Germfask, MI
Our travels have not gone well this year. Copper Harbor was cold when we arrived (lows around 50 and highs in the low 60's). Unfortunately, Bobbi had packed well for the heat, but had left all her cold weather gear in Columbus. And added to the cold, on the evening of the 14th rain blew in. More unfortunately, it was not an occasional thundershower or even a longer drenching rain; rather, it was something between a fine drizzle and a heavy mist -- bitterly cold and penetrating.

By morning (15th) Bobbi was sneezing almost continually and her nose was running heavily as she ran through a box of tissues in short order. When she started coughing bronchitically, Lew became alarmed -- because Bobbi had had pneumonia in the past, and Copper Harbor is quite distant from even minimal medical services. So he persuaded her to let him hitch up and head farther south. By 11:30 am we were hitched up, disconnected, paraphenalia stowed, and pulled out. The park registrar, who already had been very helpful with several inquiries, was kind enough to refund our unused days without our even asking.

We headed back south on the very same highways in reverse order. As the van and the weather outside heated up, Bobbi's symptoms subsided rapidly, and about 3 pm she asked to pull into Van Ripper SP, another campground with which we had previous pleasant experience. Unlike sparsely populated Fort Wilkins, Van Ripper really was rather crowded, with few vacant sites even at 3 pm. We were lucky to get a paved pullthrough site near the bathhouse that was level enough we could just park without unhitching. A couple of minutes to plug in and install the ever-popular "Blue Boy", and we were back in business.

Bobbi turned on the heater, and within an hour an a half temperatures inside the a/s were in the 80's. While that made everyone uncomfortable, it served to dispel Bobbi symptoms completely before suppertime. We were back within cell phone territory, so after supper Bobbi made a number of contacts to explain we again were available, while Lew performed his usual chore of cleaning the dishes and his teeth. Then Bobbi and Lew watched another episode of "The Simple Life 2" TV season, and Lew walked the dogs again. Bobbi went back to reading her novels and never coughed again.

On the 16th (Monday) we did the closest thing to nothing that we could. We slept in. After walking the dogs and breakfast, Lew fell asleep again. After lunch Lew walked the dogs and did minor housework, then installed the software for internet by cell phone -- and discovered we would have no data coverage until we were near I-75 again. After supper it was walk the dogs again (quickly, before the mosquitos came out) and watch another old "Hopalong Cassidy" movie.

The 17th (Tuesday) was only slightly more ambitious. When Bobbi could not think of anything else she wanted to do in the UP, but didn't want to head into the heat of the lower peninsula, she paid for another night. After lunch and walking the dogs, Bobbi decided to resupply. This meant driving to the nearest supermarket -- 30 miles away. And again after supper Lew walked the dogs and read documents from Vatican II, while Bobbi continued to read her novels.

Wednesday and Thursday (18th and 19th) were only marginally more ambitious. We had been without an internet connection since we left Copper Harbor, and were getting concerned about our email. Bobbi found out that our host went about 12 miles to the east to the little town of Curtice between the two Manistique Lakes in order to use the library's WI-FI. So we dutifully trucked on over there both days and cleaned up our backlog. But on Thursday Bobbi bought Pizza and Jilbert's "Yooper Mudslide" and "Mackinaw Island Fudge" ice cream for a lunch. Only then did she go to the library.

On Thursday morning (19th) Lew persuaded Bobbi that she should make campground reservations, because she planned to be traveling over the weekend -- meaning the most desirable places were likely to be filled. And it was lucky he did so, because Bobbi quickly discovered that not only would her favorite campground (Hartwick Pines) be filled, but that indeed all the state parks in the northern half of the lower peninsula were going to be full. After studying her campground directories for a long time, she finally picked a private campground near Higgins Lake and secured a campsite there for two nights, then another at the campground near Vassar for the succeeding two nights. Lew hitched after supper to minimize the delay in getting out in the morning.