We arranged for babysitters and decided to make it doubly
fun, we would make it a romantic getaway.
Ryan had booked us for two nights at the Holland State Park campgrounds
near the Ottawa lake. Which was
conveniently located across from the Ottawa lake, which spills out into lake
Michigan. There are a plethora of
activities to choose from, such as hiking, biking, paddle-boarding, kayaking,
boat rentals, and sun-bathing. However,
the forecast looked rather grim as we hit the road on Friday morning. A strange late July storm was brewing. The wind was stiff, the rain was soft, and
the temperature was low. But as is our
spirit, we were optimistic that Michigan would have brighter conditions. Well, we were wrong. The weather was much like Chicago.
We hit the road and made the 20 minute journey north to
Holland State Park, arriving around 7:00 pm.
Upon check-in we encountered a little problemo. You see, the Michigan State Park Reservation
website is poorly designed and little confusing. While checking availability, Ryan accidently
booked and paid for the wrong nights for our trip. Therefore, we had no reservation to speak
of. And let me tell you, Michigan
campsites BOOK –UP fast. This campground
only had two campsites left for our two nights, so we ate the money already
paid and paid for another two night stay.
With that little mishap behind us, we settled for a good
nights sleep. However, we were not
destined to sleep well that night, for the wind hollowed and rain pelted poor
Landshark all night long. It was cold,
dreary, and wet when we woke up the next morning. I didn’t even want to get up out of bed to go
to the bathroom. But we cooked
breakfast, made some coffee in our chemex, and the rain started to let up. We pulled ourselves together and made our way
to downtown Holland for the famous Holland farmer’s market. Which is well known for its bouquet of local
fruit, vegetable, and meat. We got our
local ingredients for the weekend, and set afoot for a stroll through downtown
Holland.
After exploring a few very cool shops, and being tempted to
buy various Michigan mitten items, our stomachs began to indicate that we were
ready for our next meal. So we popped
into the New Holland Brewing Company to try another ale and grab some
grub. Although rather chilly, we sat
outside to enjoy the fresh air, people watch, and sip our tasty brews. It was rather enjoyable.
Upon returning to Holland State Park, we set out on the lone
hike available to Mt. Pisgah. This is
essentially a stairway to the top of the dunes that culminates in a view of
lake Michigan and lake Ottawa and the town of Holland in the distance. The hike down back to the campground,
zig-zags through a ravine of deciduous and pine forest. It was a nice hike, but had the weather been
warmer I think our time would have been better spent biking, kayaking, or at
the beach. We ended the day with dinner
and campfire.
The Holland State Park Campground is a simple and
straight-forward facility. It was
dominated by RVs with the occasional tent camper squeezed between. Its best quality is that it is near the
beach, kayak rental, and trail head for Mt. Pisgah. But that is about it. I would not come back to the campground for
camping alone. The sites are too close
together, the walking path next to our campsite welcomed noisy visitors, and it
was right next to the main road to the beach.
It was not a wilderness campground.
The bathrooms were adequate. I
think next time we’ll explore a different park on the Michigan coast.
Saturday night was unfortunately not much better than Friday
night in terms of rain, thunder, and lightning.
When we woke up the next morning, we knew it was time to hit the road and
head home. We hitched up and headed out
when a very mysterious noise alarmed us both.
It seemed to be coming from the transmission, a strange high-pitched
humming, that sounded like the transmission was strained. In the
pouring rain, Ryan got out to check it.
Being that he knows nothing about cars, Ryan said looks fine to me, lets
go. Ryan got two or three more times to
check on the mysterious sound, each time becoming more and more saturated with
the worsening weather conditions. The
rain was merciless, I could barely see out the windshield, and the streets were
starting to flood. Our shoulders tense,
our stomachs lurched and we headed home with a very uneasy feeling inside. We took it slow and as we traveled into the
crossroad of America, the great state of Indiana, the skies cleared and we
cruised home without further delays or worries.
All in all, we had a lot of fun in our first trip onboard
Landshark, because we got to do it together.
Even in the rain, our little camper is a cozy little home. And without the kids to distract us, we were
able to spend some precious uninterrupted time together. Every marriage deserves two nights in a
camper alone.
