Is the Bear Sleeping under the Dunes?

I think everybody in the Kennedy family can agree that some of our happiest memories together are from our summers at Interlochen. For me at least, between the music and beaches and lakes and campfires and good food and sun and the camp experience, it all just coagulates into one big feeling of pure joy. Knowing too that if I was at Interlochen, I was free from school definitely promoted that good feeling.

It's not quite the same, (in a different, but maybe even better way?) but two weekends ago I got to go with Allison to Sleeping Bear Dunes again! We drove up to Northern Michigan originally for a regatta we were coaching, but figured if we drove up early, we could enjoy hiking the dunes without a ton of people around. Of course, as any self-respecting frequent visitor of Northern Michigan should, I had hiked the dunes before. That experience though was something in and of itself...

I'm not quite sure why, but it was just me, Glo and Daddy. Already that makes for a stellar lineup(: Anyways, it was like 90 degrees, and we start sweating as soon as we step out of the car, and the dunes are PACKED with people. Not to deterred, Glo and I decided to charge up the first dune and see how far we got... Yeah, for anyone who's been there, you know that if that dune had a nickname, it would be something along the lines of "soul crusher", "dream destroyer", or "harbinger of death". It's HUGE. Anyways, and probably predictably, we are dying by the top. And there's still a long way to go...

So thinking of ocean beaches we've been to in Europe, Glo and I decide to take off our shoes, cause "the sand will be so soft and cool under our feet". Uh yeah no! It was like playing a game of "Red Hot Lava" with no furniture to climb onto. The sand was SO hot. But my rationalization continued: "You'll get used to it. In a couple minutes it'll feel great!"

Three or four dunes later, we're exhausted, sweating, panting like dogs, and my feet literally are starting to lose the feeling in them from being so hot. Now there's a point about 1/4 of the way there, when you can look out towards the lake and see it, blue and beckoning. We were standing there, admiring the view for a couple minutes, our feet buried under the sand to get to the cooler layer below(:  And honestly, from that vantage point, it doesn't look THAT far away. Just a couple more hills and you're there. So of course, in #classic Daddy fashion, Papa's all like "C'mon you guys, it's just right over there" (and you all said it in that Daddy voice didn't you?(: ) and he goes trooping on down the next mountain. I honestly don't exactly remember what happened next (heat deliriousness maybe?) but I remember Glo divulged into tears, I refused to keep going, and Daddy was "insisting" we keep going. Nope, we went maybe halfway down, and we were done. I remember leaving and thinking "why does anybody want to come here? The sand's hot and get's everywhere, the dunes are killer and the lake is way far away".

So I was a little worried about this "venture". I knew kind of what to expect, and even though it was now the middle of October, I still considered the beaches like an ugly looking cat that's given you a scary look one too many times. You just don't know what you're going to get if you stretch out your hand... 

Of course, shout out to Allison for getting me to go, cause honestly, it was a COMPLETELY different experience this time around. It was a cool 55 degrees, with a slight wind, I did NOT take off my shoes and socks, the fall foliage visible from the top of the dunes was amazing, and it was just us and a group of intense walkers. I think a part of it is that training for marathons has gotten me used to physical activity in the morning, and for me now it's almost been a meditative experience. Something about the repetitive motion of running in the cool morning briskness feels refreshing and relaxing at the same time. It was kind of the same with this. The only difference was it was completely different scenery, with an unknown path, and I had a pretty great exercise buddy with me(: I shouldn't be super surprised, but we even made it to the lake! The water's color made me think of the Caribbean water we love to dive in, with these rich cerulean hues and the darker patches where the water gets deeper. It was so nice though to go out with Allison and get a better taste for something I knew was cool, but hadn't really appreciated before. 

So thanks Allison for taking me out there again! It sounds weird to classify it as such, but it was definitely a chill adventure. Personally I'm looking forward to more adventures with this girl(: