July 5, Lake Winnie to Iron Mountain, Michigan

We left the cafe at Deer Creek and again headed East on our old friend, Highway 2. We soon passed the border into Wisconsin and we stopped and I took a pee, grateful for the renewal of rest areas. When we reached Ashland, we stopped for Pasties. They are little meat and potato baked turnovers. Jeff thought that they were pronounced with a long A and was expecting a floor show with dancing girls. He was slightly disappointed when the waitress was fully dressed. On the way out of the cafe, we saw this sign.

After leaving Ashland WI, and the Chequamegon (say that three times fast), Bay, we passed over another state border to Michigan. We were looking for a dry campground with few mosquitoes. I found a campground on the map near a small lake and we took a short detour to check it out. It was next to a lake and surrounded by swamp so we passed......needless to say we were a little gun shy after our last camping experience. Neither of us wanted to give more blood to assure the survival of the mosquito species.

As soon as we got back on the Highway, the sky started to darken and we could see rain and lightning flashes in the distance. Soon we were engulfed in another massive thunderstorm. As we moved down the road, I kept thinking we would outrun the storm, but it seemed to stay right above us. I was driving, and keeping the truck on the road between the lines became more and more difficult. It was like driving through a car wash with a marching band and light show in the cab with us. Deafening thunder shook the truck, blinding flashes of lightening blurred my vision, gusts of 60 MPH wind pushed the truck all over the road, and the rain came down so hard the wipers couldn't handle it. Every time a clap of thunder came I squealed, ducked, panted and Jeff would say "it's ok, you're doing fine". Yeah right.....I was decidedly NOT doing fine. I so scared I really needed one of those rest areas immediately!

When it became apparent that I really couldn't see the lines in the road anymore and was more intent on ducking and closing my eyes than driving, Jeff insisted that I pull over and let him drive. I refused to get out of the truck, so I climbed over the center divider and brave, foolhardy Jeff got out and ran around to the driver's side. I had forgotten to unlock the door and with my head under the dashboard and the thunder crashing, I didn't hear his calls for help. Finally he unlocked the door and got in and started for the nearest town with a motel.....Iron Mountain.

We pulled into "America's Best Inn" hoping for a room. I got soaked and Jeff added to his load of water just getting into the lobby. We secured a room for the night and stood and watched the storm from the lobby window. It was truly a force of nature. Thunderstorms in the midwest are nothing like T-storms in the Willamette Valley. It seemed to go on forever instead of just moving down the valley in a few minutes. Finally it let up long enough for us to get our stuff and go up to our room.

"America's Best" was not quite America's worst, but close. I questioned why there was no electrical outlet by the sink? Was this motel built before the advent of hair dryers or electric shavers??? Anyway, I laid down in the fetal position to calm myself, Jeff went out for Chinese and we enjoyed the rest of our evening. As we went to bed, I could only hope that tomorrow would bring a better situation for camping.