Harrisville State Park

The next morning I drove up the coast to Harrisville State Park. The campground is on Lake Huron's shore, with many of the campsites right on the beach. It reminds me of when I used to stay at Higgen's Lake with my family when I was a kid. We always camped next to the lake and would fall asleep listening to the waves lapping on the beach.

I wandered up and down the beach after setting up camp. The most popular activities seemed to be digging in the sand, playing with boats and just hanging out with friends. Not too long after I took a picture of the blue row boat, it sank while it was being rowed back to shore. The two people rowing it climbed over the side, pulled it back to shore, bailed it out and headed out with it again the following morning.

Lame Excuses, Followed By A Road Trip

First, an apology---I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in the last month.

Next, a lame explanation, in an attempt to weasel my way out of not fulfilling my obligations---I was remodeling my apartment. I sent my computer out to be repaired. I was bored. Take your pick; they're all true, but no reason not to be working. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me tell you about a road trip I took last week.

I love to wander along the shores of the Great Lakes in the summer, especially Huron and Superior. Since I was feeling a bit "out-of-sorts" last week, without my laptop, I decided to visit some of my favorite camping spots. And, as always, I discovered new favorites along the way.

The Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse Campground, near the tip of Michigan's thumb was my first stop. The lighthouse site is the inspiration for the story I'm writing, about Catherine Shook, Michigan's first female lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse and the Keeper's Residence weren't there when she lived there. Her residence burned down when she and her eight children were living in it and the original lighthouse was replaced because it was poorly built.

The lighthouse site is now a quiet county park, its campground close to the water. At night, you can hear the waves washing up on the shore as you drift off to sleep and watch the tower light shine out over the lake.

Where's My Road?

Usually, I'm the one that my friends watch disappear down the road. This weekend I looked out my front window and saw my road disappear! A giant road-eating machine and two huge, red dump trucks gobbled up my street, while astonished residents looked on. It was really quite an event, bringing back memories of when my kids were young. As soon as he could turn the pages, my son, Dan's favorite book was Richard Scarry's, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. If a vehicle was gigantic, noisy, blocked traffic and created clouds of dust it was for him. One of our favorite activities, when he was little, was searching out construction sites to watch the big machines. I think he would have enjoyed watching his old street disappear.

Happy Birthday America!

I walked downtown early on July 4th to the assembly area of our annual parade. I've found I like watching the process of a disorganized crowd of wandering participants eventually working their way into a fairly orderly parade. I think I like the assembly area even better than the actual parade. Our parade is always colorful, full of drummers, bands, bikers, dogs and kids. And of course, lots and lots of flags.

Lake Huron's Shore

The ride on the PALM's final day was a short one, planned to allow the riders plenty of time to reach Lake Huron's shore at Harbor Beach, in time for the parade. The bikers gathered by the Trescott Street Pier, some walking or riding out to its end, others dipping the tires of their bikes in the water of Lake Huron. After a lot of picture taking and congratulations, the riders mounted their bikes and rode through the streets in a parade of over 700 bikers, led by a police escort. It was a fun ending to an equally fun week.

Bad Axe

After Bay City, we rode on to Bad Axe, the dark skies and rain still following us. Our campsite at Bad Axe High School was unique; the campers surrounded the softball field and as luck would have it, the girls softball team had two games that evening. We had free entertainment, an open concession stand and after a brief shower, a rainbow...what luck!

Tobico Marsh

Wednesday, June 22nd, as soon as Kay left our campsite in Clare, I headed out towards Lake Huron and the Bay City Recreation Area. Van was feeling a little down, so I decided to give him a boost. While Van was sucking up the electricity at our temporary campsite, I decided to go exploring in the Tobico Marsh. The marsh is one of the largest freshwater coastal wetlands on the Great Lakes. I had been there plenty of times, exploring its trails and watching the migratory birds. This time I was on a different mission...to take a picture of a frog.

I've heard plenty of frogs and toads when I go out to survey at night, but I've never been able to take a picture of one. It was kind of embarrassing, I had a Frog and Toad page on my website, but the only frog I could find to feature, was a ceramic frog received as a gift. After several hours of wandering around on the marsh trails, hearing frogs in the distance, I was ready to give up. As I walked out on an observation deck to take one last look around, I heard a loud "boing", like the sound of a banjo string. Sitting at my feet, on a pile of reeds, looking straight into my eyes, was a Green Frog!

Slowly, I leaned over the railing of the deck and took a picture. He didn't move. Kneeling down, I continued to shoot. He didn't even blink. I crawled on my belly to the edge of the deck, right above the frog and kept shooting. I kept telling him, "Your skin is going to dry out, you need to get back in the water", but he didn't move. Finally, after taking tons of pictures in a lot of settings, (so I wouldn't blow my frog picture chance), I thanked the little frog, brushed myself off and headed, triumphantly, back to Van.