August Camping Adventures, Part 4: Respite

After exploring Mackinac Island, we had a day to visit Colonial Fort Michilimackinac.  I enjoyed the period reenactment, complete with musket-firing demonstration, cooking demonstration, archeological site, and period dance.  Gaël was recruited into the British army, and given a gun and uniform. 

 

It’s a good dose of history lesson with a bit of silliness thrown in, all on the lovely shores of Lake Michigan.

Late afternoon we got back in the overpacked car and headed for Kalkaska, where our friend Regina grew up; she was staying with her mother for their yearly visit back to the U.S.  Jean-Philippe had left just a few days before to attend a music festival in Ireland, so it would just be Regina and her mother.  We were sad not to see Jean-Phi, but so happy to spend some days with Regina; as an extra perk, I would get to sleep on a real bed and do some very necessary laundry.  We cooked dinner together, had great conversations, went on a mini-hike in the woods (cut short by Gaël’s protests), explored the antique shops in the center of town, ate, drank, and relaxed.  Regina’s mom is so welcoming and easygoing, and treated us like family.  And as for Regina…well, let’s say that I really owe her after being hosted twice this summer—once in Poitiers, and once in Michigan--in the loveliest way possible.

I felt completely refreshed and ready for the next challenge when we left two days later.  We crossed over through Traverse City to the Leelanau Peninsula, and one of our favorite places, the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  We arrived in Glen Arbor around lunch time, then had time to buy some cherry wine, soda, preserves (and taste all the samples!) at Cherry Republic, the home of all things cherry.  The sun was shining, and we lunched on the patio there.  The afternoon was devoted to climbing the big mother of all dunes, and then exploring the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, with breathtaking views on this gorgeous cool and sunny day.  The sand is white, the Lake Michigan water is blue, and the inland lakes are as clear as swimming pools.  I’m sure it’s a shocking contrast in winter, but in summer, it seems like paradise.

We ambitiously hoped to make it to South Haven the next day, but stopped at a place near Manistee called Orchard Beach State Park campground.  It was crowded and lively, with very small campsites, but we got a place near the bathrooms and next to running water, so it was OK.  Fifty feet behind our campsite was the cliff overlooking the beach and the lake.  The kids went to take the stairs down to swim while Patrice and I watched the sunset from the cliff.  My timing, as ever, is off, and I only remembered to grab my camera as the sun was sitting low on the horizon. By the time I got back to take the picture, it was already gone.  I must have been a little overly emotional that day, because I teared up at having missed the opportunity, our last night in Michigan.  Or maybe I sensed something else; that night before bed I checked my phone and found out that a friend and former co-worker was going into hospice.  The stars were clear and bright, but it seemed cold comfort; I passed a long, tearful, and fretful night.

The next day was a driving day.  We had to make it to Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin—about an hour north of Madison—to meet up with our friends Saturday afternoon.  We broke up the driving with a stop in lovely Saugatuck; we shopped (Aude’s constant quest for the perfect souvenirs), looked at art, ate our last Michigan gigantic ice cream cone, and admired the huge yachts in the harbor.  It was a nice place to say our farewell to Michigan.

And in perfect ill-prepared style, we timed it just right:  we would be arriving around the bend of the bottom of Lake Michigan into the morass of Chicago traffic right at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.