The Aluminum Asylum

The Aluminum Asylum
Our home on wheels

Tuesday, July 10, 2007





Well, true to form, I have a lot of catching up to do. I just can’t seem to get a good signal here…it starts out ok then goes to low. Very frustrating and so I just turn the computer off. I’ll pick up from where I left off…

Thursday July 5

Not much going on here today. Some of the weekenders arrived for the holiday so there are more folks around. We pretty much just goofed around and went to the beach.

Friday…

We decided to go check out the sand dunes at Silver Lake and go to Luddington. What a neat town Luddington is. We were surprised to find out you had to pay to go to the state park so we did like a lot of other folks did…find a turn off and pull in. Just over a sand dune is the big lake aka Lake Michigan. We tooled around for a while. We hadn't put our chairs in the car so we couldn't’t go sit by the water and just people watch. So we started to explore the area farther north. We found Scottsville(I think that’s the name) and Crystal Lake. We found a nice campground with beach access not far from the big lake also. We then found a very nice county campground that seemed nice and quiet…not tons of screaming kids that are overtired from all the wind and water all day. It was about 5 miles out from the big lake. I am very surprised by the prices up here. There are no bargains anywhere and I mean that…like at Riverside Park or our Illinois state campgrounds, you can stay for as little as $12 per night with water and electric. Water and electric in a spot barely big enough to put out our awning runs anywhere from 30 to 60 bucks a night. At Silver Lake where the sand dunes are, one campground charged an additional 10 bucks for an extra person…that is totally ridiculous IMNSHO. At Silver Lake we checked out the dunes and the places to rent dune buggies and jeeps. I guess we will bring Zack here…I think we could have a great time dune jumping in a jeep. I’d better take a lot of meds or I will leave a part of my stomach in the dunes.

Silver Lakes reminds me of the Wisconsin Dells. Very touristy and commercial. A single dip ice cream cone is like $3.75. There are a bunch of campgrounds, both private and state that are chock full. Tons of kids and teens. Been there, done that…give me a 55+ park and I am happy. (BTW, I am NOT 55 yet…lol!) What an old fart I have turned into. I just hate kids running thru my campsite and the constant screaming, running and destruction that accompanies kids. Guess I haven’t aged very well. Good thing I have time until I can expect any grandkids.

We had been told that there was a great little fresh fish place to have lunch or buy fresh seafood between Luddington and Pentwater. Botrells its called. We found it and purchased a lunch to split. We had Icelandic which I guess is cod. It was good. We took our little picnic across the road to the city park that overlooks the big lake and city beach and really enjoyed watching the people and eating good food. After lunch we went thru Pentwater. Wow, there are lots of bucks in this town. We did see tons of summer cottages for sale. I guess the bad Michigan economy and high gas prices has negatively affected the tourist coming back. If you had some cash I bet you could buy one of these places for peanuts. By the time we got home, it was about 6, but I had such a body ache I laid down for a bit. We had fire roasted hot dogs for dinner at 9 p.m. We have such a goofy eating schedule. No wonder my pants and getting tight!

Saturday…once again we hit the farmer’s market. The cherries are plentiful. Cherries give me terrible um, you know…flatulence…so I eat them like there is no tomorrow. Poor Paul…well, he’s doing the same thing so I guess we deserve each other. However, even Snickers won’t sleep in the bedroom anymore. She lays on the couch with her face stuck to the screen for fresh air. We did go to the movies…the $2.50 show to see Spiderman 3. I thought it was OK…wouldn’t have paid full price for it tho!

Sunday…

We got up, had a late breakfast, read the paper and then packed up for the beach. It was the first time I had seen whitecaps on the big lake. It was like sitting Oceanside. The wind was blowing from the southwest so it was wonderfully refreshing to sit in the sun, get a tan and keep cool at the same time. I read a book and Paulie read the new Escapee’s magazine. We were invited to a spaghetti potluck…we brought the wine. We sat around with the group until dark. It was a nice weekend.

Monday….

A weather front is coming from the north and one from the south. I am in misery. I can’t wear my hearing aide my ears are so sensitive. I had purchased some fresh sour cherries to make a pie so I pitted them and make a one crust pie with a crunch top. I was by this time staggering around so the rest of the day is gonna be a disaster. I took some Valium and went back to bed. We stayed in and watched some TV…the rain finally hit early in the am. Thank goodness…I can’t stand that ear crap anymore.

I do have some pictures to add to the end of the blog today. I will be going to the Elks to use the wifi so I can upload them all.

Until next time….

Dee