Sat May 11 Lake Loda, Ludington, Michigan

 Sat. May 11

A cool 48 and spotty drizzle this morning as we leave our site.

 We drive to nearby Loda Lake National Wildflower Sanctuary. This is the only National Wildflower Sanctuary, established in1949 by the US Forest Service and Michigan Garden Clubs  It is on land once logged by the railroad in the late 1890's, and then farmed for many years.

There are several trails, a pollinator's garden, picnic area and more.  Unfortunately we are a bit early for most of the wildflowers, so see only a few trillium and small yellow flowers, and the beginnings of ferns that had yet to unfurl.  It has some carnivorous plants, columbine, lady's slippers and a variety of  - probably in the next few weeks.  Was a nice walk in the woods today.

A pair of trumpeter swans across the lake.

We had a nice hot breakfast of oatmeal to warm up after the walk.

Next, it's back to the coast and the Little Au Sable Lighthouse at Petite Point.  Completed in 1874, it is the tallest on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan at 115'  and is surrounded by low sand dunes, part of Silver Lake Sand Dunes State Park.

Nearly all of the coast has varying degrees of sand dunes along this side of the Lake.

These sweet-smelling flowers were blooming on bushes on the dunes.

As we continued up the coast there were occasional bays and peninsulas where we could see shifting sand dunes.

When we dipped inland, we began to see beautiful blooming orchards.   

Then on to Ludington North Breakwater Lighthouse  at the end of a long pier. It tips 4.5 degrees NNE due to enlargement of the concrete slab around it in 1994 but it didn't seem obvious. Lots of breaking waves on this blustery day! They say the waves sometimes break as high as the light. 

The south side of the breaker was calmer.

There is a nice park here, along with a Coast Guard station, some sculptures and a picnic area.  
Nearby is a ferry firing up to cross the lake to Wisconsin!

We thought this was an odd sign in a yard along the shore.    I guess it means "congested area for traffic", or "hey! people live here so watch out and don't park in our driveways".

We head to Marzinski Horse Campground, another USFS site and find ourselves having the entire grounds to ourselves. It opened two weeks ago, but we surmise that the chilly weather plus the rainy weather has kept people (and their horses) away.  Fine by us!

We enjoy the quiet here among towering trees and have the first campfire of the trip.  

Greg cooks burgers on the grill and baked beans.  

  

Friday, May 10 2024: Ford Presidential Library, Lake Michigan Coast

 Friday, May 10

Another chilly morning at 50 degrees, but the rain seems to have passed. Today we will check out Grand Rapids, which is about an hour inland.

First stop is the Fulton Street Market.  A covered market area featuring foods, various crafts, woodworking and art.  Beth likes the Vinyl Art Design by Theresa Nesbitt.  She uses old vinyl records of various sizes as bases for applying vinyl paints in beautiful abstract designs.  I like the idea of recycling old materials and turning them into something quite unique. We buy one made from an old 45.

Ours

Then we find some breakfast in the form of rhubarb muffins and rhubarb scones - delicious!  We will see many farmstands selling rhubarb and asparagus.

From here we head to the Gerald Ford Presidential Library.  Part of his library is at his alma mater - Michigan State in Ann Arbor and the other part is here in Grand Rapids where he grew up.  It is nicely done. His birth name was Leslie Lynch King, but his mother quickly divorced her abusive husband and remarried when he was 4. 

His presidency was an unusual one as he was not elected either to the Vice Presidency or the Presidency! He was originally chosen by Nixon to replace resigning Vice President Agnew.  Then, when Nixon resigned, Ford became President.   He had served in the House of Representatives for over 20 years.  

There was quite a bit of history about Watergate and his pardoning of Nixon to focus on healing the country.    He was  president for less than 3 years, but had to handle many issues including Vietnam and general distrust of the political system.  He survived two separate assassination attempts.

He was an Eagle Scout and football star and was in the Navy during WWII. He graduated from Yale Law School. The library seemed to focus on his straight-arrow reputation, honesty and integrity which is what the nation badly needed at the time.

There was a bit about his wife Betty, too, her struggles with addiction and the Betty Ford Foundation which continues today as her legacy.

This is a replica of the Ford Cabinet room.

From Grand Rapids we headed back to the coast and Grand Haven Harbor Lighthouse.  When we arrived at the parking area we could see the red lighthouse not too far away, but as we began to walk to it, a heavy fog rolled in.  We walked into the fog and at times could barely see the shadowy lighthouse.  Many of the lighthouses, like this one, are reached by a long pier. 

 We actually walked out a close parallel pier which held the shorter green and white light marking the other edge of the channel to Grand Haven.  Here's Greg.

Near the end of the pier sat a fisherman, patiently watching his lines.  I asked what he was hoping to catch and he said salmon.  I was surprised - didn't know salmon were in the Great Lakes.  So we talked about fish for a while, and the fog (happens now and then), and he went on to tell us some good places to visit further up the coast, etc. 

 He asked where we were from, as most people we run into do, and - again like most people - he  knew people who lived not-too-far from us (who fished in the Gulf).

As we arrived back at the Trek, the fog cleared a bit and we could see the red of the lighthouse again

Next, we followed the coast north to the Muskegon south pier lighthouse. Built in 1903, replacing the original stone one from 1851.  Almost identical to the Grand Haven light.

Got a kick out of this nearby home with a FREE SAND sign.

Then we headed inland a bit again to camp in the Manistee National Forest at Brush Lake.  This was one of the few National Forest campgrounds open, as many don't open till May 15 or Memorial Day. 

 It was a quiet, out-of-the-way type place,  a bit boggy in places due to recent heavy rains. But we got the 5th of 6 sites.  Talked with a young family that had 5 kids and a big tent.  They were very easy going and hoped tonights rain wouldn't be too bad!  Greg gave the man a tour of the Trek and they said they'd like to do something like that "when the kids are grown".  Another man we ran into while walking was from South Africa, but we didn't get his story.

It did rain during the night.  Glad I wasn't the one with a tent full of kids! (The oldest one looked to be around 10!)