For those somewhat un-schooled in the geography of Michigan (like me) I need to point out that the state of Michigan is made up of two disconnected regions. One of these regions is a peninsula that pokes out into lake Michigan and is called by the locals the upper peninsula, or UP for short. Predictably the people that live in the UP have been given a nick name by their non-UP brethren, they are called Yoopers (UP-ers get it?) - very creative. As an ineffective attempt at revenge the non Yoopers are called Trolls but probably only by yoopers.

From last nights delightful campground we continued east along M28. At the town of Negaunee we paid a short visit to the Iron Industry Museum which gave us a glimpse into the role iron mining and smelting played in the settlement and growth of Michigan and the Lake Superior region. Like many settler stories it is one of enthusiasm, hope, hard work and mixed success. The great iron ore deposits of Michigan fueled a mining boom in the late 1800s and was a big contributor to the growth of shipping in the great lakes. To this day we can (and did) see huge iron ore loading facilities at lake side ports. However the story of iron smelting in Michigan was a much less successful story. Despite consuming vast quantities of hardwood for charcoal for the smelting process and contributing to the destruction of hardwood forests in the state, the smelting industry was never successful.

In the delightful town of Marquette we visited a Maritime Museum. Here we got a thoroughly intriguing lesson in the science of optics as applied to lighthouses, in particular we learned about the Fresnel lens invented by the a French scientist (Fresnel) in 1831. The key quality of this lens is that it is very efficient at funneling the light energy from a light source into a horizontal beam.

In addition to the science lesson we also got a lesson in sea rescue including the history of the US Rescue Service which later became the Coast Guard. In particular we learned about a nifty device called a faking box (seen in some of the images on this page) this is a box with a number of small posts around which is wrapped a cord. The purpose of this box is as follows. One end of the wound cord is attached to a projectile which is fired by a small cannon from the shore to a stricken ship. The cord is then used by the sailors on the ship to pull out a heavier line via which they can be rescued. A key requirement of this rescue technique is that the cord attached to the projectile must pay-out at high speed without knotting. That is the role of the faking box - to ensure tangle-free pay-out.

From Marquette we headed east and then south onto Highway 2 and the northern shores of Lake Michigan where we found a delightful (though expensive $21) forest campground with pit toilets as the only facility; though I should not forget the stunning views of Lake Michigan.

Along the way we stopped at a roadside cafe for a local delicacy, a pastie or pasty, these particular pasties were being sold as genuine Murdoch pasties. For those that don't know a pastie is a traditional welch miners meal. It consists of a meat and vegetable filling wrapped in pastry. I enjoyed mine but Nina immediately complained (after eating hers of course) that they were "too heavy". Here is a wiki reference for those interested