Who knew?

Louise in the middle

Grand Haven lighthouse

G H beach

Enjoying the water

Can you hear the waves?

Wooden shoe production

De Klomp factory

Holland strip mall

Delftware factory

All hand painted

Holland State Park lighthouse

In the bay

Old lighthouse

Jonathon Livingston Seagull

My good side

Rays and yacht--what more do I need?

Holland S P

We are free once again. We spent three days in a resort rv campground in Howell MI before heading to Gillette's for our repairs. Mostly we walked around the campground and tried to keep cool. There were too many people there to enjoy the beach or the pool. A week ago we moved to Gillette's little campground. They mainly keep it for people who buy a new trailer and use their old one as a trade-in so they can move door-to-door. Our appointment wasn't until Wed. at the earliest, but by this time we were having slide problems so we were allowed to move in early. Good thing. Once the slide was opened it stayed open until it was fixed. We spent the better part of Fri and Sat in the waiting room before everything they could fix was fixed. There are still some minor things to be addressed when we move to Elkhart IN tomorrow. That's where this place was born. Between times we decided to explore a little of the eastern coastline of Lake Michigan. As you can see from the two state parks we visited it is mile after mile of beautiful tan sand beach. The day was perfect (as they have been for the last week--bright sunshine with high puffy clouds, a cool breeze. On the two beaches we visited the sand shelf extended out about 100 yds. Here the water was no deeper than 18" or so and warm--80-85d. Further out with the cool breeze I think people were getting cold. People were everywhere but there was plenty of room for everyone to do their things. Along the causeways to the lighthouses people were diving and jumping into the deeper water and climbing out via the ladders placed there. The lake was a pleasure to be in and around. The water was a very clear brownish green to a depth of at least 15'. It smelled clean and refreshing. We had a great time. We got our walk in too. We counted double time for walking in loose sand. In pic one Duane had a hard time telling me apart from some of the young babes walking around. He thought he was taking a pic of me! In the fourth one I was talking to my daughter-in-law Brandey who is in TX with her one-year old twin girls. She loves the beach. Whenever I'm near waves crashing I call her to give her a "fix". The crashing waves temporarily transported her away from the activity and the heat. Glad to do it for you, kid!

Before we hit the beach we checked out one of the local tourist traps. There are several here with the Dutch theme since this is a Dutch settlement. (The rv park where we are staying is called Dutch Treat). Just north of Holland, home of the famous seed catalog, is Veldheer Tulip Gardens and Bison Ranch, home of 5+ million tulips, the wooden shoe factory and the Delftware factory. One stop shopping at it's best! One building houses the garden store where you can pick up your favorite tulip bulbs and buy your bison steaks. We wanted some bison meat, but had to pass--way too expensive for us ($24 for an 8oz tbone). We passed on paying to view the garden also--no tulips this time of year. At the other end of the strip is the bison ranch. Sorry, no pix. The bison were too shy. Actually they were all out of sight at the other end of their pasture behind their barns. No tours available, so we were out of luck in the bison department. We struck gold in the middle. In one long building we saw hundreds of pieces of Delftware. No one was demonstrating except the painter, but that was interesting enough. I am now the proud owner of my own Delftware--a tiny cup and saucer for drinking my hot brewed loose tea. We did get to see a part of the construction process for wooden shoes. The demonstrator was very glad to answer all of our questions. There was a whole wooden shoe store there too. Wooden shoes were available for trying on. Then you could find your size pair in plain or painted--red, blue, or yellow. From there we went to lunch at Red Robin, a chain restaurant known for its burgers and "endless basket of fries", then on to the beaches to walk them off.

Enough for now,

Louise and Duane