Yesterday was a sweltering 94 degree. It was so hot that we decided to just hunker down and rest inside cool LeuC. We were thinking about going into Ann Arbor and touring U of M’s central campus a bit, allowing us to reminisce about the years we went to school there. It was very tempting but with no breezes to cool us down some and with humidity creeping into the very uncomfortable level, we opted out. We will be returning in mid-September, when we will be flying in to attend a football game and will then tour the campus.
Today, we bundled up LeuC and headed down the road again, this time with Lake Michigan as our destination. Specifically, we will be spending the next 5 days at the Van Buren State Park. It is located just south of South Haven, along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan.
The drive was a snap, with the vast majority of it along freeways. It was only 2.5 hours long and we arrived before 1 PM. This allowed us time to walk to the beach once we set up LeuC. The campground is located behind tall sand dunes that have formed since the last glacier retreated for the area about 10,000 years ago. They are wind generated and in a later blog, I will explain how they form.
Fortunately, a path runs between two adjacent dunes, allowing easy access to the beach. Here is what we saw:
If one does not live around the Great Lakes, you probably have no idea how “GREAT” and unique they are. Five lakes which make up the Great Lakes. As I learned in third grade, the first letter of each of the lakes spells “HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. The five lakes, which are interconnected, make up the largest body of fresh water on Earth, accounting for one-fifth of the freshwater surface on the planet at 6 quadrillion gallons. The area of all the Great Lakes is 95,160 square miles and span 750 miles from west to east. The square mileage is larger than the state of Texas.
Now I have a hard time understanding what 6 quadrillion gallons of water looks like. I understand what a quadrillion is. It is a thousand trillion or 1,000,000,000,000,000. But what does that amount of water looks like. After a little research, I discovered that with this amount of water, you could cover the land mass of the United States with 9 feet of water. Wow! Plus, it is all crystal clear, fresh water. Double Wow!!
We plan on going to the beach here each day to swim, sun bath and r-e-l-a-x. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. It will be great!
Going Down The Road With The Leu's 