Mackinac Bridge

     The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the third longest in the world.  It is nearly five miles long and connects upper and lower Michigan.  It opened in 1957 during the post World War II time when everyone took car vacations.  I remember my Dad talking about it and planning a vacation with the major goal of driving across the new bridge.
     An Internet site tracks the conditions on the bridge and the length of backups on either side.  The campground host told us that the backup was eight miles long on Memorial Day.  On days with very windy conditions campers, high profile vehicles, and trucks or cars pulling a trailer need to drive very slowly.  The Mackinac Bridge Authority has a Drivers Assistance Program that provides drivers for those with gephyrphobia (bridge phobia), or anyone who is more comfortable having someone else drive them across. More than a thousand people use this service every year.  Under really windy conditions the bridge is designed to move with the wind.  It can move up to 35 feet to one side or the other.  It doesn't sway, it just moves with the wind and when the wind subsides it moves back.  It is built to be stable in winds up to 150 MPH.  Of course that doesn't mean that your car won't blow off, just that the bridge will be fine.  Only two cars have gone off the bridge- one that was speeding and one that may have been a suiside.

     It was our luck today to have a quiet, sunny day.  I was also happy that some repair work closed the outside lane of the bridge which is usually used for trucks and campers, so we were driving the inside lane.  I read somewhere that kids who are afraid of an event can get through it by taking photos.  So I took pictures as we drove.  Rick just asked me not to hang out the window.

     We are staying at the Platte River Campground in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  It's the nicest non-commercial campground we have ever stayed in.  Huge trees, very little underbrush, paved parking sites all nicely spaced.  Most of the sites with electric hookups are occupied tonight.  It's so popular that I had to plan the dates of the trip around when I could get a reservation.  Its a real deal for us too as we get 50% off due to our Senior Parks pass.  Ricks card was wearing out so they gave him a new one with a picture of a goat on it.  The Ranger told him it was special for "old goats."

     It gets dark and cool fairly early so we build a campfire at nice spots like this one.  We buy wood for one or two nights at a time because wood from other areas that might contain one of the many insects tht are eating our trees can't be used.  We found a new deal at this campground for wood - a vending machine!  You put your dollars in a slot and a bundle of wood drops into a bin.  I just love it.

   We went to the meeting of the Platte River and Lake Michigan for some wading and sunshine.  Hard to believe that this is mid-September.