Last weekend we visited Houghton/Hancock, the sister cities in the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The peninsula is the “ear” of the rabbit that juts out into Lake Superior on the northernmost part of the UP. The drive from Iron River is just under 2 hours. We were there to participate in the 47th annual Canal Run. Proceeds from the run support a non-profit organization that reaches out to senior citizens.
I was surprised at how many people were running in the races. We decided to run the 5-mile race. A bus dropped us off 5 miles out of the town of Hancock. We started on top of a big hill overlooking the Portage Canal that runs through the peninsula. As you can see from the results, all of us completed the race. I finished 35th out of 184 and my time of 42:49 was the best time in the men’s 50-59 year old age group. My nephew Beau finished just ahead of me in 34th place and a time of 42:20. My son Owen finished in 42nd place with a time of 44:10. Oliver finished 47th and a time of 44:42. Ocean finished in 102nd place with a time of 53:51. Nadia was the final Kralovec family member to finish with a time of 58:34 in 127th place. We all liked the course because the first portion was downhill and in shade and there were some nice views of the canal coming into Hancock.
On Friday night Nadia and I drove south to the Ojibwe Indian Reservation near the town of Baraga. She won $300 on the roulette machines! We also filled up with gas because reservation prices are much cheaper without state or federal taxes. We paid $2.99 a gallon when it is usually over $4.00 a gallon. Lake Superior is so big, cold and beautiful so we did stop a couple of times for photos and on Saturday a swim.
We also watched my nephews Tony and Beau play for the Iron Mountain Golds against the Copper Country team in American Legion baseball. The game was at Houghton High School. They got beat by the mercy rule but was good to see them play.
Bill's Blog 