Gurney is in northern Wisconsin near Lake Superior. Michael’s father, Jim, grew up here. Jim was born 25 miles away in Bessemer, Michigan where his dad worked in explosives for a copper mine. When the mines started to shut down, Jim’s dad moved his family to Gurney to farm. This was a fortuitous choice since they were self sufficient during the Great Depression.
Bayfield, Wisconsin
From Minnesota, we traveled to Bayfield, a small city on the shores of Lake Superior with a population around 500. It’s known as a gateway to the Apostle Islands and the “Fruit Loop” of Wisconsin. We wanted to visit the Apostle Islands, but bad weather prohibited it on our day to go. Bayfield is know for it’s fruit orchards (blueberries, raspberries, apples, blackberries and peaches). Jim’s family would travel the 50 miles from Gurney to Bayfield to harvest fresh fruit and make preserves for the winter months.
Seven Ponds Winery had live music, a charcuterie board and wine. The town was very quaint with lots of shops and restaurants.
The Apostle Island RV Park had full service with peeks of Lake Superior.
Gurney, Wisconsin
We stayed at the Frontier RV Park near Gurney. There were cornfields next to our motorhome.
Less than a block away was a bar. Beer and a pizza were perfect after a day of traveling.
Jim’s school is long gone. But one of their projects was planting these trees nearly 80 years ago.
Near Gurney is the Potato River. About 50 years ago, Jim took us kids to see the Potato River Falls and fish. Other than the vegetation being a bit overgrown and having to bushwhack to the falls, they looked the same as my memory recalled.
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton is in copper country on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.
The Houghton RV Park overlooked Portage Lake waterway. They had full service and decent wifi.
The Keweenaw Peninsula was beautiful. There were numerous waterfalls and a lighthouse.
A 1948 Willys Jeep and 2017 Willys Jeep.
Sandy insisted on trying a Pasty. A Pasty was the main lunch of miners 150 years ago. They are filled with meat and root vegetables surrounded by pastry dough then baked. We stopped for one, and the girl behind the counter was amused by Sandy’s pronunciation of the word Pasties, thinking she was talking about something else. It was a healthy version of a modern day Hot Pocket. It was pretty good but Sandy would have added sausage and herbs to make it tastier.
