Our goal was to attend Leininkugels 10th family reunion in Chippewa Falls Wisconsin. We loved their 7th reunion and vowed to go back for the 10th. We left home at 8:00 am on June 11 and started the 8 hour drive to the Mackinac Bridge that separates lower and upper Michigan. We are tired of the drive through Chicago so went for the longer route through the north woods.
Gas prices just had to soar to $4.00 a gallon but even that couldn't detour us from our mission. Driving north up St Rt 23 to Interstate 75 and beyond we saw millions of orange barrels, orange barrels, orange barrels everywhere. Near Ann Arbor, Michigan the road construction sign said left lane closed 2 miles ahead. 2 miles later the RIGHT lane was closed. Only in Michigan. We stopped in the town of Gaylord and found the Big Buck Brewery. I was in heaven. After a short tour and samples, it was back on the road for the last leg of the long drive. We arrived at the Mackinac Bridge around 6:30 pm and found a little roadside park. We just took in the sights and sounds of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and the many bugs that must have just hatched. They were flying everywhere and other tourists were horrified at the masses that flew into their hair and eyes. We then drove west a short ways to the McGulpins Point Lighthouse and took a quick tour. The open stairs to the top were frightening to me but I made it to the top.
We then headed back to the bridge and had a nice slow and beautiful drive over to the UP with the sun setting in the west. We found the "Straits State Park" just east of the bridge and parked the teardrop camper on site 32. A nice place to sleep in our tent on wheels. We found The Gallery Restaurant for supper. We had heard good reviews about the fish so I had the broiled lake trout while Alice tried the whitefish. Very good and filling. Back at camp it was now getting dark which at 10:15 pm is much later than down south. We bedded down and tried to read some tourists pamphlets that were shoved into our hands at the Ohio - Michigan border but instead, we quickly drifted to lala land.
It gets light early up there also but we were on vacation and slept in, rising at 8:00 am. It was damp and foggy which is why we feel no one else stirred until 9. We had coffee and tea then walked to the beach to see the Mackinac Bridge. Couldn't see it due to fog but the spider webs in the heavy dew sure were beautiful.
We left Straits Park and drove uptown St Ignace gawking at all the shops geared toward tourists. We found the "Museum of Ojibwa Culture" and really enjoyed the history of the French influence on the native people. Took Rt 2 west and stopped first at the Father Marquette Memorial and another view of the Mackinac Bridge, this time from the opposite angle. A nice cool day with sun here and there but jacket weather in the shade. Continuing west on 2 towards Manistique brought us to, Brevort Lake picnic Area, were had lunch meat sandwiches and chips with green apple and cold beer for desert. There is an access point with stairs down to a wonderful sandy beach. A family was having a picnic on the beach as they said they do every year. After walking in the sand and wading in ice cube water it was back to the highway. We missed the Cut River Bridge due to construction but found the Hog Island Campground. A primitive state forest campground it had a great view of a small island that was inhabited by seagulls. What a messy place. Next stop was in Manistique to see their rock slab beach. A very different contrast than the sand earlier. We drove to the Indian Lake State Park and settled in for the evening. We had a great site on the shore of the lake and the sun kept telling us how wonderful it was to be us. Supper was hobo dinners in foil. After supper we just relaxed while watching the sun set on a smooth, mirror still lake.
We awoke around 5 and heard wind blowing and something hitting the camper. Alice thought it was raining but no rain fell overnight. The wind was blowing so hard it was debris from the trees hitting our tent on wheels. I got up at 7 and put on coffee and tea water. The wind blowing off the lake directly into the kitchen was drawing the heat off the pot. After 30 minutes I built a wind screen of plywood and it still took another 30 minutes to get the water hot. Winds of at least 20 MPH made it hard to stand still or we got cold. Packed everything and got on the road just to escape that wind.
We headed 9 miles to the north end of Indian Lake to Palms Book State Park. Here was The Big Spring or Kitch-iti-kipi, a natural spring that releases 10,000 gallons of water a minute. Its 200 feet across and 40 foot deep and a constant 45 degrees. Huge trout lazily swam around and we used the parks self operated raft to float over the spring and view them. As bus loads of children arrived we left heading towards Escanaba. There we had breakfast and found the Herford and Hops restaurant and brewery. After a sampler and filling my growler with their black IPA, we had had enough of the still strong wind and decided to head for Wisconsin. We drove 5.5 hours south then west arriving at Chippewa Falls, WI at 5:30 our time. Wisconsin is an hour behind us. After securing a campsite in Lake Wissota State Park we drove down the road for ice and a cold beer in a local biker bar. Lots of beautiful Leinie items doted the interior of the place but the owner would not even talk about selling me any. Stopped for firewood on the way back so we could cook hamburgers over an open fire. Tasted great! After supper, showers were had then the tent on wheels engulfed us for the evening. It was a beautiful evening, warm and no wind.
Friday morning we awoke in the "North Woods". The sun was shining the air still but those damn mosquitoes were terrible. Happy Birthday Alice!! Had pancakes and sausage for breakfast then headed to town to play tourist. The visitor's center was our first stop and the older lady there just talked and talked to us. More pamphlets to start fires with. From there it was to Leininkugels for samples and to scope out the goods we would buy on Family Reunion day. Lunch was at the Fill Inn Station for Friday fish. It's a big deal up there. We moved from there to Loopys, a local bar that has 3 sand volleyball courts. They even have a dome to cover them in winter where they have tournaments with native Wisconsin's coming from all over the state. Alice received a free shot of Patron for her birthday. Christi the bar manager was real fun. We headed back to camp were I kept checking for cancelations on campsites. We only had our site for 2 nights due to the campground being filled by reservations. The lady did have a sick camper that left so we got their site for 2 nights. We moved the camper and gear 50 yards to the new site then just relaxed. Supper was hotdogs cooked over the open fire. Why do they taste so much better that way?
Saturday morning and the big day. Leininkugels 10th Family Reunion. Alice and I wanted to be in line early to receive special gifts. We got there at 6:30 am and were within the first 25 people. We sat in rain with other crazy people just like us and the 2.5 hour wait for the place to open went fast. At 9:00 sharp the doors opened and off we went to buy stuff. Jake Leininkugel gave us each a 10th reunion tee shirt and $10.00 gift card. We had arm bands good for 3 free beers and lunch of brats, chips and a cookie. We entered the activity contest where 10 teams of 10 people compete to create something Leinie related. Our box of goodies had some chicken wire, cardboard and the themed item,,, DUCK TAPE. 5 different colors. Our team made a pretty sorry looking canoe and had a cape for The Beer Man, our super hero for Leinie beer. It was fun, but working with 8 other people you do not know sure is challenging.
Since we had extra time and was out of beer tickets, Alice and I followed the advice of a local lady. We went to the car and cut our armbands off and re entered the line. We got back in with new armbands and 3 more beers. We didn't feel bad about it because we spent $250.00 on merchandise, more stuff to hang on my Leinie Wall. We were worn out after getting back to camp. Alice took a nap while I got a fire going and had a Leinie Baltic Porter. Ever person entering the reunion received a free 4 pack of the porter.
Sunday morning signaled the start of the end. We knew we had to start driving back to the Buckeye state but stalled as long as possible. The early morning in the campground was so relaxing. As the dew dried on the trees, the pollen started flying again. It was everywhere, on the car, in our nose, even on my glasses. Glad neither of us has allergies. We packed up camp and headed back to Chippewa Falls. Today was the French Annual Tube Float and Regatta or FATFAR. Rafts of every type were lined up on shore. At noon a firework went off and they started, a few here a few there. Most were too busy drinking to start rafting, plus we heard the water was very cold. Alice and I went downstream to Loopy's bar to watch them float in. After a couple drinks and seeing 4 or 5 rafts come in it was time to hit the road. I drove south to the center of Illinois were Interstates 39 and 80 cross. We got a camp site at Starved Rock State Park. We were tired and it was getting dark so off to bed we went.
We got up at 4:30am our time and started driving again. Everything was going great until the accident on 80 east bound closed the road. We were approaching Gary, In and had to leave the interstate. It put us an hour behind but we still made decent time arriving home by 2:30 in the afternoon. Total mileage driven was 1795 in eight days. Fuel costs in the Jeep Liberty totaled $408.00 but it was worth every cent. A beautiful trip with a beautiful lady had come to an end.
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