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July 31st, 2008
Filed under: Uncategorized
Last Monday {the 21st} my family took off on a vacation for a few days! I got off work at 1 and by 2:15 we were on the road heading up to Pentwater…my Grandfather’s childhood hometown. Also home to part of Lake Michigan…..which is AWESOME! heh. I have been up there before,as there is a large family reunion every 4th of July and we have attended a few times, but never have I stayed for more than an afternoon at the lake.
It was beautiful up there, and I did indeed find myself not wanting to come back.
We got up there and set up camp in a lovely little ground called Buttersfield in Luddington, and then had time to get dinner and got down to the Lake! Our camp site was just a short walk from the water, well I should say a short walk and 60 some steps! {which, I must add were BRUTAL! We ran up a couple times and I nearly died! The first time we did, there was a group of older people sitting up at the top who overheard me say “I am too crippled for this!” and got a good laugh. They must have thought I was joking! ;D Twas fun none the less…not that I am in any hurry to run up steep wooden steps again.}
Our first full day there, we spent a good hour in the Pentwater cemetery! Anyone that remembers my trip to Texas will probably remember how fond I am of walking old grave yards. This one held more pull, however, as it is the location of some of my family members. My Grandpa’s mother and father are buried right next to each other on the top of a small hill. Behind them, a small stone marks the grave of my Uncle Billy, who died when he was only two years old. It was rather odd to see my last name boldly written in stone on the grave of my Great Grandparents. {Though I am sure not as strange as the feeling must be for the little Lauren girl who’s name I saw chiseled on a grave stone. She was born in 1997, the year her “stone partner” died. I understand that people do that, engrave the stone in advance when another loved one dies, to save money, but I have to figure that would be weird for an 11 year old girl to go see her own grave!} The older part of the cemetery, which was filled with people born in the early to mid 1800’s, was much nicer in my opinion than the newer section. I saw one stone marked “Sarah Grant”, each of which is the first name of two of my best friends! I also learned that Clarissa is not a ‘new’ name! I figured it had to be a name that was from the 90’s or something, but I saw it on the grave of a baby born in the early 1800’s, who died the same year she was born {four months later}.
We also drove around to see where my Grandfather grew up, which was pretty neat! I had not ever given much thought to the fact that the house in which he was a child, was still standing! Sure enough, though, we drove past it and even got to see the old barn! 
Swimming in the lake was of course on the top of the list of things we needed to do, and we did…twice in fact! Though the waters became too rough and choppy to stay in, Mum, Kade, the three kids, and I got in I would say an hour and a half of swimming time in one day. On the very last morning of our trip, we went down to the lake at 8 in the morning, with Kade, Kat, Ley Ley, and I ‘taking the plunge’ and swimming {I am talkin fully under water}around 15 after. which I must say made for a VERY cold ‘dip’! My head hurt so when I came up under water! It was so worth it though!
Since he was a kid, Dad has wanted to go on the Dune buggy ride there in Pentwater. This year was the first year it was in the budget on a vacation! WOW, was that fun! Up and down over all the dunes there in Silver Lake, a stop near the water of Lake Michigan for a bit of wading time, and a look at the entire Silver Lake from the top of one of the Dunes was all included in the 40 minute ride.
After that, Dad took us to a beautiful LIGHT HOUSE! I got to go up in a light house and see all the way around! The little plaque on the rail said that our feet were 90 some feet above the ground! I was very proud of those in my family who are very afraid of heights! Everyone did so well and actually had smiles on their faces way up there above the rocks! 
The final night of our stay, my older brother, my just younger sister, and I sat for over an hour on the beach, watching and taking photos of the sun set over the lake! It was beautiful, and fun just to sit there watching the water!
Nightly game times, walks on the beach, running on the beach, driving around town, shopping, and a visit to a Historic village run by the older people of Hart {which had an impressive collection of firs and other hunting prizes in one exhibit, arrow heads and other stones in another, a pretty church, and many other ‘in the works’ exhibits.} were all some of the other ways that our time was spent during our days away.
As you might expect, I took a ton of photos! They are all in albums on my Facebook. At first, I was rather surprised at the number, knowing that I can take 200+ at a Ren Fest day, 400+ on a family vacation seemed too small. However, we did stay very busy and I was unable to always ‘capture the moments’ as often as I might have liked.
Next big event is Saturday at Silver Leaf. We have completed The Three Musketeers, the DVD’s are burned and ready to go, so we will be presenting them to the group that day as well as spending a fun day watching one of KOI’s last performances! *tear* I am looking forward to another day there, and seeing whomever might happen to be there!
