I think this trip may top our lists of our best family trip thus far. We were all happy & enjoying ourselves, with no accidents or meltdowns or raindrops, for the ENTIRE 22 hours! Overnight camping is great with a 2 year old.
We went to Warren Dunes State Park, which was recommended to me by a few different people. Joe and I both like as much forest/privacy as possible, with as little plumbing/blacktop as possible, and this seemed like the closest we could get. We got a rustic site that was a generous sized oval, completely encircled with forest. The only downfalls of this campground were: (1) The campground itself is far from its Lake Michigan beach area, and the road to get there was closed to traffic. It was about a mile walk if we cut through sand dune mountains (on the way there), and about a three mile walk by road (we tried on the way back). Tiring for a pregnant lady and a two year old! (2) It turns out you can hear the roar of I-94 nearby, constantly. I also had the roar and whistles of several freight trains wake me up throughout the night. Oh well.
Here we go, exploring the campground; Sawyer found a "cool stick".
Joe is showing us how to "pop" leaves in his hand:
We found a wild grape vine up high in a tree, and Joe and I were able to figure out a system to get them down- Yum!
On our hike through the sand dunes, trying to get to the beach. I love Sawyer's little pose for the camera:
Yay! We can see the water now! I hope it's not a mirage...
It's real! *Splash, splash!*
I think we spent about 3 hours hanging out on the beach. The water was extremely cold, the boys only stayed in for a bit. We just had a great time relaxing together. There were probably only 10 other people on the entire coastline as far as the eye could see, which was a cool experience.
Beautiful sunshine through the woods on our long walk back:
Beautiful vines wrapping the tree trunks, already turning a fiery red & magenta:
Getting the fire going for dinner. It took us awhile. These rings aren't designed very well, there's no air flow. Notice how it's still light out in this picture:
And now we're finally opening our tin foil dinners- in complete darkness. I think it was almost 8:30 by this time.
Me and Sawyer hanging out by the fire.
Getting ready to snuggle up for bedtime in our tent.
Good night!
We found a wild grape vine up high in a tree, and Joe and I were able to figure out a system to get them down- Yum! 
On our hike through the sand dunes, trying to get to the beach. I love Sawyer's little pose for the camera:
Yay! We can see the water now! I hope it's not a mirage...
It's real! *Splash, splash!*
I think we spent about 3 hours hanging out on the beach. The water was extremely cold, the boys only stayed in for a bit. We just had a great time relaxing together. There were probably only 10 other people on the entire coastline as far as the eye could see, which was a cool experience.
Beautiful vines wrapping the tree trunks, already turning a fiery red & magenta:
Getting the fire going for dinner. It took us awhile. These rings aren't designed very well, there's no air flow. Notice how it's still light out in this picture:
And now we're finally opening our tin foil dinners- in complete darkness. I think it was almost 8:30 by this time.
Getting ready to snuggle up for bedtime in our tent.
Good night!
4 comments:
That looks so beautiful! How fun! I'm glad you had such a great trip!
too cute!
love all of your pictures, by the way.
That little trip sounds perfect, How fun!! I miss the Mid to Eastern side of the states with all the fall colors. By the way... I love the gradual progression of the story, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!! :)
P.S.... I love the new Blog look. So Autumn looking. Love it!
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