Back in the U.S. of A

The rain from last night continued into the morning as we waited snugly inside for a break in the action to get everything road ready. We had everything stowed away and ready to go by eleven but we still had one bit of business to attend to. The campground has a dog wash over near the office and we decided to put it to use.

With a fresh pup and adventurous hearts, we rattled the short few kilometers to the International Bridge and crossed over its three arched spans to arrive at the border gate to re-enter the U S of A. Easy, peasy. Pulled right up, presented the passport card and we were welcomed right in. I always have Cali’s paperwork ready, but in four international border crossings, not once has anyone mentioned looking at them. Must be the flowery scented dog shampoo and sunny smile.

The world’s longest train. It took a break and just sat there about halfway through

Pure Michigan, that’s their slogan. We sat back and covered a few hours of back country driving. At three thirty or so, we rounded a corner and there was Lake Michigan in all of her glory. We were on the direct north shore, so as north shores always do, the beach was trying to produce some surf. We pulled in at a local park in Manistique and I pulled off the board and had a quick paddle. The air was close to seventy and the water was maybe mid sixties. I lasted a half an hour trying to chase tiny swells and losing my water shoes. I managed to find them and called it a session as I had been blown about a half mile down the beach.

We picked up a few staples at the grocer across the street and continued down to Escanaba where we gassed up at $2.59, the cheapest gas we’ve seen in a while. Canada really gets you. They post their prices in liters and Canadian dollars so there’s some math involved but the average price in Canada was around $3.40 a gallon. From there it was just a few minutes further to Bark River where we were happy to be done driving.

We are right on the sandy shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. I couldn’t resist going out for another paddle around the cove we are camped at. The wind was much calmer here but still created some resistance heading south. I went into it for a distance then turned around and headed out to check out a fisherman sitting in a small boat about a quarter of a mile out. Surprisingly, I could still see the bottom out that far. I wanted to ask about Bark River. I paddled near and asked how’s the fishing? He replied “you’re not helping it any”. I got the hint and beat it back towards camp as the sun was dropping behind the trees.

PJ and I walked down the beach to a clearing and caught the final afterglows of the sunset. She’s in a melancholy mood and walking seemed to be helpful. We have a great spot at the very end of the campground on the sandy shore. The campsites next to us got inundated by the recent rain and were closed so the campers that had them reserved had to move elsewhere so we have our own little corner of Fuller County Park to ourselves. Cali is digging it. She gets away running free and there is forest next to us that she can explore, just watch out for the bears!