Day 2 –Water, More Water, and Dunes

Day 2 was a busy day, starting with a trip to the beach.  After breakfast, we loaded up the Jeep with towels and snacks and drove a few miles up the road to the same little Lake Michigan beach that Tom and I had gone to a few weeks ago, Cedar Point County Park.

 

A short climb down from the parking lot led us to a small, beautiful beach.  There were a few more people there this time, but it was still very quiet and peaceful.

The water temperature now is in the mid-70s, and it was perfect – so refreshing on a hot day!

 

 

 

 

We all headed right into the water!

We even managed to coax Diane into the water for a while, and all played catch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warming up on the beach for a while, we entertained ourselves by watching this dog run into the water after a float.  He was having so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful afternoon – a great day to be at the beach – soaking up the sun and playing in the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went in again, this time with no hesitation . . . they dove right in!

After a few hours at the beach, we headed back to the RV Resort to get cleaned up and play some cornhole before going to the golf course for Burger Night.

 

Bryce had no mercy for Aunt Diane or Uncle Dan, and he beat both of them in pretty quick games. 

Then it was Tom’s and my turn to play against each other . . . and it felt like our game was never going to end!  I guess we’re evenly matched!

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we headed down to the Wave Club, where Bryce had a pontoon boat for us to take out on a sunset cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We asked Bryce if he knew how to drive the boat . . . he figures he’s given the instructions so many times, he should know how to drive it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat back and relaxed as he toured us around Silver Lake.

The dunes provide a barrier between Silver Lake and Lake Michigan, with the pedestrian area and the ORV area out in front of us,

and the privately-owned section of dunes where Mac Woods operates their dune buggy rides out to our left.

 

 

We circled the lake, past the dunes, the state park, and many cottages . . . including the one that is slowly being buried by moving sand! 

The owner is working really hard to keep that sand back!

After our tour of the lake, Bryce beached the boat at the base of razorback dune.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to climb to the top for sunset . . . Diane and Dan thought we were kidding!  We did go up the less steep side, though!

We took our time, and made our way up the dune . . .

 

Uh! Oh!  Dan is on the ground!  He SAYS he fell on purpose!!

Diane and I thought he was going to go rolling down the backside of the dune!

They made it to the top . . .

and we were right behind them!

It was windy, and a little chilly, up there!  We took a few pictures while we waited for sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a beautiful view up there . . . Silver Lake on one side,

and Lake Michigan on the other.

We had some time to kill before the sun would set, so Bryce ran back down to re-position the boat . . . and then climbed up the steep side of the dune!

They all thought we weren’t going to have a good sunset, that it would be blocked by the clouds . . . but I knew we just needed to wait for the sun to drop below the clouds and then it would be pretty!  I wasn’t leaving until it did!

Tom and Dan decided to walk towards Lake Michigan,

 

and Dan found a piece of driftwood that he could take home to put in his flowerbed! 

He was so excited . . . although he almost broke it by stabbing Diane in the back with it!

 

 

 

 

 

By the time they got back, the sun had dropped, and the sky was turning a beautiful orange color, with the sun reflected on Lake Michigan . . .

See what they would have missed if I hadn’t made them stay!

We made our way back down . . . and nobody fell or rolled down the dune!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Bryce had re-positioned the boat, he got it pretty far up on the beach, so it took a bit of effort to launch it, but they managed and we made our way back to the Wave Club.

After returning the boat, we had one more stop on the way back to the RV Resort . . . Cosmic Candy . . . no trip to Silver Lake can be complete without stopping there!  Dan treated us to ice cream, and then we had a campfire back at the RV until everybody started falling asleep . . . it was a fun-filled, busy day!