After a week at Van Buren State Park for the Mini Lite Rally and some work days, we made our way westward into Illinois to meet up with ladies from Girl Camper and teach a Camper College.

Today is my 60th birthday. I can think of a few ways I would prefer to spend my birthday, but spending it on the road with Tony is nothing to complain about!

It wasn’t a very long trip. There was, however, a lot of traffic through a lot of it, so it took us about four hours to get there. We did change time zones, so the clock didn’t match our bodies. We will probably fall asleep early (on the clock) tonight.

I skipped yesterday

Wednesday we finished up the podcast work, and Tony finished up his tasks for another job. The files he made were big, and so we decided to put them on a thumb drive and submit them by mailing the drive.

While Tony finished up, I fried some bacon on the griddle, then got it cleaned up and packed away. We munched on bacon and other snacky things for our lunch.

One more trip to South Haven

When Tony was ready, we headed off to South Haven Michigan for one last visit. I had found a very popular coffee house next door to the UPS store, so we went there first. I was hungry from not eating much lunch, so I picked up a slice of turtle cheesecake for us to share with our coffee. I didn’t think to take a photo until it was gone. It sure was tasty

When we arrived to the parking lot for the UPS Store and coffee, we saw that the drawbridge was up. We were a little ways away, and there were trees in the way, but we managed to get a sneak peek at the bridge. We are fascinated by drawbridges.

Bacon on the griddle

Turtle cheesecake was so good we forgot the photo

We just caught a glimpse of the drawbridge in South Haven MI

Sunset at the beach

Back at camp, Tony made beef and broccoli for dinner. Then we took a walk to the beach to see the sunset. Sadly, it was sort of overcast so it wasn’t all that great, but we at least finally made the trek over there.

Tip: If you are camping at, or even visiting Van Buren State Park and you want to go to the beach, there is a nice, wide, paved sidewalk leading to the beach. At the end, there is a staircase and also matting so a carriage or wheel chair can get right down to the beach. Or, if you are like us, you can take the path that leads into the woods behind the pavilion. You’ll have a nice hike up a sand dune, though the pathway is fairly well packed so it’s a bit easier than walking on a sand dune for most of the route. It’s a nice hike up and over the dune. If you want a nice hike. Otherwise, follow the signs like a normal person and have nice flat walk on a sidewalk.

Sunset over Lake Michigan at Van Buren State Park

Paved pathway to the beach at Van Buren State Park

Sand Castles at Van Buren State Park beach

Winding down

As the sun went down, we wandered back to our site thought the campground. Many sites had campfires burning, many people were sitting outside enjoying the evening. A few sites had various amount of lighting. One site in particular was really lit up with lots of lights!

Four hours on the highway

Our trip today was about 175 miles. We hit more traffic than we are accustomed to. There was a lot of construction and a lot of semi truck traffic. We stopped for gas and coffee, and there was a Popeye’s Chicken so we picked up some lunch as well. I was a two-fisted drinker, getting both iced tea with my chicken and coffee for the afternoon.

A new campground

We arrived - early because of the time change - at Big Rock campground and got settled in. It threatened to rain right about the time we were arriving, but it never really did. Which makes me happy because last time I set up in the rain I injured myself.

Two-fisted drinking on my birthday

Camp site at Big Rock Campground Illinois

I tied my hair up wet last night; I wish it would stay this way

Birthday Dinner

After a couple of hours recovering from drive and hiding from the intense heat and humidity, Tony took me out to dinner. Karon had recommended the Fireside Grille in Sugar Grove, Illinois and it looked like just the place for a nice dinner.

Fireside Grille was a terrific place for our celebration dinner. I had a rum punch drink and Tony tried a couple of their beers. We had a hard time choosing what to order, so we got two things and shared. I ordered the coconut shrimp dinner, and Tony ordered the Cajun pasta with shrimp. We had salads, and they brought a loaf of bread that was so delicious and so crusty that we made a big mess of crumbs on the table. The server assured us that was normal.

Tony asked if they had carrot cake, and they did so we ordered a slice. It was a big piece of cake, and the server brought it out with a candle for me to blow out. I took one bit, then boxed it up in addition to the pasta we couldn’t finish, and half a loaf of bread. We will not go hungry tomorrow for sure!