One of my all-time favorite fun activities I have experienced with a group of other adult friends was getting a charter bus to see the Detroit Tigers play at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit.
My top five things in life that bring me the most joy are:
- Family time
- Baseball
- Music (listening, playing or going to concerts)
- Spending time outdoors in Pure Michigan
- Connecting with friends
Anytime I can combine these five things into an activity or even better – a vacation, life is really good. For example, I have two upcoming vacations planned: one with my friends next week and the other with my two young adult sons next month.
A couple of close friends and I are going camping at Holland State Park, which is nestled between Lake Michigan and a large inland lake, Lake Macatawa. Although I have camped at numerous state parks and national parks in Michigan, I have yet to visit this one.
I am a little nervous about this being the “maiden trip” with my recently purchased pop-up camper. Not only will this be the first time camping with this camper, but it will also be the first time I have hauled a trailer behind my vehicle, on my own, without my ex-husband’s, my mom’s, my auntie’s, my oldest son’s, or my grandparents’ help. It will be an adventure for sure!
The second trip with my sons next month will be less stressful, as my oldest son is very comfortable towing, maneuvering, and backing up vehicles with trailers. Plus, it will be my second time doing it, so hopefully the nervous jitters will be gone, and my fears will be conquered.
The first trip is only about two to three hours away, and the second trip is about four to five hours away. My sons and I will be camping at Mears State Park in Pentwater, Michigan, near Silver Lake Sand Dunes, Lake Michigan, and Silver Lake.
I will be towing our camper, and my son will be towing his boat with his Jeep. We will have some fun driving on the dunes in his Jeep and a day on his boat on Silver Lake. Our campsite is located literally footsteps from Mears State Park’s pristine mile-long stretch of Lake Michigan beach, where we will enjoy sunbathing and swimming.
We will also bring our boogie boards to body surf in Lake Michigan’s waves. In previous visits to Lake Michigan in August, we have had fun in waves as high as five to six feet, but on average, at least three feet.
Camping is a fabulously fun activity for a group of adults!
Benefits of camping
Camping and being in nature are truly my happy places. I feel closer to my Creator when I spend time playing outdoors and sleeping under the stars. I feel the weight of my worries fall to the wayside, and I immediately feel better.
When I was about seventeen years old, I started group camping with friends and my same-aged cousin (Jeremy) in tents at primitive campsites on Lake Michigan and other areas along the Au Sable River.
By the time we were twenty-one years old, we had established an annual cousins and friends group camping trip. The rule was that our cousins had to be at least eighteen to attend, as Jeremy and I did not want to be responsible for any underage kids.
The cousins’ camping trip happened every year during the Fourth of July holiday because we had many days off from work. Depending on what day the Fourth fell on, we could have up to five days of camping.
This annual party lasted for thirteen years, and then a lot of us started having children, so the big party campout excursion ended, and our camping style changed drastically for the kids.
According to the camping experts at KOA, “Camping has a great number of benefits for everyone old and young that you and your family can enjoy while spending time in the great outdoors:
1. Camping Helps with Stress Reduction
2. Fresh Air Has Numerous Benefits
3. Camping Improves Relationships
4. Camping Promotes Physical Fitness
5. Get Better Sleep Quality When Camping
6. Camping Allows You to Unplug
7. Camping Gives You the Opportunity to Enjoy Great Food
8. Have the Chance to Connect with Nature
9. Develop New Skills While Camping
10. An Abundance of Educational Opportunities are Available When Camping
11. Camping Grows Confidence
12. Build Family Connections Through Camping,”.
Great Lakes beach camping
My cousin and I were born only four days apart and grew up in a camping-and-traveling family. Our first excursion, according to family lore, took place when we were only a few months old. As we grew older, beginning in our late teens, we started camping together with our friends.
Most notably, we camped primitively on the west side of Michigan, south of Traverse City, in a smaller town named Frankfort, in tents, on Elberta Beach, off the shores of Lake Michigan. We quickly learned that you need tent stakes (yes, they are a real thing!) and that we needed to move our tents to the other side of the bluff for protection, to keep them from blowing away.
However, it was technically illegal for us to camp on the beach, but the locals told us that we would be okay as long as we followed the golden rule of camping, “Take only pictures; leave only footprints,” and most importantly, leave the space we occupied better off than how we found it. Oh yeah, and absolutely NO VEHICLES on the beach. We had to haul our gear down the beach on foot to set up camp.
We camped for four years on Elberta Beach, then relocated our annual Fourth of July cousin-friend party to the east side of Michigan, in Oscoda, on the Au Sable River, where we set up primitive camps in tents within the Huron-Manistee National Forest.
Our last location, before we all settled down with spouses and children, was on the west side of Michigan again, but this time in the Manistee National Forest, which was just footsteps away from the beach on Lake Michigan; no longer on the beach.
Fun activities for a group of adults
In conclusion, camping with friends and family creates lasting memories, strengthens relationships, and reminds us how meaningful simple outdoor adventures can truly be.
