Do you ever just need to cut ties with technology? Have a sudden urge to run away and be one with nature?
I will admit, that this trip was partially spurred on by the fact that Buddy clearly needed a little technology detox. We had gotten into back-to-school mode, where we weren’t going on as many daily adventures, and we let him veg out to videogames a few too many days in a row. I read that Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park was going to be doing a Star Party to celebrate the potential viewing of the Northern Lights.
Buddy is a fourth grader this year, and along with that comes a right of passage that he has been waiting for since he learned about it three years ago.
Did you know that every fourth grader in the United States is eligible for a free National Park pass? The program is called Every Kid in a Park. It is open to any fourth grader in the United States both traditionally schooled, and homeschooled. The pass is very easy to obtain on the websites, then you print the coupon and take it to any National Park Service visitor center for your physical pass. The pass is good through August 31 of the following year.
Buddy has been planning a National Park road trip with his Gpa for three years, and we are so excited that next summer will finally be the summer that it happens. {edited: due to current travel restrictions in the year 2020, or trip has been postponed to summer 2021. Though we are pretty bummed out that we won’t get to make the trip this year, we are excited to have another year of build up, and research before heading out.}
In the meantime, it was Labor Day weekend in Michigan, the first day of eligibility for the 2019 – 2020 fourth-grader national Park pass. On a whim, I suggested to Daddy that we lock up the technology, and take him camping at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore is not a place that I recommend trying to visit on a whim, if you plan on camping. I will admit that we got VERY lucky! There are two campgrounds within the national park. One is that the north end, DH Day Campground, and the other is at the south end, Platte River Campground. It is very unlikely on a holiday weekend that you will find any availability at either of these campgrounds. But, I happen to be pretty stubborn, or as I like to say, very persistent. So as Daddy drove north, I continued to refresh the recreation.gov webpage. I was able to find a spot for Saturday night at DH Day Campground, and then after a few more hours of searching a one night availability popped up at Platte River Campground for Sunday night. In all honesty, had we not found a campsite, the alternative may have been camping in the Walmart parking lot. Done it before, most likely will do it again!
Since this was a last-minute trip, we just took along with us our three-person backpacking tent. We decided that we would grab some hot dogs to cook on the fire one night, and then go out to dinner the other night. {You will learn that this type of spontaneity when it comes to camping is very rare for us, but gave us the chance to really be minimalists with the gear we took.}
Immediately upon entering the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore area, we went to the main visitor center and turned in Buddy’s Kids in the Park pass for a National Park pass.
He has always been very intrigued by the stamps stations at all of the national Park gift shops, where you are welcome to collect stamps on any piece of paper of your choosing, but of course they sell an “official stamp book.” He did ask nicely, and knowing that we will be visiting several national parks this year, I finally caved in and let him purchase the Passport Stamp Book. If you are only visiting a few national parks, or would like to just have a place for your kids to collect stamps, check out my freebie printable for simple National Park pass stamps here.
With his pass in hand, we headed up to DH Day Campground. Feeling very independent, especially in light of the fact that he was an only child for the weekend, Buddy insisted on setting up the tent on his own. We have a Kelty Outfitter Pro three-person backpacking tent, it is extremely easy to put together, even by one small person.
Once the tent was set up, we had previously explored the Ranger programs being offered for the evening. There was a campfire chats just after dinner, and then the big event was the Stars in the Park Party starting at 9:00 PM at the parking lot for the sleeping bear dunes climb.
We had time to go grab dinner, and groceries. We headed up into Suttons Bay. Here you will find a very touristy town that caters to weekend visitors. Even though we typically like to try small mom-and-pop type restaurants, the Cherry Republic, which is a small Michigan-based company, looked very intriguing from the outside. The inside of the restaurant was just as interesting. The food was excellent! Buddy enjoyed sampling their many varieties of house made soda. After dinner, Daddy and I went next door to their or wine tasting room, and sampled a few options as well. There, you can also find samples of their soda, without having to go into the restaurant, but Buddy had had his fill of soda with dinner, and was much more interested in finding some cherry pits for the pit spitting arena outdoors.
We ventured into the only grocery in town, for some groceries and snacks for the evening. This is what happens when you take a spontaneous trip! Their selection of gluten-free options were very limited. My fault! I should know better! If you have dietary restrictions, be sure to at least grab food for yourself before heading away from civilization.
By the time we finished our shopping, and got back to our campsite, we had just missed the evening campfire Ranger talk. This was too bad, as most of the Ranger programs are very region specific, and this talk would have been about the glacial period, and how they formed the Great Lakes region. Be sure to check out the schedule for these Ranger led events when you are visiting any of the National Parks, they are outstanding educational opportunities!
With his telescope in hand, Buddy was very excited to head towards the Star Party. At Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, the Star Party happens once a month. It is in cooperation with the local hobby astronomer clubs. When we arrived, we were given red cellophane to wrap our cell phones and any flashlights and, as to not damage our night vision.
Though we did arrive before the sky was dark, it did allow us to get a good parking spot. Much of the parking lot is taken up with the dozen or so large telescopes that are brought in by the local astronomers. They do allow you to look through them, and each one is pointing out different parts of the night sky.
This gave Buddy a chance to set up his telescope while there was still a little bit of daylight. We were hoping to see the northern lights, but they were scheduled for the middle of the night when we would all surely be fast asleep!
There is a whole lot more to love about Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, be sure to read about our encounter with historical buildings, giant sand dunes and slow winding rivers.
