I did a little off-road exploring near the state park... The waterfall at the entrance of the campground- Dunbar,... I took a sunset hike up to this waterfall...this is... Related Stories: - Day 89, August 20th - Day 88, August 19th - Day 86, August 17th Get your own free travel journal triptosomewhere

30th August, 2004 // USA
Day 87, August 18th

today i would meet the exception to the rule; Paul restored my faith in the people of Green Bay. although technically he lives in DePere, a suburb. i had been using the gas station down the stree from the Wal Mart to clean up in the mornings, and it had a coffeeshop next door. i though about going in yesterday morning, but didn't think it would have the local flavor i was looking for being right off the highway. so i was wrong.....

i knew i was leaving green bay today but i didn't have a destination in mind. my next stop on the trip was Whitefish Point, Michigan, all the way on the Lake Superior shore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula(UP). i'm going to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum; it houses the ships' bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald. i only know about the shipwwreck because of an old Gordon Lightfoot song my dad used to play on the guitar when i was a little girl. i don't have alot of touching memories of my dad, but this is one of them. and i wanted to go and see the bell for myself.

what i didn't want to do was try and make the entire 270 mile drive all in one day. so having the luxury of not being in a hurry, i stopped in the coffeeshop to work on my logs, then planned to hit the library one more time before hitting the road.

as it turns out, Freddie's Coffeeshop not only had free internet, but also the nicest local i've met since the maroonies in Pottsville. Paul, the owner, spent close to an hour talking with me about my trip, his shop, Green Bay, and teardrop trailers. he also helped me in deciding the best route to take and some stops to make on my way up into the UP. Paul, the city of Green Bay owes you a big thank you! and so do i. if anyone is ever in the area, you'd count yourself lucky to be able to make a stop in Freddies off Hwy 41- and say hi to paul for me.

i took full advantage of the free, unlimited internet use at Freddie's, and didn't leave town until almost 4:00. i hadn't driven very far, a couple of hours, when i came across a sign for 12 Falls County Park off Hwy 41. i wasn't necessarily tired of drivng, but some nature, waterfalls, hiking, and a campfire sounded alot better than another night of sleeping in the car in a well-lit, noisy parking lot.

i hiked up to a couple of the falls, then chose a campsite. i had the whole campground, the whole park actually, all to myself. well, almost all to myself. the area had just had a pretty bad lightening storm, and so i talked to the ranger who had stopped in to check for damage. he warned me about the howling wolves i would probably hear in the night, and about putting all my food away to avoid the few bears that were in the area.

despite this news, i didn't feel scared. i think it has more to do with my passive innocence than bravery though. i had even considered bathing in the river near the waterfall; it was dusk and i was the only one around once the ranger left. but the water was very cold, and the temperature was very cold(the high for the day had only been in the lower 60's). so even though it had been several days, i decided being dirty was better than being sick. i spent the evening bundled up by the fire, writing, reading, and listening to music.

Lesson of the Day: I love camping too much to only do it once or twice a year. i should have been going all the time.

Total Miles: 100