Happy 37th Anniversary to us!

June 2, 2021  Traverse City, Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes

We want to camp at Sleeping Bear Dunes so today's ride is not too impressive in terms of mileage. 

    We climb one of the biggest hills we have encountered on this trip going up and over the ridge out of town.  From there we travel on quiet roads before passing through Lake Ann, MI. (population 268)  For such a tiny town it has a brewery, a coffee shop, a library, a store and a very nice public square.  The Platte River flows through the town emptying into the Platte Bay of Lake Michigan.   

first stop:  one of the many coffee shops in Traverse City

Today is our 37th anniversary.  We have been together more than half our lives.   WOW!

I definitely need to work on my selfie look

Sleeping Bear Dunes 

We camp at the Platte River campground in the National Park.  There were lots of open sites and I wish we had more time to stay here.  The campsites are big and wooded and private - maybe because the NPS is still limiting capacity in the campgrounds...  I am not sure about that.  We take a walk out to the lake and the water is very calm and clear.  Rounded stones peek out of the white sand.  There are endangered piping plover nesting in the low dune grasses and I can hear them but cannot spot any.  

Below is the one and only store in Lake Ann.  It has basic groceries and hardware items -  and lots of liquor and beer and wine.   Today's special is Covid vaccines.  The clinic consists of a few plastic chairs along the outside wall and two women with clipboards. This is exactly the kind of outreach it will take to get prople vaccinated in rural areas.  I am glad to see it in action.   
 

the right approach to get out of this pandemic!  

June 3, 2021

Headwinds. 

Hills.  

A nice lighthouse. 

Good views of the dunes behind us.

More headwinds.

More hills.

50 miles is a long way to go when you know there is a pickup at the other end.

Thanks, Tim!

Point Betsie Lighthouse in the morning sun

This bench is a bit low

We ride past Bear Lake, Crystal Lake, Onekama, the Arcadia Dunes, Herring Lake and possibly other lakes too numerous to mention

The wind is pushing us back up the hills we are trying to descend

We stop for our typical crackers/peanut butter/tuna packet/cookies lunch at a scenic overlook.  I can see way back to Point Betsie Light.   The ride down from this point is fast! 

 Our friend, Tim, is picking us up in the town of Manistee.  We are going to hang out at his cottage on the Pere Marquette National Scenic River for a day or two.  He and Tom are going to fly fish and maybe I will finally finish knitting my second sock - or maybe I will just lie in the hammock and watch the river go by.  

Lake Michigan is numerous shades of blue on this sunny day.

Tim meets us in Manistee

detail on the Ramsdell Inn which was built by a timber millionaire

There are some really beautiful buildings in town.  The town has a familiar-sounding history including Jesuit missionaries, traders, sawmills and logging, and a devastating fire.  The same day as the Peshtigo Fire and the Great Chicago Fire, and fires in Port Huron and Holland occurred Manistee was burned and almost completely destroyed.  

I am more tired today than I have  been on any other day of this trip, so Tim and his Subaru  are  certainly a welcome sight.  I do not excel at riding into the wind.

  After a day at his cottage we will take the ferry to Manitowok, Wisconsin, from Ludington to visit Peter and Sydney.  It feels like our trip is winding down but we still need to ride west to east across the state to get back to our car near Detroit.