Variations On A Theme: The Impromptu Vacation

Hey audience! Glad to see you've dwindled down to nothing after our brief stint of Facebook popularity! I know I promised that when we next met I would entertain you with more from our recent trip to Hilton Head, but my dear friend Matt has inspired me to write about something which is also dear to my heart, the impromptu vacation.

Matt did a great job covering what it is that makes pointing at a map and saying "Fuck it, let's go" such a memorable way to vacation and I just wanted to touch on a few of the memories I have with such trips.

Before I grew old, these kinds of trips were a lot easier. There were no full time jobs, the idea of marriage was about as non-existent as the idea of even talking to girls, and no one would even think about having kids for years to come. At the time, my best random travel experiences were with my good friends Jason and Justin. Like Matt, we too took a random trip to Toronto. I want to save that for a later entry, though, as I have since been back and have much more to say about the most wonderful city in North America.

Instead, I'd like to touch on a random day trip we made to Northern Michigan, specifically Traverse City and the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. I don't really remember what the exact circumstances were behind the trip. Probably, we all had a day to kill an spent some time staring at a map and figuring out what we could possibly get up to in a day. As I mentioned earlier, my family had spent almost all of our summers in this area and no trip was complete without spending a day at Sleeping Bear. We loved the exhausting work which climbing the dunes entailed which would all culminate with a race back down.

This picture is actually from a later trip but I don't care because it's beautiful.

Again, this was pre-Katie and I probably suggested we go so that I could relive some of these childhood memories. One of the things I'd always wanted to do was the climb the entire length of the dunes, right down to Lake Michigan. My parents had never consented to this idea, probably because they knew it was fucking terrible.

Jason was better looking in 2007.

Things started off simply enough. After what was probably a five hour car ride, we took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. There are several scenic stops along the drive, the best being the boardwalks which overlook the dunes and the lake. There are also several paths where you can walk across portions of the dunes. We all had our fun climbing up mounds of sand and leaping off, careless as can be. As much fun as it is to play in the sand, I should also note that it there are also many breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. Nostalgia aside, this is one of the most beautiful spots in the state and unlike my recent foray to Interlochen, I've never been disappointed at Sleeping Bear.

After our fun on the dunes, we decided to make our way to the dune climb to complete my stupid goal. As most of the decisions we made on this trip were down by the seat of our pants, we probably didn't go about this in the smartest way. Breakfast and lunch that day had been a box of Goldfish I'd picked up at a CVS on the way. Never once did it occur to me that if I were to be climbing sand dunes in the hot sun, taking some sort of beverage with me might have been a good idea.

I don't really remember how long it took us to make the climb. I do remember that almost everyone we past on the way kept encouraging us by letting us know that we were almost there. Almost every single person that told us this was a fucking liar, as every time we'd reach the top of a dune, we were dismayed to find nothing but more sand and another arduous climb ahead of us.

Eventually we made it, though. I wish I could say finally laying eyes on Lake Michigan was somehow significant in my life, but mostly what I felt was a huge sense or relief and then a growing sense of dread when I realized we we're going to have to make the same trip back.

Jason was the only one that had any foresight to pack a swim suit, so while he cooled off in the water, Justin and I took a break and conserved our strength for the return trek. I don't remember much about it other than we took a lot more breaks, and we made sure to tell everyone that we past that they were almost there, no matter how far they actually were. When we finally made it back, I think I consumed two or three Gatorade's within a matter of minutes.

Justin needs no further caption.

In retrospect, it was kind of stupid, but the stupidity is one of the reasons it was such a memorable experience. There was only a certain window in my life when a trip like that would have been possible. And as much as I like to spend my free time actively planning the next great trip, there's still something wonderful about the experiences we were able to have with little or no planning. I was able to return to Sleeping Bear again a few years later, this time with Matt and Katie in tow. That, however, deserves another entry.

Up next, I'll finally start talking about Hilton Head. I promise.