Port Sanilac

August 1st through August 3rd, 2008

Friday, August 1st - 82/59°, Mostly Sunny

    The kids and I worked on getting the van packed so that we could head out this afternoon to go camping at the Lake Huron Campground for the Deckerville Homecoming. By the time we finished up and ate lunch, it was around 2:00pm when we hit the road. Aside from a brief 5 or 10 minute stretch of rain we had an uneventful drive.

    We arrived at the campground a little after 4:00pm and Dad & Mom were about ¾ of the way finished setting up the camper. We decided against eating dinner here tonight when my Grandma called about going to William’s Inn. By the time we decided to go, Grandma and her friend changed their minds and decided not to go with us. We ended up going there for dinner anyway (we usually do eat there – they have the all-you-can-eat buffet with lake perch on it). We all ended up getting the buffet, and as usual we all ate too much.

    After dinner was complete, we headed out in separate directions. Mom, Tara, Jayden, and Steve loaded up into the van and drove to Dick & Lois’s to take Steve in. Dad, Tyler, Samantha, Drew, and I headed into Deckerville to attend the TTPA truck and tractor pull. We watched several runs before the girls joined us after dropping off Steve. We watched the homecoming fireworks from our seats, and then finished watching the rest of the tractors. There were random flashes of lightning in the surrounding areas, and as the last three tractors went it began to (very) lightly sprinkle. We made our way to the vehicles, stopping to talk to various people on our way.

    Once we got on the road on the way to the campground, the rain picked up its pace. It wasn’t raining at the campground, however, as I stood outside with the dog watching the lightning show. We headed inside to climb in bed, and then the rain really let loose. It was a little after midnight when we managed to get to sleep.

Saturday, August 2nd - 73/59°, Mostly Sunny

    Since we were up relatively late last night with the truck and tractor pull activities, I was relieved to wake up at 9:30am this morning. I was fully expecting one of the kids to be up at the crack of dawn, meaning that we would all be woken up by them.

    Anyway, we took a long time to get moving this morning for some reason (I think I know why – I stumbled upon the movie “Spanglish” on TV this morning and Tara found herself watching that). We finally got up and moving, taking turns getting showers and making breakfast. Today we had pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. By the time we finished eating and were all ready to get moving, we were late heading into town for the parade.

    We made the drive into town, but because we were running late the roads on the parade route were blocked off. We asked one of the cops to let us park in one of the lots off the route, and he was nice enough to let us through (apparently Dad & Mom were told that they couldn’t get through even though they were only a little ways behind us – too bad, because there was a parking spot right next to where we parked at). Once we parked and unloaded we walked over to the corner by the old IGA where we have sat for the last several years (note to self – get there a little earlier next year so we can spread out and not have to crowd into a spot). The kids got more than enough candy this year – and not just tootsie rolls (not that there is anything wrong with tootsie rolls, but a bag of them gets old).

    After the parade was complete, Dad & Mom headed out to get ready for the wedding that they had to attend today. Tara & I took the kids and Steve into town to check out the car show (although the kids were more interested in the various sales set up in town). The turnout of cars was fairly decent, and there were several that I would have liked to own. After strolling through the cars, we headed back to the van to make the drive back to the campsite.

    Once we were back at the campsite we spent some time talking to a young lady who was in the process of purchasing a bulldog and was looking for pointers (on a side note: Tinkerbell gets more attention at this campground than any other place I have been – people who have them, people who have always wanted one, or now people who are getting one). After she left we worked on cleaning up the breakfast dishes and starting dinner. Tonight was taco night (it was easier than starting a fire to cook on today).

    We ate outside today, but it was a little breezy – we had a couple of plates take off on us even though they weren’t empty. We should have used regular plates instead of paper. Oh well, live and learn. After we ate and got the dishes cleaned up, the kids headed over to the playground to burn off some of their excess energy. Jayden was so cranky at dinner that she went in to lay down for a while.

    Around 7:00pm the kids came back to get Tinkerbell to take her to the pet contest that the campground was holding. Tara went with them this time, and Steve and I stayed behind to wait for Jay to wake up. Tara and the kids came back with Tinkerbell – she didn’t win anything this year. I got a fire started, thinking that we would be spending the rest of the night here. The kids had other thoughts in mind however – they were going swimming. The kids all got their suits on, as did Steve. Tara headed to the pool to watch them, but she did not join in (it was fairly cool tonight – I wore jeans and a sweatshirt by the fire). Jay woke up while they were gone and ate some of her dinner, as well as some goldfish crackers. They came back from the pool and got their clothes back on with intentions of sitting outside for a while, but Drew and Jay were still pretty cranky and tired, so we got them ready for bed instead.

    Tyler was bugging to watch a movie tonight (in fairness to him, I had mentioned it as a possibility earlier), so around 9:30pm we headed in to start watching “27 Dresses” (a typical love story about a girl who had been a bridesmaid in 27 weddings). We had some ice cream while we were watching the show.

    After the movie was over we got the beds made and tucked everyone in. Samantha got the couch tonight, while Tyler and Steve took the air mattress. Drew slept at the foot of the big bed, while Jay, Tara, & I slept their tonight. It was about midnight when we finally got all the lights turned off for the night.

Sunday, August 3rd - 79/54°, Mostly Sunny

    I woke up for the first time around 7:00am to the sound of howling from the hounds next door. I shut the window and managed to get back to sleep. Sometime around 9:30am I woke up for good. Everybody else started stirring around the same time.

    Since today was checkout day we decided not to make any big messes – that meant a breakfast of cereal and pop-tarts. The adults took turns getting showered, and Tara & I worked on cleaning things up, putting them away, and loading the van. Tyler, Samantha, and Steve worked on bringing over some pallets from the campsite across the road (they were the same campers that were there when we were here at the beginning of July for shutdown – they through an entire pallet on the fire at a time).

    We managed to get pretty much everything we needed into the van – along with the 7 of us. Pretty much everyone had something under their feet, but we all fit. We stopped outside Sandusky to buy 20 pounds of blueberries (those got tucked under Drew’s feet). We also pulled in to the McDonalds in Sandusky to buy lunch for the kids. Tara and I decided to wait until Imlay City to eat at Wendy’s. The rest of our drive was uneventful.

    We arrived home around 3:30pm, and began the process of unloading everything to get back into the groove of our normal life.

Trip Summary

    Once again we had another nice weekend at the campground. Our site (#321) this time was closer to the front of the park than last time, but there weren’t nearly as many people here either. Only the first three rows were occupied, with the exception of an occasional camper here and there. My only complaint with the site was the fire pit – I think somebody backed into it at some point so one side was ground level and the whole thing was tipped. I called it the “fire pit with a view”.

    Homecoming was fun, as usual. The kids enjoyed the truck and tractor pull, the parade, and the activities. Tara & I enjoyed being able to relax, even if it was just a little. As always, I am sure that we will be back again.