More on our travels so far

This fall we had our first chance to really feel "retired". As a teacher, having the summer off didn't feel any different. But finding myself kayaking on the Platte River, floating my way towards Lake Michigan on a 70 degree Wednesday in September, and having that river nearly to myself, certainly showed me what life was going to be like from now on! After camping at the National Forest Campground about 5 miles from the Lake, and managing to place our bikes so we could kayak to the lake and then ride the bikes back to our truck, we went on to visit Dana and Mary near Interlochen State Park. We stayed one night at a very nice Township Park on Elk Lake and saw MAL and Juan at their cottage. From there we camped at St. Ignace State Park with a site overlooking the Mackinac Bridge. It was cold and rainy by then, but we found that the Public Library can be quite a haven that also offers Wi-Fi access. We went on to DeTour State Forest Campground, on the shore of Lake Huron. For two nights we had the whole park entirely to ourselves. Then we met up with Jan and Lou in DeTour and took the ferry over to Drummond Island. The color was just beginning to get nice and we had a lot of solitude at the Drummond Township Campground. While on the island we biked and hiked and learned much about its interesting history. On the way back after four nights on Drummond Island we saw a magnificent bald eagle on a tree right next to the two lane highway and followed a pick-up truck with hunting dogs in the back and a black bear strapped to the top of their crates! That was a first!