmosphere was extremely laid back. Inside, I saw this on our way out. Pretty sage advice.

We were stuffed and pretty worn out, but we really wanted to explore the historical town section of Fayette when we got back, and we knew we'd have to do it before we got back to our campsite or it would be lights out. 

The experience was hard to describe. The way that all of the buildings have been preserved - not necessarily restored, but preserved in whatever their current state - is extremely well done, and the fact that the remains of this historic industrial village are dropped right in the middle of some of the most scenic natural surroundings is almost overwhelming to the senses. 

We wandered with a mix of wonder & respect, and ultimately a sense of appreciation for what these hard working people had lived through and sacrificed to make a better life for their families.

I won't ruin these with descriptions, just take a look, and if you get the chance, come here and see it for yourself.

Back at the Big Truck, it got quiet pretty quickly. We may or may not have snuck in a late night viewing of Megamind while Kimberly was trying to sleep (and started saying Ollo for the rest of the trip).

Tomorrow - leaving Fayette and heading for either Traverse City or home.