Day Fifty-Four

Day fifty-four we spent at the campground working on paperwork, doing laundry, etc.  It was a cloudy day with rain off and on, so it was a good day for chores.  They had a really cool camp store, and they also had quite a selection of books for trading, so I looked them over and found at least four to trade out.  Their laundry was immaculate, as well as their bath house.

Day Fifty-Three

Day fifty-three we went to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore.  It was about an hour’s drive from our campground, and we passed through Traverse City on the way.  Traverse City was in full tourist mode and people were everywhere, no vacancy signs were plentiful!  What a nice city right on the bay – beautiful setting!

The Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes looked awesome when we drove up!  Sam was bouncing in the seat ready to run!  A park ranger was onsite giving an informative talk about the area, and Sam picked up a Junior Ranger booklet to earn his first Junior Ranger Badge. 

We climbed up the first rise, which was 110 feet.  Whew!  A not so subtle reminder that I am out of shape!  J  After getting to the top, we rested for a while, and there was another dune to climb an additional 150 feet to the REAL top.  I opted for some sunning time while Sam and Jim climbed the second dune.  When they came back, Sam spent a while digging in the sand (his favorite thing to do at the beach).  Of course, Sam RAN all the way down the dune – along with every other child that was there that day!  J

We then drove a couple of miles to Glen Arbor for some lunch at a cool restaurant with an outdoor deck, cold beer, and excellent food!  Afterward, we drove to the Maritime Museum to check out the displays and grounds.  We stopped by the dunes so Sam could run up again (where DO they get all that energy?!)  On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the visitor center for Sam to turn in his booklet and get his Junior Ranger Badge – hurray!

Day Fifty-Two

Day fifty-two we drove to Kalkaska Campground, which is about 20 miles from Traverse City.  We had a really nice private setting all the way in the back of the campground with lots of room for Buster to run!  The only downside was that the wifi signal was weak, and we had to sit outside behind the coach to get online.  The campground had some nice trails through the woods, but the mosquitoes were trying to carry us away – hurray for bug spray!

Day Fifty-One

Day fifty-one was a quiet, lazy day around the house.  We will be heading up the road tomorrow, so it was a day to restock supplies (Walmart) and make sure everything is in place.  Some relaxing play and bird watching, and another wonderful dinner by Bob!  He is a great cook!  We’ll be heading north to Traverse City tomorrow.

Day Fifty

Day fifty found us at the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek.  I just loved the overgrown and jungle feel of the vegetation!  It was a nice, cool day so the animals were much happier after the heat wave broke.  It had stormed the night before and provided some relief.  While having lunch at their restaurant, some peacocks that wander the grounds were walking around outside begging, and one hen had two chicks with her – adorable!  She was getting all the attention!

They had a Swamp Adventure area where you walk through a marshland on a boardwalk 0.8 miles, so we went on a trek through the swamp.  We kept our eyes open for bigfoot, and Sam even did his bigfoot call, but to no avail.  J 

A short tram ride took us to the African Safari area where we walked another 0.8 mile loop.  Sam and Sean fed the giraffes, who always seem hungry!  While walking by the kukkaburras, they burst into spontaneous “song” for a while – boy were they loud!  We saw lots of beautiful animals, and I especially thought the red panda was gorgeous!

We stopped at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, and the food was scrumptious!

Day Forty-Nine

Day forty-nine we went to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.  This was a very interesting place to visit, with lots of airplanes to view, along with wonderful historical information about airplane battles in past wars.  There were also some rides for children, and some great flight simulator rides, along with a space shuttle simulation ride.  A small movie theater also offered some 3D and 4D movie experiences!  We all thoroughly enjoyed our day at the Air Zoo!

Bob and Elane treated us to their homemade pizza that evening for dinner – excellent!  Best pizza ever!  They could put some folks out of business with that one!  J

 

Day Forty-Eight

Day forty-eight we drove to our friend’s house in Sturgis, MI.  After a little turnaround on some country roads and a drive through their backyard, we were in!  J  What a lovely home and a nice, quiet, secluded place!  They have birdfeeders and hummingbird feeders on their back deck, and more birds than I’ve ever seen outside an aviary!  Gorgeous ruby throated hummingbirds, golden finches, purple finches, rose breasted grosbeaks, and more!  Just lovely!

We spent a nice relaxing evening chatting and hanging out.  Bob made steaks and corn-on-the-cob on the grill for supper – yum!  Buster just loved the yard, and went right inside and made himself at home!