Summer of 18-#49-Sunflowers, Tawas Point, & Moving South

Thursday August 30th, 2018

We only have two nights here, that's one day!!!  Went off in the search of lighthouses, and whatever else we could find.

Firstly, we stopped and got some better pictures of the sunflower field.  It really was so cheerful.

This wasp/bee liked it as well

The road going to the campground from the sunflower field.

We went in search of Gravelly Shoal Lighthouse and Charity Island Lighthouse.  Both lighthouses can only really be seen by boat, but there were supposed to be a couple of places along the shoreline where you might be able to see them.  There weren't clear directions, so it was a guessing game.  I researched on google maps and picked a couple of places that I thought were the most likely viewpoint. They were both a bust!!!! Both were in private housing estates where you couldn't get near the water.
 On the way back though, Bryan saw a parking lot that he thought might give us a view.  Nope, still couldn't see either lighthouse but there were some views.

Not sure what this is???

We were near Singing Bridge

We went back to see the lighthouse at Tawas City, which we could look around.  On the way we stopped at this small park.

Some cute animals for playground equipment.

The lighthouse was in Tawas Point State Park.  The Michigan pass that we bought at the beginning of summer covered our entrance fee, as it has at several locations.  It has definitely paid for itself.

We walked to the restrooms, beside them was a small lake.

With the beach behind it.

There was a yellow flag flying, which meant it was rough and you should be cautious.  It was rough, but there was a girl out there swimming all by herself.  There was no one around.  We hung around for a while, as we were worried in case she got in trouble but it was her decision.  We started to walk away, and as we looked around she was coming out of the water.  Phew, thank goodness for that.  We were both concerned for her.

There was a snack bar there and it had a varied menu.  Unfortunately it was closed today due to the weather.

We walked toward the lighthouse.  There was a birding trail with an information board.

We saw this bird.  

Here's a list of common birds for the area for this month.  Which one is it??  I'm sorry I can't be bothered to look it up.  As Pops (Bryan's Dad) would say, "It's a bird""  Bryan would say it's a "B1(One) RD"

Thought this tree trunk was interesting.

At the end of the pathway was Tawas Point Lighthouse

We went in the gift shop but again we decided not to climb the tower.  Bryan's knee wasn't up to it and I didn't want to do it on my own, and truth is my body was tired as well.

Oil House

That was it for today.  A different kind of day as we usually find any lighthouses we go looking for, and today we hadn't managed to see two of them.  Oh well, we tried.

Friday August 31st, 2018
It was time to leave the park.  It's a nice little park and the people are friendly.  The sunflower entrance definitely helps!!!!

Goodbye Northern Bear Paw RV Park. 

We stopped at a rest stop on the way and it had a pretty garden.

with a butterfly. 

A sign about the Michigan lighthouses. We've probably seen most, if not all, of these.

There's Lily & Tilly waiting for me.

There was a LONG traffic jam in the opposite direction, due to an accident. I hope everyone was safe. It went on for a long way, miles, and I'm thankful we weren't in it. 

We must be getting back to commercialized USA, there's a Cabela's. 

We arrived at Totem Pole Park in Petersburg, Michigan.  It's another nice, family run, park that caters to families.  We are here for the holiday weekend and so we are expecting some noise.

I walked over to our site from the office as it was steps away.  The couple next door were sitting outside their camper and I said Hello.  They asked me if we had been in Alpena, and I looked at them and  said, "Yes, how did you know?"  They had been a couple of sites away from us and recognized the motorhome, and the animals in the front window.  Ha!!Ha!!   We had a good chat, they are here for a month and on their way back to Texas. 

That's it for today.  We have plans for tomorrow and there will be one lighthouse included, but some other stuff as well.