Michigan

19 July – The family breakfast at Peter and Linda’s was great and we left them at around 1:00pm for a short drive thru the centre of Lansing (the capital of Michigan) and continued west. Lansing is in the centre of Michigan and we are going to spend a few days on Lake Michigan. We stopped at a State Park at Yankee Springs and got a great site backed onto a small lake. We relaxed and spent the rest of the afternoon watching small boats cruising past us. The pontoon boats are very popular here. They are basically a platform with a large circular sofa. Great for posing!! The weather is much cooler and not so humid.

20 July – We had a slow start to the day enjoying the perfect weather and our view before a short drive to

the Lake Michigan shore at Van Buren State Park. The beach was only a short walk away with plenty of families enjoying the swimming and sand. There was a cool wind however and the water was surprisingly cold. After lunch we followed a cycleway 6 miles to the beautiful beach, harbour and town of South Haven. There are a few of these harbours along this coastline which we will visit. A few spots of rain sent us inside for dinner.

21 July – Our first stop today is at the harbour town of Saugatuck on the Kalamazoo River. This town was voted the best coastal small US town for 2015. We strolled past the many cute boutiques, art shops, fudge shops and restaurants and back along the harbour front where many huge pleasure boats were moored. There is a very unusual ferry crossing the upper harbour. It is a hand cranked chain system and has been running since 1857. Our overnight stop is at another harbour town of Holland.

The State Park is quite different from any we have encountered in the USA and is right at the mouth of the harbour with a nice beach. The camp itself is an asphalt car park for RVs etc. We spent some time at the beach but the water was a bit cool for us to swim. Michiganders did not seem to mind though as there were many in the water. At sunset we walked back to the beach to watch the sun go down.

22 July – Back on the road for an even shorter drive to the Grand Haven State Park interrupted by a shop up at Wal-Mart. This state park is like the last one, all on asphalt, but this one has 40ft of sand between each row. The beach was very close and we spent the afternoon sunbathing and even had a couple of swims in the cool water. We walked the channel to investigate a musical fountain that plays every night.

At sunset we hopped on our bikes and rode back along the harbour to where we hoped we could see the musical fountain which is billed as the biggest of its kind in the world. As it got darker many boats stopped in the channel to view the fountain. The music started and the fountain played with many colours and displays. Very good but I still think the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas is bigger and more spectacular. We rode home in the dark dodging the pedestrians.

23 July – We headed north east passed the city of Grand Rapids to our pre booked camp at Grand Rogue for the LPGA golf tournament. This is a strange camp as it has been closed for 5 years but the owner, Tom, opens it for special occasions and the golf is one of these. We have a great site overlooking a small lake and in a nice mix of sun and shade. After lunch we cycled to the Blythefield Country Club golf course about 1 ½ miles away. Perfect!! We picked up our 4 day pass and explored the course which is very park-like, watching the first round. Unfortunately Lydia Ko and a couple of other big names are not playing as they are at St Andrews practicing for the British Open. Still we saw some great first round golf. Most of the people in the camp are either spectators or volunteers for the golf.

24 July – Back on our bikes and off to the golf. This would have to be the best course we have ever been at as far as spectating is concerned. The access is great with many banks to sit on and trees for shade. There are many grandstands, most of which are for the general public. Walkways across the fairways make easy access to most of the greens. Even the food is cheap with many free give-aways. We have now walked most of the course and seen most of the players and can be more selective tomorrow. For you real golfing fans you will be pleased to hear that Inbee has improved her swing and does not have than awful stutter at the top now. She must have heeded my advice!! Back at the camp and a cool off in the shade with a beer.

25 July – It is now a familiar bike ride to the entrance and we enjoyed another great days viewing. Some of the shots these girls play are unbelievable. We have made friends with several of the other couples at the camp either working at the golf or watching it. We had drinks with Bev and Don and stayed for a barbeque.

26 July – Today we spent most of our time watching the leaders go thru our favourite spots on the course. It was an early tee off time for the field as many players have a private jet booked to get them to the British Open starting next week. We sat at the 18^th green to bring in the winner, the crowd favourite, Lexi Thompson from USA at 18 under par. It has been a great 4 days of golf which we have thoroughly enjoyed.

27 July – Our drive is now north and inland thru the Manistee State Forest to a State Beach camp just north of the town of Manistee at Orchard Beach. The camp is situated above Lake Michigan with stairs leading down to a narrow beach. The weather is now around 33C and the water was very warm so we spent some time swimming and sunbathing. At sunset we stood with the other campers watching the sun set into the lake.

28 July – The lower peninsula of Michigan looks like a hand with the thumb at the left. Most Michiganders will show us their hand to describe where they come from. We are headed up to the little finger and an area known as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shoreline. It is a huge area of sand dunes but unfortunately the two camps were full. We drove inland away from the dunes and found a small forest camp beside the Platte River. It was very isolated so we took the opportunity for haircuts. We sat out in the warm evening around a camp fire.

29 July – We headed east into the centre north of the state to the big inland lake, Higgins Lake. We have decided to stay 2 nights here. After lunch we walked a 2 mile fitness trail before heading off to the beach for a swim. The water is warm but quite shallow. Still it is good for a cool off, however. There is a strong warm wind blowing.

30 July – Pancake Thursday! After our leisurely breakfast Val did some washing and I cleaned the shower. Down to the beach for swims and a sit in the sun and the shade.

31 July – A re-positioning day today. We did a big shop (last before Canada), replaced our outside chairs (after 2 ½ years they are well slogged out!) and drove 160 odd miles. Back to the hand geography of Michigan. We are now at the top of the “thumb” after driving back thru Bay City where we were 2 weeks ago at another great state park with a nice beach on Lake Huron where we had our first swim in this Great Lake. The skies darkened as we dried off in the sun and by the time we were back at “Ernie” we had torrential rain. It did not last too long however.

1 August – Our drive today was around the remainder of the “thumb” following the Lake Huron coastline

with some great views of the lake. Our overnight stop is at Lakeport State park only 10 miles away from the Canadian border at Port Huron. We arrived around lunch time but our site was not ready until 3:00pm so we went to the beach for a swim. Again a storm brewed so we hot-footed it back to “Ernie” just in time again. At the camp the sun came out and we had a quick look at the beach where we will on doubt spend some time tomorrow.

2 August – There are storms forecast for this afternoon so we went down to the beach after breakfast for swims and sunbathing. It is hard describe how good these lake beaches are. The water is warm and clear and of course not salty.  Back at the “Ernie” for lunch and a few jobs before returning to the beach for more of the same. The sky darkened but it came to nothing. We had dinner outside and just as we were packing up the promised storm arrived bringing a tree down right where we had been sitting and fortunately missing “Ernie”. There was lots of lightning and heavy rain until after midnight. The power also went off.  Tomorrow we cross in Canada and hope to publish this blog at the Visitor Centre.