Camping with the Grandkids
June 9 - 13, 2010
(photography by Alex Emmert)

Dave, Sara, Alex, and Zack flew into Madison from New Delhi, India on June 4. After a few days for recovering from the trip and time zone change, and some shopping, Dave and Sara headed for her parents' place in Michigan, while Alex and Zack went camping with us. We will meet up with Dave and Sara in 5 days in Michigan. With some encouragement from his dad, Alex was working on his photography merit badge for scouting, so, with a couple of obvious exceptions, the photos on this web page were taken by him.

Roadtrek





This is our new (to us) RV that we bought this spring. It is a Roadtrek 210 Popular, with seatbelts for five, instead of the three seatbelts we had in our old Roadtrek. The van is 2008 Chevy, outfitted with a 2009 Roadtrek camper.









The start of the camping trip. We headed first for Devil's Lake State Park, about 40 miles northwest of Madison. Zack is eager to go hiking.







This is Devil's Lake. It was formed at the end of the last ice age when glaciers left terminal moraines blocking an old riverway between two bluffs. The river was diverted to the east and a lake was formed between the bluffs and the moraines. The bluffs are about 500 feet above the lake level; it is a popular place for rock climbing in the midwest.







We hiked along the lakeshore from the north end to the south end and then came back along the top of the western bluff. Grandma and Zack are making their way up the bluff; it was a steep climb. When we reached the top, Alex said to me, "Grandpa, you have a lot of energy for an old man." I guess I'll take that  as a complement (:-).










The view from the top of the bluff; this is looking southeast.








Another view from the top, looking northeast.










Our next stop was the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. This was the site of the winter quarters for the Ringling Bros. circus; it is now run by the Wisconsin Historical Society, and has displays of circus wagons, floats, and stuff, along with circus performances. Zack is providing the face for this sign.








A neat looking dragon float.








A display of antique musical instruments used in circuses. We watched a musician demonstrate some of them.








Zack inside one of the circus wagons used to transport dangerous animals. Alex probably thought that it was a good place for his little brother (:-).








Grandpa and Zack clowning around.









Zack and his grandparents reliving their youth on a carousel (or is it a merry-go-round?).








The museum has a large collection of interesting looking circus wagons,










as well as these neat looking dragon floats.


After Circus World Museum, we headed north along the Wisconsin River to Council Grounds State Park, where we spent the night. We had hoped to do some fishing there, but the weather was rainyso canceled out on that and headed the next day to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan.








Playing a card game inside the RV. The tent they were sleeping in was wet from last night's rainstorm, so they slept in the the RV with us this night.








Strolling along the beach on Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula is bounded by Lake Superior on the north and Lake Michigan on the south.








A small lake in the interior of the UP. We stopped here for lunch. Zack was navigating this day as part of his Traveler activity for scouting. I turned off the GPS and let him sit up front in the "shotgun" seat and tell me where to turn. We got to where we wanted to go and didn't take any wrong turns along the way, so he did a good job.








Tahquamenon Falls in the UP. The falls are 50 feet high and 200 feet wide. One of the park personnel said they had been having a drought, so the amount of water going over the falls was less than normal. The brown color in the water is natural; it is caused by tannin in the water from all the evergreen trees in the area. We have the same phenomena in Wisconsin.










Grandpa and Zack at the edge of the falls. Anybody want to go for a swim? (:-)








At Whitefish Point, on Lake Superior, is a shipwreck museum. A famous shipwreck in the area is the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in a tremendous storm in 1975. As a memorial, the bell from the ship was recovered and a replacement bell inscribed with the names of all the sailors that perished was placed on the wreckage.









A freighter on Lake Superior going by Whitefish Point.









The lighthouse and foghorn at Whitefish Point.












They get a lot of snow here in the winter, but I don't think it is that much! Whoever owns this place has a sense of humor.









A woodcarver's display in Paradise, MI (yes, that is the name of this little town!). The carvings are done with a chainsaw. Nancy and I decided to buy one of the little bears for our patio, so now we have to figure out where to put this thing in the RV until we get it home. It rode in the back while traveling and went up front when we parked for the night; what a chore!








A sandhill crane in our campground where we spent the night. They seemed to live here and didn't mind people as long as they didn't get too close. We watched a couple of them do what appeared to be a mating dance.









The next day we headed for Sault Ste. Marie, where we camped on the shore of the St. Mary's River, which forms the border between Michigan and Canada. The river is the passage between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, so we were able to get a close-up view of the freighters going by. This one was heading north into Lake Superior. The locks just north of here can accomodate ships up to 1200 feet long.








Across the border in Canada is the Bushplane museum. It is dedicated to the planes and pilots that fly into the Canadian bush, i.e. the lakes country in northern canada. This plane is an Ottter, and is the same model as the one I normally use when I go fishing in Canada with buddies from the department. It is a bit unnerving to think that the plane could be in a museum!

This particular plane has water tanks on the pontoons; it was used for fighting forest fires. The pilot fills the tanks by taxiing on a lake and then drops the water on the fire. In the U.S. they drop flame retardents, but in Canada they use water, since 90% of the forested areas of Canada are within 5 miles of a landable or river.









Our next stop was Alex and Zack's other set of grandparents; they have a new kitten, named Buster. Since Alez and Zack have a cat back in India, they were looking forward to meeting Buster and took an instant liking to him.

Nice photos, Alex. You did good!