Silver Lake Sand Dunes & Michigan Adventure

      In mid-August we went to Silver Lake, Michigan for our summer family vacation.  The picture above was taken on our second day in Silver Lake at the sand dune park.  Like most of this summer there was a cloudy overcast and it was much cooler this August than last year.  At least it was dry during the day and I really didn't mind the rain over night.   We were able to do everything that we were looking forward to doing and we had a lot of fun!

We stayed in a cabin at Yogi Bear Jellystone Park

After we settled in we went for a little drive around town.

The next day I made breakfast and then we headed to Mac Wood Dune Rides.

The name of our truck was "Sand Witch".

      The Termite Bridge is a steel reinforced wooden bridge over a river and then we drove through the woods to get to the sand dunes.

      Our Driver Tom [or "Kevin" if you did not enjoy the ride] stopped along the way to give some history and info about the dunes.  He was hilarious!  We were able to get out of the truck and walk around a bit also.  It was really beautiful.  It was also very windy---you wouldn't believe how much sand got in my hair!  The clouds kept changing from dark to light and dark again. 

                               Erich took this awesome picture of his father while we were walking around.

And a gotcha shot as well!

Vintage Mac Woods Dune Truck

          After our dune ride we headed over to the Petite Pointe Au Sable  Lighthouse.  Keith and Erich climbed to the top while I took photos of lake Michigan and the seagulls.

Lake Michigan was very cold and the waves kept pounding the sand.

We went to lunch after the lighthouse and then we went for a few go-cart rides, bumper boat ride and the boys played some arcade driving games.

 The next day, another dark, cloudy, cool day----- we had a flag installed on the Nitro and then we headed to the dunes.

Erich took pictures while Keith was driving around on the dunes.  I was hanging on for dear life!  Keith drove over one dune and when we landed it broke the air dam off the front of the Nitro. 

That was CRAZY!

We stopped in an area close to Lake Michigan and got out for a few minutes to walk around.

We went out for dinner later that day and then Keith built a bon-fire in the fire pit and we hung out for the evening and roasted hotdogs.

On our way to Michigan Adventure the boys spotted some "rusty gold".

      I managed to get a photo of Erich with Snoopy!  And--- a  "Joe Cool" shot of Erich in the park.  We went on the Cork Screw first.  I think that is my favorite ride, followed by the Logger's Run.  Michigan Adventure was a great destination to go to after Silver Lake and it's not too far to drive home in the same day.  All in all, I think we had a great time in just a few days.  We stayed home Labor day weekend and worked on things around the house.

     Summer went by too quickly this year.  I hope that we have a nice fall, it's my favorite time of the year.  I'm looking forward to  autumnal colors, going to the cider mill, picking apples at the orchard, baking warm, spicy treats and roasting savory dinners for the boys.

~Marcie

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