Michigan's Upper Penisula

On Tuesday we crossed the Mackinaw Bridge, the "Mighty Mac". The Mackinaw Bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac and connects Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas.  The Mac is a very impressive structure.  It was completed in 1957 and is 4.995 miles long.  It has the longest span between anchorages of any suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere, and the total shore-to-shore distance is 5 miles. The maximum clearance to the water below is 155 feet. Driving across the bridge is a little daunting. The bridge authority provides a service for those psychologically unable to drive their vehicle across the bridge.

Crossing he Mighty Mac

Mackinac Island from the bridge

I happen to be a bridge nut.  I chose to become a civil engineer because of my fascination with bridges.  However, after taking my first course in structures at NC State, my desire to design bridges was diminished.  Consequently, I changed my specialty to environmental engineering.  So bear with me as I indulge:

Facts and figures (Ref: Wikipedia):

The Mackinac Bridge is currently a toll bridge on Interstate 75 (I-75). Prior to the coming of I-75, the bridge carried US Highway 27 (US 27). It is one of only three segments of I-75 that are tolled, the others being the American half of the International Bridge near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Alligator Alley in Florida. The current toll is $4.00 for automobiles and $5.00 per axle for trucks.^[3] The Mackinac Bridge Authority raised the toll in 2007 to fund a $300 million renovation program, which would include completely replacing the bridge deck.^[20]

Every Labor Day, the bridge is open to walkers for the Mackinac Bridge Walk.

Painting of the bridge takes seven years,^[21] and when painting of the bridge is complete, it begins again. The current painting project began in 1999 and was expected to take 20 years to complete because the lead-based paint needs to be removed, incurring additional disposal requirements.^[22][23]

The bridge celebrated its 150 millionth vehicle crossing on September 6, 2009.^[24]

• Length from cable bent pier to cable bent pier: 7,400 feet (2,256 m).^[1]
• Total width of the roadway: 54 feet (16.5 m)^[1]
  • Two outside lanes: 12 feet (3.7 m) wide each^[1]
  • Two inside lanes: 11 feet (3.4 m) wide each^[1]
  • Center mall: 2 feet (0.61 m)
  • Catwalk, curb and rail width: 3 feet (0.91 m) on each side
• Width of stiffening truss in the suspended span: 68 feet (20.7 m).^[1]
• Depth of stiffening truss: 38.1 feet (11.6 m)^[2][1]
• Height of the roadway at mid-span: approximately 200 feet (61 m) above water level.^[1]
• Vertical clearance at normal temperature:
  • 155 feet (47 m) at the center of the main suspension span.^[1]
  • 135 feet (41 m) at the boundaries of the 3,000 feet (914 m) wide navigation channel.^[1]
• Construction cost: $99.8 million (equivalent to $696 million in 2018^[12])^[1]
• Height of towers above water: 552 feet (168 m)^[1]
• Max. depth of towers below water: 210 feet (64 m)^[1]
• Depth of water beneath the center of the bridge, 250 feet (76 m)^[1]
• Main cables:
  • Number of wires in each cable: 12,580^[1]
  • Diameter of each wire: 0.196 inches (0.498 cm)^[1]
  • Diameter of each cable: 24.5 inches (62.23 cm)^[1]
  • Total length of wire in main cables: 42,000 miles (68,000 km).^[1]
• Total vehicle crossings, 2005: 4,236,491 (average 11,608 per day)
• Speed limit: 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) for passenger cars, 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) for heavy trucks. Heavy trucks are also required to leave 500 feet (150 m) spacing ahead.

The Mackinac Bridge looking back from the UP

After crossing the bridge we turned west onto US 2, then north on MI 77, and west on MI 28 to Munising, along the so-called Seney Stretch. The actor Jeff Daniels is from Michigan and is also a musician and an RVer. Several years ago he produced a series of hilarious videos while driving his RV to various venues in the UP on a winter concert tour. One of the segments involved using the RV facilities while driving the Seney Stretch.  Click HERE to view this video.

Finally we arrived in Christmas MI and parked at the Kewadin Casino. The Kewadin Casino has 13 free RV sites with 50 amp power.  Sweet!  We have stayed here several times before, and we know these free sites fill quickly.  But today we were lucky and secured a nice site. There is a very nice National Forest campground, Bay Furnace  directly across the highway, but it was full up.  Our friends Wayne and Lynda managed to snag the next-to-last site at Bay Furnace.

Camp Kewadin

We had happy hour with Wayne and Lynda and then a nice dinner at Foggy's Bar and Steakhouse, just across the road.  Now that we have caught up with Wayne and Lynda, we plan to do some serious paddling in the UP

Our weather has been great on this trip.  When we left NC it was hot and humid with temps in the 90s. Miserable. Since entering Michigan the high temps have been in the low 70s, with lows in the 50s. Driving conditions have also been ideal, with minimal winds, headwind or otherwise.  Consequently, our fuel mileage has averaged about +9.5 mpg, which is a pretty good number for us.

I expect we will spend about 3 nights at Camp Kewadin.