Copper Harbor 3rd

It's that time again - time to fill you in on the details of our annual 4th of July holiday in Copper Harbor. This series of 3 or 4 posts (probably 4) may come off sounding like a travelogue or a lengthy sales pitch to visit our area, so I apologize in advance. It's just that we absolutely love living here, and we can't help ourselves from enthusiastically sharing that love with others.

OK, let's go. After church on July 3rd, we went home to finish packing the last few items for our 2-night stay in Copper Harbor. The Harbor is only about 17 miles from our house, so it doesn't take long to get there on either Hwy. 26 (a winding road following the shoreline of Lake Superior) or Hwy. 41 (a winding road through the woods). Both roads are beautiful. We chose Hwy. 41 that day, as it's slightly faster - and we wanted to take advantage of every minute in da Harbor that we could. It wasn't long before we were whizzing by the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. . .

and rounding the final curve down into the quaint and picturesque town of Copper Harbor.

We stopped at Keweenaw County's only traffic light before going straight down one block to our shoreline motel (Bella Vista) on the left.

Wait a minute! Did you see what it said on the back of that motor home?

"LIFE IS GOOD" - I agree!

Anyway, we stopped at the motel office. . .

and got the keys for good old room 25.

We have a standing reservation for this room every year for the nights of July 3rd & 4th. The accommodations are basic - standard for Copper Harbor.

There's no in-room microwave, hair dryer, coffee pot or even a telephone! Coffee is available in the office, but we brought along our own coffee pot this year (much better). We do get a queen bed, a refrigerator, a clean room. . .

and this lovely relaxing view.

Seriously, who could have high blood pressure in this place?

Our buddies (and 11-mile-away neighbors), Marty & Donna, also have a standing reservation at Bella Vista; and we met up with them after unpacking our vehicle. We lazed around a bit and had dinner at the Mariner North before heading up to the top of Brockway Mountain to take in the scenery. First, the big lake.

It was one of those days when it was hard to tell where the sky ended and the waters of Lake Superior began.

Looking the opposite direction, we see miles of trees and Lake Medora.

On the way back down Brockway Mountain Drive, we stopped at the Copper Harbor overlook. Beginning on the left in the next photo, you can see some of the buildings in the town of Copper Harbor and the harbor water with Lake Superior beyond. The large lake near the center is Lake Fanny Hooe, and the small body of water on the right is Lake Manganese. If you look closely, you can also see the Copper Harbor Lighthouse on the narrow strip of land curving around on the left.

I turned to my left a bit for the next shot. The lighthouse is now in the distance on the right.

I turned a little more to the left for this shot. See that small gap in the center of the photo? That's the gap between Hunter's Point and Porter's Island.

That's the very gap we can see - up close and personal - from our motel room.

Yep, that was a freighter going past the gap that same evening.

Wait, we had 2 ships! Can you see the second one?

We had the fixin's for strawberry shortcake in our refrigerators, so we snacked on some dessert before watching another peaceful Copper Harbor sunset.

Aaahh, beautiful colors in the sky painted by the Lord.

Stay tuned for the second installment in this series next week.

All is well in the Keweenaw.