Yooping

All broken things aside (my laptop is officially toast, as is my bike tire and pump), we’re making the most of our non-fixing-things time here.

We’re in a small town that’s directly north of a very cool lift bridge that crosses the canal dividing the eastern portion of the U.P. Few large boats need to go under the bridge anymore, but, get this: they lower it in the winter so cross-country skiers and snow mobilers can use the lower level, while cars drive above them. I imagine the yooper in my top photo is training for winter skiing right now.

Pasties and Smelting

Here’s that lift bridge in the background, with Tracy eating an obligatory pasty.

It’s like a pot pie you hold in your hands, and I believe miners used to take them down into the mines as a portable lunch.

I really wanted one even though Tracy told me I wouldn’t really like it. He’s always right.

The pasty-eating miners used to mine for copper. All that’s left now are abandoned machinery and villages. And huge hills of smelt.

The Northernmost Tip

With a full tank of gas this time, we drove up to the tip of the peninsula and hiked around the shoreline, with a perfect picnic of smoked lake whitefish and very good Wisconsin cheddar.

Banjo was just happy to be there.

This area of the lake has a rocky shoreline that’s striated and colorful. The lake floor by the beach is smooth rock in places.

And the small towns around the edge of the peninsula are old and weird.

There’s a lighthouse we could have visited, a million waterfalls we could have hiked to, and even a brew pub right beside a fish truck. But this place is crawling with tourists even now, so we drove on by.

How long we stay depends on when I can get an appointment in Minneapolis for Apple Store advice on a replacement for my laptop; I don’t really need a laptop but I’m not sure if a tablet will suit, either. We have to go in that direction anyway, so I might as well make a day of it. Well, three days if you count camping in Minneapolis, going to the store, then camping again and scooting out the next day. All part of the adventure.