Saturday, August 8, 2020

Repairs and Gitche Gumee

 Those Gas Stations from the past:

 They were called Service stations. They did small repairs changed oil and pumped gas. They cleaned the windshields and checked the oil and water with every stop.

For Saturday and Sunday’s stuff:

We sat around waiting for a tow truck, and then waited for repairs. You must understand when you show up with an RV at a truck facility you are at the bottom of the list. Those truckers need their trucks, it is their living, and we are in it for the fun of life, as seen by the business. WE are also a onetime customer, they have regulars.

It chaffs at times, but that is ‘life on the road.’

So while we sat I remembered the first time I heard the term, ‘Gitche Gumee.’ We had met sisters, Mel and Darla. online and stopped by to visit them. They live up in the deep woods of Wisconsin, not far South of lake Superior.

 What a wonderful family Mama ‘O’ has. WE also had the privilege of meeting their beautiful mama.  I think she is a little older than I, and still gets her buck every year for meat in the freezer. In talking about Lake Superior, Dar called it Gitche Gumee.

It was not until this trip I looked up the words of Gordon Lightfoot’s song, ‘The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald.’ What a sad tell from the history of the lake. 29 souls were lost in its sinking.

 

The ship was loaded with iron ore, loaded from the now silent piers, most likely Marquette, many ships were loaded, there on the shores of Gitchie Gumee. 

WE marveled at these structures, wondering what they were when we first arrived. Missing is the bridge leading to the top of this monster where the ore was dumped from trucks, awaiting a ship to pull along side. 

We are near Lake Michigan here. We will NOT see Lake Superior this trip.

Nite Shipslog  

 PS: We are Back on the road, more tomorrow                    

10 comments:

yaya said...

Glad you made it back on the road again! I'll be on the road tomorrow to Chicago but not in a motor home! Have a good rest of your trip and hopefully no more mishaps!

betty said...

Great that you are back on the road. That was a great ballad of Gordon Lightfoot based on the sinking of that ship. Such a tragedy indeed!

Betty

Chatty Crone said...

Glad you are back on the road again.
I wish I could meet Darla and her mom!
I did not know that story at all - interesting.
Good luck the rest of your trip!

NanaDiana said...

We love that area and there is a church camp up there called Gitchee Gumee, too. It is one of our favorite areas to visit. We love the whole UP!
Glad you are traveling again. It is good for the soul. xo Diana

Susie said...

I understand the truck stop way...but oh dear sitting and waiting isn't fun. Lucky you are back to traveling. Stay out of the ditches, and troubles. It will be fun to see all that you, Sherry and JJ see ...since we have to stay home. Blessings, stay safe. xoxo, Susie

Mevely317 said...

Gosh, it's GOOD to 'see' ! Interesting about the truck stops' wait lists. Good thing y'all like one another. (*smile*)
Not sure why, but for years I've terribly interested (obsessed?) with ship wrecks -- not the least of which the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not something one might expect on a domestic body of water.
Be safe ... have fun!

Mevely317 said...

"Good to see you" I meant!

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

I hope you can enjoy your wait, see some sights around there . Hopefully they will soon find time to fit you in. There are lots of ships on the lakes and used to be more hauling iron ore than now. We have a redundant steel mill that they used to deliver to in abundance. Now I know where those words came from, on the shores of gitche gumee.

Dar said...

The Shores of Gitchie Gumee are pretty amazing, having seen them often, but particularly at the Soo Locks where the ships traverse from the depths of one lake to another....amazing to watch the water rise and fall and so quickly with a ship waiting to go one direction or the other. I'm always in awe.
Thanks for the mention of dear Mama...she's doing wonderful at her age of 91, a little slower but Oh how she's earned it. I can still remember a full service station or two., from when I was a kid.
loven'hugs from up north WI where we keep having hard showers and even hail. It sounded great hitting the metal roof at the cabin this weekend.

Anne M Robinson said...

It pays to be kind and have patience too. Hard sometime but we understand life is not always easy. Grateful you will be on the road again. When my hubby lost his oldest brother in his early 60's 5 years ago he had given us his old Chevy Malibu. That car had seen some traveling as Mike was a traveling nurse. He had an old take deck in there and the song "ON the Road Again" was one of Mike's favorite tunes. As much as I love Willy Nelson they song drove me nuts. Why I Just do not know. But after his passing I found myself humming along and anytime we travel, we play that song! It is sort of a tribute to Mike, gone too soon.
Your stories with music made me smile, even with the Edmund Fitzgerald. Oh what a sad tune that was and still is.
You have seen some sights, it is nice to stop by and say hello to both of you. Enjoy your travels and may God watch over you and bless you both. HUGS across the roads XO