June 8 and June 9, 2016

We left Ludington, MI on Wednesday morning and headed to Norton Shores.  Just south of Muskegon.  Michigan Hwy 31, along the coast of Lake Michigan. You could not see it, but it was there.The windmills are everywhere along the highways.I was just fascinated by them.We got to Discount Tire in Norton Shores.  Very nice people to work with.  We decided to purchase from Discount Tire because they are all over the US.  So if we need them, they won’t be too far away.  If you want to know the story about the tires, here is a link to the post about them once we got to Mackinaw City.We were in and out of there within an hour.  Thanks Discount Tire.  We purchased G614 Goodyear.

On to Otsego, Michigan for a few nights at the Moose Lodge campground.  $20.00 a night with 30 amp service and water.  Not bad.Now how cute is that!!  See the moose in the distance on the left?We got all set up. Look at how low the front end is.  It is almost sitting on the ground, but we are level.  Met a couple of people.  Buddy was nice enough to find us a fire ring and brought it to us.  Then gave us some firewood.  Love these Moose. This is a pretty big campground.  Most are seasonal and hang out here in the summer.  The campground closes mid-October and opens up in mid-April.We decided to go up to the Lodge and thought we were back in Florida. There were more golf carts and 4 wheelers in the parking lot than automobiles.Nice lodge inside.  First beer was free because we had traveled farther than 50 miles.  We had a small camp fire, but it was so cold, we went in early.

Thursday June 9, 2016 – We decided to drive to Holland, MI.  Not sure what is there since the tulips have already bloomed and no longer in season.  It was only 24 miles away.The Boatwerks Restaurant on Lake Macatawa in Holland, MI.  Looks like a great place.The City park downtown. Very nice.Large Heinz plant here.We found Nelis’ Dutch Village.This is the main entrance.Dutch Village Entrance and bell tower.There are statues all over the park with cute signs explaining what life was like in the Netherlands.I took this because I thought it was interesting that a luxury liner was names “Alabama” used in the Great Lakes.Delft PotterySome of the molds.Beautiful pieces.And all of the shoes.  Found out they went to wooden shoes because leather became extinct.  The cattle all died of foot and mouth disease.  Also, the wooden shoes helped them walk through the marshy lands of the Netherlands.There is a demonstration of how the wooden shoes were made before machinery took over.You can try these on to see what size you wear.This is an old fable.Dutch dancing.Some ducks.BarnThe Sheep posed for pictures.An Alpaca hanging out with the sheep.The three little pigs.The little sheep.And goats.These guys were so cute.  You can walk them on a leash.LlamaHe liked to have his picture taken.This little guy volunteers at the park.  He is home schooled and works with the animals when he can.  He said this llama loves to get hugs.  He was so nice and wanted to give us as much information about the animals as he could.This is a baby goat, 2 weeks old.And this is his mother.Old water fountain surrounded by beautiful flowers.The 12 Provinces of the Netherlands.They wore different clothing in each province.And different colored wooden shoes.This was a miniature of a village.  The windmills were used to grind grain.Skies.All the clocks. They were so pretty.  This was a nice visit and we learned some about the Dutch.  We met a woman in the gift shop whose grandparents were one of the first settlers here in Holland in the late 1800’s.

Something different about these trucks.We have seen these trucks all over Michigan.  Check out all the wheels.

Then we came across the Haworth Headquarters.  This is the furniture I used to purchase for my projects.  Been using the furniture for almost 20 years.I wish we could have gone on a tour.

Well, I think we have done as much damage to Michigan as we can.  The pink line shows where we have driven and the yellow highlights are where we stayed. (Except for Sault Ste.Marie, I got carried away.)  We did not make it to the thumb of mitten, but we think we hit the highlights in the rest of the state.  We did miss Traverse City, so we might have to make that another trip.

Tomorrow we are heading to Huron, Ohio for a mini-reunion with Table 7.  Safe travels!