Munising, Michigan-Falling Temperatures and Falling Leaves......

After a brief afternoon shower this guy popped up.  I thought about swimming out and searching for the pot of gold but the water temperature is around 57!

Our month in Munising is rapidly coming to an end.  Just three more days and we'll pack up the Silver Bullet and hit the road.  We'll be taking eight days to move it westward to Salt Lake City, before we fly back to Florida for most of November.  The first part of our route will include Duluth, Minnesota, Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota and Billings, Montana.  From Billings we'll head to Yellowstone for a few days, then Jackson Hole, Wyoming and on to Park City and Salt Lake City.  Our plans are to fly back to Salt Lake City on Thanksgiving night, pick up the Bullet and head on towards California, where we'll spend a couple of weeks enjoying Sarah, Joey, James and Emma Joy.  Ben's plans have not been finalized but we hope to have him with us for all, or at least part of that time.

Au Sable Light Station near Grand Marais.  The original construction of the light station was in 1873.  It's still operating today!

To reach the Au Sable Light Station it's a mile and a half hike along this trail.  The trailhead is near the Hurricane River Campground.

Just like last year, we've loved our time here in Munising.  We revisited many of our favorite spots, especially the first week while Cindy and Debbie (Beth's sisters) were with us.  We also enjoyed visiting the Keweenaw Peninsula for the first time.  With a little more freedom from COVID restrictions than we had last year we were able to explore the cool city of Marquette several times.  Marquette has a great waterfront park near it's small but busy downtown.  There's Presque Isle State Park and the 47 mile long multiuse Iron Ore Heritage Trail, and much more to keep you occupied.  Although we tend to eat most of our meals at the house, we did enjoy lunch at both the Iron Bay Restaurant and Vierling Restaurant and Brewery.

Marquette Harbor Light House.  This picture was taken from the Iron Ore Heritage Trail.

From downtown Marquette we walked a couple of miles on the Iron Ore Trail.  We enjoyed the view from Picnic Rocks Park before making our way back to downtown.

Marquette, MI

Iron Bay Restaurant

The Vierling Restaurant and Brewery

Iron Ore Heritage Trail

As I had mentioned in the previous blogs, the temperatures have been warmer than last year but still very comfortable and pleasant.  Last year before we left we actually had one or two light dustings of snow.  This year the highs have mostly been in the sixties with over night lows in the forties.  However, over the past few days the temperatures have started to drop a bit as fall starts to transition towards winter.  There's no snow in the forecast before we head out of town, but it's doubtful we see the temperature reach fifty before we leave.  Perfect temperatures for a walk up the street or a hike in the woods!

From inside the house.........

.......or outside on the patio, the sunrises never get old.........

........afternoon fires are also nice.......

..........as are full moons!

Along with the falling temperatures come the falling leaves.  While there are still plenty of colorful leaves on the trees, the changes in terms of amount and color become more obvious everyday.  Every time the wind blows another batch of leaves make their way from the trees to the ground, giving the appearance of it snowing leaves.  Soon the trails and side roads that we've enjoyed walking will be used for snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling.  Ice fishing huts will move out onto Lake Superiors Munising Bay.

The warning sign wasn't posted when we arrived.  Even though it's a little premature, I think it's smart of them to put it up when the weather is nice instead of waiting until a cold, snowy day to install it.

Fewer leaves on the trees simply means a better view of the lake!

Still plenty of leaves to fall!

Making it snow!

Our travel adventures are pretty well set for now through the end of March.  There will be plenty of Florida time along with visits to both the 49th and 50th states.  We hope our journey brings us back through this wonderful area somewhere down the line.  As we've said to each other numerous times over the past month........we love it here!