I really should have written this up sooner, but time has been short lately. This is the travelogue from our Southwestern Michigan trip.
June 6th:We left home bright and early, ok cloudy & early, and headed across the state. By early afternoon we arrived at the White River Lighthouse. The sun was just starting to break through the clouds allowing for some decent photos. The lighthouse have a very nice museum that we were able to tour, although the basement level was closed due to flooding caused by recent heavy rains. The 4th order Fresnel Lens that once graced the lantern room is on display in the museum along with U.S.L.H.S. items and nautical memoribilia.
White River Lighthouse From White River we drove to Muskegon where we were able to see the Muskegon Pier Lights and the submarine U.S.S. Silversides which was about to be used for the filming of a movie in a few weeks . The sky had clouded up, but we had a nice walk along the pier anyway.
Muskegon Pier Lights We left Muskegon and headed to the campground to set up camp. The tent was up by 6:30 and we were making pizza in our camp cookers over the fire shortly after. Miles for the day - 232.
June 7th:Sleeping in today, we eventually made it down to the beach to see the Holland Lighthouse. Marla remarked that "Big Red" looked a lot smaller in person that she thought it would. We were also visited today by Larry & Kathy Wich from the forums ( lkeasyliving ). Larry & Kathy are from Holland and they were kind enough to stop by Holland State Park to visit. It was great to meet & visit with them.
Holland Harbor Lighthouse June 8th:We went south today. Leaving the campground we drove to the St. Joseph Pier Lighthouse. Road construction in the area prevented us from following the Penrose directions, but we eventually found it. A dredge working in the channel made it hard to get a good photo of the light without a dredge in it, but I think I was able to hide it pretty well.
St. Joseph Pier Lights Next up was the South Haven Pier Lighthouse. We arrived in downtown South Haven and fell in love. What a cool downtown area. We walked out to the lighthouse, took some photos and just people watched for a while in view of the light.
South Haven Pier Light We stopped in Saugatuck before heading back to the campground. You could almost spend the whole day in this tourist town. There are so many shops to explore. A film festival was taking place and Tom Hanks was due to arrive in a few days to flim some movie scenes at a local hotel. Miles traveled for the day - 72
June 9th:The last lighthouse we had to visit on this trip was Grand Haven. We arrived early in the afternoon and were amazed at the number of people! It was wall to wall people on the beach and pier. A semi-professional volleyball tourney was under way on the beach and by noon, the parking area at the beach closed because it was full. The Grand Haven Lights looked fantastic after their recent renovations and repainting.
Grand Haven Pier Lights We also revisited the Holland Lighthouse tonight to get some Sunset photos. Miles traveled for the day - 57
June 10th thru 12thThe rest of the trip was typical camping activities. Relaxing, campfires, grilling, bike riding and trips to the general store for ice cream were the norm.
We did have a bit of excitement our last night. It had been a picture perfect day. After sitting around the campfire then turning in for the night, I turned on our weather radio for the forcast. What we heard was not good. A storm was on the way with reported winds from 70 to 90 miles per hour. Not what you want to hear while staying in a tent. Shortly after that, the park rangers came around to warn everyone about the storm on the way. Marla & I decided to pack up everything but the tent and sleeping bags. After more thought and since it was the last night, we reluctantly decided to break down the rest of the way and go to a hotel for the night. We finished just in time. As we were stuffing the tent in the car, the winds and rain hit. It rained so hard we had to pull over because we couldn't see to drive. It was better to be safe than sorry in this case. There was no need to take a chance and risk the weather.
All in all it was a great trip. We saw six lighthouses we hadn't been to before and had some good quality time together. The Southwestern shoreline of Michigan is beautiful. We were able to travel the back roads, stay close to the water, and stay off the expressways for the most part. 675 miles and 7 days later we were back home.
Additonal photos can be viewed at my lighthouse page by clicking on "Photos" at the top of the page.
http://home.att.net/~greatlakeslighthouses
-Todd[This message has been edited by Todd Shorkey (edited 07-01-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Todd Shorkey (edited 07-01-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Todd Shorkey (edited 07-01-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Todd Shorkey (edited 07-01-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Todd Shorkey (edited 07-01-2001).]
