Manistee National Forest

A few weekends ago my family convened on the west side of the state for a little mid-summer camp trip. The weekend was filled with a lot of laughs, and even more mosquitos. Here in Michigan people have been talking about how this was going to be a banner year for mosquitos because of all the rain and melted snow – and they’re not joking around. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Yikes. The beach was the only respite. But the weather was gorgeous, complete with exciting thunderstorms at night. We ate like kings, and were re-introduced to the magic of pie irons. Oh, the possibilities! I felt like Bubba Gump listing out all the ideas for what to concoct in the pie iron over the fire. (Forrest Gump? Not a timely reference, I know.) It was fun to camp with my brother and his family, something we’d never done before. Lake Michigan never disappoints, that’s for sure. It’s always a little different, which is always good in my book.