Sunday July 25th

We are headed generally to Oshkosh Wi for the airshow. It seemed like too long a trip from Houghton to Oshkosh, so we headed for Iron Mountian Mi just shy of the Wi border. Iron Mountain is known for it's.... welllll..... iron mines! There were several large ones and iron is still the life blood of this area. We were expecting a tired old town, simialr to Sudbury, the kinda dull Nickle mining town. NO WAY. Iron Mtn, is a really cool little town in the UP. To start, the biggest attraction is N. America's highest ski jump. The picture doesn't do it justice. Secondly, the town is full of lovley nighbohoods filled with modest sized, but extremly neat and well kept houses. As we drove around we were surprised by what we found at every turn. We came for the GIANT CORNISH PUMP. an old device used to "dewater" the mines as they put it. Obviously back at the turn of the century, we were entralled with making huge steam driven machines. This device has pistons almost twice the size of the giant hoist we just saw. Specs above. Iron mining seemed even wetter, and colder than copper mining so we did not take the tour and instead... Go out for dinner.
We don't eat out a lot on these trips, especially if our travel days are short as they have on this trip so far. We'll eat out more later. One of the downsides to my career change is the loss of cash flow, so we try to conserve.
Well we got all cleaned up, I put on a pair of Chinos for the first time in a month, and we went out to one of Iron Mountians finest "supper clubs". These, we were told by an authortative source, (guy selling corn at a stand) are first rate places, with lounges and everything. So - dressed to the nines, or maybe the sixes, cause we're camping, we set off. Only to find they're all closed! IT'S SUNDAY! We finally went to a diner, and had a very good meal. Liz had perch, because we're close to Lake Superior, and I had a steak. The lady at the register said that the picture of an old gentleman laughing was the owners late father. who used to sit by the register and chat up all the regulars. Great photo. Oh well, another night, for fancy!