I'm not going to kid anyone, the trip from Marquette to Mackinaw City was ugly! Rain, rain, and more rain...saw one car in a parking lot with water up to the door sills. Did I mention it was raining??? Anyway, we arrived safely at Mackinaw Mills Creek Campground and this place is huge. Lots of things for the kids to do too! After setting up the coach we went down to the water's edge to view the bridge. The Mackinac Bridge is beautiful at night all lit up....oh! yes, the rain was gone in the morning...:)
The day started out nice enough, with some clouds in the distance.
Rain was forecast but only about 30%. Being the optimist, that meant, to
me, a 70% chance of sunny skies....
The blue skies gave way to grey skies and the ominous clouds drew closer. So we guessed we were closer to the forecaster's 30% than my anticipated 70%....
This picture doesn't even begin to show how miserable this day had been. We are approaching the toll plaza for the Mackanac Bridge.
We had stopped to refuel in the rain, the card reader didn't work on the fuel island and shortly after refueling the dreaded "Water in Fuel" alarm started. Stop again in the rain to drain a quart of fuel from the filter and get back on the road....soaked...:(..It was going to be one of those days....
Of course there was construction on the bridge...all 5 miles of it...toll $19.00...only good part is the toll taker didn't charge me for each axle, coach has three, car has two. She instead charged me $15 for the coach, $5/per axle and the single auto rate. In California, they make you unhook the toad in order to save the extra charge.
Once over the bridge, we reached our destination, Mackinaw City.
You may wonder why it's Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw City. Both are actually abbreviations for the Native American name for this area, Michinnimakinong, which is actually four words put together (Mich-inni-maki-nong) meaning connecting land or place. The British and French shortened the word to Mackinac (French) and Mackinaw (British).
We were going to go searching for a pot of gold, but I was too tired to do anything. But, I was happy the rain was ending.
Mackinac Bridge at sunset. This bridge is the third longest suspension bridge in the World! At 26,372 feet, it is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. The bridge rises 200 feet over the Straits of Mackinac which connect Lake Michigan with Lake Huron. All suspension bridges are designed to sway in the wind and this bridge has been recorded moving 35 feet sideways in severe windy conditions.
Lake Huron shoreline at sunset. One thing about stormy weather....sunsets are spectacular!
Another view of the Mackinac Bridge at sunset from the shores of Lake Huron. This is the view from our campground which is between Mackinaw City and Cheboygan, Michigan. It has almost 2 miles of shoreline within the campground.
The next day saw puffy white clouds and sunny skies. The two very small dots in the middle of the picture are our grandkids enjoying their third "Great Lake", Lake Huron. Only Lake Erie is left....
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