Wednesday, honeymoon week

Wednesday

Out the door at 10:30am to head as far north as we could without getting on a boat or leaving Wisconsin. Our destination was the National Shoreline near the Apostle Islands.

The GPS had us taking roads that didn't exist anymore right from the start...when leaving the cabin, we were told to take a left. After driving about, oh, 300 feet, we realized this was no longer a road, but someone's driveway to their cabin. Turn the car around and head back the other way...did I just hear a soft crunching sound? Oh well, off we go.

Once we get going in the right direction, we ended up taking some "roads", if by "roads" you mean there are no trees in the middle of the dirt path, then yes, we were on "roads."

We finally find some pavement again and proceed almost due north. I realized the car felt different and wiggled it a bit side to side. Pull the car over and check the tires. Sure enough, left rear was soft. Proceed down the road at the posted speed limit and slowing down for right hand corners, we finally make it into Mercer, where there appears to be some sort of street festival and a blatant disregard for motor vehicles. Find some fix-a-flat and put that into the tire, then drive a ways up the road to find an air pump to fill the tire the rest of the way.

With that adventure taken care of, we made our way up Highway 51 to Ashland Wisconsin, and stopped for lunch around 1pm, then continued up Highways 2 and 13 to Bayfield where we stopped at the Apostle Islands Visitor's Center to get some info and a map or two. Holly found a cute little lighthouse to give as gift to a family member when we get back. Holly also read a posted notice that one of the islands was re-opened now due to the lack of bear attacks on campers. Tasty.

Back to Highway 13 and north we continued to Red Cliff to find Blueberry Road. Now, the ranger at the Visitor's Center said Blueberry Road was the better option...I humbly disagree. Not that Blueberry Road won't get you to Point Detour, but at some point, the pavement ends and the "road" keeps going.

After travelling about 12 miles or so at 20 miles an hour, we made it to Point Detour. Park the car and make our way down the "stairs". Now, most of the "stairs" were there, but the "landing" halfway down was mostly gone, save for one lone board in the middle. Jumping wasn't an option as you could miss then tumble down into Lake Superior.

Once we made it to the bottom, we found ourselves standing on beautiful red sandstone rocks the size of our car. We could see a couple of the islands not too far offshore, maybe a few miles out. The waves of Superior crashed against the rocks as we walked along the shoreline. We saw a couple of kayakers off the shore headed west.

After monkeying around for a bit, we climbed back up the "stairs" and poked around the campground that was nearby, then headed over to Little Sand Bay. Walking down the pier, we saw that the kayakers had made their way over to the Bay. We took a few more pictures and then got back in the car to start making our way home.

We decied to take the paved route back to Red Cliff, which was much nicer and probably a bit faster then Blueberry Road. Down to Bayfield to snap shots of a couple of beautiful houses, then south to Ashland again.

We made it home about a quarter to 7 in the evening. A very fun day that gave us a few ideas about future getaways :)