Thursday, August 4
The mouse is still here!
That vile little creature actually traveled with us from the Ann Arbor area. I then realized that the paper towels and toilet paper he has been shredding were not for his nest someplace back in Ann Arbor, but were instead so he could build a nest in our van. Not OK, you little creep. This means war.
Mouse: 3 / Chris: -0.5
I am no longer being kind. No more botanical-so-you-don’t-kill-the-animal solutions. I am looking for TRAPS today. To kill you, you little vile little persistent bugger. You want a war, you got it. And it’s one I intend to win!
(N.B. – for those of you who have noticed, yes, I am keeping score. I am acknowledging my competitive self. And I am down. The mouse has been winning, ekeing out more points day by day. I will not let him win. I am bigger (for once in my life). And I have learned a lot about mouse psychology over the past few days – I am now smarter, too. Look out, rodent, here I come.)
(N.B.2 – Please tell me you are all laughing by now. I am personally cracking up as I type this …)
As I plotted my strategy against the mouse, we packed up the campsite, said good-bye to lovely Indigo Bluffs (one site even had entertainment last night - karaoke!) and drove back to the Dunes to enjoy some more. Auggie and I were looking for a hike.
We found one, but it ended up being really sunny that day, which made for a very hot and exposed hike on the dunes. One early section of the hike had some forest, which was our only respite. About 25 minutes into the hike, we got to a high point and a beautiful view. Pretty blue sky today, too.
And then I decided to turn us back. Auggie was too hot and not having any fun. And I didn’t bring enough water for us both for this amount of sun and sand. Enough of the hike for today.
Instead, we climbed back in the van and headed up to Leland, Michigan, following a tip from the campground guy back in Ann Arbor. What a cute little place!
But some people still fish – those are some 20-pounders there!
And then we found what we had been recommended to find: Carlson’s smoked fish. Yummmmmm.
I made another quick stop at a wine-tasting room for some of Michigan’s vintage. I bought a very dry Pinot Blanc, which is so light/pale it’s almost see-through! Great sipping wine for hot weather. (My wine chest is very full now. J)
Auggie and I had a snack of smoked fish sausage, smoked whitefish and some bread. Or I should say that I had the smoked whitefish. Auggz ate the sausage just fine. But he dropped his taste of whitefish on the ground and proceeded to roll in it!!!
Once a dog, always a dog.
We jumped back in the car, found our route to Ludington, MI, and left the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We had a nice time here.
On our route south, we found some local sweet cherries at a roadside market. They were delicious – I ate almost the whole quart on our drive!
I made a quick stop at a drug store to pick up my mouse traps, we found our campsite and then made a quiet evening of it. We have an early morning tomorrow.
Ludington, MI, is the port city for the Lake Michigan car ferry, which we will take tomorrow morning. The four-hour ferry ride will save us two-three days of driving and drop us off at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, just south of Green Bay. Yes, we will be in Green Bay Packers country!!! Maybe we’ll just have to go and see the Superbowl champions’ city …
Our destination when we land is Door County, Wisconsin, a recommendation from my friend, Liz in Minneapolis. We will visit Liz for a few days early next week. But first, we will explore Door County, what the web site calls the “Cape Cod of Wisconsin.”
Almost time for sleep. Have to set up my mouse traps …
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