We made it to Michigan! We were both excited for our travels within the state of Michigan over the next two weeks! Summer reservations along Lake Michigan are not easy to get even when you try the first of February. Barry’s first, and second choice campgrounds with amazing views of Lake Michigan were already full for our dates, but he was able to make a reservation at Van Buren State Park. Upon arrival, we were informed that even though we had paid campground reservations in the park, we had to additionally purchase an “out of state annual park pass” for the motorhome, and a limited use “towed vehicle” pass for the Jeep! ($43 for those two additional fees.)
Being the weekend, the campground area was crowded. This would be four days of just “camping”. We got set up even with the BlackStone! I fixed top sirloin and fresh, Midwest grown corn-on-the-cob outside on the BlackStone. We don’t usually have corn, but THIS is the area to make it a treat. Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio in the late summer has the BEST sweet corn!
Van Buren State Park provided directed access within the park to Lake Michigan. After dinner we rode our bikes over to the beach to watch the sunset.
Walking along the beach we saw this cool set of roads, bridges and tunnels. Isaac and Mona would love to make something like this at the beach to play with some of their toy cars. We will definitely work on something like this the next time they are with us at Silver Strand State Beach in California.
Sunday: Quick morning drone shots.
Wow, the park cleared out all around us today! Now this is NICE! But we know it won’t last very long.
Sunday morning I connected with Doug and Sandra Stelma, friends from Carefree Village Resort in Yuma. They were two hours north of us in the area we tried to be. Doug called me back letting me know that the site next to them in Conestoga Campground was available for Monday and Tuesday, if we wanted it. We checked into the state park’s refund policy. Having made our reservation the first of February, we qualified for 40% back on our last two nights! We quickly made the reservation at Conestoga, and canceled nights three and four of our Van Buren reservation.
Barry and I rode our bikes up to South Haven. What a wonderfully paved bike path! So enjoyable – both the ride and the destination.
South Haven is a great place for individuals and families! Such beautiful beaches on a glorious day! The water was crystal clear.
A fun splash park for the kids.
We walked out on the pier to check out the South Haven Lighthouse. It was quite interesting. The pier that was originally 225 ft in length was added on to 4 times, which means this light house had to be repositioned at least 4 times as the pier grew eventually to a length of 700 feet!
We enjoyed watching a variety of ships pass through from the harbor to the channel and out into the vastness of Lake Michigan.
On the ride back to Van Buren State Park, I saw the most vibrant red cardinal (a male). This moment made me smile and remember a childhood home. Unfortunately, he flew away before I could take a picture or point him out to Barry. This is the first cardinal I think I’ve seen since I left Ohio years ago! It’s funny how such a fleeting moment can evoke direct and indirect memories.
Enjoying a nice campfire without any close neighbors. I did like how the fire rings were a good ways away from RV area.
Beautiful pictures. Sorry for the late comments. I’ve been super busy. But better late than never…
Ha Ha–No worries! I post these about a month after I start them for the same reason. Just glad you enjoy them whenever you read them.