It was a wonderful day today. Well, about a half hour of is was wonderful. The rest of the day was just so-so. It is Tuesday and Tuesday means we drive out to Manistique so The Man can do is hour of physical therapy. While he is huffing and puffing away on a treadmill I am walking on the beach at the northern end of Lake Michigan. The lake is so large I can imagine it to be the ocean and some days the waves on the lake really make it seem like an ocean rather than a lake.
Today the waves were small in comparison to Florida but large enough to have white caps as they rolled onto the shore. The "beach" is a mixture of sand and dirt which makes for very easy walking so I take full advantage of that. I have the timing for my hour of freedom down to a science. I leave The Man at PT and make the short drive down the road to a small parking lot on the beach. I must say the state of Michigan does an A +++ job at keeping up their rest areas and road side stops. This particular spot has a large covered cement area that houses about ten picnic tables, a soda machine and very clean bathrooms for men and women. (There are no gender issues here)
By the time I park and pee I have about 40 minutes to walk. Last year when I discovered this parking spot I would walk the parking lot and on down to the river where there is a boat launch, a snack bar and a souvenir shop. There is also a camp ground that I have walked through admiring the huge motor homes that are parked there. (Those things must cost a small fortune!). But this year I decided to check out the beach to see how difficult it would be walking on the sand. I know in Florida it kills my back to walk any distance on the beach but up here I discovered that once I got around the small inlet the sand was hard packed and super easy and pleasant to walk on. It is WONDERFUL !! I am alone with the occasional sea gull and the sound of the waves and the wind.
I HAVE FOUND A HAPPY PLACE !!!
I take tons of pictures because with the camera on my phone I can take tons and tons of photos and then later sit and edit and delete. (Love these phones) I turn off the ringer on my phone so no one will disturb me and I am off and walking looking for treasures. Unlike Florida beaches the treasures on a lake beach usually come in the form of driftwood or rocks. Lake Superior has wonderful rocks, Lake Michigan seems to have mostly driftwood. There are large skeletons of trees all along the beach and I look with envy thinking how wonderful they would look in my garden in Florida. (Silly me). But there are also bunches of small odd shaped pieces of wood that have found their way to this place. Today I found 3 pieces that called to me so they are now out on our picnic table drying in the sun. Haven't decided yet what I will do with them. Good possibility they will end up as fire wood in our fire pit but that won't happen any time this year.
I will only have one more day to walk on this beach before we return to Florida but I have lots of pictures to look at until we return next spring.
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