We visited Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan.
The visitor center:
Map and info:
Covered bridge on a scenic drive:
Picnic lunch:
View of dunes from an overlook:
Lake:
Scenic drive:
“Avoid getting stuck at the bottom! … Rescues cost $3000”:
Steep dune and Lake Michigan:
Blacksmith in a historic village:
Inn:
Canning building:
Dune climb:
We had breakfast at The Omelette Shoppe in Traverse City, Michigan.
Cinnamon roll:
Eggs Benedict and hash browns:
German omelette:
Also pancakes:
Tasty stuff.
We stayed at Traverse City KOA Holiday in Buckley, Michigan. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A fairly standard KOA, undergoing a major expansion.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Decent KOA undergoing expansion
While we were in the park, they were in the process of doing earthmoving and site preparation for an additional 60 or so 50A full-hookup sites, some of which will be seasonal. As a result, we had to deal with construction noise and smell for a few days, which detracted from the experience. But the campground is nice, with some extra amenities and touches that made it stand out a bit from a typical KOA (pizza, wood, and ice delivery to your site, for instance). We had a deluxe patio site, which was about 100 feet long, so plenty long enough for our motorhome and tow vehicle (with room for another if we’d needed it). The patio had a table and chairs, as well as another seating area, even though it was too cold and rainy during our stay to want to sit outside much. We camped at Traverse City KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Venture into Traverse City: Rare Bird Brewery offers excellent food and beverages (the Schmackintosh cider is a favorite). The Omelette Shoppe offered delicious breakfast and brunch options.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
A nice patio, that we didn’t use as the temperature was unseasonably cold during our stay:
Earthworks for new sites in front of our site:
Other sites:
Cabins:
Playground:
Jump pads:
Dog park:
Shade garden (which I added as a PokéStop for you Pokémon Go players out there!):
The construction noise and smells were a little annoying, but other than those, this was a nice enough campground; we’d be happy to stay here again in the future.
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 323 miles from St Clair to Buckley, Michigan.
We drove our coach 323 miles, about five hours of driving, from St Clair to Buckley, Michigan.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
I-69 West:
Rest area:
Flint Strong water:
North towards Saginaw:
I-75 North:
Rest area:
Paladin on the dash:
Route 10 West:
Speed Limit 75, Truck Speed 65, Minimum Speed 55:
Rest area:
I like this style of passing lane, where the dotted line strongly suggests moving right:
Arriving at KOA:
I previously replaced the cover on the light under the sink, but it got knocked off again, so I decided to replace the whole light fixture this time, figuring that the clips that hold the cover on may be weak.
The light is available from Tiffin’s online parts store, part number 5032143 “Light Wardrobe Brown LED”:
Rather than using the wires that came with the light, I simply unplugged the existing wires from the old light, and plugged in to the new one. But the light didn’t work; it turned out that I needed to reverse the wires; so I guess the original was hooked up differently:
But all good now:
An easy fix.
We visited the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Detroit, Michigan.
But first, Lamy’s Diner within the museum for lunch:
Menu:
Classic diner food:
McDonald’s sign:
Presidential cars:
Trains:
Classic cars:
Sports cars:
Planes:
Hallmark collectable ornaments:
Bikes:
Machinery:
Cobbler:
Sewing machines etc:
Model T car:
Exploded Model T:
Glasswork:
Dymaxion House:
Wienermobile:
An interesting collection.
We attended a game of the Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox, playing at the Tigers ballpark, Comerica Park.
Jenn’s game summary:
The Tigers completed a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox on a pleasant evening in Detroit. Nice stadium with a couple of fun things (carousel with tigers instead of horses and a baseball-themed Ferris wheel). Tarik Skubal pitched very well and efficiently—11 strikeouts and only one walk. Amazing homerun robbery with assist (scoring: F9-8) by the Red Sox to steal a run from Kerry Carpenter that will be in the highlight reels for years. Exciting steal and advance on a throwing error for some 9th inning heroics by the Tigers and a walk-off single to end it—a fun game.
An interactive map of the ballpark:
Entrance, with lots of tigers:
Big tiger:
More tigers:
Team store:
Carousel:
Kielbasa and pierogis:
Fried Classics:
Elephant ear:
Baseball bat drink of Tiger Fuel:
Selfie from our seats:
View from our seats in Section 126, Row 27, Seats 1 & 2:
Play ball:
The mascot, Paws:
Run scores:
We liked how the sculptures captured the motion:
Ferris wheel:
Exploring the ballpark:
Nice stats display:
New pitcher:
Tigers win:
We ate at Big Boy in Port Huron, Michigan. Notable as we had previously visited the original location in Burbank, California. This franchise wasn’t quite as iconic.
Menus:
I had a cookies & cream shake:
My burger and waffle fries, and Jenn’s Philly cheesesteak and fries:
Fairly tasty, but nothing too exciting.
We took a drive to see the St Clair River and Lake Huron.
It’s kinda crazy how far one needs to drive to see the lake; there were some paid parking areas near St Clair, and a few minor roads, but pretty much all of the coastline was populated with houses. We drove 37 minutes north to a roadside park to be able to properly see the lake.
An interactive map of our route:
St Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge to Canada:
Very blue water:
Quite swiftly moving river:
Under the Blue Water Bridge:
Nearby, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse (closed on the day we drove by):
37 minutes north, Lake Huron Roadside Park:
Steps down to the lake:
But the bottom is blocked off:
A navigation buoy? washed up on the shore:
Endless lake:
