It was another rainy morning and I suggested heading to a local diner instead of fast food again.  We split a potato and gravy meat skillet. After breakfast we headed to Ishpeming in search of Jasper Knob.  It was not the easiest to find the path that was described in the pamphlet that our camp neighbors had shared with us, but once we found it, the hike was short and resulted in a fantastic view.

Jasper’s Knob in Ishpeming, MI.  It is impressive because of the incredible amount of Jasplilite.  Supposedly, this is the only place that the Jaspilite is found in waves.

Jaspilite is Jasper and Hemitite. Jasper is Quartz stained red in the presence of Iron. Hemitite is Iron Oxide

The woman who told us about Jasper’s Knob shared that there was part of the fence that was knocked down where you could venture down a hill and see a cave.  She also suggested that we could eat some wild blueberries on our way down the hill too. It was a great description.  We found it all.

After Jasper’s Knob we headed southwest about two hours to some Forest Land next to Paint River to camp.

We set up camp, since it was a Friday afternoon and we were worried about finding a campsite.  Finally, a night of free camping. No services, but at least we had a quiet spot secured for tonight.  (Spoiler alert – just as we settled into our tent later that night, someone turned on their generator, most likely for air conditioning, no quiet night…)

We headed to a local park to relax and do some house cleaning in preparation of retrieving the kids from camp the next day. Our 17th anniversary is also the next day and since it was going to be filled with picking up the kids and driving home, we decided to have our anniversary celebration a day early.

We ate steak and fried cod at Alice’s Restaurant.

Then we headed to the UP’s National Rodeo Championships in Iron River.

The announcer did a fantastic job.

We had never been to a rodeo, so we weren’t sure what to expect.  Turns out there was a clown for part of the entertainment.

There was also a woman who rode two horses at once and stood on them barefooted while she rode.  There was an adorable little boy who took pictures of Scott.  The mom shared them with us through Air Drop.

The clown also had his ten dogs, all of whom he and his wife had adopted, perform tricks.  During the intermission they had a children’s contest.  They had all the kids run down and take off their shoes.  Then they had them line up against the gate while they threw their shoes all over the field of dirt and…um…recycled and slightly warm hay.  Then the kids ran barefooted in order to find their shoes and be the first to the clown.

There were about one hundred and twenty children running wild in the dirt looking for their shoes.  It was mass insanity.  In the midst of it all there was an adorable blonde little girl running every which way, looking lost and yet incredibly happy to be running free.  The entire event was hysterical.  We were laughing for a long time afterwards.

Scott caught a breathtaking view of the sunset behind a farm with two silos.  There was a peaceful mist that settled over the hills on our way back to the campsite as well.  It was a perfect evening.