Camping in Traverse City State Park, Michigan

In mid September Brett and I met up with our friends Sarah and Matt for a Traverse City camper weekend. We first stopped at their property, some 30 acres in Kalamazoo county to ride in a side by side and explore what their plans for the property are for the future. Matt is currently building the pergola and the carport and outhouse. There is currently no electricity there. There are Trails for dirt bikes, side by side, and four by fours all over the property.

First off, we were in a camper so I packed for temperature variations that far north. It’s warm up to 80 during the day and in the 50’s at night.

What I packed that I used: yoga pants, sports bra, tee shirts, jeans, sneakers, long socks, a puffer jacket, a flannel, a long sleeved shirt, flip flops, a rubber wedding ring, sunglasses, shorts,

What I didn’t use: swimsuit but I should have,

What I forgot: water shoes, a baseball hat for hiking and tick avoidance, another sweater, gloves, and flip flops on the island we boated out to.

What I bought: a baseball hat, rocking camp chairs, (I purchased two gci outdoor rocking/foldable camp chairs on Amazon because our friends had them and they were amazing), sunscreen, and lots of food and beer.

First we stopped for diesel and beer and pizza in the class c 2005 camper. It comes with a garage for paddle board and kayaks, and a trailer for side by side which is street legal.

Three hour drive to traverse city

We stayed in the Traverse City State Park Camground. There is a pedestrian bridge that goes over Munson avenue and leads down to the east arm of the Grand Traverse Bay from the campground.

The first night (Friday) we Took the side by side 5 min down the road for drinks and hot dogs to cook over the fire and stayed up having a fire and star gazing. There was a chance of northern lights but we didn’t see them this time.

Saturday morning we woke and had some liquid IV and coffee with pumpkin spice creamer and did a 20 minute yoga video on yoga mats on the ground under the changing autumn leaves.

We lounged around the campground until around 2pm, and I worked hard to not be on my phone and instead breathe deep and enjoy the nature. I was feeling productive and coming up with so many ideas for the blog but I also wanted to be present, so I jotted quick notes.

We Drove to the bay and let Mieka play in the water and sand. It was Cold and windy by the water and hot once we were walking on Front street. There was a big Pride event going on. We Went to Rare Bird Brewey with a dog friendly patio. I had a Mango basil bliss drink and pork belly bahn mi. Twilight beer and smoked trout dip was what Brett chose.

After window shopping all along the central district in Traverse City we went back to the campground to change. We went to the Vasa hiking trail and promptly got lost. Fortunately we figured it out before sunset and we had a great time hiking.

Sunday we booked a pontoon charter from Blue Sky rentals. We drove fifteen minutes south to Spider Lake for a four hour boat rental on a 22 foot, 60hp pontoon that was dog friendly. We Went to a couple different islands, swam (this is where the bathing suit would have come in handy as the water here was much warmer than Lake Michigan). We packed snacks and drank breakfast beers and listened to music and threw the ball for Mieka on one of the islands. The temperature changed a lot from 8am to 12pm.

After we finished at Spider Lake we packed up the campground and emptied everything. We set back for Kalamazoo, about a three hour drive. Brett and I continued home to Chicago from there. All in all a great weekend and Traverse City is the perfect mix of nature and cultural things to do.