Here We Are At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park In Michigan
Traverse City, MI sits on Lake Michigan and has over 3.8 million cherry trees. I’m not sure if they are the cherry capital of the world, but with producing up to 75% of the nations cherries, they should be. Many of Michigan’s sweet cherry population are grown right in Traverse City.
Traverse City, MI
While exploring Traverse City and the cute Main Street, you can find all sorts of cherry products and baked goods to satisfy your cherry craving. Unfortunately, this is lost on me as I am not a big fan of cherries. Cherry pie, maybe, but that’s about it.
We had a wonderful campground, Holiday Park Campground, that fit us beautifully into a full hook-up site. Easy in’s and out’s.
Our Site In The Holiday Park Campground In Traverse City, MI
As you can see from our picture we had a big, wide site. We were in site 162 which we easily got our satellite signal. They do have some wooded sites that would fit bigger type rigs, but we wanted satellite. Do not attempt to go onto the island campsites with anything remotely big. It has tight turns that no big vehicle would be able to make. Beautiful views though if you are in a smaller rig and can snag one of these sights.
The WiFi was fast and reliable. David did not want to leave.
The sunsets were beautiful every single night.
Sunset In Front Of Our Rig
David’s Quadcopter During Sunset
David had a good time flying his quadcopter around and practicing his flying some more. This park used to be an Airstream owners park. So there are lots of old Airstreams in the storage area and around the park. David flew the copter over these Airstreams which were all lined up in storage. I think it made for a neat shot, but the video didn’t come out as planned. Oh well.
Our Shadows In The Dunes
Not to far from Traverse City, about a 40 minute drive from the campground, is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park
Sleeping Bear Dunes is part of our National Park Service. In April it was chosen as the best Hike-to-View in all the National Parks in the National Geographic book. It was also voted the 10 Best of Everything National Parks and recently voted by Good Morning America viewers as the “Most beautiful place in America”.
It was beautiful. I’ll give them that. The MOST beautiful in all of America…that I’m not so sure of. I think I’ll have to visit them all to find out.
One of the attractions in the park is the dunes themselves. You are able to climb these naturally forming sand dunes all year round. It rises over 110 feet high and when you reach the top there is a beautiful view of Glen Lake.
Brenda At The Top Of The Dune. David Was Taking The Picture From Only Less Than Half Way Down.
David Exploring The Dunes
David Drew A Heart In The Sand
It’s amazing the different aspects of the dunes. You look in one direction and it’s nothing but sand. You look in another and their are plants growing in the sand. You look another way and their can be little trees. How they all survive in the sand instead of dirt is beyond me.
Once we left this area of the park we went on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. This is a 7.4 mile loop that takes you along Lake Michigan and some very pretty scenic overlooks.
The Covered Bridge In The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
It starts out in a very wooded area. Which is a vast difference to the sandy dunes we had just left. The covered bridge is the first attraction that you see once you round a bend.
Part Of The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
Part Of The Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
The parks department really does a wonderful job in labeling all the attractions and overlooks. Make sure you pick up your printed guide when you check in at the gate. Everything is labeled with numbers and it tells you what you are seeing. Their are pull offs and small parking lots at some of the attractions along the route.
David On A Disappearing Trail On The Scenic Drive
We had gotten out a few times to take pictures and look at the beautiful scenery. This one overlook of Lake Michigan was fierce though. As you can see from the picture, David’s path is quickly disappearing. The winds had kicked up and let me tell you, when the sand goes flying and hits your face and arms….Ouch! That stuff is painful. And no talking unless you want a mouth full of sand. Ick. And to think that some people pay good money to go to spas and get exfoliated. We did it for free! Well, minus the entrance fee of course.
Other than the wind at the end, it was a wonderful day of hiking and climbing a dune. Certainly a nice park if you find yourself in this area.
Star date 09182012…D is boldly going where no man has gone before as evidenced by the lack of footprints…including, ominously, his own! What strange world is he exploring in this apparently hopeless, quest to locate a 60″ LED TV somewhere in this sandy, dune filled landscape! You can note the futility, by seeing the photo of his co-pilot, B, throwing out her arms in frustration, having made it to the very top of the largest dune where she can see vistas of incredible beauty, but alas, no TV. How is this possible in a place that can receive a satellite feed? In quiet desperation, our sad and lonely duo must make do with framing the spectacular sunsets in their camera frame and pretend they are seeing it on a TV…as they explore this strange, new (well, to them anyway) world!
Looks like Michigan is agreeing with you – beautiful!