We left Bear Cave in Buchanan, MI at 9:45 on Monday August 9 — Acey’s mileage 76,012.2 and Thor has 90,640 miles. We topped off our fuel in Sawyer – only 46 gallons this time… Acey hold 125 gallons of diesel. We arrived at Little RIver Casino Resort about 3:30. We got set up and went over to the Casino to take a look. It’s a huge resort – this photo doesn’t capture the immensity of the establishment! Plus they have an RV park as well…
The conservatory was a very peaceful place.
A little more activity – and noise – in the gaming area!
Tuesday we packed up lunch and drove toward Frankfort to ride on the Betsie Valley Trail.
It was a nice day to be out – clear and not too hot. There was a picnic table by the river where we ate our lunch
The trail followed the Betsie River.
The trail ended in Frankfort – so we walked down to the beach.
and to the lighthouse at the end of a pier.
Another beautiful day to be out exploring God’s world!
This lighthouse needs some love….
The dunes beyond the beach were pretty!
We rode back to the car – and put in about 10 miles today.
Wednesday we did some laundry and cleaning – caught up on some paperwork and such… nothing too exciting , but necessary!
Thursday after breakfast, and another load of laundry (our washer/dryer doesn’t hold a very big load) we packed up lunch and headed toward Traverse City to ride on the Leelanau Trail. It was a bit warmer today; about 80F. Looking at the map – and then riding on the trail – it appears this was a rail-trail; fairly straight with gradual inclines.
We ate lunch at the trail head, rode out 9 miles and back again. Sutton Bay was too far for us… Then we drove to nearby Lealand. That was where this classic photo was taken of Linda’s Mom and brother Rob back in the 60’s.
Over 50-some years later, we had our doubts that we would find the same location, but we headed to Lealand anyway! We spottted this building and went for a closer look….
Comparing the building with the old photo, we noticed the step may have been replaced with a ramp, the window was different, and there was a frame above the door and under the window. It sure looked similar – but was closed today…
A closer look at the signs on the building confirmed to us this WAS indeed the same building! The below photo, “was taken after the shed was reoriented from north-south to east-west, 1970s” The photo has the same divided window, and the step was probably replaced with the ramp when it was moved, and the frame pieces added when the window was replaced. How cool is that?!
We walked around the quaint little fishing village – “Fishtown” – very picturesque!
Lake Leelanau connects to the Leland River which flows into Lake Michigan.
It appears that only the water can go thru to Lake Michigan – not the boats!
We walked into town and down to the beach.
Driving back to Manistee was scenic – we are enjoying Michigan!
Friday we stayed in Manistee – we went to 1st Avenue Beach and saw a lighthouse.
There are actually 2 lights on long piers.
Seagulls seemed to prefer to be on the end section of this pier.
Jim climbed up to the platform
The big lighthouse was at the end of another long pier
We drove around the marina to get to the other pier and the lighthouse by 5th Avenue Beach. There was a catwalk of sorts out to the lighthouse – like we saw at Grand Haven.
A very pretty lighthouse!
We could see the waves splashing on the other pier – we couldn’t capture them when we were walking out there!
Saturday we went to “downtown” Manistee and visited the Farmers market where we got some blueberries and tomatoes. We walked around and saw a couple of interesting things. Linda like the name of the Taco shop.
Jim pointed out this sign in the window of a bar.
Sunday we will be heading to the Petoskey area. We don’t generally move on a Sunday – but that’s the way it worked out. The weather should continue to be cooler. It’s really nice not to be having temps in the 90’s!
Great photos. I wonder how many lighthouses there could be in Michigan?