Lazy Sunday

It's quiet. Steve and Fausto are napping and all I can hear is the ticking of our cuckoo clock. I know we should be doing something other than wasting the day away at home but I can't seem to get up the motivation to go anywhere. It's been a nice day so far - we woke up later than usual, walked downtown to get coffee, and have just been putzing around at home since we got back.

Maybe we're being especially lazy today since we had such an adventurous Saturday. We kicked around the idea of taking a trip on Friday night on our way to see a movie (Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrel - not bad). Not a huge trip but just a car trip to somewhere interesting where we could spend the day and then come home. When we left on Saturday morning, we were aiming for Frankfort, which is north of Manistee. However, we took the long way over to Highway 31 and only got as far at Pentwater. It turned out to be a great choice, though. After hanging around on the beach for a while, we had lunch at a downtown bar called the Brown Bear. Steve had to fight the urge to beach himself after eating a hamburger bigger than his face while we walked through the downtown area and checked out a few of the little shops. Most were closed for the season but it was still fun.

We took the scenic route south on the way home and ended up at the Silver Lake sand dunes. I had always known these dunes existed but had never actually seen them prior to yesterday. They're part of a state park and, in the summer, are usually crawling with dune buggies and other assorted gas guzzlers. Luckily the park is closed for the winter and we were able to hike around without worrying about drunken rednecks running us down. Here are a few photos...

This is Steve hiking up one of the dunes.

This is me coming down one of the dunes. It's a lot steeper than it looks!

Me and tree that's being swallowed by a giant sand dune!

We also stopped at the Little Sable Point lighthouse on our way home. It's a really beautiful lighthouse but was a little spooky with the wind and overcast sky. I like going to the beach so much better when nobody else is around. I'd love to live on Lake Michigan someday. Steve and I better hurry up and make millions of dollars so we can buy some land! The houses and cottages along the lake up there are such a strange mixture of mansions and shacks. There may be a beautiful new log cabin right next to a trailer that looks as though it may have one more rainstorm left before it just disintegrates into nothing. The little towns seem like deserted ghost towns with all of the shops and hotels shut down for the season. But I like that - I'm not good with crowds and chaos. I'd rather see the scenery and hear the wind and smell the air with no one else around. I plan to go back this winter and snowshoe on the beach and the sand dunes. If hiking on the dunes is any indication of what awaits me on Rainier, I have some serious training ahead of me!

So, I guess I'm off to do something now. I was going to post a recipe for the tasty dinner I made last night but I suppose I will wait for tomorrow. Steve's up from his nappy nap and antsy to get out of the house. Happy Sunday!