The Wind and the Waves

Saturday, September 20
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We declared today as a "free" day - a day when each of us could choose what we wanted to do by ourselves including things liked grocery shopping, washing clothes, handling mail, etc. etc.  The weatherman yesterday said it would be a rainy day with possible hail and high winds so we figured it was best not to plan too much. Both Gary and Judy wanted more time to do some antiquing so that is what they set off to do.

Well, we got up and saw sunshine and right away decided we had to take advantage of that gift.  So after a big breakfast we set off for the beach on Lake Michigan.  I LOVE spending time just soaking up the beauty of the lake, the sand, the dunes, and the sound of the waves lapping on the shore.  By the time we arrived dark clouds were mixing in with the white fluffy ones of earlier but that didn't matter to me and apparently not to a bunch of guys who showed up in their wet suits carrying their surfboards.

 Several also had "parasails" - large oval shaped kite like things

that they held on to while they stood on their boards.  These pulled them along at quite a high rate of speed on the water.

Another guy stood on his board and used a paddle to propel himself forward as he caught a wave giving him a good deal of speed and he rode the waves in toward shore.

The others worked hard to catch the waves and just ride them in while standing.

It was just plain fun to stand out on the pier and watch the surfers

It was also just neat watching the waves as they hit the breakfront sometimes splashing a bit higher than people expected getting them a bit wet

A speedboat worked its way out to the mouth of the channel but then turned around and went back after bouncing around a bit

The bright red lighthouse was a real focal point on the other side of the channel from where we were

And wouldn't it be fun to stay at this place that sat on the top of the dune looking out at Lake Michigan?

I had promised a friend I'd try and get to a cider mill while we were traveling so we then set off for a place in Fennville only to discover that it is a huge "u pick" apple farm plus a restaurant and bakery that sold fresh made cider but you couldn't see it in action.  But since we were there, we bought a 1/2 gallon and enjoyed a cup of it and toasted Michelle via a snapshot that we messaged to her.

As you can tell by the plate in front of me I succumbed to the apple crisp they were offering and called it my lunch/snack.

On the way back to our motorhome, we passed a farm market where I picked up the veggies I needed to make a huge pot of soup.  Shortly after we returned the rain that had been promised came pounding down but we were back in our cocoon where I could make the soup and serve it up for supper.

Later, I went over to Gary and Judy's motorhome and they taught me their version of hand and foot. They even "let" me win!!!!! Wasn't that nice of them?