The 'big' PLatte

What a GREAT weekend at the Lake home of my son's senior pastor/wife! It was on the Big Platte Lake in Honor Michigan .......... and right in the middle of the Sleepy Bear Dunes National Park! One has an almost impossible task of trying to find vocabulary to describe it ... so I won't, I'll leave it to your imagination; let me add this though, norther Michigan is one of the most beautiful places around. Their lake home has lake-front property, and what a joy it was to sit out on the deck at night under a moon/star lighted canopy, feel the soft cooling breeze and listen to the small waves kissing the shoreline. Even with sleepy grandkids almost falling asleep on your laps it was hard to get up and go inside. The early morning light radiated across the lake and you wanted to get breakfast over with and hit the water; and how those grandkids loved the water. Gram & Gramps even went out on kayaks! The lake is rather shallow and mostly placid except for when a motor boat or jet sky go by, an so kayaking is quite easy. I remembered swamping the canoe I rode in with two other men at last year's men's retreat and so in the beginning I was a bit tenuous; but hey if Gram could do it, so could I ... and so my son and I spent some time out on the lake. Later all of us went for a spectacular car ride in the National Park on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive - it was bordered on one side by the sand dunes and on the other by thick vegetative pine forests ....... beautiful. Then late that afternoon, after some swimming time we went to a sand dune beach on lake Michigan. It was crowded with people on its sandy shores, you could also look out and see the high coastal hills of Michigan. As we began the trek to the beach there was a sign there that said 'beware of Michigan cougars!.' I didn't have the heart to tell the grandkids the sign looked pretty old, plus with all the people around cougars would be in hiding, for they thought it was pretty cool to possibly have dangerous cougars stalked them, and gramps is the last one to deny the tooth fairy, Santa Claus the Easter rabbit or the phantom cougar!! We did go for lunch one day in a quaint little town called Glen Harbor after the scenic drive ............ and we each got an Ice Cream Cone! The good wife said she would like to go back there some day and spend a little time shopping - of course 'little' is relative. One the way home all of us stopped at Crystal Mountain Resort, where some good memories in the past have been made and a gram and mom took the two older grandkids down a new 250ft Alpine Slide on little tobaggon sleds, then we ate lunch and departed seperate ways home. It was indeed a good weekend! Maybe as remembrances come back to mind I'll write a little more about it ............this I do know, gram and I sure would like to inherit a lake front cottage up north!