Before we turned in last night we had to visit the local ice cream parlor right outside the park . . . as you can imagine they do quite a business during the summer . . .

. . . then a walk down to the lake . . .

. . . the sky and horizon were starting to fuse as the light became dimmer and dimmer . . . nice!!!

Today we were on the road and after a few moments getting lost in Bay City, soon we were n the country where soybeans are king and the land is FLAT. The plants were about 2 1/2 feet tall!!! Healthy!!!

This is the most elaborate wood vendor I have seen on the trip. Had whatever you wanted . . . wonder if he sold an ‘assortment pack’???

. . . right next store was Johnson’s, Home of the Giant Pumpkin . . .

. . . this was sort of interesting named town we passed through . . . didn’t see one Native American!!!

. . . someone was putting up quite the barn/house . . .

. . . sort of matches their house next door but only BIGGER!!! Lots of crosses in peoples front yard today like the one pictured above,

We rode for about 10 miles on Hanger Line Road which took us into the half way point for today, Frankenmuth.

. . . as we entered the burbs there was this very content pup that was happy just to watch the world go by. No bark or chase . . . NICE!!!!

. . . recycling day today. It is always interesting when biking by to see what folks are throwing out. Some Michiganders’ REALLLY drink a lot!!!!

Frankenmuth is a sister city with Guzenhausten, Germany. The town is know as Michigan’s Bavaria!!!

. . . a very prosperous and tidy tourist town. The first thing I notice when I looked up were the number of antennas they have mounted on their water tower. Must be quite the revenue source. Dave, from Dave’s Bunkhouse, got $800/month rent for just having one cell phone tower on his property!!!

. . .as I rolled down main street and looked down I saw the biggest spider of the trip so far. Lifted my feet up off the pedals!!!!

The architecture certainly fits the sister city venue . . . but sort of Disneylandish . . .

. . . the river has a Core of Engineer approved water control structure to prevent erosion . . .

. . . the town also has a covered bridge. Authentic . . . built in 1979????

. . . and of course the Bavarian Inn and Lodge. I walked around downtown for a while and a lot of the shops looked like the type you have in any tourist town like this. People on vacation LOVE to recreationally shop and buy things they probably have no use for at home . . . but it’s fun!!! They were lined up at the cash registers . . .

A stop in Frankenmuth would not be complete without stopping at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. Check out the Bronners Trivia

. . .funny to see the parking lot full of outdoor Christmas decorations and nativity scenes in the middle of summer . . .

. . . right inside the door . . .

. . and it is nice for Bronner’s to set the record straight!!!!

. . . four aisles of just ornaments for pets . . .

. . . including cute colliesk types . . .

Diana said there are over 50,000 different items stocked in the store . . . they are open 361 days a year!!!!

. . .Bill and Roger were loading packages into Santa’s gift bag in this old Chevy . . .

. . .I wonder what their eclectic bill is a month!!!! Pictures don’t really do the size of this operation justice. If you like Christmas stuff . . .  put a visit to this place on your bucket list.

. . .

. . . lots and lots of celebrities have!!!!!

. . . and like many places, make it a full weekend excursion and stay overnight next door. Water slide too!!!!

. . . and when you get to tired to shop, tour around town in this buggy. Connie ‘The Clydesdale’ Cannondale was REALLY checking out this handsome guy . . . (the one pulling the wagon)

. . .finally it was time to head east to Otter Creek our home for the night. Storms in the forecast for this afternoon and night. Could be interesting!!!!