Ok – Here are some pictures from last weekend.
The Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore is famous for (you guessed it) DUNES! There is a beautiful scenic drive with beautiful lookouts and trails to hike. We took one of the hikes through the dunes and found that it took us to the top of the “Dune Climb”. (Believe me, there was plenty of climbing to get to the top our way – it just took a more round about way!).
Here is the view from the top looking down –

And here is the view from the bottom looking up….(we were just in the parking lot – and decided not to head up from this spot!)

After our hike we continued on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which took us to an even larger dune that went right down to the lake’s edge. There, another lookout took us out 450 ft. above the lake – and a view of that huge dune and the lake beyond.
Here is a shot from the top – at this point I didn’t really even know how DOWN it really was, but I did know I wasn’t getting any closer to the edge.

We walked out to the lookout and saw just what was involved in climbing this dune….Yikes!

Yes, those specks are people……but the view is outstanding nonetheless!

And here are just some shots from our wanderings along the coast. Like I said, a very pretty area!
Pebbles on the shore

A view of the Sleeping Bear

A view from one of many Lighthouses on this stretch of the Lake. This is Betsie Point Lighthouse

Through the grass….to the Lake

Here are some new shots of the girls – Our little Ellie got her first official hair cut – how cute is that!!! She looks like she’s ready for Kindergarten, though, so college must not be too far ahead!
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Here’s our little Hayley – looks like she’s having a good time!
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And (pre-new do) here they are swinging away.

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Cute, cute, cute!

Well, we finally made it to the National Cherry Festival. The day was beautiful, the setting lovely, but we were just a tad bit disappointed by the Festival. It seems we did indeed pick the one day that had about nothing going on for activities. We taste tested all things cherry (from jam to salsa), watched a fun Lumberjack show, and chose not to hang around for the pie eating and pit spitting contest that was scheduled for two hours later in the afternoon. There really were lots of fun things happening during the Festival – we just happened to come on a “quiet” afternoon. Oh well, we can’t make it to every fun event on the calendar.

But Saturday was a different story. Saturday we enjoyed a picture perfect day at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. My-oh-My – what a beautiful spot! There are these huge sand dunes (many of which you can climb) and beautiful lakes. We took a long walk through the dunes (boy, are we out of shape!), and just enjoyed the scenic drive through some of this beautiful countryside. And we ended the day with a piece of cherry pie (with black cherry ice cream) at the Cherry Hut – a local legend in Cherrydom. Yummmmm.
Well, actually we ended the day by playing a couple rounds of Pegs and Jokers with our SOWER friends.
Sunday we worshiped with our friends, ate a meal together at a local restaurant and then enjoyed a quiet afternoon in our air conditioned home. Since it was over 90 outside, that was a very good plan.

All in all – a lovely weekend in a lovely area. Good friends, good food, beautiful sights – all reminders of God’s wonderful blessings to us!

When I get to a fast connection I’ll get some pictures posted. Promise!

The camp where we are working has a “Happy Camper Guarantee”. If someone does not have a good experience here and writes a letter explaining that “unhappy camper” experience, they get a full refund. From the kids I’ve seen this week (all 350 of them) and the kids we saw last week (all 540 of them), I don’t think this camp gives back much money!
The guys have been busy at the wood shop – and from a guy point of view it sounds like a pretty amazing shop. Lots and lots of great tools! Monday was a little different, though. It was a (much needed) rainy morning – in fact the power at the entire camp had been out for about an hour. Not a great way to greet the 300+ campers that were expected around 9AM. Well, the power came on and the rain stopped before any campers arrived. Gary and the guys got to drive tractors/trams to deliver the kids and their stuff to their cabins. I don’t know – Boys and their Toys – I think it’s gonna be a good month! (and next Monday they get to drive those fun tractors again!)

We “girls” are doing a variety of things. We’ve worked in the office, done some weeding and today we went shopping for fabric for curtains for the new health center. Three of the four of us are quilters, so yes, I think it’s gonna be a good month for the girls too!!!!

This weekend we head to the Cherry Festival. I know, I know we’ve already missed the cherry pit spitting contest and the bed races, but I’m sure they’ve saved SOMETHING fun for the last weekend. Aside for that rainy Monday, we’ve been blessed with great weather, so we’re looking forward to exploring this beautiful stretch of country. There’s lots to see and do – I’m sure we’ll have a great time!

Yes, dear friends, this IS STILL Gary & Stephanie’s RVthereyet web page. Lara is working on making it better than ever – and I am trying to figure out how it actually works. Please bear with us as we work together to make it work! I’ll post insights on how to make it user friendly when I figure out just what those insights are!

For now, tho, we are really enjoying our time here at Lake Ann Baptist Camp, just outside of Traverse City, MI. This week is the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City (the 79th annual one at that!) and we are torn between going into town to check out the festival (and the extra 200,000 people) and staying here where it’s nice and quiet. Since the festival lasts all week, I think we’ll wait until next weekend to “do” the festival, and just enjoy the peace and quiet here. Actually, even that will end soon as 300+ campers are expected tomorrow morning. Ah, the beauty of summer camp!
This really is a lovely area with lots to see and do. We’ll be filling you in as the weeks go by about our happenings here.

But for right now, I just need to figure out just how this new website works!