More fun on the dunes before Bryce left home

Bryce stopped working about a week before he left so that we’d have time for shopping and packing, and also so he could spend a couple days playing on the dunes.

Our friends Dave & Lynn came up to spend the day with us on Thursday, and Bryce & Tom took them for an adventure on the dunes.  It was a quiet afternoon, and they all had fun driving around on the sand.

While parked by Test Hill, they saw a guy from the RV Park racing around in his sandrail.

Tom started talking to him, and ended up asking him for a ride for himself and Bryce.  They had the adventure of a lifetime!

I think Dave and Lynn were as excited to watch them as Tom and Bryce were to ride!  These vehicles just fly over the bumps, and Bryce said it felt like they were going 100 mph!  Lynn got a video of Bryce going over Test Hill, and they got some air!

That was definitely a highlight of the summer for them!

On Friday, Bryce went out again with his friend, Brendan, and then we went out for sunset with our friends Dave & Kathy, after we all went out for pizza for dinner.

 

They had their granddaughter, Haddie, with them for the night, and she loves riding in Grandpa’s Jeep . . . so did her kitties!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were looking forward to a beautiful sunset,

and it got off to a pretty good start.

Bryce was driving, and doing his best to keep up with Dave – even though Tom wouldn’t let him go everywhere Dave went!

Bryce wasn’t allowed to play in the puddles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the beach, we could look back and see the trucks lined up on Test Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DNR was on watch from there, too.

For a Friday night, it was really quiet up there, although there were a couple of sunset tour groups (Haddie called them ants, because of the way they travel in a line),

dirt bikes jumping the new hills that had been formed by the winds we had during the week,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a group of sandrails racing around on the open sand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They looked like they were having a lot of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we drove around, we had several vantage pints for watching the sun set over Lake Michigan.

The sky was beautiful, and it was a spectacular sunset even though a big cloud moved in just in time to block the view of the final moments of the sunset.

Bryce’s Big Moving Day

For the last couple of weeks, we have been shopping for all the things Bryce will need at college – including winter clothes, which he hasn’t had in a while!  We’ve slowly been accumulating and packing . . . and my precious floor space has been taken over by boxes!  They were everywhere – my bedroom floor, the dash, the front seats!

Finally, the day came to move everything to the Jeep!

Bryce packed it up . . . with room to spare, and still a place for each of us to sit for the ride to East Lansing!  Last step was to put his bike on the back of the Jeep . . . and he was ready to go!

I told him he looked way too happy to be leaving me!!

With over 9000 freshman moving into the dorms on a single day, they have it down to a science!  We were assigned a 1-1/2 hour window for check-in, during which we would be allowed 20 minutes of parking on the sidewalk in front of his building.  Our assigned check-in time was 8am – 9:30, so that meant an early start for us on Sunday morning!  We left the park at 7am, and arrived on campus just a few minutes after 9am.

(OK, I didn’t think to take a picture when we arrived, so this one was taken at we were leaving at the end of the day – the commotion had died down considerably!)

We arrived and were directed to back into a spot along the sidewalk.  Bryce and I went inside to check in, and several older students brought carts to the Jeep for Tom to start unloading Bryce’s stuff. 

He locked up his bike outside (but also got a key to the “bike room” for his floor, where he’ll be able to store his bike during bad weather).

His stuff fit into 2 carts (which wasn’t bad at all, compared to what I saw some people wheeling inside!!), and luckily he’s on the 1st floor so we didn’t have to wait in the LONG line for the elevator!  Once we had his stuff in his room, Tom went to move the Jeep and Bryce returned the carts to the lobby.

We had taken the easy route and pre-ordered a futon, refrigerator and microwave online, to be delivered directly to the room.  His roommate had moved in the day before, so his family had taken care of lofting the 2nd bed, moving furniture around so they could roll the carpet out, and putting the futon together.  All we had to do was put Bryce’s stuff away and set up the WIFI for them.  Theirs is one of the few dorms that has not yet been equipped with wireless in the rooms, so we brought a router and set up their WIFI in their room.

The rooms are small, but I guess it’s OK for a couple of guys!

They have everything they need – bed, desk, frig, microwave, XBox and TV!!

 

They have a dresser to share, and each a small amount of closet space . . . good thing Bryce is tall – I couldn’t reach anything on that shelf!

The bathroom is small and shared between Bryce, his roommate, and the 2 guys in the room next door, but I guess it’s big enough for them!

We met several of his neighbors and their parents, and everybody was really nice.  We also met his Resident Assistant (RA) for his floor who, it turned out, lives here in Silver Lake and knows many of the guys Bryce works with at the Wave Club, as well as the owner.  Small world!

Tom was happy to relax!

With everything unpacked and put away, we went to the dining hall for lunch (pretty good food), and then made one more Walmart run to pick up a few last minute things that he needed.

On the way back, we stopped at the bookstore to check prices on his books – YIKES!  We’re still doing some research on online prices.

We finished up in his room, checked out the laundry facility and located the trash room, and by then it was almost 5pm.  It had been a long day for us, and Bryce still needed to get some dinner before his mandatory dorm meeting at 7:30.

We said our good-byes . . . and reminded him to make good choices, stay safe, and call home!!  I’m going to miss having my Binky around!!  We’re going to pick him up for one more weekend, after he settles in for a while, and take him back to see the family before we head south for the winter.  Hopefully by then we’ll be able to find a winter coat and boots!

He’s happy, though, and ready for this new adventure!  Good Luck, Bryce!

Finishing up a great weekend with a boat ride.

Once again, we were able to enjoy the benefits of Bryce’s summer job with a beautiful evening boat ride.  After a delicious dinner of ribs and corn, we all headed down to the Wave Club where we took a pontoon out on Silver Lake.

 

Captain Bryce skillfully navigated around the lake, while the rest of us relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. 

It was a quiet evening on the lake, with just one other pontoon and a wave runner enjoying the smooth water.

Grandpa was enjoying the leisurely ride!

After our tour of the lake, the kids wanted to swim, so we headed over to the beach at the dunes.

Bryce, Kathleen and Joe wasted no time getting in the water!

Bryce claims that Silver Lake is warmer than Lake Michigan, but I really don’t think so . . . it felt colder to me!

 

After swimming for a while, Bryce and Joe decided to climb the dune and run down & dive into the lake.  OK . . . they have the energy for it!

They started up, and I waited with my camera at the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

The lake and dunes look beautiful from this spot!

Meanwhile, while they were climbing up the steep side . . .

Joe and Tom were climbing up the less steep side . . . almost to the top!

 

Bryce and little Joe met up with Big Joe . . . and then they headed down!

Bryce is a little more radical than Joe!

Ending with a splash!

Kim and Dad watched the antics from the safety of the boat . . .

Joe made it back down without incident, while the boys went back up for more,

and Tom and I climbed another dune for a different view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view was beautiful from up here!

What a great night!

The kids had their fill of swimming, and nobody else was up for climbing the dunes, so we decided to watch the sunset from the water.

We had a pretty good view!

We enjoyed another couple trips around the lake,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Bryce decided to go for a swim in the middle of the lake.

We continued to watch the sunset as it dipped behind the dunes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our position on the lake determined how much of the sun we could see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great sunset – nice than the one we had when Diane and Dan were here!

When the sun finally disappeared from view, we turned the boat back in the direction of the Wave Club.

It was a beautiful night, and a great way to wrap up the weekend!