Say "Ya!" to da U.P., eh?

If you are from Michigan, you know what the U.P. is.  For those of you who don't know, I'm talking about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Actually, it is a peninsula attached to Wisconsin -- and only connects to Michigan by the Mackinaw Bridge.  Charlie and I took a little vacation to the U.P. this past Thursday - Saturday.  Thought I'd share some photos...

Going North on the Mackinaw Bridge

The view from the bridge.  On the right is Mackinaw Island.

This is a snapshot of Castle Rock -- just across the bridge.  I'm not sure why Paul Bunyan and his blue ox are hanging out in the Upper Peninsula....

This is the lobby of the Hotel/Casino we stayed at in Saint Ignace, MI.  We both enjoy a bit of gaming every once in a while.  We got a complimentary hotel room from this casino, so it worked out well.

After our first night, we headed West to Escanaba.  It was a nice trip and we enjoyed beautiful scenery.  The scene above was shot in our hotel room in Escanaba.  The room was gorgeous!  

Escanaba in Da Daylight.  (If you haven't seen "Escanaba in Da Moonlight", may I highly recommend the movie.  It is a comedy -- and has some pretty funny scenes.  It gets a little weird at the end, but the beginning is a hoot!)

On the road, heading back East.  US-2 runs right along the Northern edge of Lake Michigan.  In the summer, you can hop out of the car, walk 100 feet,  and stick your feet in the water to cool off.  The water was a little too cold for that on this trip.  

I was very excited to get a photo of an Eagle!  We first spotted him about 10 feet from the car, nibbling on a deer carcass.  We turned around but by the time we got back to the road kill, the Eagle had taken off.  I popped on the zoom lens and this is what I was able to get.  

More scenery...

And once again, we were back to the bridge.  We always get a bit depressed at this point.  The U.P. is just so relaxing -- it is sad to leave it behind.
Now we are back home and gearing up for another work week.  I work 55 hours this week.  Supposedly this is the end of the really long shifts for us for a while.  They have reduced our shifts to 9 hours a day - 5 days a week after this week.  Hopefully there won't be any forced Saturday shifts to go with my 45 hour shift.  Anyway, the trip to the U.P. was a much needed break from work.