Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 9:30 p.m. in "The City."

Rather than my usual blog, I am going to only give the basics to allow room for the pix I took earlier today.

There will be a Gale Warning in effect beginning early tomorrow morning @ 1:00 a.m. from St. Joseph to Manistee, and continuing until 1:00 a.m. Thursday morning.. Wind speeds of 20 - 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots will propel waves from seven to eleven feet. The surf will definitely be up. 

The sun will rise tomorrow morning @ 8:14 a.m. and set later tomorrow evening @ 5:13 p.m. 

Tomorrow's high temperature forecast from the NWS calls for 50° with cloudy/windy conditions. 

But enough about the weather. 

Mary and I decided to pick up my library books and then head over to the Ottawa Sands County Park in Ferrysburg for a photo op and hike. However, we were not alone in our aspirations. The parking lot for Ottawa Sands was jammed as was the overflow lot at nearby Coast Guard Park.

So, we continued out journey and found ourselves @ a park we've never visited, North Beach Park, another in the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation System.

The name does not do justice to this great park!

As we drove up, we noticed that there were trails with boardwalks atop the dunes. We didn't explore those today, but we did get down to the beach on Lake Michigan itself. 

We hope to get back to explore these trails in the near future, weather permitting. 

Mary helped me frame this shot of the lake.

I'm always drawn to fallen trees and fauna.

Of course, there was much more to see and photograph.

Looking north.

Mostly south.

Same direction, a few moments later. 

The inner and outer lighthouses on Grand Haven's South Pier, about two miles distant.

The same, with maximum magnification. 

Like I said, fallen trees attract my attention. 

The sun through the clouds to the southeast.

Of course, I had to take a pic of the empty playground and picnic pavilion. 

Since we were almost there, we continued our safari to the nearby Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve. This preserve is located across the channel from Coat Guard Station Grand Haven, and is for use by hikers only. 

It is all about the preservation  of this beautiful area for now and the future. 

Coast Guard Station Grand Haven as seen from the other side.

As we headed back towards the Palatial Estate, we stopped in a manufactured home community located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The park is situated so that there is a magnificent view of the GHBLP Sims II power plant on Harbor Island. This is a view that I've never seen before today. 

Some magnification.

And more.

We had a great time exploring another area of Ottawa County and West Michigan that we'd not seen before. 

We came home and with considerable help from Mary, who was kept busy cleaning up after me and my spill-prone ways today, I baked more Funfettti Cookies. They taste as great as the last batch. 

I got up early today and spent time with my harmonica lessons and playing with my Ovation guitar, "Blue." I was able to more easily lay down an F# minor chord, which for me is usually difficult. Who says you can't teach and old guitar player new tricks?

Tomorrow, we plan to take the fur-children for a walkabout on a 50° day, before we settle in for the much more inclement weather on Thursday. That's when Ginger will get another light grooming and a bath. Ciao.