2023 Michigan trip
Day 3
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May 20
Once again a wet tongue let me know Buford needed a potty break. He always comes to me when he needs to go out in the middle of the night. Does he feel safer with me?
 Our adventure today started with another state park for Buford's walking pleasure...the Bay City State Park. It was cold and windy and cloudy today. Perfect. None of us have been to Lake Huron before.
Park signage.
The park has a lot of wooden walkways. This lake is part of the Tobico Marsh area.
 Dogs are allowed on parts of the beach here. Sometimes I wish I could hear and smell all the things he does. My sense of smell and hearing are shot.
 A scenic trail goes around this lake. There were several other walkers and bird watchers. One girl was jogging with a baby stroller.
I look a little less dorky without the hat. Those jowls would make a hog proud.
 Whereever we go Buford is out front leading the way and making sure it is safe for us. He frequently stops and looks back to make sure we are there.
 Leaving the park we drove to the Bay City Antique Mall. The Saginaw River runs through Bay City so we crossed some interesting bridges on the way. The antique mall was big and consisted of several store fronts. They didn't allow dogs so Buford had to wait in the car.
 At one point we were on the second story and I looked out the window to see Buford vigilantly waiting for us. It tugged at our heart strings. Bless his heart. On the bright side, Donna found a boxload of unique pyrex. She might have gotten more but the prices were high and the lady wouldn't budge on the prices.
 I've always been a fan of Burt Reynolds and this autographed picture caught my eye. Hmmmmm...it was $150. Maybe I'm not THAT big of a fan. Whenever I find something I like it usually costs about ten times more than I want to pay. From here we went to a store several blocks away where Donna got some supplies. I stayed in the car with Buford and started loading the next route into the GPS. For some reason it takes this Garmin 276CX 10-15 MINUTES to load a route. My old Garmin took about 10-15 seconds. By the time Donna was done the route was only 44% complete so I routed using waypoints instead. It plots these in a matter of seconds. Our next route is a ~140 mile antique store loop through rural Michigan west of Bay City.
 Our first store was the Sanford Antique Mall. Both of us were hungry so we had lunch at the convenience store next door. Donna had a sub sandwich and I had pizza. Buford got scraps. While we were eating a truckload of college guys went into the antique store. It seemed like an odd thing for guys that age to be doing. We didn't get anything at the antique store, but looking is half the fun. The next store took us north. As we drove across Wixom Lake we were surprised to see the lake empty. I know some places drain lakes in the winter, but this is late May. As we drove down the road I thought about it and finally it dawned on me what it was. A few years ago heavy rains caused the failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams and the lakes are now empty while the dams are being repaired. I watched some of this on YouTube. It was odd we had unknowingly happened upon an infamous place.
 Our next stop was Vintage Boneyard Antiques. The owner had free cake for people to try. It reminded me of a coffee cake and it was wonderful. Donna found a small travel purse. On the way out she grabbed two more pieces of that delicious cake which we immediately ate.
 Donna found some more pyrex at the Beaverton Antique Mall. The college guys were here, too. This is another pretty town built around a lake.
Donna found even more pyrex at Schwager's Cedar Avenue Antiques in Gadwin.
 On the way to Claire we stopped at a rest area so Buford could stretch his legs and potty. He's been couped up for awhile.
 Donna found yet more pyrex at the Claire Antique Mall. The rear of the Sequoia is getting full and the smile on Donna's face gets bigger and bigger.
 Donna suggested finding a pet store for Buford to enjoy. A search found a PetSmart in Midland so we headed that way. We drove over the drained Sanford Lake on the way.
 Buford searched the toy aisles until he found one he liked. He played with it the whole trip. It was squeaky and good for tugging. We also bought him a bed that fit in the car seat better. His big pillow keeps sliding off. More than once he and his pillow ended up in the floor. That evening I walked next door to Mr. Hotdog and picked up some Coney Cheese Dogs. That night we rested and took Buford for another walk around the motel. Tomorrow we go to the other side of Michigan.
162 miles. Click here for the next day's adventure. |
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