Victories and Losses

What's up, gang.

Good times, Michigan.  Good times.

Closing out what has been, now, the fourth month of society's pandemically-charged quasi-quarantine, we Houghs found ourselves settling into a lack-luster Summer schedule.  The first half of the month had seen numerous social outings - the Fourth of July, my 40th Birthday celebration, our large-scale camping trip to Jellystone with our Midland social order.  The last couple weeks since then has been, well, pretty mundane.  Kris went to work, the kids hung about the house, for the most part unable to socialize with friends outside of those whose parents we were super-close with, and Yours Truly focusing on resurrecting his yard after weeks of little-to-no rain.

We were getting stir crazy after a week or two of this, so Kris and I decided to nab us a few more highlights that we could look back on later and say, "See?  We did stuff last summer!"  It was quickly decided that we needed to hit up a beach and let the kids frolick about in the sun, away from TVs and device screens, and enjoy some of the natural wonders this state of ours has at its disposal. 

Hence our repeated trips out to Caseville, on the western shores of Michigan's thumb.

Geographically accurate.

The beach was awesome, not crowded in the slightest, and a manageable hour-and-a-half drive from our house.  The first time we headed out there - totally on a whim, leaving after lunch and without putting a lot of foresight into it - ended prematurely:  after enjoying the beach for about a half-an-hour, we were assaulted by giant storm clouds that brought thunder and rain in sheets.  Disappointed with our lackluster trip to the beach, we headed back out, two days later, in the early morning, in order to get a full day of sun and lake under our belts.

And, to save time and energy (as I am, indeed, a lazy, lazy man), I've compressed both outings into a single, solitary blog post.  You're welcome.

So here you go, folks:  The Houghs Visit Caseville, Episodes I and II.

Enjoy.

Our first attempt at the beach at Caseville.  Dark foreboding on the horizon. . .

Bikini weather.  For the time being.

Definitely reminiscent of Florida. . .

Getting a snack after splashing about in Lake Huron for a bit.

Kris and her selfies. . .

Fellow beach-goers begin to pack up as the approaching storm begins to roll in with a fury.

We probably could've chosen a better day to come to Caseville. . .

These millennials were seated right in front of us.  They had to take, like, thirty Instagram pics (I assume) of themselves at the beach.  I hate this generation with a passion.

A much more-deserted beach.  We were one of the last to leave, but our departure was inevitable.

On the drive back to Midland, we drove through the town and stopped off at this ice cream joint so the kids could cherish a small victory from the day's exploits.

Alayna and Kris are not impressed with one another's selections.

As long as sugar was involved, Abby was cool with missing out on a day at the beach.

Caseville, Take Two.  This time Kris decided to haul along this frickin' beach umbrella of ours that we use, like, once every six years.  I have no idea why we still own it.

The girls, for whatever reason, decided to play in the sand directly next to the sidewalk.  Who knows why.

This is what I do at the beach.  Read and bronze.

We never found the rest of her body, sadly.

Seriously.  Nothing about this looks fun in the slightest.

Chasing after carrion on the beach.  Never gets old.

 

After hanging out at the beach for a couple hours, we decided to walk about a half a mile down the beach to a nearby pier to check it out.  The kids made short work of any obstacle along the way.

The Houghs, Beach Edition. (I totally look like some random stranger that photobombed this family trying to get a pic at the beach.)

(You can see the pier there in the distance.)

Some washed up trees (seriously) that were lying across the sand.

After nearly a decade in Florida, it's jarring to go out into this water and find that it lacks salt.

Abby, in the zone.

Continuing on. . .

Finally at the pier. . .

The Cannonball watches the waves crash against the pier (the wind was much stronger out on the water.)

It was a pretty long walk out to the end, but the girls were insistent.

I assume there's a light of some kind on the top of this to warn approaching ships at night.  But who knows.

My roommates, on a pier.

I love checking this stuff out.

Well, no shit.

Abby leaves her mark on the beach (we didn't have anything sharp with which to carve into the metal pole, I guess.)

'Houghs Rule.'  Tell your friends.

After checking out the pier the kids were getting hungry, so we hit up a beach-side restaurant to grab some dinner (where we gorged ourselves on not-at-all-healthy, fried food.). Afterwards, we drove back to Midland, proud that our second attempt at the beach was significantly more successful than our first.

- Brian