Upon finishing our first
100 mile bike race, Chad and I parted ways. He went back home to care for the kids and provide for his family while Michelle and I headed North to meet up with friends Roxanne, Laurie, Kelly, and Shelly for a few days of vay-kay. (Michelle's husband went to
Silver Lake for a few days of vacation himself. We should all feel extra bad for Chad being the only one that had to go back to work.)
Our destination:
The Homestead Resort in
Glen Arbor on the coast of Lake Michigan.
My intention was to sleep in every day, drink coffee, followed by reading on the beach, lunching, a laze by the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, dinner, wine, and watching the sunset. Nothing but peace, quiet and rest for me.
So when Roxanne arrived and started making a list of all the things we needed to do and when . . . well, I plugged my ears like a toddler and started singing "Lalalalalalalala I can't hear you!" Then grabbed a beer from the fridge and found a lounge chair on the deck.
I should have known better. Things NEVER go the way I plan. As it turned out I was up by 7ish every morning and filled nearly every minute of the few days we were there with hiking, biking, exploring, kayaking, followed by even more hiking, biking, . . . you get the idea.
I won't bore you with a blow-by-blow of the week, I'll share photos instead:
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| River for tubing and kayaking in front of The Homestead. Flows into Lake Michigan. |
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| Short board walk to beach. |
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| Michelle, Shelly, Me, Laurie and Kelly ready to tackle THE Dune Climb (Roxanne is taking the photo) |
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| Our sturdy, large calf muscles enable us to destroy those dunes! |
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| Look how teeny-tiny they look at the bottom. |
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| Miles and hours later we arrive at Lake Michigan. |
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| Kelly and Laurie biking the newly opened Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. |
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| Kayaking Crystal River. |
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| Having an engaging, intelligent conversation. Michelle, Me, Kelly. |
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| Roxanne and Laurie at the Scenic Overlook. |
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| Me, mid-hike on an explore to find the Ghost Forest. |
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| Kelly at the Ghost Forest. We wore everyone else out. They stayed at the condo to "rest" and "relax." Wimps. |
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| Kelly and I stayed to watch the sunset. |
Links for more information on Glen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes:
