We moved to Sleeping Bear Dunes-Platte River Campground in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - a drive of 45.8 miles (87,102.9 total). Along the way, we nearly hit a deer that bounded across the road right in front of the motorhome. Joani saw it standing on the edge of the road and thought it was a yard ornament until it moved. Fortunately, we were probably doing no more than 10 mph (since we had just stopped at an intersection) and I was able to hit the breaks. I would guess he cleared us by less than 8 feet.
Our campground was part of the National Park System so our America the Beautiful pass secured us a nice 50 amp site at a very reasonable $18/night. The sites were widely spaced and we were a short walk away from a nearly new bathhouse - what more could one ask for?
With the whole afternoon in front of us, we decided to visit the Traverse City State Hospital, also known as the Northern Michigan Asylum. At least it was an asylum when it opened in 1885. In the 50's it was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Starting around 2000 plans for refurbishment were put in place and by 2014 most of the main building had been repurposed as shops and private residences. The beautiful Italianate style building contains nearly 400,000 sq ft. There is no place on the grounds where one can see the entire building and I lost count of how many towers decorated the roof (although aerial pictures seem to show 14).
A gracious shop owner, returning from a run, opened her shop when she saw us peeking in the window.
Colantha was born 4/29/1916.
Of course, I had to see if the chocolate covered cherries at the Cherry Republic were still good - they were! We headed home after yet another beautiful, relaxing day in the great state of Michigan.
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