Bear Lake vacation

 It was short - just four days - but it was also the second time this summer we've been to Bear Lake. I appreciate every minute I have there.

 Here's what we saw ...

 We stayed at the Bella Vista Inn.

 Our first evening there (Thursday, 08/01) we drove to Benzonia to eat. The Roadhouse, a Mexican place of sorts, was one Bob and I enjoyed many years  ago and a burrito that was surely a pound. This time the place was redecorated and appeared to me more of a bar with seating. The place was incredibly busy and we ate at the actual bar. It was a little too busy - and too loud - to enjoy.

 Somehow Tom - and me, too - got on an old-time movie kick and we watched some of the classics from the 1940's and 1950's on TCM. We did this during our rest times and in the evenings.

 Bob wanted me to look at a piece of property on M-31. The orange arrow is due to surveying crews checking the location of gas and fiber optic lines. Obviously some sort of construction is in the offing around the lake.

 There were no steps down to the water.

 We drove over to the public access point nearest the Dayton Club and I took these two shots. We had beautiful weather the whole time we were there. No more than an occasional cloud deck but mostly sunny and pleasantly warm.

 Then to Pierport where we watched the sun dip below the horizon.

 While driving out of Pierport we saw a young deer standing on this rise beside the road. I fiddled with the camera but till I handed it to Tom the deer decided it was time to move on. That's him at the upper left.

 Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast at the Lakeside Cafe. It's a crowd favorite and ours, too. Very hearty breakfasts for the price and nice waitresses.

 Later that day I walked along the south side of the lake (S Shore Drive), a two mile round trip. I usually do three miles at the Y so Tom and I repeated the walk that evening and I can fairly log four miles.

 We seldom had more than a few fair-weather clouds.

  Fire hydrants in Bear Lake have long rods attached. Surely this is to identify the spot when the winter snows lie deep.

 We spent part of the afternoon walking out to the Frankfort lighthouse, The beach this day was busy with bathers and volleyball players.

 Red cone flowers at Crystal Gardens. This is a must-stop place for Tom who walks among the greenhouses in a trance.

 That evening he repotted his purchases (four, I believe). It may be our vacation but plants retain a high priority with Tom.

 We had a late lunch at Papa J's. That's Traverse Cherry Fudge on the left (for me) and Michigan Pothole on the right.

 By late in the day (Friday) some clouds began to roll in but they were short-lived and Saturday morning dawned clear.

 We ate at the Lakeside and I took this view of my beloved Bear Lake through their window.

 Saturday we devoted many hours to a mini-trip to Petoskey, Michigan, a place I've heard about but never been to. Of course we wanted to search for Petoskey stones.

 This shot, and the last, was taken at Bayfront Park, The beach was lined with these large stones and there was little to no smaller gravel to search for Petoskey stones within. We drove west and found the perfect location.

 There were lots of finely washed small stones and that's where we looked for Petoskeys.

 It turns out I found seven and Tom found thirty, He's a much more serious collector than I. Part of time I removed my short and lay in the sun.

 This is one of the Petoskeys I found this day.  They're fragments of a great coral reef that lived during the Devonian Period (about 420 to 359 million years ago).

 Finally, Saturday evening we had finished with our walk and outdoor activities and had retired to our motel room, Late evening, after 9 pm, I began to hear terrific explosions and walked out in the parking lot to find a great fireworks display  underway. Was it signalling the end of our vacation? It seemed, at least a fitting bookend to our wonderful few days in paradise.