Hartwick Pines 2017

We changed our camper's tires, lubricated them the morning before we left.  It was a beautiful day to drive and set up camp.  While I was asking our neighbor for a favor to bring the trash/recycle containers back in, neighbor told me " You guys are getting out of town before the rain? ".  It never occurred to me that a big storm that would result to so much property damage due to flooding was on its way.

While getting the awning up a butterfly landed on the hubby.  The kids went bike riding along the trail while Bandit and I walked behind them.

That night it rained until about 0900 in the morning.  

Made tie-dyed butterflies at the visitor's center.

Our second night at Hartwick Pines was raining as well till mid morning.  We went to Houghton Lake and bought a fuse I burst and a strand of awning that needed to be replaced since the hubby pulled it off when he was setting up camp.  We also went to get supplies in Grayling town,  they were having free hotdogs at the parking lot.

We decided to walk the Glory and Bright Lake trail that afternoon and it was a challenged.  It started out to be fun.  We met another family on their way back, the kids told us it was a dud since there was no bears.  

Then Bandit decided to walked through the muddy trail.  He came out the other side of this swamp all black on his underside.

We made it to the Glory Lake.

It was peaceful and beautiful, made the muddy walk well worth it.

Of course on our way back, we still have to go through the same trail.  I decided to walk the other side of the trail which was not so wet but still muddy.  Our feet and slippers got stuck a few times.  While Bandit just watched us struggle out everytime.

Had to do a lot of cleaning up on Bandit and kids feet once we were back.

That night, we listened to a mini lecture about the Loons.

Enjoyed our first campfire.

We woke up to a beautiful morning the next day.  Took advantage of the beautiful day and walked the dog while the kids went bike riding.

While riding their bikes down this hill, Lyn fell off her bike.  Scariest time of this trip for me while I helplessly watched her fall off her bike while coming down the hill.  

We were supposed to learn about Black Bears that night but it rained late in the afternoon.  So we just read and played some indoor games including UNO and CLR.

The next day we went to the logging house and learned about the good olden toys kids played with while their parents were working.

Played a game with another family where we made a huge circle and each had two sticks.  One player would tossed a small hoop using the two sticks while the other player tries to catch it with a stick.

Bandit's favorite spot at the site.

The ladder ball was the favorite game while just hanging around the campsite.

It rained almost every night but we always woke up and enjoyed dry beautiful days.  Not knowing until we went to town and was able to checked on our phones that the rain was so bad back home and friends were posting about flooding and properties destroyed.  Our thoughts were mostly, do we still have dry things when we get home?  Will our things be floating around? 

Fortunately, the drive back was a good day and it stopped raining even at home and our property was not affected by the flood.