Vacation Trip

Today we drove 2 hours to South Haven and Saugatuk Michigan for a day of vacation, probably the only "vacation" we will have. God blessed us with nice weather. We stopped near Berrien Springs to use a service station/convenience store bathroom. The business was not open because the power was out. We had already suspected the power outage because none of the traffic signals were working. The consequence of the derecho that went through the other night I guess.

We bought some Red Haven peaches and a few tomatoes at the South Haven Farmers' Market. Then we stopped at the antique mall near Saugatuk a half mile off the freeway. I bought a pair of purple earrings; I really wanted something pink or blue, but the few in that color did not appeal. The round part of this pair is almost like "pressed flowers". I know you can't tell because of the flash glare. For $4, they made a nice purchase.

We ate lunch on the outside deck of the Coral Gables overlooking the Kalamazoo River. I couldn't believe how crowded Saugatuk was today. We had to search a bit for a parking place and found one a block away from the restaurant; we were lucky to find it. The historic part of the town is full of interesting and often artsy shops on tree-shaded streets. We didn't browse other than as we walked to the restaurant and back.

After a perch sandwich and a "tower" of onion rings, we drove back to South Haven to drop in at the Black River Bookstore. Next we walked to the beach though we just observed from the start of the lighthouse pier. Very crowded; definitely not 6 feet apart. As we walked from the shops to the water, we were able to keep our masks off as we could keep distance from others strolling along.

Our final stop was Captain Nemo's for ice cream. I chose Michigan Pot Hole which was a fairly dark chocolate with crushed oreos? or some kind of chocolate cookie. We forgot this is the part of the country where you can order baby cones. The single serving was really two big scoops. A lot of ice cream!

A downer was that when we got home we found the back seat floor drenching wet. The Coleman drink cooler I had purchased when KMart went out of business had leaked. I used it on the way home and was hoping the wet outside was just condensation. No, it wasn't. My camera was in a small camera case inside a tote bag. The water had soaked through the tote bag and the case, and the camera had a slight film of moisture. It seems to be working OK. I haven't tried the extra lithium batteries that were stored inside the case. A paperback book was also damp. I guess we will go back to water bottles inside a small cooler.

I couldn't believe the sumacs along the highways are changing color. Will we have an early fall? I like autumn, but I hope an early one doesn't portend an early winter. Since I won't be going away from the cold this year, I need a short mild winter.