April 27 – May 1 Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City State Park
After unplugging shore power where we came from, we discovered we’ve got “something going on” as in nothing going on….uggg….we’ll deal with it on Monday!!! Rut Row….
The wind up this way is no joke!! We fought the wind all the way which wasn’t fun. But….it was 75 degrees – Yayyy! But how quickly the weather in Michigan changes. It dropped 35 degrees overnight and now here comes the thunderstorms – again………shore power is our friend at the moment since our batteries don’t seem to be charging. Everything is fine…..until it’s not.
What is that? Oh – it’s a snow mobile!! Snow mobile crossing sign LOL!! We’ve not been this far north before. The campground is nice – plenty of space with trees and…..it’s right across the street from Grand Traverse Bay which empties into Lake Michigan. Traverse City is known as the “Cherry Capital of the World” as the surrounding areas are a hot spot for cherry production. Who knew???? We saw acres and acres of cherry trees, grapes for wine, apple trees, and so much more. Vineyards’ and wineries everywhere…
Speaking of cherries – Mike is a lover of all things cherry. Traverse City has its own local Whiskey made with the local yummies. Not to worry honey, we’ll find a place for it – LOL!! A DANGEROUS store we found called Cherry Country Gift Shop has ALL things cherry. We’ve never spent SO much time in a gift shop – ever!!! Still trying to find places to stash our stash!!! Traverse City is a great town with tons of shops, restaurants, breweries, and the best views – I mean – who doesn’t love looking at a gorgeous huge lake that is SO big, it looks like an ocean? We took off to explore the Mission Point Lighthouse – yep – another one – we just love the scavenger hunt for them – LOL!! The road taking is there was FILLED with one gorgeous home after the other. Gosh – we just can’t get over how these northern coastal areas have homes that will knock your socks off…..beautiful!!!! The Lighthouse sits on the 45 th Parallel or half way between the North Pole & the Equator – now THAT is awesome, and we were there!!! It was deactivated in 1933.
More rain....but it gives us a chance to do some “adulting” – phone calls, paperwork, etc. With cloudy skies still hanging around – and that chilly wind – and maybe a chance of rain (again), we took off for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Absolutely breathtaking scenery!!! We did two hikes within the National Lakeshore. The first was Pyramid Point which took us to the most gorgeous view of South and North Manitou Islands within Lake Michigan. The water - OMG………it looks like the Caribbean!!! The flowers along the way were just beginning to bloom – so pretty!
The second hike was on our bucket list – Sleeping Bear Dunes. There are several areas you can hike and climb to the top with stunning views. Oh and the beach areas are beautiful too – lots of rocks, fossils, agates, granite, and so much more!! It’s a rock hounding paradise!!
Black squirrels? Everywhere……..we’ve only seen them one other time. They’re pretty cute!! The Chipmunks are pretty cute too….
