Labor Day Weekend and we are going to Big Bay!
Traverse City to the bridge at the Straits of Mackinac is a two hour trip no matter which way you go. It’s all two-lane so you may as well go up 31 because the view is best that way. The road twists and turns through orchards and woodland, and there are occasional glimpses of Lake Michigan sometimes within a few feet of the water. The shoreline can be followed with the eye around the curve of the bay; houses and buildings in the foreground, but as you follow the horizon the houses blend into the forest and the dark green of pine trees separates the land from the blue of the sky. The vantage from hilltops shows gradations of colors in the water from pastels near the shoreline to deeper blues and greens as the water deepens. 
When you have gone as far north as you can go in the lower peninsula of Michigan you are at the Straits of Mackinac. The Mackinac Bridge has spanned the gap since the 50’s, and it rivals only the Golden Gate in beauty and distance. Used to be the only way across was by boat. Val says that she remembers going across the straits by ferry when she was just a kid. Cars lined up to get on the ferry, and it was a very lengthy process as you can imagine. Some people were against the idea of a bridge back then, because they wanted to keep the Upper Peninsula just the way it was. It has changed a lot, and some of those changes are good as well as bad but the distance between the shores remains the same. Michiganders refer to it only as “the bridge” as if it is the only bridge there is. When there are high winds travelers are escorted across in order to ensure that your speed is kept at 20 miles per hour. Today we are escorted. This makes Val nervous as she doesn’t really like driving – or for that matter riding - on the bridge, and she especially doesn’t like the lane that is just a grate. She says there is something wrong about being that high in the air and being able to look straight down to the water below. I love the bridge because with the window down even a little bit the smells are amazing. Humans can only get a sense of moisture in the air, and minimal water/fish scents. Dogs, and especially Beagles, get hundreds of scents. I am jumping from side to side, window to window, trying not to miss anything. It is over too soon.
On the far shore we make a swing to the west. The highway called US2 snakes west along the north shoreline of Lake Michigan. Sand dunes are evident on either side of the road, and sometimes even in the road. There are many spots along the road where travelers just pull over and go for a swim. I’m glad we’re not stopping because I am definitely not a water dog. Water is for drinking – period. I’m getting bored so I think I will take a nap until we get to Big Bay.
Remington Beagle