Bayfield, WI

Bayfield, WI

September 23, 2016

Leaving Chippewa National Forest, we headed toward Duluth, Minnesota for our last stop in Minnesota. We stayed at the Jay Cook St. Park in Carlton, MN. We traveled down a dead end road and that made us a bit nervous. No worries, the road dead-ends into the Jay Cook St. Park. When we arrived it had just rained so the road was muddy and water was dripping off all of the pines. The site was completely uneven and later we would learn that there had been a big flood that messed up the campground and because the flood was sooooo bad, they have been working diligently to repair most of the park with no extra money for ‘worker-power’. We could only stay for 1 night because it was booked for the weekend, which was beginning on Friday. Because of the weather we did not venture out to explore, so we just keep the truck and camper hooked up for an early departure tomorrow.

On our way out of town, we noticed a bicycle rental shop so we stopped. I got my last bike at a bike rental shop in Red River, by Eagle’s Nest, NM…. so why not try and see if they had any used bikes for sale? Since we were towing Rosalita, I had to park the truck and RV in a wayside area and walk back. When I went in, all I saw were new bikes, but I thought it doesn’t hurt to ask if they have any used ones for sale… At first the clerk said, “no”, then she went in the back and asked, John – and he said, maybe, and returned to the back. He returned with a bike that a woman had traded in for a new bike – I know it was a woman, because it already had a wonderful women’s seat on it. Thank you! I asked the price and they said $125 – SOLD. The bike is in good condition, just a little “custom pin striping (scratches) on it. So I now have a wonderful bike to tour around on, for my photo-safari.

Cornucopia, WI

 

We are heading to the Apostle Islands outside of Bayfield, WI and the drive is only about 100 miles from Duluth. The drive was uneventful and well marked from the MN 210, to I-35, then US 2 again and finally to WI 13 which takes us right into the Bayfield area. We decided to camp the first night in Cornucopia, which is situated about 20 miles southwest of Bayfield. It is a nice private property, “South Shore Campground”.

Cornucopia is “Wisconsin’s Northern Most Village” and is a delightful small town. We separated truck from trailer and went into the village to explore for the afternoon. We helped support the locals at “The Good Earth” which has all kinds of touristy stuff from sweatshirts, to wooden treasures to Moscow Mule Cups (a MUST HAVE), treasure books from the area, as well as, knickknacks & precious new heirlooms. There is a public harbor in the small bay and it was filled with sailboats of all shapes and sizes. We then went to “Little Nikki’s” for a late lunch, with the local, fresh catch of the day, as the special. Later we crossed the street to the Ehlers Mercantile, with any and everything you need… even local organic beef (it is Wisconsin after all), and local grass-fed lamb.

After dropping off the perishables, we headed 20 miles into Bayfield, to see what was available, as far as tours etc., for the next day. Bayfield is a quaint little town right on Lake Superior. The Visitor Center was closed, so we just explored – up, down around the small town. We like to visit old cemeteries and found a perfect one with a few old head stones and even a statue dedicated to soldiers, their widows and orphans –erected in 1889. On a more whimsical side, there was the Moon headstone; and also the O’Day’s marker with frogs (one of my totems), guarding the remains.

Back at camp, we settled in for the night and I gave thanks for the possibility of this Gypsy Journey Sojourn with Patti… What a wonderful trip East to see the fall colors this has been!!!

Apostle Islands Cruise

September 24, 2016

We got up and out early for the 10am cruise around the Apostle Islands. We wondered how the Islands received it’s name and Patti thought maybe because there were 12 Islands… not so, turns out there are 22 Islands. We really didn’t get a straight answer to this question because there are many versions to the answer. The story that the National Park Service gives is: “It is reasonable to presume that the “Apostles” name was applied by the early Jesuits who drew up the first maps of the region in the early 18^th century, as they had the habit of giving holy names to new places.” So we will go with their story…

The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior, off the Bayfield Peninsula in northern Wisconsin. Although only 21 of the Islands are in the ‘Apostle Island National Lakeshore’ park, the Islands offer safe harbor for ships when there is inclement weather on the Lake. Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America. The lake is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north, the US states of Minnesota to the west, Wisconsin and Michigan to the south. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Lake Superior is the largest, cleanest, and coldest of the Great Lakes… And it is humungous.

We boarded the Island Princess of the Apostle Island Cruise Line and went straight to the open-air seats on top of the ship. The weather was somewhat cooperative… cloudy, cool (low 60’s) and damp – at least it wasn’t raining, as is the forecast for tomorrow. The Captain, Dan, and the two crew-people, Emily and Zack, were wonderful, helpful, and very informative. I wish I could remember all the facts and stories the Captain told while we were on our 3-hour cruise around the islands, but I’m sure you all can look up the facts at Wikipedia.org.

We set out for our tour around the Islands and luckily, we were prepared for the cool wind, the choppy water, and the jostling of the ship, as were most people on board.

Most of the Islands were non-descript; covered with endless tall trees and rock shorelines, all looking pretty much identical from our perspective on the boat. We kept watching for dolphins, whales and sharks, but saw none… Oh yeah, this is a lake, not an ocean. LOL… The exceptional islands were: Devils Island that has the Sea Caves on it’s shore; the fishing camp on Manitou Island; the islands that have the lighthouses; and the Island that had a sandstone quarry on it.

There are eight historic ‘lights’ on six islands. For most of the century, these Apostle Islands Lighthouses have guided ships and boats through the rough waters of Lake Superior and through the Apostle Islands and channels. The lighthouses are on Sand Island, Raspberry Island, Devils Island, Outer Island, Long Island and Michigan Island. The lighthouse on Raspberry Island has been completely renovated and is one of the most scenic in the Apostle Islands. We however, did not get to see all of the lighthouses on the tour. Interesting note was that Captain Dan referred to the lighthouses as ‘Lights’ not lighthouses when he talked about them.

I must say here that it was very difficult to get decent pictures of anything from the rockin’ ship we were on. I found myself balancing with a very wide stance and then the heaving between the waves made for beautifully blurry photographs. When I downloaded the images from my camera, I immediately deleted 50 the first time through. We did, however, buy a small book that had wonderful scenes of the Islands, Lighthouses and Sea Caves. On our next trip I would like to take a kayak trip to photograph from inside the sea caves.

I took over 200 photographs on our trip, hoping for at least 10 good pictures. The only wildlife we saw were seagulls and Cormorants. Some people saw 2 bald eagles, but we were in the wrong side of the boat for a view of them. We did see the eagle’s nest that has been on this particular Island for years and our Captain said it is estimated to weight a thousand pounds…

Bayfield

After departing from the Island Princess, we headed to the Bayfield Inn for a rooftop lunch. Even with the cloudy skies, and a slight breeze, we had a marvelous Fish-cake sandwich, and shared a “Buffalo Sweat” beer. Buffalo Sweat is an amber ale and ranks right up there with “Moose Drool”… I guess the funkier the name the better the beer!

After our delightful lunch, we proceeded down the road to our campsite and will decide whether to leave tomorrow or not… rain is expected tomorrow so we must decide to go or stay. I do not like driving in the rain, so we shall see…

Some climate data to ponder… The average temperature for Bayfield in June, July, and August is 75 degrees F. the average temperature in January and February is 2 degrees F. The average yearly rainfall is 32 inches; the average snowfall is 83” a year! Patti read in some data that: Wisconsin is the 6^th worst state to retire in because of the high taxes and the horrible weather. Guess we can cross Wisconsin off our bucket list for places to settle down…

See you down the road.