Silver Lake Dunes, Michigan camping

In 2022 we went camper camping for the first time with our friends Sarah and Matt and their dog Mieka. Brett and I had never taken Cal the Pom camping before. We had also never introduced Cal to Mieka, who is a high energy and sweetheart of an Australian shepherd. Below is a picture of all of us in the side by side and another of the dogs coming to an understanding.

From Chicago, Silver Lake Dunes is three and a half hours. We drove to Kalamazoo to meet Sarah and Matt first (2 and a half hours) and then went the rest of the way by camper, with a trailer for the side by side. The camper has a “garage” so it carries bikes, gas powered toys, kayaks, and extra gear and so forth, but can also be used as an extra bedroom if you have an air mattress. This is what Brett, Cal and I did for the weekend. We debated having a beer in the camper (the driver did not) on the drive up, but decided that probably wasn’t legal and abstained until we got to the campground. I am a rule follower after all.

Below is our campground at Silver Lake State Park.

There’s only so much you can do at a campground at night. Sit around the fire, eat, drink, talk, and stargaze. So that was our first night. We walked the campground and probably talked too loudly, which made me anxious and want to go back to the camper for the “wild” (aka slightly louder) part of the night. I understand being a courteous neighbor to fellow campers, but why do I assume someone will be angry with me before it even happens?

The next day was an anxiety adventure. There are seat belts in the side by side but I wasn’t sure how I would fair on the dunes, or driving on the streets on the way there. I took a klonopin for anxiety. Annnnnddd… so one thing I learned that day was that the side by side was not yet street legal. It didn’t have registration or a license plate. We tried to go to the park area of the dunes to ride in the vehicle and we were stopped by a park person. We also almost got a ticket at this time, but Matt made the executive decision to drive away while the 21 year old looking ranger yelled for us to wait. I freaked out about this and had a panic attack and decided they were going to follow us and we would be arrested. Unlikely considering we had no license place and his office was a hut.

Matt assured me everything was fine. He’s a natural extrovert and is charming and knows Michigan law more than I do. In some parts of the UP and northern Michigan, driving a side by side that is not street legal is fairly common. But I’m an omnivert, so I assumed I was being overly worried and I “knew” with a change of attitude I would go back into “fun party camping” mode. I tried, I really did. I drank a beer and tried to have a “fuck it!” Attitude. Later, he admitted he kept an eye out behind us for a couple miles after the run in.

I panicked enough that we decided to keep the side by side off the street as much as possible. I think everyone was annoyed with my paranoia, but it would not cease. I clenched my jaw until it felt like my teeth would crack and I tried to belly breathe but it didn’t work because I was too worked up. Then I decided the cure for this was legal Michigan marijuana. I got way too high and the paranoia worsened. We took the side by side to a general store to get more food, drinks, and ice, and I stayed in the back of the vehicle staring at the sky and my hands trying to act “normal” while the others went inside to shop. I mostly spent the time over analyzing every situation we had been in that day and assuming I was the worst version of myself in every scenario.

Later that day once I had quietly read a book in bed and taken a nap to reset, we found a sandbar off the beach and laid out blankets. We crossed a small bridge with the dogs and found a shady grassy area next to a small creek and leading down to a sandbar. We wanted to go swimming, but it was Lake Michigan in June cold, so we didn’t last long.

We chose not to use the pool as we would have had to leave the dogs in the alone in the camper and I was not ready to do that. Cal was not interested in camping at all and spent the majority of his time sitting in front of the steps of the camper waiting to go inside.

We spent the day cooking and drinking and laying in the sun. That evening we had a beautiful bonfire and watched the sky over the lake through the sky view app. We laid in the grass looking at stars and found Saturn, Cassiopeia, and Vega. Thus far in all my US travels I have seen the best stars in Michigan, Maine, and Montana.

I also discovered that I burned the bottom of my shoes from sitting like below.

On our final day we got a little “hillbilly” as Matt put it- we tried to go to the dunes a second time and I was stressed af but also did a lot of stating the facts (what are they going to do? Ticket and/or tow Matt, the owner)? We made it inside however we couldn’t affix the flag to the side by side to get onto the dunes so we couldn’t go up. So make sure you’re adequately prepared if doing off-roading, which I have very little experience with. Instead we drove around where we could and I enjoyed the sun and air on my face while breathing deep and trying to fully take in vacation.

We stopped just north of Muskegon in White Lake for lunch and brews. We went to Fetch Brewing Company and found outdoor seating with the dogs. The taps of beer and cider rotate so I can’t recommend a particular drink, and we got food from a local food truck- pretzels with cheese and other small bites. The dogs did so well and enjoyed the patio and being loved on by everyone outside.

We then headed from Fetch to Virtue Cider in Fennville, MI, about an hour and fifteen drive. Virtue is famous for their award winning ciders, tours, farm, and amazing outdoor space. We did samplers and bought tee shirts and some bottles to bring home.

Overall I was a nervous Nellie that weekend and most of it was unfounded. We laugh about it now and the side by side is now legal for the streets and we take it on new adventures. We drive back to Kalamazoo and parted ways there, taking home a very exhausted Pomeranian and a lot of sand.