When I was three months old, my parents began what became a 14-year tradition - the spring and fall trip between Chippewa Harbor on Isle Royale, where we made our home during the commercial fishing season, and winter lodging in Duluth, Two Harbors or Grand Marais, Minnesota. We made the trip on the steamer America.

At these times of the year, stormy weather could be expected but, no matter what the weather, I was not afraid or seasick. My siblings were not always so lucky.

I remember one fall trip when the whitecapped waves and wind were so strong that the ship rolled from side to side. Passengers trying to play cards in the salon slid back and forth across the room with each roll. Another autumn trip, the lake was smooth as glass and the America went aground near Wright Island. I can still see my dad standing in the lifeboat holding his arms up to catch children that were tossed down to him. I don’t remember how the women got into the lifeboat, but I’m sure they weren’t tossed like we were.

Chippewa Harbor is generally described as the most beautiful cove on Isle Royale, but was too shallow for the freighter. This photo was taken in July 1929 by Fred Dustin of the University of Michigan. LAKE SUPERIOR MARITIME VISITORS CENTER

An hour later, a surge of waves lifted the ship off the reef and we went on our way.

One fall, Lake Superior was very angry when it came time for our trip. The seas were so high and strong that the kegs of salt herring that had been so carefully stowed in the hold rolled from one end to the other and my mother’s sewing machine was damaged by them.

Mother would never let us out of the stateroom during heavy seas. We watched the waves splashing against the porthole, laughing and clapping our hands, but ducking instinctively away.

After I moved to Michigan and married, my husband, Eino, and I owned a shop in Copper Harbor for about 25 years. From our back porch, I could look beyond the harbor and see the different moods of the big lake, then return to the shop refreshed.

The steamer America made regular stops to deliver supplies and pick up passengers and freight all around Isle Royale. LAKE SUPERIOR MARITIME VISITORS CENTER

Two years ago, two Kansas friends and I made a trip to Rock Harbor on Isle Royale. Lake Superior didn’t show a ripple on the way out - the return trip was a different story. MY LAKE showed its other side and many passengers felt a bit uncomfortable.

Calm and still or a towering wave dashing against the rocky shore - that is My Lake Superior.

Violet Miller is an 83-year-old who now makes her home in Stockton, Kansas, but well remembers the years her family wintered over, one of which is the basis for her teacher’s (Dorothy Simonson) Diary of an Isle Royale School Teacher, a book published by the Isle Royale Natural History Association. Violet keeps her lifelong fascination with Lake Superior fueled by reading Lake Superior Magazine.