Silver Lake Sand Dunes

Earlier this month we went an a camping trip to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes with the Ford, Froberger and Mertens Families. We stayed at the Silver Lake State Park across Silver Lake from the sand dunes. We were able to once again borrow a pop-up camper from Randy's coworker, which we were very thankful for during the monsoon that hit late Friday night after we were all in bed. There was non-stop pouring rain, thunder and lighting for about 5 hours that night. I don't think most of us slept much - I know I didn't!

Thankfully, no one got washed away and the rained stopped by Saturday morning. After breakfast, and a little clean-up, we jumped in the trucks for ride to explore the area. The first stop was the Little Sable Lighthouse on Lake Michigan.

A big group took the tour up to the top of the lighthouse to see the view. There was still some foggy mist out over the Lake, but blue sky was beginning to peak through the clouds. After the lighthouse tour, the kids ran down to check out the Lake Michigan water.

It was a little cool and we wanted to head over to the dunes, so we coaxed the kids away from the water and back to the trucks for a short ride to the sand dunes.

By now the sun was out and it was beginning to warm up. The kids were excited to get up on the dunes and into all the sand. We started the trek up the first dune, thinking that when we'd get to the top we'd walk down the other side to Silver Lake.

The adults got to the top and groaned, as we learned that we had another 2 dunes between us and the lake. The kids, however, we completely undaunted and took off running down the dune and up the next one.

Randy and Adrienne had to take off after them to make sure they didn't run over the next dune and out of site. Those kids can move on the sand! Eventually they got all the kids corralled and headed in the direction of the lake. Once over the next two dunes, it was a steep hill down the last dune to the lake. I let the other kids and parents make that hike down, while I sat on top of the dune and took photos and waited for them to hike back up.

The kids played in the water and had a great time. By the time everyone made it back over the dunes and back to the trucks, everyone was hungry and ready for lunch.

We decided to take the whole gang (8 adults and 8 kids) to a restaurant for lunch. After a chaotic lunch (we left a big tip!), we headed to the Whippy Dip for some ice cream, then back to the campsites to relax. The kids kept busy riding bikes, playing in the sand, and chasing balls all around. After a dinner of grilled pizzas and s'mores for dessert, we cleaned up the kids and put them to bed before enjoying the campfire for a while.

Sunday morning was cool and cloudy as we cleaned up camp. Once all packed up, we caravanned to Mac Woods Dune Rides for a tour of the sand dunes. All 16 of us piled into a dune scooter and we were off.

The kids loved riding up and down the dunes, the drops tickling their bellies. We stopped on the shore of Lake Michigan and our driver took a couple photos of the whole gang.

The weather was cool and windy, so we didn't stay there long before we were back in the buggy for the rest of the tour. After the tour, we all stopped for lunch at the Brown Bear in Shelby. I'm still amazed that the restaurants could handle our gang! Then it was time for the drive home. Daniel was exhausted from all the fun and slept most of the way home.

We had a great time and are so lucky we have such great friends to spend the weekend with. We are looking forward to the next weekend together.

(Here's the whole gang - Back row: Adrienne Mertens, Scott Mertens, Annabelle Froberger, Matt Froberger, Chrissy Froberger, Maureen Ford, Aaron Ford, Randy, and me. Front row: Hayleigh Mertens, Emilee Mertens, Hugh Ford, Brendan Froberger, Daniel, Conner Froberger and Edie Ford.)