The Houghs: Traverse Smitty, Pt. II

(Contd.)

Smitty and I had stayed up for quite awhile the previous night after all the womenfolk had gone to bed. Shortly after we finally turned in the dreaded rain that had been in the forecast arrived. . .

Overnight, raccoons had ambushed our campsite, which we had anticipated in advance. We had stored most of the food in plastic totes, except for these disgusting hot dogs that we had attempted cooking over the campfire (they were charred black on the outside and barely cooked on the inside - pretty gross), which even the raccoons didn't want.

Somehow the raccoons had been able to stumble across our sealed package of muffins that we had saved for breakfast, and had gnawed through the plastic shellcasing in order to get to them. . .

They put all the work into getting those frickin' muffins, yet were clearly appalled by the grossness of our hotdogs that were sitting out, open and available, on the picnic table. Go figure.

Hours later, while people were still getting around for the day and showering (there were huge lines for the showers up at the bathhouse.)

Kris had realized yesterday, after we had set the tent up and moved all our cots and crap into the tent, that we had forgotten to put tarps down underneath the tent. Knowing that it was going to rain a lot on Saturday, Kris and I were able to shimmy tarps in underneath the tarp (miraculously), with only a few areas exposed. In the end, our tent barely leaked, which I was extremely cool with.

Once everyone was showered and ready to roll, we all loaded up and hit the road. We had decided to drive around and check out a few touristy areas that Smitty and Rita recommended outside of Traverse City for the day. It was still raining a little, but it had lightened up to a drizzle.

What. The. F***.

Entering Leland

Smitty wanted to check out the historica fishing village in Leland, and there were lots of restaurants and shops to check out as well.

We didn't eat here, but we did frequent their bathrooms.

Abby makes a friend. . .

Historic Leland Fishing Village

Smitty drops some knowledge. . .

This section of town specialized in comically-overpriced souvenir stores. We bought nothing.

The wharfs

No idea what this dude's up to. . .

The infamous Smitty

Is this a loom?

Some big-ass tree of some local importance (at least according to its plaque.)

Following our trip down to the Leland Fishing Village, we swung in to a local pizzeria for some lunch.

After lunch, hitting up more souvenir stores

While the girls shopped, Smitty and I ducked into a local distillery to to try out some whiskeys. For $5 you got to try four half-shots of whiskey and receive a free shot glass with the distillery's name on it. Not too shabby at all (whiskey was decent, but I've had better.)

On the way back to the van. The kids loved walking this trail of stones down the sidewalk, and of course the Cannonball brought up the rear (Smitty was good enough to wait up for her.)

Since the rain had let up, we decided to take the kids out to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Due to some special promotion they were running - and because we had State Park tags on our van - we were able to get all seven of us into the Dunes for FREE. Booya.

The long climb begins. . .

You'd think this initial wall of sand was the worst, but beyond it the dunes stretch on for frickin' miles. . .

We decided to try and trek across the Dunes until we reached Lake Michigan, which, in theory, didn't sound too challenging at first. . .

Without a doubt, the most athletic one out of all of us was this kid right here. While we all trudged along sluggishly, Abby zigzagged her way up and down various dunes to either side of us, posing for the occassional picture before zooming off again.

Still on our forced march to the Lake.

Signs of exhaustion

Looking back at how far - or not so far - we had come thus far (the parking lot is in front of that tree line at the base of the hill.)

Picture of whatever lake this is.

Abby, going full-tilt down yet another sand dune. . .

Into the wild.

Smitty spots Lake Michigan in the distance

The kids were troopers for this hike - I think we adults complained far more than they did.

Sweaty

Plotting our next move

Lake Michigan, through my telephoto lens

The kids occupied themselves during a little break by drawing in this little sand pit

Smitty, Rita and Abby

On the way back, time for another portrait (our portrait from the previous locaiton didn't turn out that great due to uncooperative children - go figure.)