Upper Peninsula, Michigan

These days the skies have no predictions to accompany when they will rain. We got in two great days of bike riding and hiking in the Hiawatha National Forest and Pictured Rocks National Seashore with lots of wind blustering in the trees above us but relative tranquility at forest floor level. Last night, alone on Long Lake, the rain chanted down and down on the v. voyager though and we woke to a new crop of mushrooms and a fog dipped morning. The lake photo, if you enlarge it, shows the flat brown head of Beaver, recreating the world, dragging a maple branch to his home for trimming.
This Upper Peninsula of Michigan has been a wonderful addition to the trip. It’s just a perfect time to be here too. Only a few retirees, hunters and local folk are here now and everyone seems easy with just being somewhere special. The parking lots are huge so I guess summer would not be the best time to enjoy the dirt roads. The soft brilliance of the trees arching over the corridor of road is a constant enticement and reminder of wonder.
We are parked in a puny tree farm in sandy soils covered with heather and fern, Superior is just off there somewhere but we couldn’t get closer. Michael will be processing the oil into the dark as it is. We are now in the Eastern time zone and it is gathering dark by 6:30 pm at this western edge of it.
I’ve decided that if any of us win the lottery we really do have to improve biodiesel distribution. There are a lot of fly by nighters. Down by Green Bay we went to a place on the Biodiesel Distributors website and they’d motored on a year and a half ago, bringing condemnation about dumping into the ditches from the neighbors. The other place we tried only sold in lots over 200 gallons… Michael is very conscientious about not running on diesel so we stop when the veggie runs out. This batch that’s going in is from the Arby’s in Escanaba, Wi. and the one we’ve run with to here was from the Dairy Queen in Manitowoc, Wi. We’ll travel empty over the border crossing at Sault Ste. Marie and pick up on the Ontario side.
It was distressing to get all the news in Manitowoc. I made my calls to congress and wrung my hands about the suffering. I wish for you the peace of the forests changing and a time when you don’t have media.