Moving on to the Western U.P.

We headed back down the increasingly colorful Keweenaw Peninsula stopping at the Houghton Walmart to stock up again then on to our last campground before checking into our camp hosting gig at the Porcupine Mountain State Park in the western U.P. 

Our campsite at Twin Lakes State Park was probably the prettiest site we've stayed on our whole trip with a large site right on the lake.

Full moon view right from our site. 

We took the bikes the next day back into Houghton to ride the riverside bike rail trail through the city and down the shore about 9 miles and back. Houghton's riverside was full of train tracks, warehouses, and industry support until about 40 years ago. When the railroad pulled out, the warehouses and riverside businesses dried up as well leaving shoreline property blighted. The city created a plan to removed the blight and make the waterfront usable and mostly for public access. They did a fine job with signs along the way showing the progress. Now beautiful homes sit along the riverfront past the public parks and spaces. Well done, Houghton!

Looking across the Portage River from Houghton to Hancock, Michigan on the other side.

Interesting double decker lift bridge was built over the old swing bridge platform. The old bridge approach is still there. The swing section was removed, the lift section was built as a double decker and is lowered in the winter allowing cars to pass on the top deck and snowmobiles using the old bridge approaches pass on the lower deck. Ingenious!  

More of Hancock across the river. The old Quincy Mine elevator shaft is visible on top of the hill.

A small ski area across the river.

As we moved out of town, the rail trail turned from paved to gravel and later passing by homes feeling as if we're riding in front yards.

We rode as far as the Chassell Township Centennial Park where we took a break and enjoyed the view before heading back to Houghton.

It's getting dark earlier now and the evenings are a touch cooler enticing us to enjoy a fire. Also, the wood was $5.00 here instead of $10 at our last couple of campgrounds. All the state parks have these wonderful campfire rings.

It's also getting daylight much later. I got up at 7:00 and found this gorgeous sky. Just a few weeks ago daylight was well before 6:00.

The round wood thing on a property across the lake is a sauna on a trailer. We've seen these throughout upper Michigan. Go for dip in the cold water then warm up in the sauna. Makes perfect sense!

This park has an old fashioned play ground. I didn't try out the metal slide although I was tempted.

But I DID swing, and high! My favorite playground item when I was a kid. We never see great swings like this anymore.

So much fun!

After three nights at Twin Lakes, we moved on to the Union Bay Campground at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park where we will serve as camp hosts for the month of September. We arrived a day before our commitment started to get the lowdown from the August host and to get acquainted with the campground. Once the host was moved out of the camp host site, we moved in to our spacious site and got settled in to our temporary home.