Today was our last day in Muskegon State Park. We woke around nine to a sunny morning, with the silhouettes of a few caterpillars shining through the tent roof. We got ready at the campground. Then, we packed up our tent and gear and headed for the campground that my boyfriend’s family were staying at.
Driving through the sunshine to the other campground.
When we arrived, his family had already kindly cooked a breakfast of sausage, pancakes with homegrown blueberries, and eggs from their chickens. We sat in camping chairs around the fire pit, talking and laughing. It was a pleasant time.
The upwards view from where I sat beside the fire pit.
In the early afternoon, we said our goodbyes. My boyfriend’s aunt gave us eggs, fresh from her chickens and ducks. His uncle gave us honey, fresh from his honeybee farm.
Chicken and duck eggs from my boyfriend’s aunt.Honey from my boyfriend’s uncle.
Now, I’m back to the office until the next adventure.
Today, my boyfriend and I continued our time in Muskegon. We awoke around 8:30 AM to a sprinkling rain. It was pleasant to wake up to the smell of rain and the sight of the dewy trees. However, it was less pleasant to realize that it was a bad idea to leave both sides of the rain fly pulled back. The edges of everything inside the tent were damp.
My view from inside the tent this morning, with light rain falling.
We got ready in the campground bathroom, a bathroom that I would describe as “doable with sandals”. Then, we met up with my boyfriend’s family and went to the farmer’s market. My boyfriend carried his baby niece strapped to his front side, and she promptly nodded off, which I was highly amused by. I bought a carton of cherries and ate so many of them that my teeth and fingers were stained purple.
Cherries from the farmer’s market.
After that, we went to the Muskegon beach. The beach was not crowded at all due to the weather.
Paintings on the side of the restroom building at Muskegon beach.
The water was too chilly for me to swim, but I at least put my feet in the waves while I watched the others splash around and freeze their butts off.
The tide on Lake Michigan.
It was chilly and cloudy at first at the beach, and I was cozy in sweatpants and a sweater. In the early afternoon, the clouds broke for clear skies and sunshine.
The sun breaking through the clouds.
It warmed up quickly. I laid out in the sun and darkened my shorts, tee, and watch tan.
My view of the sky from where I lay on the beach.
While some of us relaxed, others did not. They buried one cousin in the sand and threw chips around him, to see how close they could get a seagull to come to him. They even tried the trick of covering his arms with a towel and throwing chips on it to catch the seagull with the towel, but to no avail. (Adult cousins.)
Buried in the sand, enticing seagulls to come closer with chips.
Later in the afternoon, we headed to the campground that my boyfriend’s family was staying at, to set up their camp. When we arrived, we found out that the person across the road was stuck on her campsite that she was supposed to check out of, because her camper van had broken down. My boyfriend’s family towed her van to her family’s neighboring campsite.
Towing the broken-down camper van.
Once we finished setting up camp, we went out to dinner. We sat outside, ten of us together at a long table. We had a happy time, talking and laughing. After dinner, we went back to the campsite for a campfire.
The campfire.
After a long day, my boyfriend and I went back to our campsite and turned in for the night. With clear skies forecast, we snuggled into our little tent with the rain fly open to the fresh air and a view of the night sky.
Today was a good day. For the first half of the day, I worked from home. Then, my boyfriend and I packed up the camping gear and headed for Muskegon, MI. We arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon, a KOA because the state campground books up fast. We set up our little tent in a patch of dirt that’s nicely boxed in by woods and our car, so we have privacy and shade. I’m quite satisfied with our setup. A couple years ago, we spent our first night in this tent with just a couple blankets and a pillow, with the hard ground and cold air keeping us up all night. Now, we come equipped with two sleeping pads, a sleeping bag, a blanket, and a pillow. With the breeze coming in, we’ll sleep like babies.
Our tent setup.
Then, we met up with my boyfriend’s family at the beach along Lake Michigan. Two of his cousins were there with their ambulance-turned-camper, which they’d been traveling in for a month. I was impressed by the renovation. It’s functional and stylish, even equipped with a sink, refrigerator, and full bed.
The ambulance-turned-camper at the beach.
After spending some time at the beach, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Then, we came back to the beach to play frisbee and watch the sunset. It was a muted sunset, veiled by the clouds on the horizon. At dusk, we headed back to the campsite. We spent a little time chatting around the campfire, and then turned in for the night.
