Fall Trip to Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region

So we had this idea for a fall trip.  We wanted to take a 3 week trip to see the fall colors along the upper Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.  We also wanted to do it with our friends Robert and Lani Graves and Scott and Norma Grove who we met in New Jersey over 30 years ago.  The question is "can three couples travel together on a road trip for 3 weeks and still be friends at the end?"  The answer is "YES!!"  We had a blast and are already making plans to do it again.

The Group
Lee, Liz, Robert, Lani, Norma, and Scott

We traveled in a caravan of three vehicles; 2 motor-homes and a

car (the Blue Max - a blue Toyota Sequoia).  The Graves drove their car and stayed in our motor-home at night and we all piled into the Blue Max for day trips and sight seeing.  Scott and Norma have a 24 ft Coachmen Prism with a diesel engine and on this trip Scott was finally able to achieve his life long dream of getting 16 mpg in his RV (he did it by drafting behind our motor-home at a maximum speed of 60 mph for hundreds of miles.  Scott now owes me big time for my role in his achievement because my best mpg was 8).  All three vehicles had a bike rack with 2 bikes each so we were also prepared to do some serious biking on this trip.  For overnight stays we alternated between State Parks, RV Parks, Sams Club parking lots and highway rest areas.

The Caravan - the Blue Max and 2 RVs

For planning purposes we broke the trip into three 1-week segments and each couple took responsibility for planning 1 week.  First up was the Groves week which focused on traveling the Great River Road along the upper Mississippi River to it's headwaters at Lake Itasca, MN.  The Graves planned the second week which followed along the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.  We had the final week which took us to Amish country in Ohio and on to the the Allegheny Mountains in PA.

Week 1 - Great River Road

Route for Week 1
Begin at Nauvoo, IL and end at Lake Itasca, MN

The original plan was to meet up at Dubuque, IA to begin the trip since we were all coming from different parts of the country (Groves from LA, CA, Graves from Williamsburg, VA, and us from Dallas, TX).  However, we all ended up meeting at Nauvoo, IL, a historic site for the Mormon Church.  This was particularly interesting since we all have Mormon roots and originally met each  other in New Jersey through our connection with the Mormon Church.  So we spent an afternoon looking at the historical Mormon sites preserved in the town of Nauvoo.

Mormon Temple at Nauvoo, IL
(Replica of the original that was destroyed when the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo)

Breakfast on first day of the trip

The next day we began our journey along the upper Mississippi headed for Dubuque.  We followed the Great River Road which is a scenic backroad that closely follows along the banks of the Mississippi River.  Arriving in Dubuque we visited Hamm Island, (an island in the Mississippi River) and did some biking along the paths around the island.

Liz ready for take-off

Enjoying the view after a bike ride

As we continued our drive up the Great River Road we noticed an occasional dam structure that stretched completely across the river blocking all river traffic.  We discovered that these dams are part of a lock system that maintains sufficient depth in the river to enable navigation year round.  There are 29 dams between St Louis MO and St Paul MN.  The locks through the dams are large enough to accommodate the large barges that navigate the river and operate on gravity feed from the current of the river and thus need no pumps.  It is noteworthy that the locks are free of charge for all river traffic from barges to wave runners.

Dam on the Mississippi River with locks in the foreground

Tug pushing barges through the locks

On Sept 26 we stayed the night at Pikes Peak State Park which overlooks the junction of the Mississippi with the Wisconsin river.  The high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi provide an amazing view of the lush green countryside that stretches for miles up the rive channel.

View of the Wisconsin river channel where it joins the Mississippi

The river valleys are surrounded by high bluffs in this area

Enjoying the view from the overlook at Pikes Peak State Park

The drive along the Great River Road passed numerous roadside stands selling farm fresh fruits, vegetables and pumpkins.

One of many roadside stands along the Great River Road 

On our way up the Great River Road to Saint Paul, MN we stayed overnight at Freedom Park in Prescott, WI.  We enjoyed the beautiful fall colors there as well as a "lovely" overlook of the Mississippi River.  ("Lovely" became our "go to" adjective for describing beautiful scenery on this trip)

Overnight stay at Freedom Park in Prescott, WI

On Sept 28 we arrived at Saint Paul, MN and toured the city.  We toured the Cathedral of Saint Paul (it was "lovely") and the James Hill house.  Jame Hill was a railroad magnate who built the Great Northern Railroad.  His house, built in St Paul in 1891, was huge and state of the art for it's time.

Cathedral of Saint Paul

James Hill house in St Paul, MN

On our second day in St Paul we went for a bike ride in Nokomis Hiawatha Park.  This park has a bike path that follows the shores of several lakes.  That evening we visited the Mall of America.  Even though malls are now old news, this one is still pretty impressive.

Biking the trails at Nokomis Hiawatha Park in Saint Paul

Mall of America

From St Paul we headed on the last leg of the Great River Road to Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  Liz reserved campsites at Itasca State Park and we spent the afternoon exploring the park and performing the ritual of walking across the Mississippi River at the point where it flows out of Lake Itasca.

Crossing the Mississippi River at the headwaters

Singing around the campfire at Itasca State Park

Having completed the first leg of our journey we bid farewell to the Mississippi River - on to the Great Lakes.

Week 2 - The Great Lakes and Upper Michigan Peninsula

Route for Week 2
Begin at Duluth, MN and end at Detroit, MI

We began the second week by traveling up the north western coast of Lake Superior.  This coast is lined with beautiful waterfalls and streams, treacherous rocky shores, and lighthouses.  We traveled to Split Rock Lighthouse which was constructed in the early 1900's after a devastating storm on Lake Superior sank or damaged 29 ships.

Gooseberry Falls 

Split Rock Lighthouse

 Our next major stop was the Quincy copper mine near Houghton, MI.  This copper mining area was developed in the 1800's and produced copper into the the mid 1900's.  The Quincy mine has been turned into a national historic park which conducts tours into the mine down to the 7th level.  We took the tour and had a very sobering experience.  Even though we were only down in the mine for about 1 hour, we got a real appreciation for what a difficult life the miners lead.  Working in the cold, dark, and damp with the constant possibility of explosions or cave-ins is a hard way to live.

Liz and I riding the tram down into the Quincy mine

Scott and Norma ready to go down

Robert and Lani inside the mine

Drilling equipment used to make the holes for dynamite placement

Next we headed to the eastern end of Lake Superior passing through Tahquamenon Falls State Park and on to White Fish Point Lighthouse.  This is the place where the famous cargo ship the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975 during a violent storm on Lake Superior.  Gordon Lightfoot immortalize the event in his ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". 

Tahquamenon Falls

Whitefish Point Lighthouse

Whitefish Point overlooking Lake Superior

Our next stop was one we looked forward to with much anticipation - MacKinac Island, MI.  This island is only accessible by ferry and does not allow motor vehicles of any kind.  All transportation is by horse drawn carriage and bicycle.  One of the landmarks on the island is the Grand Hotel which opened in 1887.  It was the backdrop for the movie "Somewhere in Time" and has entertained many famous visitors over the years.  We took our bikes over on the ferry and had a great time navigating the entire island.  The weather was perfect.  We also took a tour of Fort Mackinac, a former British and American military outpost on the island.

On the ferry to Mackinac Island

One of the hotels on Mackinac Island

Bike trail around the island

Having dinner at a restaurant on Mackinac Island

Local transportation - two horsepower

View of the town from Fort Mackinac

The Grand Hotel

Leaving Mackinac Island we traveled down the northwestern coast of Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a place along the shores of Lake Michigan where sand dunes have formed.  From there we headed to the final stop on this leg of our journey - Detroit, MI.  We drove through downtown Detroit and were impressed that it appeared active and prosperous.  However, as soon as we entered the suburbs, the struggles of Detroit were evident - one neighborhood after another of mostly vacant houses - boarded up and deteriorating.  It was very sad to see.

While in Detroit we visited the Detroit Historical Museum, an impressive display of the forces that shaped this city - from cars to music.  We also had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant called La Dolce Vita.

Detroit Historical Museum

At the restaurant La Dolce Vita

Week 3 - Ohio Amish Country and the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania

Route for Week 3

Begin at Loudonville, OH and end at Leonard Harrison Campground, PA

The third week of our trip began on Oct 9th at Loudonville, the western border of Amish country in Ohio.  We stayed for a couple of nights in the middle of Amish country at an RV park near Walnut Creek.  We spent 2 days shopping and sightseeing.  The girls had a chance to satisfy their appetite for quilt shopping (Lani), antique shopping (Norma) and Christmas shopping (Liz).  The guys mostly hung outside in the rocking chairs on the store porches along with all the other men whose wives were in the stores shopping.  We had an Amish dinner at the Dutch Valley Amish Kitchen which is an all-you-can eat buffet much like Chuck-o-Rama.  

Antique and Quilt Shopping

Dinner at the Dutch Valley Restaurant

Scott was actually Amish in a previous life

Leaving Amish country we headed toward the Allegheny Mountains in PA.  On the way we passed through Canton, OH - home of the Football Hall of Fame so Robert and Scott made a quick detour to check it out while the rest of us continued on to the Sam's Club in Warren, OH for the night.  Our next major stop was the Kinzua Bridge State Park.  This railroad bridge was built in 1882 to connect McKean County's coal, timber and oil lands with the east and was the longest and tallest railroad structure at the time.  Its use was discontinued in 1959 and it became a historic park.  In 2003 a tornado blew through the valley and toppled 2/3 of the bridge.  Today, there is a platform at the end of the remaining portion of the bridge that provides a view of the toppled bridge towers blown over by the tornado.

On the road to Kinzua Bridge we encountered a tunnel with a roof clearance of 11' 7".
Our motorhome is 12'6" so we had to find another way around.
Lucky we saw it before driving under it!

Standing portion of the Kinzua Bridge

Glass bottomed viewing platform from the bridge

Twisted towers of the bridge toppled by the tornado

Our last stop on the trip took us to Leonard Harrison State Park, located on the overlook of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.  This deep gorge carved by Pine Creek has a "rails to trails" bike trail that follows the creek for 62 miles.  We planned to do some biking here but the weather was uncooperative so we enjoyed the view and the fall colors from the canyon overlook.  

Fall foliage at the top of the Grand Canyon of PA

From this point we all departed for home, going our separate ways.  We had such a great time that we are already planning a trip for next summer to Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.  Making great memories in beautiful places with great friends is a potent combination.  We want to do it again!