Into Ontario, Canada

We crossed into Canada already late in the day.  No issues at the border, we pushed on through with hopes of finding a nice rustic site in Wawa.  Unfortunately, we immediately got lost in Saute Ste. Marie.  We got back on track and went to Walmart for food and a better map.  After that, we were rolling north along Lake Superior's east shore at sunset, which gave us some pretty scenery.

We didn't get all the way to Wawa, but did find a nice rustic place to camp.  It was beautiful up there.  We stayed up late, in hopes of seeing some Northern Lights, but no luck.

Ontario Province find efficient ways to improve the park. 
This clearing in the woods had lots of signs leading to it

Fireweed!

The next day we pushed on to try to get as far as possible.  Although we should have probably given ourselves a rest day instead.  We pulled into the Wayward Hotel bar in Wawa for some free internet. Big bonus, since we were avoiding data roaming on our iphones.

We pressed on through the countryside.  We came to the town of Timmins, where I was really impressed by Canadian Tire stores.  These places are part auto parts store, part sporting goods store, part outdoor living section from Home Depot... not to forget their tire department. 

We decided we wanted to camp by the Abitibi River.  Backroads seemed to lead to it, and we were feeling encouraged by our recent successes in finding out of the way camping spots.  As we got further north, we realized that the area we were looking for was more of a boat-in camp site, as opposed to drive in.  The roads up there became more and more unkempt.  It was getting late, around 10:30 pm and sunset, and we decided to explore and find a camp spot anyways.

Then a mini-disaster struck.  We found a clearing just off the road, followed the trail in, and made a left turn into a bank of sand.  We spent a few hours trying to get unstuck.  Exhausted and worried, we went to sleep in our stuck van... 28 kilometers from the paved road.  Worth noting: this was the furthest north we made it.

The next morning, we were in better spirits.  We jacked up some of the wheels and filled the wheel pits in with rocks.  Within a couple of hours we were unstuck!

Unstuck!  Off to Quebec!

The Michigan Yuppers

 Across the border into Michigan's Upper Peninsula, things start to change.  A parallel road system appears, exclusively made for ATVs and snowmobiles.  We had a campground reservation in the Porcupine Mountains, or "Porkies" as the locals call it.  Nice hiking, good views, and the south shores of Lake Superior. 

 To Californians, a forecast full of thunderstorms seems daunting.  But in reality, it's quite nice, and only rains for a 20 minute burst once or twice a day.  The interesting thing to notice is the late sunset, and the temperatures that warm up late into the evening.  It's not fully dark until around 11 pm, which sets up full days of adventure.

View from the top of the shoreline ridge.

 I could have stayed on the shore all day!

Nice as it was, we had our fill of the "modern" campground where we had been staying.  Seventy huge RV's packed in as tight as possible using 30 Amps of power each is not what we envisioned as the ideal place to wake up in a park. 
We drove onward from there, again not really sure where we'd sleep.  We left at 10 am, with 12 hours of daylight ahead. 
We stopped for lunch in Marquette, MI which had a pretty downtown and a sporty tourist industry.  Winter sports take things in different directions, as this bicycle with motorcycle-sized tires illustrates.  If you go to Marquette, MI, be careful in crosswalks.  Less than 10% of drivers stopped for us; a few sped up to "beat" us across the crosswalk.

With 4 hours of daylight left, we decided to explore.  Google maps showed a backroad that followed the Fox River out of the town of Seney.
The first few turns we made led to angry deer flies, and despite some doubts we pressed further out on this gravel road.
We were rewarded with the coolest campground we have seen so far!  A rustic riverside site with absolutely no electricity.  Our pictures don't do the site justice; we were thrilled to have escaped the retiree RV fleets. 

Our neighbor, Jerry, rode in the next morning.  He told us all about the area and had some helpful camping advice.  The more we chatted with him, the more we wanted to stick around and explore.  Jerry, if you read this, we've found the mosquito killing incense in Canada!  Works great!

VW Connection in Ironwood, MI

Heading north from Madison, we make campsite reservations, only to realize we botched the date and have two days to spare.  The interstate finally quits, leaving us on country highways through lakes and greenery.  We stop into Ironwood, no expectations, just figured we'd stop in on a random mechanic some other random mechanic suggested.

Come here often?  Muskey and this old shiny transporter hang out in front of Eric's shop.

 What we found was a colorful, former mining town evolving into something new.  It's hard to describe the moment where you find a place you weren't even looking for, and you bliss out. 

 Ironwood used to have a copper and an iron ore mine that built the town.  The mines have petered out, leaving a shrinking population looking for opportunities.  Some see good bets in the growing ski tourism industry, while others push for new mines to be open.  The result is a town with a comfortable amount of space, history, and character.  We had a really fun night out here.  We had amazing pizza at Liberty Bell Chalet, had the entire bowling alley at Lucky Strikes to ourselves, and enjoyed the rustic decor at Indian Head Motel.  The sunset provided some great light on the old buildings, and we tried capture the feel with lots of pictures.

Ironwood, MI and Hurley, WI are practically the same town, with just the skinny Montreal River flowing between.

I also met Eric, who runs European Car Service.  His real passion seems to be a handful of choice old models, with VW Transporters among them.  He sold us some much more comfortable front seats from '86+ model busses, and a new headlight grille.  Our old grille was threatening to dissolve the next large bug we hit.  He's working on a 23 window restore, in addition to eight Syncro projects!  I really appreciated meeting up with him. 

 Panorama of the state line that runs through town.

Add caption

 A large mural dedicated to the memories of and families that built the town.  Each figure was someone who lived and worked in Ironwood.

"The beer that made Milwaukee famous."

Hello Wisonsin!

Hooray for the Family Reunion in Madison, WI!  Madison was hot and sunny while we where there, perfect weather to get some lake time in!  The beginnings of a floating party while Rene and Rose tie up to our inflatable kayak.  Laka Monona with the state capitol in the background.

 

 We parked and camped at Lake Farm Park, just south of Madison's border.  This park was Beautiful.  Lakes and wide open spaces and bike trails.  We could bike into downtown from camp in less than 20 minutes.  The trails go through some picturesque fields, which were covered in fireflies at night when we rode home from the Memorial Union or State Street.

A couple more on the lake, as Jan and Dave wow us with their SUP skills and Rene and Noelle wait for the beers.

With such a big family reunion, it's tough to get all the stories in.  I spent a lot of time talking and not enough time taking pictures.  Some of the highlights: Finding Gary's old bar on State street sill in business.  Having our reunion merge parties with another family's wedding reception.  The Greenfields' lovely birthday/graduation gifts.  Jamie and Howard's awesome hosting.  The swarm of kid cousins meeting each other and forming a big posse.  Meeting 11 month old Cousin August and watching him try to figure out the whole standing up thing.

Prologue to the next post:  The Vanagon brakes acted a little funny one morning.  They quickly recovered, but it had us worried.  We searched out a Madison VW mechanic.  He said he didn't work on old Vanagons anymore.  He then went on a tangent about phish heads coming through town...  After learning about our journey and our trajectory, he recommended we stop by a mechanic in Ironwood, MI.  (Although he said Iron Mountain, MI, we figured out what he meant.)

With no pressing events, and longer daylight ahead, we head north... without any planned direction!

The Lost Videos!

Little bit of catchup!  We've been blogging a lot with the Blogger iPhone App.  As cool as it is we can only post videos with the HTML Desktop app.  Here's some great videos we've been excited to share:

Happy 30th Noelle!

Fun with the new underwater iphone case in Ginnie Springs!

 

Natural Waterslides in Asheville, NC.  

Chicago

Everyone loves to post pictures of The Bean in Millennium Park.  So did we.  Can you find us?

We drove into Chicago from Indianapolis.  Indy was cool, with bikepaths and hometown feel.  It was awesome to catch up with Matt and Jason, but I'm sad to say we didn't capture any pictures of the town.  When we arrived in Chicago, it was Friday, July 5th.  I had to drive down the Magnificent Mile, which was PACKED with shoppers.  Our van, Muskey, was quite a celebrity.  We got a lot of pointed interest and smiles from the people in the crosswalks.  Downtown Chicago wasn't really the best spot for a tall van, so it spent most of the time stuck in a garage. 
We transitioned to bicycles, which was a great way to get around!

We had a blast in Chicago.  We bicycled up to Wicker Park, and on the way back, my bicycle chain broke.  No problem! My all-star bicyclist wife, Noelle, towed me back!

We had a great Sunday-Funday with Eric.  Great times with this tour gide!  Congrats on your engagement Eric!

My favorite attraction in Chicago was the lakeshore.  Specifically the concrete "beaches."  No messy sand, and fun jumping into the water.  We were really lucky with the fantastic warm weather. 

We also ran into my cousin Jason.  After rediscovering that you can't bring beer to the lake shore, we went to the top of the John Hancock building for a couple drinks.  What a view!

Another city picture for good measure.
While it's great to be in Chicago, it's not quite the "great outdoors".  :)

We really enjoyed Wrigley Field.  Hot weather, "Old Style" Beer, and no jumbo-tron.  It's the quintessential American ballpark.

  The Cubs won, in an exciting game with six homeruns!

Happy Fourth of July!

The skyline of Cincinnati yesterday. 

We are enjoying an indefinite rain delay today!   It is due to the fact that giants and reds are not scheduled to meet again this season. They are just waiting until the giants plane leaves. 

We are lucky enough to have sheltered tickets.  As such, we are enjoying having a very cool place to have some beers on the road. Some moments  are priceless. :)

Reds fans enjoy their new ponchos. Notice at row H seats have a nice shelter.  We are row M. :) 

Sending our best holiday vibes to friends and family!

Mountain biking at Lake Powhatan

Before leaving the Asheville area we decided to camp for three nights at Lake Powhatan. Surrounding Lake Powhatan is an extensive network of mountain bike and hiking trails.

Our first day we covered a lot of ground on our bikes, tearing from trail to trail. Barreling down the muddy mountain paths on my bike reminded me of biking through the trails above UCSC with my dad when I was kid. We had such a great time I am considering investing in a new mountain bike when we get back to SF. 

Our second day at Lake Powhatan, we biked up old fire roads until we hit the blue ridge parkway (a scenic highway that snakes through the Appalachian mountains). Once we made it to the parkway, we locked up our bikes and and hiked along the ridge. 

It felt great to be outside and using our bodies. After spending most of June eating our way through the South, I'm looking forward to an active July! 

Within biking distance of our campsite was the North Carolina Arboretum. It was definitely the fanciest Arboretum I've ever visited! Lots of pretty flowers and more great views (like everywhere else around here).

Overall we had an amazing time at Lake Powhatan and the Asheville area. Right now we are on the road to Cincinnati, OH. First person to guess why we are heading there for the Fourth of July gets a postcard!