Phaedra goes to Alpena!

It’s travel time with Phaedra here. We survived our last night at the bridge in terrible winds. The winds were gusting up to 40 knots and the waves were upwards of 8 feet in the Straits of Mackinac right outside our camper. There were Gale Warnings out on both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. We slept with all of the slides brought in so there was less roll than there would have been. A couple of times, I thought we were going to roll over. Escaping out the window wasn't something I wanted to do. I was not as scared as Zoe or Mom, but I was really glad to go on to Alpena. The main reason for going there is for a lighthouse festival. Oh boy, more lighthouses.

We are staying at a really cool campground on a lake with lots of little coves. Our campsite has water all around us with ducks, birds, boats and, of course, rain. Our first full day, we saw sun. It was fantastic. Zoe and I forgot what it looked like. We drove to Rogers City and visited 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. We got to play in the sand after Mom and Dad visited the remains of a tanker. Mom pretended to steer it. The lighthouse itself and museum were cool and a Lighthouse Keeper dressed in his official uniform told us all about the lighthouse. We got to walk to a large piece of a ship that sunk off this point a long time ago. The folks spent a long time talking to the volunteer lighthouse keepers. They really would like to do that sometime and even got papers to apply.

From there we drove on to Presque Isle to see an two lighthouses plus two open range lights. Papa and Mom climbed the 2 towers and one had

129 steps, the tallest one in Michigan. The views from the top were beautiful, but, of course, we only got to see pictures. The best part was that we all had a picnic on the beach. It was 60 degrees so we were able to eat outside at a table. Zoe and I got to run around and play.

Our last day in Alpena was another long ride to see 2 more lighthouses, one in Sturgeon Point Bay and the other at Tawas City. Tonight, Mom and Papa went out to dinner without us. They met Jayme, their “Grand Niece”, and her boyfriend Kyle who were at the wedding and who live in Hubbard Lake nearby. They had a great time seeing Jayme and Kyle and were treated to dinner to boot! We should have gone with them. Free Pizza is always a wonderful thing, right?

Tomorrow, we leave for Port Sanilac on Lake Huron. More lighthouses coming up - and then on to Detroit to the Henry Ford Museum and other big city things. I bet we get left a lot!