View Shipwrecks From Lake Superior's Shore

A lot of Michiganians long to see one of the Great Lakes infamous shipwrecks. For those of you who want to get a good view of shipwrecks without the use of scuba gear, I know just the place. Up across the Mighty Mac in Yooper territory on the Lake Superior side you can see a string of wrecks from the shore. Hurricane River Campground is located about 12 miles west of Grand Marais (at the eastern edge of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore). This is where you will find your shipwrecks. You don't have to pay to get in to the campground and see the ruins.

The east end of the campground has a sign at the trailhead of the Lakeshore Trail that reads "Shipwreck" and points you towards the beach. Wooden ribs of a ship stand about 20 yards out from shore. Another mile down the trail finds more ruins on the beach. Jutting up from the sand are the scattered remains of a couple of hulls.

If you wish to see Au Sable Light Station, just travel another half-mile long trail and you will see the restored light. The National Park Service has restored the light and outbuildings. A fairly short hike and plenty to see make this a great stop when traveling in the Upper Peninsula.

History of Au Sable Light and pictures. You can also sign up to be a live-in volunteer to staff the lighthouse museum and station. Volunteer.gov has an application you can download and mail in. Sounds like a great summer vacation if you can afford the time off of work.

You also might wish to visit the Picture Rocks National Lakeshore website.

In Praise of my Spam Filter

I have to give my blog's spam filter it's due. In the last 24 hours alone it has probably caught about two dozen spam comments. In case you don't know, there are actually people who created software that puts links to their (and others) websites of dubious nature in the comments of blogs. I love this blog software, Wordpress and I currently use Spam Karma 2 to catch all of that junk. It does an excellent job. I like being able to have people comment without me having to review their comments before they are posted.

Spam Karma 2 lets me do that with the piece of mind that no nasty stuff will make it through. I would like to coin a new (at least to me anyway) phrase related to Blog Spam - BLAM. Blog is short for web log and BLAM will now be known as the shortened version of blog spam.

Just send me the credit (or money :)) whenever you use the term.

Speaking of Alternative Fuels

Just came across this while reading one of my favorite blogs - Make (all about making stuff). You can purchase a dvd that shows you how to convert your standard diesel powered vehicle to one supplemented with used vegetable oil at http://vegmyride.tv. For $19.95 they show you how to run a duel-tank system (meaning you still have your factory installed diesel engine and tank) so you can still run on standard diesel whenever you please. They figure that by running on used veggie oil your cost per gallon is $.15. Wonder if your exhaust smells like french fries. Man, that would be cool. :)

It isn't a Michigan-based company, but the concept is too cool not to share. Especially when gas (and diesel) is $3 a gallon.

Online Petition for Lower Gas Prices

You can sign a petition at www.michigan.gov/som in support of lowering gas prices. Basically, the petition is to urge President Bush to cap excessive gasoline profits. Yes, it is awfully coincidental (can you sense the sarcasm?) that since Bush took office in January 2001 that gas prices have increased 240% and he just so happens to have a stake in big oil. Will this petition change the prices we are paying at the pump? Excuse me if I am a wee bit skeptical about this.

It just reminds me of those emails you get encouraging everyone to boycott the big gas stations on the same day to knock sense into big oil and have them lower their gas prices.

The only way gas prices will go down permanently is if our demand goes down. It is simple economics. We need to have a different fuel source for vehicles.

No one seems to ride the government subsidized Amtrak to save fuel. Why doesn't the government drop Amtrak and divert those funds to researching vehicles run on alternative fuels? Any cap the President can put on oil profits will be short term at best. Lets look into long-term solutions.

Thanks to my wife, Lori, for providing me the link to the online petition.

Fun Camping at Wilderness State Park

Features:

• 6 Rustic cabins with 4-8 bunks
• 3 Rustic bunkhouses with 24 bunks, available for families or groups
• 250 sites
• Average Nightly Rate - $27 (in season)

The majority of the sites are the perfect size for tent camping or pop-ups and mid-size campers. There are only a handful of sites large enough to accommodate the large RVs and none of the lakeside sites offer space for these.

The 8,000-acre Wilderness State Park is open all year and offers park visitors a variety of activities. Winter activities include twelve miles of cross country ski trails and places to snowmobile. Summer activities include sixteen miles of hiking and mountain biking trails in the park. Picnic areas are available along the 26 miles of beautiful shoreline and provide great places to observe nature and catch a glimpse of a Great Lakes Freighter making its way through the Straits of Mackinac.

The campground area of Wilderness State Park is divided into three areas. The East Lakeshore, West Lakeshore, and The Pines. The Pines campground is on the south side of Wilderness Park Drive within walking distance of the shore. Each of these three areas has their own playground and modern restroom and shower facilities.

A summer 2002 visit to site 64 in the East Lakeshore campground was quite pleasant. Site 64 is within a stones throw of the water allowing for great views of sunsets and moonlight upon Lake Michigan. The site was also far enough away from the restrooms to avoid the noise and extra traffic near those facilities, but not too far of a walk to make it inconvenient.

Many Pine trees surround all of the sites, which are small, but roomy enough to not feel closed in by your neighbors. The sunsets into the water were picture perfect and the waves crashing on the sandy beach made a pleasant lullaby for sleeping.

If you go:

Take Wilderness Park Drive 11 miles west of Mackinaw City. If you need extra food or other camping supplies don't stop for them in Mackinaw City. Stop in at the B&L Campstore for ice, groceries, souvenirs, or camping supplies. It might not look like much on the outside, but their prices are much lower than you can find in town and their unique items for sale inside make the stop worthwhile.

Make your reservation today at www.midnrreservations.com.

Catch a Movie at the Capri Drive In

Sometime this summer you need to take a trip to Coldwater and see the double feature at the Capri Drive-In Theatre. Family owned and operated since 1964 this is rated as one of the nation’s top ten drive-ins. The Capri features two screens, which allow it to accommodate up to 850 cars and four different movies each night (two features on two screens). The Capri’s snack bar even made headlines when it was featured on the Food Networks “Top 5 Drive-Up Joints.” With its large menu and excellent prices it is no wonder the snack bar has reached critical acclaim status.

The Capri is one of the few drive-ins that are open seven nights a week. We attended a mid-week show and even the light rain couldn’t dampen our spirits or drown out the fun. Everything about the Capri Drive-In was great. The entire place was clean from the parking area to the bathrooms and snack bar. They even show nostalgic advertisements for the concessions and the intermission includes a timer that counts down the minutes until the second feature begins.

All in all the Capri Drive-In rates as a top-notch night of family fun. Everything about the Capri is family oriented and friendly. It was great to see carloads of families and friends get there early and toss a football around and set up their lawn chairs for the show. We had a blast and will definitely make it a point to go at least once a summer. Absolutely worth the drive and worth not getting home until two o’clock in the morning.

The other neat thing about the Capri is that they have different events for some nights of the week all summer long. Sunday night is Buffet Night (as in Jimmy Buffet, not Old Country Buffet). Wear a Hawaiian shirt and receive $1 off the already low admission of $7 (for adults) and receive $1 off a cheeseburger. Tuesday nights you pay only $15 for a carload so pack everyone in and enjoy a night of entertainment on the cheap! Visit their website for information on their other special events.

Please note that the Capri is extremely popular and on weekends I have seen lines stretching half a mile or more down U.S. 12 so get there early (box office opens at 8pm). For more information about the Capri and the history of the Drive-In please visit their website at http://www.capridrivein.com/index.php.