The girl loves her some corn
Pants, not so much
The Beard
The Beard appears
It was believed that The Beard was planning some sort of kayak-delivered attack on the Independence Day festivities of the Roschek-Vogel-Goudie 2012 Summit. Note the care in planning – the kayak has an up-to-date Ohio water license.
Three days of Sleeping Bear sunsets
We stayed at The Homestead in Glen Arbor, which is a large development of condos along the lakeshore, and we stayed in the Logger’s Run section. Our condo was fairly high up in the trees, which yielded tremendous views of the sunsets each night. I shot tons of pictures with my EF-S 17-55mm lens and 75-300mm lens, along with a batch shot with a rented 10-22mm Canon lens. I also had a visitor one night who very nearly got up on the deck with me:
North Bar Lake at Sleeping Bear
Newsflash: Lake Michigan is cold
– even in July. After freezing in the water at the other beaches we visited, we decided it was time to try some warmer water. Just south of the scenic drive, there is an inland lake called North Bar Lake that connects to Lake Michigan. It’s an easy drive with parking available, so we headed there in the early morning. This is a shot of North Bar Lake from one of the overlooks on the scenic drive (gives you an idea how it connects to the big lake).
Good Harbor Beach near Glen Arbor Michigan
The quest continues
In the afternoon, we decided to turn left on M-22 instead of our usual right turn when departing The Homestead, and headed towards Leland in search of more beaches. Using a handy guide to the National Lakeshore provided by the national park attendant when we bought our seven-day pass, we spotted one called simply “County Road 651 Beach” – used our GPS to help find County Road 651, and pulled up to the small parking area on a beautiful summer day.
And then it happened
Rachel called Aly over to show her the Petoskey stone that she just found, and Aly was delighted to have found her first Petoskey stone. You can see the actual stone in question in the third picture, which shall become important in a moment.
Glen Haven Beach at Sleeping Bear
The quest for Petoskey stones
Aly’s [oft, over, constantly] stated goal for this trip was to find Petoskey stones that she could bring home and polish up to perfection. We began that quest at Glen Haven Beach, which is at the end of a kind of ghost town historic village, near the maritime museum. It was a beautiful morning for a swim and to play in the sand, and a great spot. Although we didn’t find any Petoskey stones at this beach, we did find plenty of other rocks that Aly thought were keepers and thus started our giant bag of rocks in the back of the car.
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Sleeping Bear
First try
We did this scenic drive twice during our stay in Glen Arbor. The first time, Aly was ready for a break and we only stopped at two of the overlooks because crankiness was disturbing the scenery (that’s pouting in the first picture). It’s a pretty drive even if you can’t stop and get out of the car. The first overlook gives a view through the trees of both Glen Lakes. The next overlook includes the Dune Climb, as well as panoramic views across at least 180 degrees.
Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes
We didn’t make it very far up the dune climb, because I wasn’t feeling well, it was the end of a long day getting up to Glen Arbor, and it was hot – even at 7pm. There were few people there, though, which made the experience a lot better for taking photographs.