Day 14 Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan

Sunset at Grand Rapids, Michigan

Since I don't have anything written for this day the following is from Courtney

"We pull up to Grand Rapids State Park couple hours before sunset at campsite four, about to pitch a red tent meant for the woods–in the sand. Kelly pulled the tent out amidst the cluttered, stuffed to the rim trunk. She thought she knew how to set up that tent. But when it came down to it, we were both kind of clueless.

That is until Mark showed up.

But there was another problem before Mark showed up. When Kelly and I pulled pulled up two tents were already pitched in lot four. The lady in the lot next to us said we better figure it out, because there was no way we were allowed to pitch our tent behind her massive camper. (Why? Not sure.) To help clear things up the park guard came over. Turned out that Frank was supposed to be at campsite number 87 for Monday night, and number 4 the following three nights. So when he got back from playing at the beach with his four kids, the guard broke the news. Mark had to pack all of his gear, tents and food back up into his South Carolina license plated mini-van.

Talk about awkward when he showed up. However, he felt silly for acting like a dyslexic, and helped us with our tent regardless. What took two hours for us to “attempt” to figure out, took two minutes for Mark. As you can imagine, we had most of it all wrong.

What a learning experience. But thanks to Mark I am now confident that the second time around, pitching will be a piece of cake.

I recommend Grand Haven for anyone traveling through Michigan. The sunsets are to die for. Bright rustic orange colored sky turns into a deep red, just as night falls.

Getting a little help from our new friend

Ciao Michigan! Onward, CANADA!!"

In my defense I DO know how to pitch a tent- it was a brand new one that I have never used before and the pictures were horrible

taaaa-daaaa