Ogemaw, Alcona, Iosco and Arenac

On Monday morning I got up early in Port Sanilac and headed out to drive over to Saginaw to I-75 then up to West Branch to get Ogemaw County done. (Wes was taking off too with the boat and planned to meet me at East Tawas.) It took me about 2 hours and by the time I got there the skies were getting very cloudy and looking like a thunderstorm was coming. I stopped at the Tanger Outlet Mall and decided to just start walking up and down the covered walkways. I had experience with walking in the pouring rain and it made blisters. I didn't want to go through that again. Eventually it stopped raining and I stopped at McDonald's to check my email and get my favorite morning snack (parfait and large decaf). Then I drove downtown and started walking through the neighborhoods.

This is a great old house on Houghton Avenue. Pink brick!!

A sad but beautiful little stone house.

This is a side yard to a house downtown with a brook flowing past it.

Downtown was bustling and had well kept brick buildings. There were several restaurants and a beautiful old train depot. I finished up my 5 miles (finally!) and headed to my next stop Harrisville. The road I took was lined with impressive trees and I can just imagine how beautiful it is in the fall. I went to Harrisville State Park which is just south of Harrisville. If I had a camper this is where I would head since there are campsites right on Lake Huron. There was a great nature trail and a wonderful clean beach. I managed to get my whole 5 miles in there but it took a long time since it was the middle of a very very hot and humid day.

I thought this tree looked like an upside down octopus...

Tree and rocks. Not sure why I took this....

I could leave for East Tawas but first I wanted to make a stop at one of my favorite places up north. This is the Lumberman's Monument on River Road west of Oscoda. It is an amazing place and was built in 1932 to honor the lumbermen who cut down the vast stands of trees that used to cover Michigan.

The view of the dunes from the trail.

The leg destroying stairway that climbs down the hill to the river.

It's kind of hard to see the figures in the monument. The statue was paid for with money donated from lumbermen's descendants to honor them.

When I was done at the monument it was finally time for me to go to one of my favorite places in Michigan...Tawas! I love it because the downtown is right across from the marina. The downtown is vital and most of the businesses that I remember from 6 years ago are still there. There is an awesome coffee shop about a block away from the marina. There was a concert going on at the band shell in the park.

Nicely landscaped entrance to the state docks. Wes had made it in and he got cleaned up and we went to a little restaurant right across from the marina, ate, and then went back and crashed.

The next morning I got up with the birds and got ready to leave but first had to get my 5 miles done. I headed up Newman Street which is the main street and then worked my way through the neighborhoods.

This is our boat. It's a 30 foot O'Day which we bought very used 11 years ago. I just thought I'd throw that in there.

I was almost done with my walk when I came up to the backside of Ben Franklin. I don't think there are very many of these around but this store is fantastic. You could spend an hour looking at all the cool stuff in it. It is well stocked with kids' games and toys and household decorating stuff. We bought our granddaughter a cardinal pinwheel.

Iosco County done I had to get Arenac County done which is down 23. I thought I'd try to find places to walk on the way to Standish and if desperate I would walk around downtown Standish. Not that there is anything wrong with Standish, it was hot and it is really hot to walk on sidewalks. I stopped in Au Gres and got about a mile and a half at the city park. Then I found a county park on the bay where I got another mile. I ran out of places to walk at the park and went out on the road and turned left and found a gravel road that went down to the shores of Saginaw Bay.

This is the county park. They have little cabins that they rent out right on the beach.

This is the end of the road that goes to Au Gres Point. So beautiful.

At that point I still had 2.5 miles to complete so I went down to Omer and found the public canoe launch site and walked down the gravel road that runs along the Rifle River. It was as good as any trail with hardly any traffic.

I was done for that trip and headed home. Next week I'll go to the UP which will be so fun (but very tiring!).