Sleeping Bear Dunes, Wednesday, Day 2....

What a beautiful day we had! Windy and a bit chilly (60, but felt like 50)....had a great hike along the lakeshore after spending an extra hour in bed.....the picture above shows the small harbor of Glen Haven at the end of our hike....Molly ran around the beach like she does at Carmel Beach every April....though the beach here is tiny compared to California....

Afterward we drove north along the lake, having lunch outside in Northport....and another walk up there - pretty little town and harbor.....this part of Michigan seems quite isolated and loaded with natural beauty...can't believe neither of us Michigan natives has been up here before!

We loaded up with prepared foods from a wonderful small biz in Birmingham named Simply Good before we came up here - pot roast tonight, and it is baking in the oven as I type.....sipping a yummy zin and all is right with the world.....well, at least up here in northern Michigan.....tomorrow I play Arcadia Bluffs with my sister and bro-in-law....looking forward to it.....

Sleeping Bear Dunes NP....Tuesday.....

Four and a half hour drive to SBD from northwest Detroit....uneventful drive.....some rain to start, clearing as we drove north, and arrived to sunny, cool and windy weather - 60 degrees...set up toutou (the name of our RV, meaning "puppy", in French)....took a mile walk to Lake Michigan - Platte River Campground is at the southern end of the park, and in the pics attached, you can see the big dunes to the north....all three of us were thrilled to see the shore of the lake....not sure Molly realizes it isn't the ocean yet....maybe once she tries to take a sip of water?!?!?!

The campground is beautiful - secluded sites, well-maintained, and very peaceful....the government should feel proud of the job it does on these parks, imho. Anyway, settled in and warmed up a dinner of cassoulet, washed down by a lovely 2011 Saint Cosme Gigondas....long walk afterward to dump the garbage and recycles....sitting listening to some music, about to crawl in to bed....feeling very fortunate....and very happy....

The Real show begins....

We have had our new RV for a few days, spending it at our families' homes here in the Detroit area. It's been great seeing them all again....but now the real RV trip begins.

Today we head north to the area around Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park - in the northwest of Michigan's thumb....my sisters and brother-in-law will meet us up there in a few days, and three of us will play golf at Arcadia Bluffs - a newish tract on Lake Michigan that receives great reviews. I'm looking forward to it....otherwise, Amy, Molly and I will settle into Platte River campground in the park for three nights. And explore the park, the lakeshore, and surrounding areas.....

One interesting, somewhat technical item to report on: this will be the first time since we picked it up on Friday that we'll "hook up" to electric service. Our solar panels and the bit of driving we've done have kept the power in our batteries full - without the need to tie into the electrical grid. Really pretty amazing.....you probably need to be an RVer to appreciate that.....

The weather forecast is fantastic - after a front moves through this morning, it will be in the low 60's and sunny for a few days. Perfect.

First Nitght!!!

Well, here we are after our first day....full day of training and setting the RV up - it's like moving into a small apartment....we are parked in our hotel parking lot, ready to sleep in the tin can for the first time, giving it a test drive to see if everything is working, BUT, one problem - we can't find a couple of light switches to turn off some interior lights. And no way can we sleep with these lights on! Waiting for a call back on how to do it....hasn't bothered Molly, as she is fast asleep on Amy's bed....

OK, Frank called and the lights are off now....we're all in bed, though Molly is sharing Amy's bed and seems unwilling to go to her (smaller than normal) bed. Better Amy than me! My bed is comfy.

It's been a wonderful day....hopefully, sweet dreams!

Getting Excited!

Well, the moment we've been waiting for is approaching. We've been working on the design of our new motor home, called toutou ("puppy" in French) for almost a year now. A week from today we will fly out to Willoughby, Ohio to see it, receive instructions on how to operate it, etc. That should take a day or two, then we'll be on our way back to Vail. We will visit our families outside of Detroit, Michigan, and then head to the northwest of the "mitten" to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. Our route will take us north through the Upper Peninsula to Wisconsin, then west to Mount Rushmore. Then to the south and home to Vail. These few sentences do not begin to describe the adventures we will have. However, I will be blogging about our travels and relating all the fun we have along the way!!! Stay tuned....