As a reminder, the freshly washed and waxed Beast is 45 feet long, 8 feet 6 inches wide and 12 feet 9 inches tall. We meandered through what seemed like miles of dusty trails and switchback turns replete with threatening overhead branches before arriving at our pull thru lot. As near as we can determine, we did not knock the bark off of any of the encroaching flora.
The lot was level in the way that politicians are "on the level". Ignoring this, your observant Captain soon found his electric and water hookups as the choking dust clouds began to settle and allow for limited visibility. (The dust settled mostly on the waxed coach). Is this what they mean when they say "dry camping"?? If so, we are not impressed.
Now comes the rain. Quiz...I know you know this one...What happens when you mix 500 metric tons of bone dry Michigan dust with a deluge of rain? Right! You get mud...with the consistency of kindergarten paste, but not as tasty. As you can tell, your Captain loves the Timber Ridge RV Resort...
Fact is, we just don't do rustic...
Anyway, thankfully our tow vehicle is a four-wheel-drive Trail-Rated Jeep. Because of the awesome capabilities of a Jeep, we were able to climb out of the mire and muck and make our way slowly to a paved road...
From there we began our exploration of Traverse City and its surroundings. Among the places we discovered was an ACTUAL RV resort call the Traverse Bay RV Resort.
Here are a few pictures...
Now, here are actual pictures of the "resort" in which we reside...
...need I say more?? When the reservations were made here, they told us they have a strict no refunds policy. After a short stay here, the reason is obvious.
Factoid: The Traverse City area produces over 360 MILLION POUNDS of cherries annually. This makes it the Cherry Capital of the World. Not bad for a city with a population of fewer than 15,000 souls. The airport is called Cherry Capital Airport.
The city is at the southern end of Grand Traverse Bay (of Lake Michigan) and as such is a beautiful and scenic town.
...looking North from Traverse City...
...we were fascinated by the boat lifts a hundred yards offshore with no apparent way to get out there...
Installing the new cargo carrier...
We returned to Camp Mud Puddle to walk the Westies and have a nice early dinner...
You may recall that on a previous day we happened upon the reputed World Famous Pot Pies in Good Hart, MI...
Leslie decided to prepare the beef one...
...notice the heart shaped cutout...
...our dinner...Caprese Salad with fresh basil, Worlds Best Pot Pie, and a very nice Merlot.
Now, you may wonder..."Does this pie live up to its reputation?"... Imagine first the best beef bourguignon, cooked to perfection then topped with a flaky, sweet, buttery pastry. This is better than that!
Next day in Traverse City...Saturday. We decided (at the urging of our good friend, the beautiful English import, Louise) to drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.
Let me say right here that The Divine Ms. Louise was right! Sleeping Bear Dunes is a "must see destination".
The tops of the dunes rise 450 feet above the shores of Lake Michigan...
...there are spectacular vistas on every point of the compass...
...I like this view...
...that's an island in the distant background...
...your Captain still 350 feet above the shoreline...
...hard to capture it in a picture, but it's a long way down here...
...it's very windy here as well...
...another island in the distance...
...a 1908 Coast Guard rescue "surf boat". This one was used to rescue sailors from foundering ships in the Manitou Straits near here... This boat was built in Curtis Bay, Maryland (Baltimore Harbor) area.
After an exhilarating morning at Sleeping Bear Dunes, we had lunch at...
...Boone Docks. This is in the small village of Glen Arbor, MI (population: 788).
...and so ends our tourista activities in Michigan. We will depart the "resort" Sunday morning in the early AM and proceed to a Walmart parking lot in Goshen, IN to meet with Darin, a renowned Aqua-Hot specialist who promises to meet us there and work his magic on the electrical side of our massive furnace/engine heater/ water heater. Apparently, according to Darin, ours is the biggest ever built for the RV purposes.
The trip to Darin is 275 miles...
After Darin, we will proceed to Decatur, IN. This is the birthplace of the Beast. Here we hope to get them to remove the gremlins who were installed alongside our three new A/C units a few months ago in Naples. It has become clear that the installers in Naples were not up to this task...or they were agents of Al Qaeda on a mission to undermine your Captain's sanity. (They know how much I detest them and their jihadi ways...)
From Darin's shop in the Walmart parking lot, it is 175 miles to the American Coach Factory Service Center, affectionately known as Camp Decatur...
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