UP, Wisconsin and into Minnesota

Good Evening Ziggy-Zags. Before I resume the travelogue there are a few facts and figures to alter and/or add. To start, my cousin Dolores called Thursday night around 9 PM. Bill is in bed by 6:30-7. Why he answered the phone I don't know. But, half asleep--God knows what he said to Dolores--I haven't been able to reach her--he thought she said our other cousin Audrey had died. What she said was that Audrey's husband, Fred has died. While that is just as sad and heart-breaking for us, Fred was a wonderful man and had a sense of humor like no other, his death was not unexpected. He's been ill for over a year, actually more like two and the last time we saw him he said he'd just like to die. Audrey's death would have been a shock--she is the healthiest of the four living female cousins I would say. Nevertheless, thank you for your notes of condolence, Barb and I appreciate them and while not for the right death, still appropriate for his. Returning now to the trip. Several of you mentioned that you remembered a song about the Edmund Fitzgerald, and my music loving friend, Jane, even wrote down a verse from the song. Indeed, it was quite a hit in the late 70's. written and performed by Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian songwriter/singer. In the tumult of the storm the Fitz was thrown into Canadian waters and went down on the Canadian side. When the wreck was located it was, therefore, the Canadian Navy that dove down to get the bell and then returned with the new bell to the broken ship. There was a formal presentation by Canada to the US and the Fitz families of the bell. At the ceremony a member of each crewman's family came up and rang the bell once and then, at the end, the bell was tolled a 30th time for all the sailors lost on the Great Lakes. That bell is now the one encased at the Shipwreck Museum. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Ballad+of+the+edmund+Fitzgerald&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=&pc=EUPP_ Yesterday morning, Friday, we left Marquette Michigan around 1030. We plotted our route and made a reservation in Duluth, Minnesota so we knew where we were going and that we had an assured place of rest once we called it a day. I rose around 630 and took a picture of the sunrise on the Lake and then when all was ready we continued west on 28 across the UP. The trees are beginning to turn and the foliage is quite lovely. We also noticed a number of evergreens--there are several types and not being from these parts I hesitate to name them--dead and covered with a fuzzy white growth. I believed the infestation to be wooly aphids or possibly wooly agelids ( spelling?) which are aphid-like creatures. They are very small sucking insects that literally drain the sap from the tree and kill it. Foolish parasites--but once one host is done in, they just move to another. Bill verified my diagnosis. We continued on toward Wakefield and Bingo's about which I have a story but first there is a new story. Although many of our zigs and zags are planned there are a few which are thrust upon us. And our search for Bingo's came to naught because of such an event. 28 to Wakefield was closed just about 14 miles out of town and Bingo's was beyond the closed barrier. So we made a left and headed out on a 22 mile detour. About 2 miles down the road I said to Barb, you know, that road isn't closed to local traffic--let's go back. So we did--we went 8 miles down the road and came to another road closed sign and this one did not mention local traffic. Barb decided we shouldn't go any farther and I agreed. The road was closed because a bridge, of which I have no memory, but then I try to forget any many as possible, was out. Not knowing just what we'd find we just said, we'll go in from the other side and see how far we can get. So, back we went the the detour ( another 8 miles ) and then onward 22 miles to Wakefield. So let's see--to get to Wakefield, which was about 14 miles or so away on 28 --we went 42 miles. HMMMM--that's us! Then to add insult to injury--in Wakefield the bridge was only a mile out of town, so we probably could have waved across the bridge and then backtracked and traveled even more miles. Now, why, you may ask ,did I want to find Bingo's. You may recall that Bill and I took our first X-C trip in January, 2008 and followed this same route. On snow covered roads and going the whole UP in one day, we approached Wakefield as it grew dark. We were cold, tired and there had been absolutely no places to stay and we were really hopeful there would be something in Wakefield. Ahead of us in the grayness of nightfall with a slight haze of snow falling we saw before us a neon sign--a caricature cut-out of a Christmas like deer with a red bulb for a nose--leaping out toward the road. In big letters--BINGOS--TV--YES! In we pulled. An old stone building served as the office for several small cabins. Snowmobiles were all gathered around the door and others were moving around. In we went, an older Polish couple were behind a small bar behind which was a smallish color TV. We rented a cabin and got our bags and went in. First off I tripped on the top step going into a room I can't even tell you how small. We could barely move. There was a double bed against one wall--Bill had to climb in and move over to the wall--there was no walking around it. A shelf above his head held an alarm clock. At the foot of the bed was a tiny TV. To the left was a bath with a small shower--it was a chore to even turn around in there. The whole thing reeked of scouring powder. It was the semi-finals for the Super Bowl so Bill decided to return to the bar to watch the game. He asked me to go but I really didn't want to and be with a bunch of guys watching football so I said, no, I'll just get in bed and watch PBS here. (Oh, after checking in we'd gone into Wakefield to get something to eat. One bar--the girl was much more interested in talking to the local guy at the end of the bar than serving us. I had a burger --awful. She didn't know what Miller Hi-Life was but gave me another Miller product--MGP or some stupid thing . THEN we returned to our lodging.) I got into bed and he went to the bar. I tried to hold my hand with hand lotion over my nose to eliminate the smell of Comet--not Rudolph's buddy--and turned on the TV. ONE CHANNEL! SNOWY! BLACK & WHITE ! and everytime a snowmobile went by the reception got WORSE!! And there were ONLY snowmobiles. When Bill came back I was in tears and I want you to know I do NOT cry very easily--not my thing at all. He wanted me to move over to the wall--bag that, I wasn't giving up my warm spot and besides, I'm claustrophobic. The room was small enough without being pinned against a wall. His head hit the pillow and two seconds later he was asleep. I lay there awake for hours listening to snowmobiles and smelling Babbo. Eventually, I fell asleep only to have the damned alarm clock go off at 4 am--those damned snowmobiler idiots--and Bill trying to shut it off. OMG--you know, maybe it was a good thing not to see it again--I may have been tempted to burn the place down. It still exists though--it's listed in the Michigan travel guide as a place to stay in Wakefield. There are several others now, including a Best Western.Well, anyway--we moved on--didn't even look for the Toth Indian. This is iron ore country and Bessemer is the name of the furnace used to separate iron from its ore. I wonder if Bessemer came from here or if the town was named in his honor. Nope, named after Sir Henry Bessemer, the English inventor of steel manufacturing. Bessemer is also the home of the world's highest ski-flying structure--is that a thing, ski-flying??? Also in Bessemer, one of the original MacDonalds. Notice the Golden Arches incorporated into the building, Next we crossed into Wisconsin but can't remember the name of the first town we entered. But pretty soon we came, at Ashland to a possible ZIG. Continue on 2 to Superior or take 13 the scenic route out around a large peninsula jutting into the Lake we were coming to love. Well, please, there was no choice. 13 it was out to Red Cliff and an Indian reservation, the tribe involved escapes me now. What a lovely lakeside village is Red Cliff. Were it earlier we would have liked to explore it a bit. Off the coast is a large island that is accessible and twelve small islands, called the Apostle Islands. There is the Apostle Island Lakeshore but does not show on the map at all so we opted not to go to the Visitor Center though it is a National Park. If you look at the map, you see Rt 2 as a red line from Ashland to Superior and you see Rt 13 as a black line making a big loop around a big point into the lake. Not shown on the map is the ZAG that we took off the Zig for 7 miles out to one of the camping, swimming spots on the Lakeshore. We stopped and had lunch overlooking the Lake and then watched the men working on the Twilite restoration, before driving back out the 7 miles to Rt 13 and onward to several other small towns. We stopped in Port Wing for gas and to peruse the history of Education in Wisconsin. Look at that--Vt is finally catching up--a consolidated school district with free transportation on 1903! I've always said education is a series of old wine in new bottles. Could you imagine today's kids in that winter contraption--lol http://portwingwi.com/port-wing/pw_arts/local-authors/ I wonder if her books would be interesting to read. I may try one, having been in the area about which she wrote. On we drove and then it was over, the end of the Lake so we rested a few minutes gazing at its beauty and the wonderful striations of grays and blues of water, air and sky. For two States, Superior was always there, just off to the side and now we soon would leave her in our rearview mirror. A bit of sadness as though leaving a dear friend that you know you may not see again but that you will always remember and cherish. We returned to the main road to Superior, the sky changed once more, filling with buttermilk clouds, allowing crepuscular rays of the sun to peak through. Dairy farms dotted the fields and then Superior, Wisconsin was behind us, a long, high bridge was before us and on the other side, Duluth, Minnesota. Within 7 miles of landing on solid ground we were in our room for the night. Now, I'm going to take a break, have something to eat and resume today's travels. A shorter report I believe. Until next time, tata, ZigBarb and ZagKat