Old School and more....................

Saturday came around and all my plans to work on the yard went out the window. The sun came up and Laura called. We decided to go out and to heck with everything else. Reina stayed with Granddad and helped him to rake the front yard. Gerry got a LOT of work done. There was much to do. Cutting down the lower branches of the front Pine and taking down the vines on the front porch. So off we went.
First stop was to head out looking for a pharmacy so that Laura could breath, allergies were bad. So we headed to Empire because we forgot to do that before we left town. We went to Deerings in Empire and they didn't have any but they did have Pizza slices and some tiny taco's that were awesome. With no success at Empire we headed for Glen Arbor and skipped everything else. She found what she needed and we stopped for coffee then we were all set.
first stop was something we always mean to stop at but always think of it as we pass on by.................There is this beautiful building, and old Grist Mill. It used to have a water wheel but maybe when the tornado went through? (Guessing) that came down, at least it is no longer there.

This is situated on the river that surrounds it, and a house next to it. If I find more information I will do another post on this.

We parked down there, the driveway is sort of hidden. Well we got down there and wandered around. We found, oh naughty naughty, the house was open, the door stood open. So, we went inside.

Look at the orb. That is Laura to the left, taking a picture of the stairs. We did not go up thinking it was too much of an intrusion, and we did not want to do any damage.

The walls were stripped. The floor was not too safe and we certainly did not want to damage anything. It looks as though someone is renovating it. I hope so, the house and Mill would be a wonderful asset to the town as a tourist attraction, historical and all that. Unless it is privatley owned, that I don't know. Last we heard it was owned by the people at the Homestead. I hope it falls into the hands of the National Park. Time will tell.
look at some of the doors inside, some of the light fixtures are still there and the log burner



The river flows around, this is where the water wheel once was.If you read the link it gives a little history.

We had decided last time we were out, to go back to check out the old log cabin we found. I learned that it was once an old one room school house.
Well before getting to that we had to check out the beach and go for a drive up in the hills. Goodness, when we passed the parking to Pyramid Point the lot was full to overflowing. Goodness knows what it will be like come summer. once again the Sleeping Bear Dunes has been voted one of the best holiday places in the world. I wish they would shut up. Sure good for business but for those of us, who selfishly love the quiet of empty beaches and hidden coves and dirt roads. It spells doom. This day though our beach was almost empty. A couple walking their dog and some one further down the beach was all. Look at that colour.


We saw turkeys, think they were the ones I spoke with last week because they headed in the other direction.
we did meet up with the Sandhill cranes.

The four of them were together this week

We left them to themselves and went to check on the Beavers. He was nowhere to be seen but the "peepers" were busy. We could hear the frogs all over.
He had left plenty of marks though.




After that we headed to the Log cabin.


Hand hewn timbers. We looked in the windows. I wonder if they intend doing anything with this some day. For now if you don't know it's there it's hard to see.

We walked along the bike trail looking for the Beaver and Musk Rats we saw last week. No luck with the Beaver this time but the Musk rats showed up. two came in from the lake

They seperated and went about their business, very busy.


The turtles came out later in the day when the sun was not so high.


We began to see water fowl.



The whole area around the side of the lake has been cut down by Beaver. The evidence is plain and there are trails where the wood has been hauled down to the lake.
It's fascinating.
Well we stayed there quite some time enjoying the quiet. As we left we needed a bathroom so went looking in Leland, found one at the Mercantile and also found supper. We had a picnic of a sub and potatoe chips. Yummy. We ate that after we left the beach, yes we did have to at least have a look for some Blue Stones. We were way too tired by then, and could not get into it.


After we ate we headed home, we don't like being on country roads after dark. The deer you know. Well as it turned out, we had 5 deer run across in front of us. Well 4 crossed the road as we pulled over but this lady stood and worried.

Isn't she beautiful?


While her friends waited for her she decided to go back the other way. We moved on once the road was clear of traffic so she could follow her friends.
That really made a good end for our day. Notice no winter coats this day.