Ossineke State Forest Campground

On Thursday we continued the trek north towards the UP. On the way, we drove through the Tawas Point and Harrisville State Parks. Both of the parks are very nice but the campgrounds are just terrible. RV's jammed against one another for as far as you could see. Hoards of kids, barking dogs, pickups parked closely on both sides of the narrow roads. There is no way we would ever stay in these two campgrounds. Of course it's prime family vacation time so this is about typical of campgrounds with electrical hookups, water & showers.

Ossineke State Forest campground ($15/night) is everything a campground should be. At least by our personal standards. We were here two years ago and were able to get the very same campsite; #17. The site is huge. On one side is the rarely used day-use picnic area and on the other, an equally large campsite. Great privacy. There is a patch of natural marsh area perhaps a 100' wide then the beautiful sand shoreline of Lake Huron. The water in Lake Huron is pleasantly cool and very clear. Gopher is the official water "taster". If about eight hours after drinking the water, her digestive system is normal, that means the water's not too bad and probably OK for swimming. :-)

Ossineke SF

No Polish jokes, please.



Tomorrow we're off in search of a dump station, water supply , laundromat and a place to get propane. By Tuesday we'll be in the UP. Unless, of course, we stumble onto something interesting before we get there.

The weather today was just perfect. High about 80*, sunny with a nice breeze off the lake.

Doesn't get much better then this.

Round Lake

We left the Bay City Recreation area about 10am. First stop, Judy's Famous pies. :-) This morning was weigh in day. One of is doing well; the other needs to cut back some. Starting tomorrow. We discovered Judy's a few years ago. This place has the very best Dutch apple pie we've ever had. Plus. They make some of their pies with Splenda so the calorie count isn't quite so bad. The small pecan pie, however, has no Splenda. It's all high-test as it should be. Judy's also carries pastys. Carol can't stand them but I like them a lot. Bought three chicken. One for today, two for the freezer.

A Pasty

As we continued north on M-23, we passed a pawn shop with this sign out front. "Last pawn shop before the casino. Come in for some instant $$$". Come on, guys. Some say casinos are a tax on the poor and the ignorant. Some say they are the Indians revenge. Considering how we treated the Indians, I suppose they do have some revenge coming.

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful fishing access site right on the Lake Huron shore.

Our lunch stop


By mid-afternoon we were at our destination for the day. The Round Lake campground in the Huron National Forest. We got what is probably, the best campsite of all. It affords an unobstructed view of, and access to,  Round Lake.We're staying here today and tomorrow then going to explore some of the other National Forest campgrounds in the area.

The view from our campsite.

The weather is just perfect. High about 80*. The low tonight is forecast at 55* Unfortunately, this won't last. By Thursday/Friday it's forecast to be in the mid-upper 80*'s.

Michigan, the "Thumb"

When you look at the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, it looks like a mitten. The thumb of the mitten is on the east side, north of Detroit.
On Saturday we camped at the Lakeport State Park. Sunday morning we continued north on M-25, the scenic lake shore drive. We stopped often to enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Huron. There are waterfront parks in most of the communities as well as along M-25. Every time we passed a public campground we would take a look. We came to the Wagener County Park & Campground ($21/night) just south of Harbor Beach. This park was the exact opposite of Lakeport SP; beautiful, uncrowded and wonderfully quiet. We got a campsite with an unobstructed view of Lake Huron.
We had a huge storm last night complete with thunder & lightning and heavy wind driven rain.

Cooling off in Lake Huron

On Monday we drove to the Bay City area and are presently in the Bay City State Park. Only $19/night for an electric site. Very reasonable. I was playing with the Yelp! app. on the iPhone and read about a place just around the corner from here; The Mussel Beach Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor. Who could possibly resist?? Carol had a wonderful salad, I had a Rubin, the best I've ever had, and we shared an order of onion rings. We agreed, the onion rings were the best onion rings we have tasted. Huge onions with the most crispy coating imaginable. For desert Carol had a small hot fudge Sunday with cherry vanilla ice cream and I had a single scoop of cherry amaretto. The small Sunday was quite large. Carol gave part of it to Gopher.

When we got back to the campground, it was time for a long walk.

Tomorrow we continue the trek north. The weather is starting to improve. The high today was 82* and the low tonight is supposed to be about 70*.
Cool is good.