Traverse City

On Thursday May 17th we moved on to Traverse City. This is a City on the bottom of Traverse Bay along the northeast shore of Lake Michigan. We hadn't originally planned on coming here but we are sure glad we did. This is a beautiful area with a great deal to do and see. The waters of the bay are turquoise in color and it is a beautiful place. We are leaving here tomorrow but I know we will come back here someday if time and health allows. This is a definite A list place and the RV park is probably the nicest we have ever stayed in. Beautiful place and very nice people. It is early in their season here but the campground is in excellent shape and the events start with Memorial weekend. (Enjoy the pics).

Day 1 - Got settled and enjoyed the beautful RV park.

Day 2 - We went into the town, shopped, ate, enjoyed the great downtown. Then we took a drive up the peninsula that goes up the middle of the bay. Beautiful big homes on the water, wineries, marinas, and at the top an old lighthouse that has been restored. The water is incredible, unfortunately we are not able to capture the true beauty on film. I went up into the small lighthouse #80 of 91 on Lake Michigan. Very good day.

Day 3 - We drove up the western side of the bay through small towns with little shops and interesting items. Stopped for lunch at The Knot Restaurant in Omena. It is attached to a winery I had never had Michigan wine before and I must say the Chardoney was very good. The price was right also. After lunch we went to the top of the lakeshore here to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. (#79 of 90) This was a very interesting lighthouse with many of the original furniture in it dating back to the late 1800's.

We then went down the west shore of the lake to Leland MI. They have a place here called Fishtown that is one of the only remaining commericial fishing villages still in operation in this area. Interesting shops and nice people. There are lakes all over this region. They all have the turquois water, beautiful homes, and abundant natural beauty. After 5:00pm church in Traverse City we went to the most recommended restaurant in town, The Apache Trout Grill. Eileen did the trout and I had an excellent Walleye fillet. Well worth the trip. Great Dinner.

Day 4 - We drove to the west of town to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We took a drive named Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive through the dunes. This dune is massive, it covers something like 4 square miles and on the lake and it is 450 feet above the water. It continues to migrate and is unbelievable to see. On the inland side they allow the hardy (young folks) to climb the dune. When you get to the top it is still about a half mile to the water. We have pictures of people coming down. Amazing place and more of the natural beauty of the lake.

Sleeping bear was named from an indian legend about a mother bear that swam across the lake with her two cubs. When she got to this shore her cubs were gone. There are two islands off the shore here that are said to be the cubs. The mother bear layed down where the dune is today and waits for them to come. I personally don't think it will happen. We drove the country on the way back, around lakes, through the beautiful countryside. This is really a magical place. there are lakes everywhere. Someone told us the other night that in Michigan you are never more that 80 miles from a lake no matter where you are.

Day 5 - Today we slept in. Paid bills and did our shopping. Basically a lazy day. The weather turned colder than the 80+ degree weather we have had the past three days to the low 60's. Brrr!  I was thinking of playing golf but the morning was to shakey regarding rain potential. I'll pull out the clubs later in the week.

Tomorrow we leave for Petoskey Mi. which is a little over and hour northeast of here. It is on a bay like Traverse City so I'm looking forward to exploring there. 

A Great Resort!

Beautiful Water!

Lighthouse #80

Bowers Harbor Marina!

Mission Point Lighthouse!

Sailboat Races!

One of the Vineyards!

Lunch at The Knot Restaurant Omena Mi.!

View from Grand Traverse Lighthouse #79!

Fishtown town!

Cleaning Up!

The famous fishing boats at Fishtown!!

Sleeping Bear Dune!

Atop the Sleeping Bear Dune Lake Michigan in the background!!

Lake Michigan from the top of the Dune!

450 feet up!

4 sq miles of dune!

Coming down from the top of the dune!

Inspiration Point above Little Glen Lake!

Fish ladders in downtown Traverse City!

Say What??

Fountains in the RV Resort!

Our site!

From acroos the park!

The main clubhouse!

Driver in Training! A special gift to Sophie and Bob!!

Michigan City Indiana

We arrived in Michigan City on Tuesday May 15th. I really didn't know what to expect of the town that I left 61 years ago in the back seat of a Studabaker. We were both pleasantly surprized with the town. The campground was south of town in a farm area very quiet and nice.

Day 1 we did our shopping and grilled at the campground, very nice. Next morning I set my GPS for 208 Hilltop Avenue and off we went. In 15 minutes we were lost on a dirt road along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I don't know what happened but the GPS had some kind of brain fart.

We drove around for a little while and stumbled unto Mt Baldi. This is an area at the bottom of Lake Michigan that is moving futher south each year at a progressive pace It's very interesting to see how it has taken over the trees and they say in a few years it will take the parking lot we were in. We walked to the "summit" of Mt. Baldi probably 300 feet,and looked over Lake Michigan and the Dune. We were 25 to 30 miles from Chicago. I was able to take a few pics of the skyline of the city. Very interesting place.

We decided to drive toward Michigan City (just to the east) and try the GPS again. Once we were in the middle of town we started to get an additional set of directions from the gal in the box. It took us along Lake Shore Drive, past a beautiful marina and park and up the hill to the old homestead. You really don't have a lot of memories from 61 years ago but it was real interesting to go back. Glad we did.

We found outlets in town for Eileen and after a late breakfast we emptied our wallets once again. After shopping we drove past the hospital and the Catholic church that I think I was baptized in. There is no shortage of Catholic churches in this part of Michigan. Downtown Michigan City had three of them.

After our nastalgic trip to the city we finished our drive along the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore. Part state park and part National Lakeshore. All in all it was a nice day. Next day we left for Traverse City.



Mt Baldi Moving Dune! Click to Read!

Top of Mt Baldi!

Chicago Skyline from the "Summit" of Mt. Baldi!!

Back of Dune Swallowing the trees!

The old homestead! A bit different than my memory!

Number 208!

This is the fog horn I have in my memories!

NC tourist in Indiana Dunes State Park!

Louisville Kentucky/Clarksville Indiana

Time really does fly when your having a good time. On Saturday May 12th we headed for Louisville, Ky. The weather had cleared and we had a nice ride until we were about 20 miles from our destination. The smell of burning rubber should have been our first clue but we drove on without a place to pull over. By the time we were a mile from a exit the left rear inside tire had been destroyed. We got off the exit and called CoachNet (our road service company). Within an hour they had located a new tire and had someone on the way. Changing a tire on this big bus is not an easy thing and it's made twice as hard when its the inside tire. (They both have to come off) It took four hours but we were on our way and in the campground around 7:30pm. We found a really nice restaurant that night that had some especially tasty gin and tonics.

We actually stayed in Clarksville, Indiana which is across the bridge from Louisville. Our first full day here it rained buckets. 3 or more inches. Needless to say we really didn't get to see much. We went shopping for repair parts and really didn't tour anything.

We really didn't find much that interested us in this area. On Monday we had planned to visit Churchill Downs but the tours were cancelled as a result of all the rain. We went into Louisville and visited the Louisville Slugger factory. Believe it or not Eileen enjoyed seeing how the bats are manufactured. She even had her picture taken with one of those Damn Yankees. All in all, we were not real impressed with this area. I wouldn't add it to your A list unless you run out of places to see in the rest of this beautiful country. On Tuesday we moved on to the City of my birth Michigan City, Indiana.

It won't hold air now!

Missing two tires!

Most of the Ash Wood comes from Northern Pa.

Damn Yankee - On Right!

Bats in the air!

The Babe says it's outa here!

Jolly Green Giants Bat!

Nice Tour!

Sevierville, Tn. Smokey Mountains NP

We arrived in Sevierville Tn. on Wednesday May 9th. We have been in this area many times and enjoy the Great Smokey Mountains National Park very much. On Thursday we drove into the park and found a nice two mile hike along one of the streams. On the way in we saw our first black bear of the day. The traffic was backed up and the people were in the woods taking pictures. I just don't understand what these people are thinking. Many of them were as close as fifty feet. They would't even have time to pee there pants if the bear decided to charge.

Later in the day we drove down to Cades Cove (A nature drive). We stopped along the drive to see some of the deserted homes and churches from the residents that had to leave when their land was purchased by the government. Some of them lived there into the thirties. We had done this drive once before with the Ton of Fun group. We saw some deer and our second bear of the day. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

The next day we returned to the park and did a small nature trail on one of the abandoned farms. This farm "The Noah "Bud" Ogle Place was home to one of the first settlers in the Gattlinburg Tn. area. Bud and his wife Cindy started out on this 400 acres in 1879. The farm was very interesting. The picture of the water trough is the small grissmill located back in the woods along a small stream. Very interesting how they lived back then. This house actully had running water inside. Clever people. This home is relatively close to Gattlinburg on the way into the Roaring Fork Nature Trail. We had another great day.

 Our first walk. The butterflies were swarming in the woods. These blue ones and a bunch of Tiger Swallowtails.







Two happy hikers!

Methodist Church on Cades Cove nature drive.

 Number two black bear on the Cades Cove drive.

 Happy hiker!

Grissmill on the Ogle farm.

 Mountain stream on the Roaring Fork Drive.

 Same stream.

Another farmhouse.

 Harley family in Pigeon Forge. This dog actually goes to work with this guy. He works on heavy equipment. They told us the dog actually climbs up into the cab of a bulldozer or backhowe when he is working.  (Enlarge the pictures to get the full picture of the dog)

Not a good Saturday. This tire is toast.

What my axle looks like without tires!








On Saturday May 12th we headed for Louisville, Ky. Things went well until the last 20 miles. We were heading west on I64 when the rear left side inside tire blew. Not a good thing. We were able to get off the road and into a small gas station/food mart. I called CoachNet and four hours later our pocketbook was much lighter and we had a new tire.

We made it to the campground around 8:00pm and it has been raining here ever since. Not a good two days. Tomorrow we will go out to see what Louisville has to offer.

Live Life to its fullest.

Bill and Eileen