With summer here, and my mother-in-law declaring the entire month following her birthday, her birthday, Ashley's family rented a house and we headed to St. Joseph, Michigan.
I knew the Lake Michigan shoreline by Indiana contains enormous sand dunes. Some that swallow children. I did not however know, that Michigan too contains HUGE sand bluffs. I learned quickly.
216 steps.
It is the number required to get from said beach house, to beach.
I've been told our beach house sat on the highest inhabitable bluff on Lake Michigan. Is this true? Who knows. But after a few trips up this baby, I believe it.
The beach was awesome! It was private, since no one was crazy enough to build stairs to the beach for several hundred yards.
Charlie, my nephew loved playing in the water and spitting out mouthfuls he accidentally inhaled.
Even better than the beach, was the prize at getting to the top of the stairs.
Being a night owl, I rarely get to see the amazing sunrises in Milwaukee. With great weather for our week (minus one cold day, and one epic storm that can be described as an act of God) we got to see plenty of picture perfect sunsets on this side of the lake!
During the week we did some exploring. I met a friendly dinosaur.
Drank some wine from a Marquette grad (who worked one year in journalism but admitted it was worse than farming so rejoined his family business)
I even got to see my old coworker Rick Schutt from Champaign, do his thang at his new station in South Bend.
We saw a couple fireworks. We could have seen more, but it would require a trip down and up the stairs (which we were too tired to do.)
It was a great week. I got some sun (NOTE: Everything in this picture is now burned)
I grew a vacation beard.
And I developed great calves.
Thank you Sears family! Thank you Tim Allen. Thank you Pure Michigan.!!
