We woke up in Mackinaw City, ate fudge, and enjoyed the charming “downtown” for a bit this morning. Then it was time to drive over the crazy Mackinac Bridge — our second XL Big Mac of the trip –- that would be Michigan’s nickname for the bridge, not mine!!

Then we were in the UP!

The Upper Peninsula is a whole different scene. It was kind of like being transported back in time to like… the 50s, I think. Or the 70s. I don’t know. It was weird. Anyway:

“Pasties” (they appear to be a savory pie involving root veggies and meat in a pie crust and folded over like a turnover) and smoked fish jerky are both a really big deal on the UP. We didn’t partake of the local cuisine, but we saw pasties signs every few feet in the more populated areas. We did, however, go to this:

At the Mystery Spot, we got to experience unexplained physics-defying optical illusions, and Brian climbed the wall:

We had a beautiful, scenic drive along Lake Michigan:

Oh, would you like a closer look at that lighthouse? We wanted one, too, and we weren’t deterred by this:

Or even this:

Hooray:

It’s the Manistique Lighthouse, by the way.

Anyway, we drove and drove and then we were in Wisconsin!

And I’m sorry to report that the rest of the day was pretty visually uninteresting. Sorry, Wisconsin. To be fair, a lot of the Wisconsin driving happened in the dark, so I’m hoping to get a couple more photos tomorrow, and they better involve cows. We’re in Wausau, Wisconsin, at the Super 8. Tomorrow the goal is to get to Minneapolis (not far, so shouldn’t be an issue) and regroup for a day or two before moving on to leg 2: South Dakota. Whee!