UPPER PENINSULA --

Made in MIchigan's whirlwind tour of the Upper Peninsula was coming to a close.  So what did we manage to see so far in less than 3 days time?  Let's review. 

We saw the icy, not flowing Straits of Mackinac looking very uninviting; and at Saklly's chocolates in Escanaba we saw milky flowing chocolate looking very inviting.

In Menominee we saw ships across the river made in Wisconsin at Marinette Marine, and helicopters on our side Made in Michigan at Enstrom Helicopter. 

We saw world famous basketball courts for the NCAA and NBA made in the wilderness north of Crystal Falls by true blue Yoopers at Connor Floors, and the cosmopolitan town of Marquette that seemed nothing like the UP at all.

We met a ghost in a haunted hotel in eternal pain, and saw surgical implants made at Marquette's Pioneer Surgical that take the pain away.

But we weren't quite ready to leave the UP, not yet.  East of Marquette M-28 takes you along the Lake Superior shore and into one of the world's most unforgiving snowbelts.  The town of Munising is a haven for snowmobilers who come from our neck of the woods for a chance to ride on some of the best groomed trails around, thanks to the average snowfall of more than 140 inches per year.  Here, we were able to fill up with gas right along side the snowmobilers who were pulling right up to the pumps.  At over 600 miles traveled, it would be more than 300 miles home to mid-Michigan.

But here in the heart of snow country, in the tiny town of shingleton, we found one final "Made in Michigan" stop.  Iverson Snowshoes has a much quiter way to get around in the snow.  They're making snowshoes here exactly the way they were made when the company was founded over 50 years ago.  They are a hit not only here in Michigan, but in some of the most frigid corners of the world.