So much seen and done!

Thursday July 18

Boy can it rain up here! Last evening we have thunder “showers” Well the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed and the rain power washed the truck and trailer. Fortunately it didn’t last long.

We got up in good time and Ken went out and used a chamois on the truck to finish the job nature had started. We left the campground around ten o’clock and we were at the new location in Travers City around two. We are at the North West Michigan Fair Grounds. Very basic camping with only electric. But that is all we need since we will be visiting 3 or 4 lights while here.

There is another gentleman here , his name is Tom and he likes to chat. But the grounds are almost empty. The fair takes place in about 10 days.

 I made lunch and we left the grounds. The day is unbelievably hot. It was 30 degrees before we left Mackinaw. The air conditioning was on all of the way and so I finished another hat, That was number 16 since the trip began.

Ken decided to do the farthest light first so we headed up to the top of Leelanau Peninsula to find The Grand Travers Lighthouse

The peninsula is a beautiful growing area and for awhile it appeared to be one big cherry orchard. I asked and was told that they grow a lot of cherries for the emerging dried cherry market. They are mainly picked mechanically, thanks goodness because they would never get enough people to hand  pick them all .

As well as the orchards and wineries there were lovely little lakeside villages with wonderful shops; beautiful stately homes as well  cottages with boats and docks on the lake. All of this made for a beautiful drive.

The lighthouse is in the Leelanau State Park at Northport Michigan and so we had to pay admission to the park as well as admission to the lighthouse.

The light is very well kept and the museum has the best Keepers quarters I have ever seen. It is beautifully furnished and has wonderful ambiance.

They had a fog horn building as well. The climb to the top was rather unspectacular but they had a grand gift shop. I was able to get a tree ornament, a magnet and on the second trip inside I got a really cute umbrella with lighthouses on it. I will use it as a parasol in all of the sun..

Next we headed back down toward the Manning Memorial light at Empire The light was erected in 1990 as a memorial to Robert H manning, a local fisherman..

This light is right on the beach and I was sorry I didn’t have my swimsuit, it was so hot you just wanted to jump into Lake Michigan to cool off.

To get to Empire Ken took a slightly different route so I could see the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. They are mammoth and climbing them is quite a trek. In the heat that sand would be hot enough to blister your feet so a climb was out of the question. Not that I would have considered it anyway.

Soon we were headed back to town, by now it was almost seven so super was wanted.

Just as we were leaving town Ken spied a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It is our favorite place to eat and because they do not have any in the West it has been years since we have been there. So that was our destination.

It was not as easy to find as they usually are but we did find it and we had a wonderful salad for super. It has pineapple, pecans, blackberries, cherry tomatoes  chicken strips and the usual greens. There was an amazing pineapple ranch dressing on the side. I loved it. Ken was able to eat all of his but I needed a box.

I roamed around in the shop but didn’t buy anything.

We came back to the trailer and turned on the air conditioner.