Online Petition for Lower Gas Prices

You can sign a petition at www.michigan.gov/som in support of lowering gas prices. Basically, the petition is to urge President Bush to cap excessive gasoline profits. Yes, it is awfully coincidental (can you sense the sarcasm?) that since Bush took office in January 2001 that gas prices have increased 240% and he just so happens to have a stake in big oil. Will this petition change the prices we are paying at the pump? Excuse me if I am a wee bit skeptical about this.

It just reminds me of those emails you get encouraging everyone to boycott the big gas stations on the same day to knock sense into big oil and have them lower their gas prices.

The only way gas prices will go down permanently is if our demand goes down. It is simple economics. We need to have a different fuel source for vehicles.

No one seems to ride the government subsidized Amtrak to save fuel. Why doesn't the government drop Amtrak and divert those funds to researching vehicles run on alternative fuels? Any cap the President can put on oil profits will be short term at best. Lets look into long-term solutions.

Thanks to my wife, Lori, for providing me the link to the online petition.

Fun Camping at Wilderness State Park

Features:

• 6 Rustic cabins with 4-8 bunks
• 3 Rustic bunkhouses with 24 bunks, available for families or groups
• 250 sites
• Average Nightly Rate - $27 (in season)

The majority of the sites are the perfect size for tent camping or pop-ups and mid-size campers. There are only a handful of sites large enough to accommodate the large RVs and none of the lakeside sites offer space for these.

The 8,000-acre Wilderness State Park is open all year and offers park visitors a variety of activities. Winter activities include twelve miles of cross country ski trails and places to snowmobile. Summer activities include sixteen miles of hiking and mountain biking trails in the park. Picnic areas are available along the 26 miles of beautiful shoreline and provide great places to observe nature and catch a glimpse of a Great Lakes Freighter making its way through the Straits of Mackinac.

The campground area of Wilderness State Park is divided into three areas. The East Lakeshore, West Lakeshore, and The Pines. The Pines campground is on the south side of Wilderness Park Drive within walking distance of the shore. Each of these three areas has their own playground and modern restroom and shower facilities.

A summer 2002 visit to site 64 in the East Lakeshore campground was quite pleasant. Site 64 is within a stones throw of the water allowing for great views of sunsets and moonlight upon Lake Michigan. The site was also far enough away from the restrooms to avoid the noise and extra traffic near those facilities, but not too far of a walk to make it inconvenient.

Many Pine trees surround all of the sites, which are small, but roomy enough to not feel closed in by your neighbors. The sunsets into the water were picture perfect and the waves crashing on the sandy beach made a pleasant lullaby for sleeping.

If you go:

Take Wilderness Park Drive 11 miles west of Mackinaw City. If you need extra food or other camping supplies don't stop for them in Mackinaw City. Stop in at the B&L Campstore for ice, groceries, souvenirs, or camping supplies. It might not look like much on the outside, but their prices are much lower than you can find in town and their unique items for sale inside make the stop worthwhile.

Make your reservation today at www.midnrreservations.com.

Catch a Movie at the Capri Drive In

Sometime this summer you need to take a trip to Coldwater and see the double feature at the Capri Drive-In Theatre. Family owned and operated since 1964 this is rated as one of the nation’s top ten drive-ins. The Capri features two screens, which allow it to accommodate up to 850 cars and four different movies each night (two features on two screens). The Capri’s snack bar even made headlines when it was featured on the Food Networks “Top 5 Drive-Up Joints.” With its large menu and excellent prices it is no wonder the snack bar has reached critical acclaim status.

The Capri is one of the few drive-ins that are open seven nights a week. We attended a mid-week show and even the light rain couldn’t dampen our spirits or drown out the fun. Everything about the Capri Drive-In was great. The entire place was clean from the parking area to the bathrooms and snack bar. They even show nostalgic advertisements for the concessions and the intermission includes a timer that counts down the minutes until the second feature begins.

All in all the Capri Drive-In rates as a top-notch night of family fun. Everything about the Capri is family oriented and friendly. It was great to see carloads of families and friends get there early and toss a football around and set up their lawn chairs for the show. We had a blast and will definitely make it a point to go at least once a summer. Absolutely worth the drive and worth not getting home until two o’clock in the morning.

The other neat thing about the Capri is that they have different events for some nights of the week all summer long. Sunday night is Buffet Night (as in Jimmy Buffet, not Old Country Buffet). Wear a Hawaiian shirt and receive $1 off the already low admission of $7 (for adults) and receive $1 off a cheeseburger. Tuesday nights you pay only $15 for a carload so pack everyone in and enjoy a night of entertainment on the cheap! Visit their website for information on their other special events.

Please note that the Capri is extremely popular and on weekends I have seen lines stretching half a mile or more down U.S. 12 so get there early (box office opens at 8pm). For more information about the Capri and the history of the Drive-In please visit their website at http://www.capridrivein.com/index.php.

Granholm & DeVos to Appear at Town Hall Forum

This Friday, Governor Granholm and the Republican challenger for Governor, Dick DeVos, will both appear at a town hall meeting in Detroit. There will be an audience of approximately 500 people in addition to various media who will be posing questions to the two candidates for Governor. This meeting will not have the format of a debate. It is not even known if the two candidates will be on stage at the same time. However, that doesn't mean we won't be seeing campaign rhetoric and some shots fired across the bow of both candidates.

Since Governor Granholm and Dick DeVos are in a virtual dead-heat as far as the polls show we could see some interesting posturing on some important issues facing the state such as the economy and job creation.

Further information available from the Detroit Free Press.

Video of Water Crashing Over South Haven Lighthouse

Here is a cool video showing a very windy day on the west side of our state at the South Haven lighthouse. I have seen a lot of photos of waves crashing over the lighthouse, but this is the first video I have viewed. Wouldn't it be cool to be at the beach as a summer storm rolled in?

If the video player does not display, just go to youtube.com and watch it there. It is only about 30 seconds long so even with dialup you shouldn't have to wait too long to see it.

Statewide Gas Price Average - $2.91

This week's gas price average across Michigan is $2.91 per gallon. It was $2.51 a month ago and $2.19 one year ago. The Traverse City Record Eagle has an article on how the rising cost of gas is already affecting tourism-oriented businesses. I don't see how the predicted increase in state tourism of 2% can hold with these rising gas prices. The best case scenario might be that the Michigan tourism dollars remain steady for this year.

Michigan gas price information courtesy of the Daily Fuel Gauge Report.