Sept 5th and 6th

Tues. 5th We drove to Iron Mountain, Michigan. Our campground is run by a young couple in their first year in business. They are very helpful and are making sure we are very happy. We haven't had this kind of service since we left South Dakota.
Wed. 6th As we explored the town we saw a sign directing us to the "Bat cave". It is an old abandon Iron mine (1928) where the top is closed off and a strong steel cage is built over it with the top left open. (picture) It is the second largest colony of bats in North America. There are 8 species of bats there ranging in a lot of different sizes. They start hibernating in Aug and Sept. By October they are all in the cave for the winter. Until it gets cold, they come out and feed in the evenings. We watched them come out at dusk, it was very interesting. We had to overcome the thought of them getting caught in our hair or hitting us. The city has benches to sit on and signs with all the information on all the species. We were laughing with some other people there what strange things you find to do when you have lots of time to do everything.
Thur. 7th We went to the ski jump here. It was the tallest, steepest wooden structure I have ever seen. They had the World Ski Jump Cup here in the year 1996. I am not sure exactly on the year. All the states enter the competition by signing up and the Olympic people come and use the jump and when all jumps are tried out, the best one gets to host the cup. It is 176 ft high 380 ft long and has a total ride length of 1032 ft. Kent climbed over half way up,(picture looking down also one looking up) and he scared me half to death. When he stopped and looked down, he realized how straight up it went and stopped and made it back down hanging on to the rail with both hands. Black clouds , thunder and rain sprinkles also started up after he got half way.