lovin it

Still in Michigan, parked here near the bottom of Lake Michigan for a few days to rest and plan the next leg (and do laundry).
I drove my niece Maggie back down to Bloomington, Indiana in the car yesterday.  Sad to lose her; she really fit right into the "troupe"(a very independent and adventuresome soul). We hope she will join us again sometime.  The 3 1/2 hour trip down through the farmland of central Indiana was very picturesque; stopped to buy local vegetables ... got lost along a country river .....

Speaking of lost:  I realized yesterday that being (temporarily) lost is really a fun adventure ... when you are in a scenic area;  BUT, being lost when you are alone in the car in a big city is NOT a fun adventure.  I thought I'd take a shortcut back up into Michigan .... HA !  Well, before I knew it I was on a toll road heading toward Chicago..... but it all ended well. 
I have mixed feelings about "Thelma", our GPS, .... can't stand the sound of her .... but then sometimes she would have been indispensable. Did you notice the past tense?  After yesterday's experience, I may give her another chance.

The last few days we made several stops along the western coast of Michigan, The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was my favorite.  It is a peninsula area, with huge sand dunes and beechwood forests growing on them.  I've never been in such a refreshingly beautiful forest. The ground area in under the tree canopy did not have much undergrowth, and there was a constant breeze .... it felt magical. God really did a good job with his creation.

We visited several lighthouses, and we all (Vera included) did a 1 1/2 mile hike out to an observation point over the Lake.  She (Vera) used her hiking poles, and she said she had no pain ... not even the day after.  This is remarkable because it was almost exactly 3 months since her hip replacement.  She is doing well (the blood pressure is another story - trying to keep it leveled out). Sometimes for no apparent reason her pressure will drop to something like 68/54, and she just wilts ... no energy.

84 degree highs are rea-a-a-ly nice.
Later,
Marilyn