MAGICAL MICHIGAN - GERALD R. FORD PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM

August 27^{th -  GREAT ESCAPE FROM THE BLACK FLIES}

The Black Flies have arrived and they are busy, busy, busy!  Temperatures are in the mid-80's and humid....even on Lake Michigan.  Although we aren't terribly bothered at our campsite, other campers have said it's the worse they've seen in years.  I guess they are down on the beach attacking the beach goers!  So........

Took our first day off and headed over to Grand Rapids to check out a brewery and the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.  It has turned hotter and more humid as rain lingers around the Great Lakes with overcast skies so decided to do indoor (A/C) stuff.

Grand Rapids is about 45 miles east of Muskegon.  Our first stop was the Evans Tempcon Company where Dave hoped to get a replacement dial for the MH A/C.  Evans Tempcon  manufactures motor home air conditioning units and is located in a century old building in the manufacturing area of Grand Rapids.   We went up to the Reception Desk and Dave gave the employee information regarding our AC unit.  He left for a couple of minutes and returned with the A/C dial!  Boy was I was surprised! 

BEER!

Grand Rapids is known for its breweries.   It earned the title “2012 Beer City USA” .  We picked Founders Brewery for our lunch stop.  They were Silver Medal winners in the 2010 World Beer Cup with the Founders Porter and Dirty Bastard a strong ale.   BeerAdvocate ranked Kentucky Breakfast Stout among the top 10 beers in the world by user reviews.  

Overall it is the 3^rd best brewery in the world according to a 2013 poll.

Although they are undergoing a huge renovation, we were able to pick our way through the construction to the Pub for a delicious lunch.  We shared a sampling of five beers; Curmudgeon, Nitro Pale Ale, Red’s Rye, Porter and Dirty Bastard.  I love a hoppy beer so the Red’s Rye and Dirty Bastard were my favorites.    We also liked the Curmudgeon which had old oak chips in the brewing process.  Had a deep, rich flavor.

 They are going to start distributing in Florida and Dirty Bastard will be their craft beer down there.

Across the street was this interesting Enginehouse No 6 but I could not find any historical information on the web.  I think it's a really pretty building!

Dave had to check out the Natural Gas pump located behind the brewery.  

We finished up and found our way to the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum which was extremely interesting.  It is the first Presidential Museum I’ve visited where I remembered the President … making it all the more meaningful.  

Napping under the bridge on the museum grounds.  Not your typical statue .. or may be!

Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from University of Michigan so he has two museums, one here in GR and the Library in Ann Arbor.

When were taking the carriage ride around Mackinac Island we passed the Boy Scout camp where Gerald Ford visited as a young boy.  He came back while I think VP and was followed everywhere by his security so he gave them leave & ordered them off the island for the weekend so that he could enjoy the places he enjoyed as a kid!

It’s amazing the issues that were relevant when Ford became VP and President:  Energy crisis, Nixon scandal and resulting pardon, Bicentennial, Vietnamese refugees, fall of Saigon, Civil Rights and Women’s Movements.

The artifacts from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was a real attention grabber!

 

Then an entire area devoted to artifacts about the Watergate break-in and subsequent consequences.  I remember all this but had a hard time keeping track of the players!

The entire series of events that led up to Ford becoming president was extraordinary.  With Agnew's resignation and Ford's appointment to VP, then his succession to President.  Looking back, you can see how carefully crafted the succession plan was.

He explained the Nixon pardon in an interview citing there were so many issues pressing on the country, in addition to the Nixon issues, he needed to get the Nixon issues off the table and behind him in order to concentrate on the country’s issues. 

There was a wall of photos of the men who served under Ford and some are still very much in the center of politics today … Cheney, Kissinger, Greenspan.   George H Bush served as CIA Director. 

Reproductions of Ford's Oval office

Ford described himself as a moderate-conservative and I believe he may have been the last moderate Republican in office.    Wish we could find another one!

The whole museum was a memory jogger.  Lots of stuff that I had forgotten or just didn’t realize.  He died in 2006 at the age of 93.  His eulogies were recorded and heartwarming.   Betty Ford died five years later, also at 93.  Good stock, those Michiganers.

MAGICAL MICHIGAN HOSTING DAZE CONTINUE

SATURDAY MORNING … COFFEE & CRAFTING

This hosting at Muskegon State Park is totally different from any of our other hosting jobs.  Whereas the other hosting jobs have been more administrative, this one is less structured and all about the kids and the families!     We have games and books and water floats that are available as well as crafting so the site has become a kid magnet! 

Saturday morning coffee hour started at 8AM and this time we had hot chocolate for the kids.  Temps this morning were in mid-50’s.  Pulled out all my craft “treasure trove” supplies…foam paper, construction paper, glitter glue, foam sticks and wooden colored sticks, pipe cleaners, stencils, crayons, coloring books, lots of coloring markers and stickers and some pre—cut bookmarks made of multi-colored foam paper (thank goodness for the Dollar Tree!).  The kids started sending “scouts” around 9:15 and although I scheduled crafts for 10 – 11 AM I told them to get their friends and come on up. 

They arrived in droves.  Had to grab all the picnic tables and line them up.  My craft “hour” ran from 9:30AM to noon!  Was running out of craft supplies!  Had about five boys ranging from 13-4 all camping together and it was neat to watch the older ones work with their younger siblings. 

Lots of small kids with moms and entire families dropped in to craft.  My two “best crafters” are two girls about 13 who are cousins and have been here all week so have been up to our site.  They said this was the “best camping trip they have ever had” and made me my own special thank you.  They all wanted to know if I was going to do crafts again Sunday.  What could I say … but .. of course … come’on up!  

These are the nicest bunch of kids.  Every single one was polite and thanked us for have these things for them to do.  

Our other important duty is to walk around the campground to meet and greet.  Our final walk around is about 7:30 PM when we check the bathrooms and circle the campground.  The kids who have been here for a while know us because we do crafts!  The parents know us because we do crafts …. and we’re from Florida!  Everyone is very friendly and relaxed. 

 From what we understand, this campground was more flat and you could see the lake from the campsites.  The dunes were planted with this grass and over the years, sand built up and now you have a high dune between the beach and the campground.

We can come and go as we please.  We haven’t really taken any complete days off yet; will do so after Labor Day when things quiet down.  Meanwhile all we need to do is be here, check the bathrooms, be a campground presence and do our thing!

I think this is one of the most beautiful parks we’ve been in.  It is set up

on a high dune above Lake Michigan under a canopy of trees.  Although the entire campground is under shade, there are no low hanging so it’s more a canopy effect especially when the wind blows through the trees. And then, you walk to the steps that go down to the beach, all 75 of them, and it is absolutely beautiful.

The Channel Campground, at the other end of the state park, is open, flat and sandy.  Much more like beach camping and many of those sites are right on Lake Muskegon.  It’s a different kind of camping experience than up here at Lake Michigan Campground.

Everyone enjoys their beach time!

We are really lucky that this park offered us jobs.  It was a fluke that we’re even here since I had not applied anywhere due to the wedding happening in the middle of the summer.  They offered us either Lake Michigan campground or what they called the “river” campground.   We liked the sound of Lake Michigan so picked this one and when we accepted the hosting job, we had no idea what the park would look like.  We are so blessed.

Off in the distance you can see the Ships Channel and lighthouses.

SATURDAY NIGHT……   

Had a wild Saturday night here in the CG.    Our Security Ranger goes off duty at 2AM and if there are any incidences we are to call 911.   At around 2:30 AM we woke up to hooting and hollering of a like a bunch of drunk kids.  Dave got up and walked over to the site where the noise was coming from but couldn’t find anyone at first then he talked to a guy about his size and a teenager who said they would “take care of it”.  Well, it didn’t get taken care of, so Dave called the police and two squad cars came over to the campground.  We fell asleep around 3:30AM.

 Coffee hour this morning was quite interesting because campers were “staggering” in for coffee asking about all the noise last night.  Some of the other campers also called it into the police.  

At first we thought it was under-aged kids camping with an 18 year old and they were drunk.  However, when we looked over at the campsites, there were small children sitting around the fire ring.    These were kids camping with their parents.   Although they had several more nights booked, the Ranger came over later and told us he asked them to leave.    By 1PM they were all gone. 

Dave spent most of the morning down at the Channel Campground with Dale assisting at the dump station.   There were 63 check outs this morning so they needed to keep the traffic moving.  I did crafts until about noon. 

After lunch we took a drive just to get away for a while.

 This couple were celebrating their 86th wedding anniversary!

We drove down to Whitehall located between Lake Michigan and White Lake. 

Built in 1865

There is a boat channel connecting the two with the White River Light Station located on Lake Michigan.   

 Lake Michigan was kicking butt with the wind blowing in at about 20 kts.  That didn’t keep the Michiganer’s from beach going.  They are a hardy lot up here!

We walked out on the pier and watched the para sailors flying through the air.  It was a beautiful afternoon.

MICHIGAN ADVENTURE AMUSEMENT PARK

This is the largest amusement park in the state and has a water park as well as amusement rides.  

Shivering Timbers is a wooden roller coaster towering 25’ in the air reaching speeds of 65 mph and the first drop is at a 55.5 degree angle. 

  This is the only coaster in the world featuring a trick track where the track is crooked and riders are thrown from left to right. 

Oh Joy!!!!   

This picture was taken from across the street!!!!!!

MUKSEGON HOSTING DAZE .... WE'RE SO CRAFTY!

Been worried about setting up crafts and what to do so headed down to the Channel Campground to watch Laurie and Dale do rock painting with the kids.  Looked easy enough!  

So came back and stuck up a few signs advertising Rock Painting for 10AM the following  day at our campground.  Figured it would be good for an hour.

Had a terrific storm late evening that was a gully washer.  Rain came down so hard I thought it was hailing.    Thursday was overcast with threat of rain so we cleared off the tables under the awnings and set up for rock painting.  Had no idea how many kids would show up.

Around 9:50 the kids starting coming with their parents.  Both mothers and/or fathers accompanied the kids.  In fact, all the kids had a parent or adult with them.  

We had at least 50 bottles of nail polish in every color and three coffee cans of smooth Michigan rocks someone had collected.  I dumped the first can out, then the second can.  

By around noon I went looking for the third can which had much smaller rocks.  Think we had at least 50 kids come through.

Saw a lot of blue and yellow M designs for Univ of Michigan.  Also some “S” for Michigan State.   It was a fun day of rock painting ending around 1:30 when I ran out of rocks!

Kids were still looking to do more, so I handed out Scavenger Hunt lists and bunches of kids headed out to complete their lists.  All afternoon kids trickled back with their bags full and lists complete.

Fortunately we had gone to the Dollar Store and had lots of light bands so they could be given out as prizes.

Need to go back to the Dollar Tree for more stuff as the weekend is going to be full and then next weekend is Labor Day which is the BIG HURRAH!

Muskegon State Parks sets aside a budget for our supplies so that works out great.

Now I'm busy looking at Pinterest (which I had never seen before) and coming up with even more crafty ideas for the kids.

The Volunteer Liaison Ranger stopped by to see if we had any questions.  We said we were the last scheduled hosts for the season so if we wanted to stay beyond September 15th we could do so,for as long as we'd like.

Hummmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAGICAL MICHIGAN - HOSTING DAZE 4

THIS ARTS & CRAFTS STUFF IS SERIOUS!

Hung around the campground till about 2:30 then decided to take some time off and drive down to Grand Haven.  The town has a nice two or three blocks of stores that looked very inviting to walk into, but when you’re with Dave, you see everything at 35 MPH!  He’d rather pull his teeth than walk around shops.

So………..reading off the stores’ names as we passed, we headed into Grand Haven State Park to take a look.

The Park is right on the water with a very large beach.  

The Campground is a parking lot/beach setting.  

The sites are on a paved road and the beach is right there.  A different type of camping experience.  

The campground host was telling us he spends a lot of time blowing off the sand from the sidewalks.  This is truly a beach setting for camping.

Off in the distance is the Grand Haven light, but it was so hazy on the water, you could just make it out.

We stopped to talk with the hosts at the state park as I was curious about this “craft” thing.  Janette and Bob and their dog Dakota are the hosts.  Janette was really into the craft thing and had lots and lots of ideas to share and show me.  Had I realized this was going to be a big part of hosting (although not required I’m reminded) I would have done some major research before getting here.  As it was, I should have brought a pad and paper so I could remember everything.  Then I tempered it by saying …. I’m only going to be here for three arts and craft events so I should keep it simple.

Janette showed me a lighthouse she made out of red solo cups (isn’t there a song about that?).  It was really cute and looked easy enough to do.  Also looked at a kids Nature Bingo sheet where they find things in the campground and get their bingo’s that way. Scooped up a copy of that too.  Left the campground armed with ideas and directions to the local Dollar Tree!

So…………on our way out of town, we stopped at the Dollar Tree and bought red solo cups and other stuff we’d need and little gems for prizes for anything we do like scavenger hunts or nature bingo.

Tomorrow we are having lunch with Laurie and Dale the hosts at the Channel Campground and I’ll bring my sheets along as Laurie is planning TWO arts and crafts events this week. 

I also bought finger nail polish remover because I’m liking the idea of painting rocks, but if you’re going to use fingernail polish, better have remover too!

All in all, if you space out the arts & crafts, you probably won’t catch the same kids so I can repeat, repeat, repeat.

Wish us luck!

MAGICAL MICHIGAN - HOSTING DAZE 2&3

After lunch we took a drive down to the Channel Campground to walk the Ship’s Channel which extends from Lake Muskegon to Lake Michigan.  

Lake Muskegon Marker

It was a beautiful day, in the mid-70’s with sunny skies.  There were lots and lots of boats on in that channel heading out to Lake Michigan or coming back.

A friend of mine, who had a boat on Lake Michigan, would tell me that he was compelled to go out every weekend and use the boat because the season was so short.  Everyone looked like they were having a great time.

There were as many sailboats coming and going as power boats.  Did not see many large power boats, most were in the 18-20’ range.  Sailboats ranged from 22’ to 36’.

Catalina 36 ..... could be us!

There are two breakwaters out in Lake Michigan which serve as little harbors and boats go in there to anchor and swim to the beaches. 

Entering Lake Michigan for a day of sailing.

Muskegon is situated between Luddington and Grand Haven so larger boats can skip up or down the coast.  Many of the harbors along Lake Michigan coast have marinas designated Harbors of Refuge.   Muskegon’s Hartshorn Marina is on this list and any boaters traveling the Great Lakes have a list of what marinas are Harbors of Refuge.

 A smaller S2 than we had.

Muskegon Light .... I LOVE a red lighthouse!

Just like SASSY!

Our 30' sailboat was an S2 which was made in Holland MI.  This is about the only place (other than Smyrna Yacht Club) where you see S2's and up here there are quite a few.

What does a passionate sailor who is traveling in a land yacht do???? Take pictures of sailboats and lighthouses!

 PARADE OF BOATS HEADING OUT!

Marker for Muskegon 

 As we were leaving I heard one long blast but didn't see a large boat. 

 Then I saw it ..... the fast cat ferry between Muskegon and Milwaukee.  Guess it beats driving around the lake!

BILLY ASKS.....WHAT'S SCARY SMART???  

I’ve heard that I’m scary smart but don’t know what that means.  I just remember stuff.  

Like when I went to Dog Obedience School and we learned a new skill that I was going to practice the following week but got it on the second try.  Stuff just comes easy to me.  The teacher at the dog obedience classes told everyone that it takes about 6 weeks to establish a pattern with us dogs and about the 4^th week the dogs would act like they had never been to school, so don’t worry, just keep practicing the skills.  Then she looked at me and said, “except for him….he won’t forget!”

I spent the last two summers running on trails with my Forever Parents and it was so much fun with all new stuff to sniff.  I even found bear scat last summer in Vermont.  

Even though I walk on the sidewalks at home every day, when my forever parents take me to a campground, I can tell immediately the difference between the road and a trail and a campsite.  I head right for the trails and if my Forever parents let me off the leash, I follow the trail.  Why would I wander in the woods when I have a perfectly good trail to go down.  Of course, I have to keep looking over my shoulder to be sure Forever Mom and Dad are still behind me.  They are slower than I am but I need them to stay with them.

When got to the family resort in Ohio, I knew immediately where we were and remembered the pond from the summer before.  Headed right for that wonderful water and the fish and even knew when Forever Uncle VJ was going to feed the fish!

We went on a LONG car ride until we got to a new place that had new trails.  

Of course I know the difference between the road, a campsite and a trail.  Trails look totally different.

...and I have to walk down them.   At the end of this trail was a huge sand dune and then a big, big, big pond!    Something about a bear sleeping and I hope he stays asleep!  I romped in the sand and had a great, great time.

Now I’m in a new place in Michigan and looks like we are going to stay a while. 

We all walked a concrete sidewalk along some water with boats going back and forth.  When we got to one end over the big rocks was a beach and water and a dog playing fetch in the water.  

I needed to be there with him but couldn’t get down to the beach.  I started to cry because that looked like so much fun and I just needed to be there.  

So, Forever Dad took me back up the walk where the dune came down onto the sidewalk and we slid between the barriers and he took me to the beach.  

Oh, the sand felt so good on my paws!  I romped and jumped and went into the water and then we had to leave because I’m not supposed to be there.

When we got back to our home, I knew exactly where that big water and beach would be.  

I took the leash in my mouth and led my Forever Parents to the big dune in the campground and down those steps were my beach and my water.  I needed to go down there but wasn’t allowed.  

So now, every walk has to start at the top of the dune so that I can survey my beach and my water to make sure everything is OK.  I let out a couple of barks to let anyone know I’m here and to be careful!

Now, what’s so scary smart about that!  I think it’s just SMART!

SUNDAY  - AUGUST 18TH

Sunday’s coffee hour was in full swing with  lots and lots of donuts.  Didn’t even bother to cut them in half.  Campers are busy leaving with 56 more checking in.  Another beautiful day in the low 70’s, sunny with bright blue skies.  Water temps 55. 

Apparently earlier this month the water temperatures were in the 70’s but the water got stirred up and now it’s in the 50’s.   I remember when this happened in Suttons Bay visiting Ron & Joanie.  Ron raved about how warm the water had been so I donned my bathing suit to go for a swim and came straight out of the water!  Ron went in after me and did the same thing!  The winds blew all the warm water out and replaced it with cold water.  Guess that’s happening here, but it does not deter the beach goers or the swimmers!

Those people in the water swimming are probably the same ones who come to Florida in January and swim in the ocean that is too cold for us to put our big toe in (65 degrees).  Guess it’s warmer than a warm day on Lake Michigan.

Several motor boats and a sail boat were anchored close to shore enjoying this beautiful Sunday!

Although it was hazy with the land temps warmer than the water, I counted 17 sailboats out on the water (probably more beyond the horizon).  They were not racing, they were sailing.  How many times have we seen 17 sailboats off of New Smyrna, just out there sailing!

A beautiful sunset ended the day.  

Life is good in Magical Michigan!