Busy travel day! We left McLain Park early still hungry for some McDonald’s breakfast. This put us on the same route we used getting there. With breakfast in hand, I tried to find a Wi-Fi signal to upload the last couple of updates. I found the one I used last time, Pasty, but it wasn’t strong enough to work. No wonder, being named after the local specialty, most find once is enough. We went across the road to Wal-Mart and had the same situation. There was a motel behind the shopping center, so we went there. Found a signal named “moyle11”. I know what a Moyle is but couldn’t figure how it was associated with a motel. The signal was awesome, did the updates and even the stock and options. So then we left for our next destination, Pictured Rocks. Turned the first corner, and saw a weather-beaten sign for “Moyle’s Sand and Gravel”. Thank you Mr. Moyle for the great connectivity.
Pictured Rocks is a National Lakeshore. I knew nothing about it except that it was on the map and some highway singage, oh, and it was the right distance from McLain and in the direction of home. As we were getting close, we noticed a National Parks Service Information Center, so I wheeled in there to get the campsite info – not a typical, but still pretty good move. The roads to the national parks campsites are all at least 12 miles of gravel, and good chunks of those are closed for construction. This was on the eastern edge of Munising. As we came into town form the West, I noticed this commercial campground, so I asked about it and the notoriety of the pictured rocks themselves. Well, the campground would be the best alternative for someone like us who were finished driving for the day. The Pictured Rocks can only be seen from the water, and the boat cruises were just ready to leave, but the fare was $33 and would take the rest of the afternoon. We headed for the campground, and passed up the boat ride.
The City of Munising Tourist Park Campground is a very interesting place. It appears to be municipally owned. It was unattended at our arrival at 4PM, so pick a spot and leave your money in an envelope! The views of Lake Superior are outstanding. The Internet is free and open. The utilities are fine. The rates are as good or better than the state parks. The brochure/guide is slick and professional. The showers and lavatories are clean, hot where needed, and supplied with soap, just a little shabby in the building department. It’s just that the roads and most sites are very dusty and gravelly. Oops, too pessimistic maybe?
This evening’s sunset was spectacular. Every time I thought it was played-out, Lynne pointed me in an new direction, and my camera kept grabbing marvelous pictures. So we kept on taking pictures, and I now have 135 pictures of Munising sunset of 9/14/09! In the old days, that would have been four rolls of Kodacolor and processing -- costing over $80 in the 70’s.
