Great Lakes - Day 6

Overnight there was a huge rain storm that came through.  Apparently Yeti and I were the only ones that heard it because when I asked the next morning, everyone else slept through the night.  I was glad for the rain because apparently Ohio and much of Michigan have been without rain for weeks.  The grass has been very dry and the man who parked our FunV at the Christmas Story house said a storm will come up and look like it’s going to dump rain and then it just blows over. 

We had a quick breakfast and took the hour drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  This would be our first real look at Lake Michigan and our chance to have some relaxation and fun in the sun.  There was a marked change in temperature to cooler with a refreshing breeze.  We stopped into the visitor center and got our park stamps and Lorelei her junior range book then headed over to the Dune Climb. 

The Dune Climb is a 110 and 284 foot climb to the top of the sand dunes on Lake Michigan.  You can actually hike the dunes after climbing and go all the way to the lake but we opted for just the climb and then a different lake spot so we could let Yeti swim.  For the North Carolinians that have been to Jockeys Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks, this dune makes that one look easy.  The sand was warm almost to the point where you wanted shoes and this day was bright and sunny with the temps in the mid 80’s.  I’m still nursing a sore throat and my lungs seem to not want to work when I exert myself so the first 125 feet were tough.  The view at the top was well worth it and the climb, lingering at the top and the descent (apparently it is fun to run down – Scott and I opted not to but the kids did) took about an hour.  We made lunch and then headed back to the visitor center for Lorelei’s badge before driving up to the parking area to access the lake with dogs. 

The “beach” was about 6 feet wide and the area where the sand and water meet was covered in rocks.  They were any number of colors and reminded us of the rocks beds in the rivers in Glacier National Park.  Once you got past the rocks into the water, the sand was soft and the water clear.  So clear that for a moment, I thought Lorelei had on socks as I could see her white feet and tan legs from being outside with tennis shoes on all spring and summer.  Lorelei was the only human that actually swam in the lake.  Yeti was at some points fully in the water although he did not like it.  If there had not been other dogs, we would have let him off leash and I think he would have liked it more.  Refreshed from the water and relaxed from the hours spent on the beach we headed on to the upper peninsula of Michigan.  We stopped just before crossing Lake Huron and Michigan in the rain to pick up groceries and dinner.  We arrived in camp in the middle of nowhere at the Newberry KOA around 8:45 and the sun was shining.  We are getting very near to crossing into central time zone and the very late setting sun feels weird.