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SilverCabin · 10-14-2007, 11:19 AM

Finally a beautiful day with no rain in sight. We headed out to the town of Suttons Bay. The library there has high-speed wifi for $1.00, where I was able to catch-up on my postings and bookkeeping, while Pat explored the town shops. The wifi at the campsite is only good for email.

After a walk around town for some photos, we attempted to continue our wine tasting tour. On Friday, we were able to drive right in to the parking lots and walk right up to the tasting tables. Today, a beautiful fall Saturday, we found ourselves waiting for a parking place, and standing eight deep just to get to the tasting tables. All of Traverse City is out here today. After putting up with this at two vineyards, we decided the only wine experience we were going to have today was photos of the vineyards, so we headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes. We have already found some winners anyway.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore visitor center is in Empire, MI. If you haven’t visited here before, be sure to stop there to get maps, guides, and lots of information from the friendly staff. Also buy your park passes there too, and there is no waiting at any of the entry gates to the various areas. The National Lakeshore is comprised of over 40 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the North and South Manitou Islands. You can see South Manitou Island in the first and last dune photos. Backpackers will want to take the ferry out to the islands, as those are true wilderness areas. The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive in the center of the lakeshore provides a good overview for those less adventurous.

It’s impressive how steep the sand piles up at the lakefront. Notice in one picture the path leading down the dune to the right, and the people on that path climbing up from the lake in the next picture. We hike through sand in Florida and it’s not fun. Climbing a pitch like that in soft sand has to be a real challenge. We didn’t have enough time attempt that, which was just fine with Pat. We returned to our campsite as the sun was setting and lit up the opposite shore, which made for one last photo-op for the day.

CanoeStream · 10-14-2007, 12:20 PM

Thanks for the updates Randy. Being north of the 45 parallel is the ultimate accomplishment for a southerner. Congrats!! Didn't hurt a bit, right?

Our color change was middlin' here due to a very dry summer -- like your pics there were flashes of color but there were more plain browns than normal. It's still a great time of year for camping up north! Except for state parks shutting off water & showers earlier than they have to. We camped in snow flurries and overnight 20 degree temps a year ago next weekend, so I'd better watch what I'm saying. I set the thermostat between 55 and 62 overnight or else I get too warm -- and I unlatch a window or two to keep from trapping exhaled moisture inside.

You do a great travelogue!

SilverCabin · 10-15-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Thanks for the updates Randy. Being north of the 45 parallel is the ultimate accomplishment for a southerner. Congrats!! Didn't hurt a bit, right?

We camped in snow flurries and overnight 20 degree temps a year ago next weekend, so I'd better watch what I'm saying. I set the thermostat between 55 and 62 overnight or else I get too warm -- and I unlatch a window or two to keep from trapping exhaled moisture inside.

You do a great travelogue!

Thanks Bob, no it didn't hurt being this far north. By next weekend, we'll be in SE Michigan, so I don't think we'll see any snow ths trip. We're doing about the same with the heat at night. 58 seems to be best for us, and we leave the bathroom vent open.

Randy

SilverCabin · 10-15-2007, 10:43 AM

Today we are on a buying mission to collect the wines we tasted and liked over the last few days, so we had several stops to make. The mission then will be to find space in the truck to pack it for the return to Florida.

Last night was probably our coldest night. It was 34 in Traverse City, so probably colder out here on the peninsula. I heard the heat pump switch to defrost cycle several times during the night and early morning. The lake was foggy and steamy when the sun came up, but that fog soon burned off and gave us a nice morning for our drive.

When our wine collecting was done, we drove out on the Old Mission Peninsula, which is a little finger of land that separates the two arms of Grand Traverse Bay. It’s very scenic with lots of vineyards and fruit orchards. At the tip sits Old Mission Lighthouse, another 1800 vintage light that’s not in operation any longer, but preserved for history. Notice the sign pointing out the latitude. There was another sign pointing out that Bordeaux, France is at this same latitude, that partially explains why wine production has taken off here.

The lake level has receded from its old shoreline due to increased water consumption by the large cities that surround the Great Lakes, and reduced snowfall. Where we are right now is over 600 feet above sea level, so the seas may be rising due to climate change, but the Great lakes are falling. After leaving the lighthouse, we discovered the only store out here. This is a true “general store” with a bit of everything on its very cluttered shelves.

SilverCabin · 10-15-2007, 10:47 AM

We have a free parking spot up on Torch Lake for two nights. I'm not sure if I'll find any Internet access there, so I may be off the air for a couple of days. Having this library close sure was nice with it's high speed wifi.

Randy

beyoung01@ch · 10-15-2007, 05:06 PM

How exciting to see that you were stayed right here in our town! Someone you met in NY directed me to this site and I discovered pictures here of my own town, just 1/2 mile from me.

The Vacation Station where you stayed isn't all that new, it is newly owned. A friend of mine built it and ran it for several years and they sold it, I believe a little over a year ago.

I wish your stay here had been warmer, and more colorful. Our weather has turned and we haven't got the color around here that we usually have this time of the year.

richinny · 10-15-2007, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyoung01@ch

How exciting to see that you were stayed right here in our town! Someone you met in NY directed me to this site and I discovered pictures here of my own town, just 1/2 mile from me.

the new yorker is me, but we only met here :-)

SilverCabin · 10-16-2007, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beyoung01@ch

How exciting to see that you were stayed right here in our town! Someone you met in NY directed me to this site and I discovered pictures here of my own town, just 1/2 mile from me.

The Vacation Station where you stayed isn't all that new, it is newly owned. A friend of mine built it and ran it for several years and they sold it, I believe a little over a year ago.

I wish your stay here had been warmer, and more colorful. Our weather has turned and we haven't got the color around here that we usually have this time of the year.

In spite of the weather, we enjoyed our stay in Luddington. We'll come back again. The Vacation Station looked new, so it is very well taken care of.

Randy

SilverCabin · 10-16-2007, 10:14 AM

We awoke today to more rain. The morning news said it was lifting to the north, so we had a leisurely breakfast while we waited for it to end. When it ended about 10:00 a.m., we got busy disconnecting, putting things away, loading up, emptying tanks (no problem this time), and hitching up. We pulled away just after noon. We made one more stop in Suttons Bay, where I posted yesterdays commentary and photos, and then headed into Traverse City. In Traverse City we stopped to visit Randy’s aunt and uncle, shop for supplies, and fuel up the truck. The gas here is the highest we have paid on this trip at $2.83 for regular. We discovered an Airstream Camp ground (there was actually more SOBs in there than Airstreams) on US-31 right near Randy’s uncle’s place, Holiday Park Campground – Michigan Airstreamers Park. We’ll have to look at that more closely the next time we return here.

It was late afternoon when we left Traverse City, but we only had a short distance to go. Pat’s sister owns a lot near the little berg of Clam River, MI on Torch Lake. We’ll park there for two nights before we start heading south again. The site is well back from the highways and civilization. There is 20a electric available, which means we won’t be running the heat pump, but we’ll get to give the LP gas furnace a good test, something we don’t get a chance to do in Florida. As we were setting up, a visitor from one of the local farms came by. There is a really dark sky here, but tonight it’s cloudy. I hope it clears tomorrow, so we can do some star finding.

InsideOut · 10-16-2007, 10:36 AM

WOW! Thanks for all your wonderful pictures...looks like a terrific trip!

Shari

SilverCabin · 10-16-2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InsideOut

WOW! Thanks for all your wonderful pictures...looks like a terrific trip!

Shari

You're welcome, and thanks for reading my thread. Getting feedback makes it worth the effort.

As you can see, I found an Internet connection today, a nice little coffee and wine shop in Bellaire, MI. It's raining again today, so it's nice to be dry and warm.

Randy

CanoeStream · 10-16-2007, 11:22 AM

Hi Randy -- Intellicast computer radar shows Traverse Bay coming out from under rain in ... a couple hours? Wednesday is supposed to be dry here but not break much before the next system comes along. It's like fishing -- you should be here last week/next week.

aturner4u · 10-17-2007, 04:02 PM

Thanks for sharing your trip. I am really enjoying traveling through you without taking off of work.

SilverCabin · 10-18-2007, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Hi Randy -- Intellicast computer radar shows Traverse Bay coming out from under rain in ... a couple hours? Wednesday is supposed to be dry here but not break much before the next system comes along. It's like fishing -- you should be here last week/next week.

Bob,

Unfortunately we started back on Wednesday. Did get to see some sunshine before we pulled away.

Randy

SilverCabin · 10-18-2007, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aturner4u

Thanks for sharing your trip. I am really enjoying traveling through you without taking off of work.

Looks like we will see you at Faluminum. That's our last stop on the way home.

Randy

SilverCabin · 10-18-2007, 01:22 PM

The wind picked up during the night and I had to get up and put the awning away. I had deployed it to dry it out since it was wet when we rolled it up at Lake Leelanau. That was a good move, because by morning it was raining again. The weather forecast calls for rain most of the day and clearing tonight. We have no plans other than explore the Torch Lake area, so maybe the rain won’t get in the way of anything but better photos.

Here’s a shot of our parking place in the morning between showers. If you look under the tree, you’ll see our friend from last night. He was still there when we returned later in the afternoon. Pat’s sister has a 25-foot Sunnybrook that they keep on the site. It’s winterized and wrapped up for the winter.

We left the site to find something to do in the rain. We stopped in the small town of Bellaire, where I posted yesterday’s entry and caught-up on email. Pat of course explored the shops. We wanted to get a look at Torch Lake, so when we left Bellaire, we circled the lake, and finally located a county park where we could get access. It seems that all the property around this lake is privately owned, and the buildings and trees block the view. From the park however, we could see the blue of the lake even in the rain. It’s quite remarkable. Torch Lake is the clearest and deepest of Michigan’s inland lakes.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Elk Rapids. Another small town of interesting architecture. Here’s a couple of interesting buildings. Is the building is leaning or is the sidewalk sloping? While Pat continued her discovery of different shops, I set off in search of the rapids. They have been tamed somewhat, but if you look close you can see the salmon working there way upstream.

About 5:00 p.m. we returned wet and cold to our campsite. The rain persists. Looks like we won’t get a chance to see the stars

. We move south in the morning.

SilverCabin · 10-18-2007, 01:26 PM

It continued to rain all night. I wasn’t looking forward to a hitch-up in the rain, but as the sun came up in the morning the rain stopped. Here’s a few more shots of our campsite in the sunshine—finally.

Today we begin our return south. Our destination today is my sister’s home in Plymouth, MI. We’ll be parking in her driveway through the weekend. The route today was mostly I-75, which is very pretty here in the North Country. We stopped for a break and gas in the town of Frankenmuth, MI. Frankenmuth is a Bavarian town known for it’s fried chicken dinners. Never really thought of fried chicken as Bavarian food. Dinner was waiting for us in Plymouth, so we passed on the chicken. It’s also home to the world’s largest Christmas Shop, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, which was on Pat’s list of things to do.

After walking around the Christmas shop for an hour, we gassed up (now at $2.99 a gallon) and continued south. We noticed the stations in the Traverse City area that had been at $2.84 a gallon jump to $2.99 a gallon over night when the price of oil jumped earlier in the week. We arrived in the suburban Detroit area at rush hour, which made for an interesting pull in the traffic, but arrived with no incident.

After setting up Daisy in the drive, we returned and hour or two later to find the water pump running. It wasn’t pumping any water, unless we opened a tap, but kept running after the flow stopped. This is the first problem we have had with any of Daisy’s systems. Now I have a project for the morning, hope it’s an easy fix.

CanoeStream · 10-18-2007, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverCabin

After setting up Daisy in the drive, we returned and hour or two later to find the water pump running. It wasn’t pumping any water, unless we opened a tap, but kept running after the flow stopped. This is the first problem we have had with any of Daisy’s systems. Now I have a project for the morning, hope it’s an easy fix.

Hi Randy -- I've did this a couple years ago. I dumped on leaving a campground and was out of water but forgot to turn off the water pump. It would be a different issue if you had water in the tank.

I've read here that running dry causes no problems -- don't know how accurate that is. I'm sure it helps to minimize it. I've had no water pump issues in the two years since my incident took place.

Yah, lovely weather this week .... aaargh!

SilverCabin · 10-18-2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

It would be a different issue if you had water in the tank.

There was water in the tank, but I couldn't reproduce the problem this morning. I'll put a full report in today's entry later.

Randy

CanoeStream · 10-18-2007, 03:05 PM

Come to think of it, we did leave the pump on with water in the tank while on the move a month ago. On stopping the truck (these unnecessary diesels y'know...) I heard the pump running but quickly reached pressure. I figure the sensor has trouble feeling high enough pressure with the tank contents sloshing around. I'm putting myself on personal probation and will take myself offline for 1.675 hours...