Travels of Steve and Cheryl Botts: August 2011

We awoke to rain on the day we were moving to the Lower Peninsular of Michigan. It was a wonderful treat to see the sun break through just as we crossed the beautiful Mackinaw Bridge. Our stay outside of Mackinaw City was a great one. We made the trip by ferry to Mackinaw Island, did some biking and had a beautiful kayak. Here are a few pictures.

Mackinac Bridge from Upper to Lower Peninsular of Michigan

Once on Mackinaw Island the means of transportation are horse and buggy, foot or bike. We chose bikes.

The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island

Mackinaw Island church

Arch Rock and clear Lake Huron in the background

Toured Historic Ft. Mackinac

View from atop Ft. Mackinac

Kayaking under the bike path
We took a day trip to Gaylord to play the famous Treetops par 3 golf course. This is the site of the PGA tour Par 3 Shootout and where Lee Trevino won a million dollars for making a hole-in-one.

From Mackinaw City we traveled south to Traverse City State Park. We enjoyed quite an array of activities in this beautiful part of Michigan. The campground was across the street from Lake Michigan with a walkover bridge for access. Also the park backed up to a 21 mile paved path leading directly into town. We spent time on the beach, did some biking and also took a day to tour the many wineries in the area. We were very fortunate to be in the area when the trees were covered in cherries. Tried our hand at cherry picking too. Played a round of golf at A-Ga-Ming golf resort overlooking Lake Torch. The real highlight though was Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I did the Dunes hike and we also toured the lighthouse. Did a river kayak on the Platte River making our way to the river terminus in Lake Michigan. Needless to say, this was a "keeper" destination.

Cheryl is the small dot on top of the dune!!

10 minutes down, 1 1/2 hours to get back up!!!
We did not try this one.

Cherry Picking

Wine Tasting

Lighthouse Touring

A-Ga-Ming golf course on Torch Lake

Kayaking on Lake Michigan

From Traverse City we went across Michigan to the shore of Lake Huron. Stayed in Tawas City State Park for three nights. Did some biking and visited the Tawas Lighthouse. Did a 12 mile kayak down the Au Sable River to the terminus in Lake Huron.

Lighthouse touring

When we left Tawas City, Steve said he was not feeling well so I drove to our next destination near Dearborn, MI. We wanted to tour the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and take the Ford F150 factory plant tour. Things did not turn out quite that way. Steve ended up in the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor for 6 days!!!! He was in pretty bad condition when admitted. After every test known to man, he was diagnosed with a bacterial infection from a tick bite. I was so blessed to have our friends, Frank and Patty Kukuk close by, and they came to my rescue as fast as possible. Steve continued to improve once he was placed on the correct antibiotics and was actually able to spend a few hours in the Ford Museum and take the factory tour. He skipped Greenfield Village but Frank, Patty and Cheryl did make a day of it.