July 23-24, 2013 Road Trip and Time with Friends

Tuesday morning, 22nd, we all packed a lunch and headed to the coast of Lake Michigan.  The wind was strong which created some great waves:

Beautiful, isn’t it!

As you know, my bucket list is to put my feet in each of the Great Lakes.  Here I am in Lake Michigan:

And, yes, I got wet by a rouge wave - LOL!!

Here we are:

Found these cool flowers at one of the overlooks:

Michigan is known for their many lighthouses and each one is beautiful:

Great photo of Shelly and Bill:

The boys goofing off - check out Andy’s shirt:

Wave action on the breakers - the sound was loud!

From there we went to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore.  Our first stop was the visitor center where we took in the exhibits and the movie and obtained maps and information on the park. 

“The Legend of Sleeping Bear
Long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, but eventually the cubs tired and lagged behind. Mother bear reached the shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. Too tired to continue, the cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou created two islands to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune to represent the faithful mother bear.”

There is a nice scenic road in the park and we had our picnic lunch there. .

The dunes and South Manitou Island in the background:

Lots of people climbing the dunes - looked like a lot of fun - :

What a beautiful park and we hope to return in the future.

Back home we started a campfire - the temperature has really dropped.

Here is our spot in the campground:

Campground road:

Enjoying the fire:

Bill and Shelly’s dog, Miles, enjoying himself:

On Wednesday, we all had a relaxing day hanging out, doing a few chores, and figuring out where we go next.  A big hug to Bill and Shelly and thank you for a great time.  It is always good to be with friends. 

Stay tuned for our next adventure and enjoy today.