Across the bay from the thumb

It was hard to say good bye to Mom this morning.  Thanks for everything, Mom. We love you. Drink your water.

After our good byes, we headed for the Ohio Turnpike and then north into Michigan.  I haven’t been to Michigan since I went to the Henry Ford museum near Dearborn in about 1963 with my Girl Scout troop.  Jim has never been to Michigan, so this is pretty much new territory for us.  

Just after Ann Arbor it started to rain.  The rain continued steady in some spots and just misty in others most of the way until we got to where we are right now:  Tawas Point State Park. Tawas Point is a “sand spit” -- a sand bar that extends off the mainland -- on Lake Huron at the mouth of the Saginaw Bay.  If you look at the “mitten” that makes up lower Michigan, Tawas Point State Park is northwest and across the bay from the tip of the thumb. 

This evening we took a walk to the Tawas Point Light House.  You can rent the living quarters in the light house for $250 a week but also have to give tours from noon to 6 p.m.  Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. 

Mom and our rig, right before we left Ohio for the 312 mile drive to Michigan's Tawas Point State Park. 

Jim and Cooper head out to the dog-friendly beach. It seems more like an ocean beach than a lake beach -- but then again it is a big lake.

Tawas Beach Light House. 

Our rig and tow car at our camping spot.  We usually don't like a full camp ground with close-together sites.  Even though this place has both, it's pretty darn quiet.