About to turn a calendar page

We’re about to turn a page in the calendar—August to September—which always leaves me wondering: Did I do enough? Did I wring enough summer out of summer?

They’re already offering pumpkin lattes at the coffee shop. I’m seeing candy corn in the candy aisle.

Despite the fact that meteorological summer is not over, for all other purposes, we’re moving on.

In two weeks I will make a trip to Sleeping Bear dunes, something I’ve wanted to do even before moving to Michigan. When in Chicago we used to visit Indiana Dunes (now designated a national lakeshore) frequently. I loved climbing the steep hills of sand and hiking the trails that wandered between woods, scrub oak and sand, and then disappeared into the dunes. Sleeping Bear was a destination for me, but seemed out of reach either because of work schedules, the fact that it is an expensive area for accommodation etc, and getting there. I’ve worked out some of these difficulties.

Indian Trails bus can take me and my bike all the way to Traverse City. I’ll arrive at 7 pm, before sunset, and ride to a Warmshowers host, where they have a room set aside for guests. The next day I’ll go back to the transit center and ride a local BATA bus to Glen Arbor (Cherry Emporium!) and continue on with my bike on the Heritage Trail, taking in overlooks, covered bridges, and picnic stops all the way to Empire.

Day Two: more local trails. Leelanau Trail is 17 miles to Suttons Bay. Along the way I’ll take in the Potato Barn. The trail features picturesque forests, farms, vineyards, lakes and ponds. The whole thing reminds me of my trips to Door County in Wisconsin.

There are so many chances to ride next to water. I can’t wait! Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.