密西根西北角追楓的生日(二）

Chasing foliage in Northwest Michigan — Part 2, Oct. 2020

Day 2: Route M-22 and Sleeping Bear Dunes

A stop at Pierce Stocking Drive, overlooking Glen Lake. The natural springs beneath the lake makes the lake color surreal.

Rain rain rain is here to stay on Day 2. So we decided to take it easy and do scenic drives around the area. The boys weren’t excited at all about the idea of cramping inside the car so the dunes became our life savers. We encountered the dune first at the Empire Bluff Trail. Then at the famous Dune Climb for some 460 feet vertical fun. Hallelujah, Dunes!

The main eye catchers during our drive are the fall colors, needless to say. But less than three weeks into the presidential election, campaign signs along the roads also revealed a clear color divide, from inland’s Trump nation to blue beach towns. It’s a pretty interesting way to get oriented about the area.

第二天滴滴答答雨下沒停。所以我們改以兜風為主。臭屁孩哪坐的住？一聽到要兜風就翻臉。還好還好有高聳的沙丘解救我們。小男生有地方往上爬往下跳，就笑臉迎人啦。

這兩張地圖很清楚的勾勒我們第二天的活動範圍。

1st stop: Empire Bluff Trail in the south tip of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Looking north for a panoramic view of the mama bear dunes along the shore and two little bear Manitou islands.

It was clear to see the storm coming our way from Wisconsin across the lake.

2nd stop: Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

Before hitting the road to the scenic drive, we collected our national park passport stamp, paid the NP entrance fee, and picked up a detailed guide about the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive at Empire’s visitor center. Overall, there were 13 points of interests on this scenic drive. It’s popular for a good reason. Maple-beech woods and barren dunes alike, you could see them all.

第二站是園裏赫赫有名的風景線。這段路不長，但蜿蜒美麗樹林，眺望台更是處處，亮點不少。下雨天繞繞，剛剛好。

the iconic covered bridge was the first stop on this scenic drive.

This overlook at Glen Lake is the #2 stop.

Stop #9 and #10 overlooking the lake and the tip of the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Wind was gusty up here but waves and the water color seemed to give a false impression.

3rd stop: Dune Climb. Every kid’s paradise!

不管雨滴大還小，遠遠看到這麼高140多公尺的沙丘在揮手，不爬說不過去的啦。要一路跑上去還不容易，氣喘如牛，上了一層，還有一層。如果時間許可，更可一路踩沙丘晃到湖邊。大大的停車場告訴我們，平常日這可以有多少人。拜雨先生之賜，今天只有小貓兩三隻，任我們逍遙。

第一段我居然輸給弟弟！

在這裡跑跑跳跳充電充飽飽，再到在地盛名的咖啡店來杯熱飲，驅逐寒氣一下。身心俱暢後，就沿著賞楓名路M22一路往北，沿著湖岸看看各個湖邊度假小鎮的風貌。選舉要到了，這裡一片藍，跟離這裡一點也不遠的內陸一片紅，大相徑庭。

風大浪大，頭都被吹暈了，但美麗色彩依舊吸引人。沿途有些酒莊，人還不少。但疫情猖獗，我們還是躲遠遠的好，在太陽下山前，回到住處喝壽星媽媽熬的義式番茄湯吧。

這段沿湖跟內灣的馬路很適合兜風。若不是因為剛好下雨天，我們不會開到這裡來，探勘到這洞天。意外的收穫。

Gorgeous colors were not limited to small routes. This shot was taken on the highway on our way back to Chicago.

新冠狀病毒疫情下，沒有從長計議，只有活在當下的匆匆起義。也算是一種適應時局的方案吧。踩了看了新土地，許了新願望，元氣大增，繼續往下一個人生大小篇章邁進！