We started July 4th morning with a parade, one the locals said to don't blink, we would miss it. But, they don't know that we blinked many times and it still was going on! A couple thousand folks pour into this small little town for the day, games for kids, some food vendors set up, and many outdoorsy folk on their ATVs/UTVs/mountain bikes just tooling around. What surprised me was no sidewalks at all in the town.
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| People lining up to watch the parade |
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| A dalmatian! How adorable!! |
Lots of really loud sirens, floats, groups of this and groups of that people. One very large group was a boy's group, and some of the boys were riding inside canoes and the canoes were held above the shoulders of the group. Singing away, just having a blast. Later found out it was a boys club out of Kansas, that they had been in Isle Royale for the last week, and now they were group camping at Fort Wilkens. And yesterday morning on our way back from Houghton where we went to stock up on food, we passed them coming down the peninsula. Wondered where they are off to now, or heading home?
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| A snowbulance! For real! |
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| Got to have your tractors |
Once the parade left us we walked back to the campground and the parade had circled through the campground and headed back towards us, then snaked up Route 41 to Fort Wilkins State Park, all the time blowing their horns, yelling, throwing candies at kids. And - we had major damage control to do once we got back to the RV. We could not find Buddy. He found a new hiding place and it took about 2 hours for him to finally come out.
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| Boy's club from Kansas, a lot of them! |
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| Had their own band |
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| And on and on they came |
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| Canoes are heavy |
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| More boys in this club than residents in Copper Harbor. |
Later in the afternoon we went to Fort Wilkens, the oldest wooden fort still standing in the US. Built in 1844, was quite impressive. Got back to the RV, Dave cooked out, then we napped since we knew we were walking back into town to see the fireworks. Everyone said they were spectacular. And, they did not start until 11:00pm. Yep, it stays light until quite late up here in the Yooper in the summer. The fireworks were stunning. Set off from one of the islands in Copper Harbor, exploding right over our heads.
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| Chugs - Copper Harbor Ukulele Group |
We struck up a conversation with a couple sitting in front of us, teachers from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, who spend their summers hiking on Isle Royale. They told us that the Isle Royale Queen IV who runs the shuttle back and forth to the island, had a fireworks viewing cruise one year, just tooling around in the harbor, it hit a reef and broke one of the engines. It had to limp back to Wisconsin to get repaired which took 11 days, and left campers stranded on Isle Royale all that time. Ouch for them, ouch for the business they lost, ouch for the captain of that ship.
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| Had circled into campground and now coming back into town |
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| Still holding up the canoes with boys in it |
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| Chugs still plucking away |
Growing up in a small town, and we visit quite a few while traveling, I just love the atmosphere and the community spirit you find. Copper Harbor is no exception. Everyone friendly, willing to talk to you, no one is in a hurry. Even the police force (I had a nice conversation with a sheriff) is very friendly. Only complaint I have (personal) is that on a holiday in a campground, you will find most campers are 'weekenders' meaning they come out only on weekends and have to build these huge fires. Very smoky. But what memories the children will have!
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| Fireworks set off from island on right |
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| Isle Royale Queen IV does not do firework cruises anymore, duh. |
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