My Last Day in Michigan!

Hi there internet friends! Last Thursday (the 15th of August) was my last day to do stuff in Michigan, as we were leaving in the morning on Friday. I hadn't really gotten a chance to go to a good beach to look for Petoskey stones, so we set out on a hunt for the awesome little fossils.

While walking along the beach, I noticed there were many spots just chock full of these little shells.

All the white in this photo are the little shells! There were piles and piles of them lining the shore!

After some walking with a little bit of luck, we came to this big pile of rocks. I was just sure I would be able to find something in there! I climbed up a little higher to search.

I found a comfortable enough spot among the rocks and began looking for some special rocks.

A few minutes later, a girl came over and sat a few feet away from me. I waved at her and said hello.

I invited her to come search with me. While we were looking, we talked a little bit. Her name was Charlotte, and it turns out she was visiting from Germany! 

We looked for nearly a half hour before one of us found something.

I found quite a few of these odd rocks. I began calling them "moon rocks", because they had so many little craters!

Charlotte found this nice Petoskey stone! It's a little hard to see the pattern, but once it's polished it will be easier to see.

I found this cool rock with a honey comb-like pattern! It wasn't exactly a Petoskey stone, but it was definitely a fossil!

I shared half of my sandwich and some grapes with Charlotte for lunch. Before I knew it, we both had to get going! We said goodbye and exchanged numbers; maybe I'll call her sometime! As I walked back along the beach to the car, I took one last, long look at Lake Michigan.

It was so beautiful! I never wanted to leave.

I'm going to miss all the people and places in Michigan SO much!! Those two weeks were the best of my life. I hope I'll get to go back someday! Have you gone anywhere special this summer? If so, where? If not, what have you done for fun?

This has been Dani, dabbling in Michigan. Over and out!

Swimming at Little Glen Lake!

Hi guys! A lot of my time in Michigan was spent at Little Glen Lake. We would play games on the beach, go tubing, and swim!

On this particular day, I went out swimming for a little while before hopping in the boat to go tubing. Little Glen Lake is called that for a reason--you could walk for yards and yards and never have the water get higher than your waist, if that. We had to take the boat to the very middle of the lake to go tubing. Even then, when I would jump off the boat to go swimming, my feet would touch the bottom. 

After tubing, I sloshed through the warm water over to the dock, where I sat down to dry off and relax.

I dabbled my toes off the dock as water dripped from my hair and down my back and legs. I even watched a few teeny tiny fish swim by!

After a long day of playing in the water and sun, I was beginning to feel sleepy. I lay down my towel on the uneven, weathered wood of the dock and lay down.

I turned onto my stomach so the sun wouldn't be in my eyes. I breathed slowly, absorbing the sun smell of the space around me.

What a relaxing place. I love Glen Lake. Do you have a special lake you like to go to? Have you ever been tubing? What do you like to do on vacation?

This has been Dani, dabbling at Little Glen Lake. Over and out!

The Dune Hike!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted about the rest of my vacation yet! We were so busy, it was hard to sit down and blog! I'm home now, but last Monday (the 12th of August) we hiked across the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes!

Here's the view of the dune as we hiked up the very first part. I wasn't too tired yet, so I decided to run up this first part.

That wasn't a good idea.

We still had to climb that and everything beyond it.

I looked out over the dune at everything that I had just hiked. It felt like I was in a desert! The water in the upper left is Little Glen Lake, where I spent a lot of time swimming and tubing.

I worked my way through the loose sand. I could feel the muscles in my legs pumping. 

Here's the view from the top of the mound shown in the second picture of this post! In the upper middle, right across from where we were looking, is the sandy mound I hiked to the top of in my last post, Day One in Michigan--Exploring the Dunes!

I decided that was a nice place to stop and rest for a few minutes. I chose a comfortable, shady spot and took a few sips from my water bottle.

Once we were done resting, we continued on the path (always being careful of poison ivy--it seemed to be all around!). Pretty soon we came to this huge, steep eroding cliff.

I felt the need to climb across it. My feet sunk into the cold sand up to my knees, and I slid down the hill with each step. It wasn't tiring, though, as the sand helped to carry me.

We went down a hill after that, and I thought Lake Michigan would be on the other side. So, you can imagine my surprise when this was what I saw.

Once I was on top of that hill, I could definitely see Lake Michigan. It didn't seem too far, either!

After running down the other side of the hill, I could see the path leading to the water. I could even hear the waves! I threw up my hands in excitement and ran the rest of the way.

I stopped just short of running into the water. I didn't feel like getting all wet, especially since we still had a few more miles of walking before we got back to the car.

I looked out across the lake. I couldn't believe how much it looked like the ocean! I couldn't see the other side, and there were waves, some even bigger than the ones at my favorite beach back in Maine, Popham! However, the water was much bluer than the ocean water in Maine, and it didn't smell at all like salt.

The beach was covered in rocks. I was hopeful that some of those rocks would be Petoskey stones. Petoskey stones are the official stone of Michigan, and are fossilized coral formed by the glaciers thousands of years ago. They used to be more common, but now depending on what beaches you go to, they can be very hard to find.

I remained hopeful, and kept an eye out for the distinct hexagonal pattern as I walked.

While walking along the beach, we came to this gargantuan dune! This is how it looked while looking up at it.

Here's how steep it is compared to the beach.

I just HAD to climb up it! It was so steep, I had to go up on my hands and knees.

The sand slipped out from underneath me and blew in my eyes. I continued until I got to the top, though. Then, I sprinted down! I got going so fast, I lost my footing, and rolled the rest of the way, almost into the water. 

Once everyone had had their fill of climbing, we continued to walk along the beach until we got to the coast guard station, where we were being picked up and driven back to the campground. This was such a fun hike! Sleeping Bear Dunes are so beautiful. Have you ever been to Michigan? Have you ever hiked Sleeping Bear Dunes? Leave a comment below! I'd love to know!
This has been Dani, dabbling at the dunes. Over and out!

Day One in Michigan--Exploring the Dunes!

Salutations, friends of the internet! After driving for nearly ten hours last Wednesday, we arrived at our campground in Michigan. We got there around nine at night, so we had to pitch our tent in the dark! After that we went right to sleep. The next day, we went over to Sleeping Bear Dunes!

This is the view of the first tier of the dune from the parking lot. It's a GINORMOUS pile of sand! It's crazy how big it is.

This is the view from the top of the first tier. There were still two more levels, so to speak, that you could climb up in this particular spot.

Here I am on top of the first tier! That's Little Glen Lake behind me, with Big Glen Lake off in the distance behind it. 

Here's the view from the top level! It was like standing on top of a mountain. Everything was so beautiful!

Here's some more of the dunes. We didn't hike that on that day, though. 

Here I am on top of the top level looking out across the dunes. What an amazing thing to see!

I had so much fun going up the dunes! On our way back down, we dug holes in the sand and buried each other! This sand is better than at the beach; it goes on forever! Stay tuned to see the rest of my posts about Michigan!

This has been Dani, dabbling at Sleeping Bear Dunes. Over and out!

Day Two in Wisconsin!

Hey there blogging buddies! Last Wednesday was my second, and final, day in Wisconsin.

I packed up my things and we all got into the car. Before we got onto the highway to leave, though, we stopped by the American Girl Headquarters in Middleton!!!

Here I am in front of the visitor's lobby. There was nothing for sale, though, but I got to look around. It was total awesomesauce!

After I was done looking around, we got onto the highway and started driving. The American Girl outlet store in Oshkosh was right next to the highway we were driving on, so we stopped by quickly to see what it was like!

Here's what it looked like on the inside. There wasn't as much of a selection, of course, but it was cool to see nonetheless. I had done all my shopping in Chicago, so I didn't buy anything.

When I was done looking, we got back into the car and began our drive to Michigan, our final destination! Stick around to see the rest of my adventures!

This has been Dani, dabbling at American Girl in Wisconsin. Over and out!

Day One in Wisconsin!

Hi friends! Last Monday, after we were done at the Lego Discovery Center, we hopped in the car and traveled to Wisconsin! We arrived later in the evening, so we went out the next day, Tuesday.

First, we went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. We got ice cream and sat by Lake Mendota. I climbed up into the famous big orange chair--it was so tall, I had trouble getting back down!

After that, we walked around Madison some more and went to the capital building. I took off my shoes while we were walking because they were too hot.

We went up to the balcony on top of the capitol building and looked out across Madison. Skye is really afraid of heights, so she was freaking out, but I wasn't as scared. We were pretty high up, though!

Then, we walked up a hill to see a statue of Lincoln in his chair--like the one in D.C., only smaller. I climbed up to sit on his foot!

We took a bus back to the car, and then drove to Mount Horeb, where we went to a scenic outlook. You had to climb up a really tall tower to get there, so Skye almost didn't go up (because she's so afraid of heights), but I went right up! Here I am at the northern view.

We then walked across a field to get to the south tower--here I am in front of the southern view.

Day one in Wisconsin was so fun! Keep watching for my post about day two, soon to come!

This has been Dani, Dabbling in Wisconsin. Over and Out!