Ozarks 2025

Epilogue On our last day, the boys wanted to get home at a reasonable hour. Accordingly, we were on the road leaving Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin before 5:00 am. That was just fine by me. My ride home was four hours driving. Their trip is more than double that. This was a good trip. We turned garbage into candy after our Maritime Provinces trip was cancelled. It was a nice ride. We rode many fewer miles than on previous trips - my mileage home was 260 miles from Sturgeon Bay for 2,270 miles in total. Magellan and Buttercup will be longer, given their ride to Illinois and the return.  On this trip, it took us four days to reach 1,000 miles. Last year, we exceeded 1,000 miles by mid-day on Day 2.  We saw some wonderful things on this trip. Everyone agreed that the highlight was the Upper Peninsula. And along the way, the boys learned a lot of new things.  Buttercup reported that many people in the Upper Midwest use the word "yahn." We don't know what that means or exa...

Day 7: Door County The morning brought another beautiful day.  As always, our morning challenge was to feed Magellan. We could have stopped for an "all-you-can-eat" breakfast at Paul Bunyan's. But we're more refined than that.   So we searched for a diner, and with blind luck, found this little place. We drove to Door County, and had to feed Magellan again. We stopped into a Northwoods tavern to do so: Buttercup is so enamored with bratwurst (what he calls a "braatwurst") that he ordered a bratwurst patty sandwich. The owner of the tavern gave him language instruction, and told him it was a "brot wurst." I then had to include language instruction on how to say "Leinenkugel." I finally gave up, and told them to just ask for a "Leinie" and he would receive a beer.  The Boys loved the tavern, as they were playing Patsy Cline on the juke box. I don't know who that is, but it sounded really old.  On ...

Day 6: Duluth to the Northwoods We spent the night in Ashland, Wisconsin. The people of Michigan were fantastic - particularly the Harley dealer in Traverse City. We are sorry to leave, but we're happy to be back in Wisconsin.  We reached the farthest point of our trip, and we've started the ride home.  It is another beautiful morning. We cannot believe the good luck we've had with the weather. Mining We are still in the mining area of Lake Superior and the  Keweenaw peninsula . Yesterday, we were in the Copper Harbor area, and today we are heading to Minnesota.  In 1842, the Chippewa ceded all claims to 30,000 square miles of the Upper Peninsula to the United States Government.  The first mineral boom in the United States occurred thereafter in 1843 when people chased the copper, silver and iron of Michigan's upper peninsula.  Michigan has produced over 14 billion pounds of copper since mining began...

Day 5 - Copper Harbor Welcome to Copper Harbor The morning presented another sunny and hot beautiful day. This area of the world is not only rich in timber, but in minerals as well. We traveled around the Copper Harbor area which had a heavy concentration of mines - which appear to all be gone. And the towns reflect that. They are old, dumpy, post-industrial rust-belt towns. But rather than dwelling on the towns in decline, we traveled the roads through the forests.  The Lake Superior shore alternated between beach and hardscrabble rock. The winters here are brutal. It takes a lot to move the snow. The claim is that a great deal of shipping moves through this area still today.   Buttercup returning from walkabout after checking on the beach. Telecommunications: Magellan and Buttercup are following me much more closely than in the past. I know my music annoyed them, which is why they "social dist...