2025 Aug 12-18: South Haven MI at Jellystone RV Park

This leg of the August adventure had several phases:

1. Steve and Vicki explore South Haven
2. Adventures at Indiana Dunes National Park
3. Gram camp for Evan
4. Weekend at Jellystone with the Lindos
5. Exploring Van Buren State Park
6. Other Activities (OK, mostly Steve’s biking adventures)

Steve, Vicki and Lexie traveled from Pontiac Lake to Jellystone Park without any problems on August 12. Our campsite had plenty of room for the Lindos when they came.

Steve and Vicki then went out to dinner in South Haven, a quaint beach town/ tourist trap. The first restaurant, Clementine, had a 90 minute wait. So we ended up going to Kitchen 257 and enjoyed our meal there. Afterwards we took a walk along the Black River. South Haven has public beaches north and south of the Black River and a jetty/walkway that extends the entrance of the Black River several hundred feet into Lake Michigan. With a lighthouse at the end of the jetty. We walked to the end of the jetty and watched the sun set over Lake Michigan.

August 13 was the day we packed Lexie into the Mini Cooper with us and drove to Indiana Dunes National Park. We got our stamp for the park, and we also met Rachelle, Evan, Adrian and Ursa.

We were planning on having a picnic, but my request was not clear to the ranger. She recommended that we go to Kemil Beach. And that was a great beach but it lacked a picnic table. So we ate very sandy sandwiches. We spent more time exploring the lake shore than looking at the dunes. They were high but this was not the crew to go hiking up the dunes. We got almost everyone into the water. Lexie even got into the water up over her ‘knees’ (so she could drink the lake water better). Ursa played ‘lava’ with the waterline. The water was refreshing and that almost made up for the heat of the day (well into the 90’s).

We took Evan with us when we returned to Jellystone so he could have ‘Gram Camp’. This is a tradition that we have been doing for about 5 years where Evan enjoys time with grandparents. So Evan got a couple of extra days at Jellystone. He rode bikes, got onto a fire truck, played in the pool, played in the arcade, and made several crafts including a wax hand. Vicki and Steve took turns spending time with Evan (except when it came to pizza and ice cream, and then everyone was there.)

Friday afternoon the rest of the Lindos (Rachelle, Steve, Adrian and Ursa) joined us. And Nathaniel drove from Cleveland to camp with us as well. Steve, Rachelle and Ursa slept in a tent next to the RV. The others slept in the RV: Evan on the couch, Adrian on the table (which was lowered to align with the benches) and Nathaniel on the loft. This worked out spacewise in the RV, the problem was that when the first person got up, the others soon followed.

Adrian got into the activities at Jellystone as well, from crafts to bikes to getting into the pool. Both boys were having so much fun at Jellystone they didn’t want to explore outside the resort.

We also had a campfire where s’mores were cooked! Dinner on Friday was the Mexican lasagna (same recipe from our SML trip) which we had assembled before we left Seven Hills and froze. It cooked well on the grill. And Uncle Nathaniel played video games with Evan.

Sunday morning we had a surprise for the grandkids: Yogi Bear delivered donuts to the campsite. And the donuts were still warm and fresh.

After the Lindos left on Sunday afternoon, Steve and Nathaniel went to Van Buren State Park to explore the dunes. We walked up the steep side of one dune (over 100′ vertical), Steven taking advantage of the branches along the way. Then we ‘walked’ down the lakeside of the dune.

Just north of Jellystone is the Kal-Haven multipurpose trail that stretches 34 miles between South Haven and Kalamazoo. Both Steves took advantage of the trail: Steve Lindo ran 18 miles along the trail, and Steve Galecki biked along the trail twice (not quite matching what Steve Lindo did in one outing.) The trail was wide, level and fairly straight. It wasn’t crowded, and the presence of snow mobiles in the winter months was easily imagined.

On Monday, August 18 Steven, vicki, Nathaniel and Lexie packed up the RV and headed back to Cleveland. This was the first time we had a passenger with us, and Nathaniel sat at the table doing computer stuff or video game stuff.

While in Michigan Steven found some comfort foods: a multigrain English Muffin from Walmart and Rock and Rye soda. We can get Bay’s English Muffins in Ohio, but for some reason we can’t get the multigrain ones. And Rock and Rye brings back fond childhood memories. And some embarrassing memories of the soda staining countertops….

Nathaniel stayed with us for the rest of the week before returning to Tacoma. We spent every night playing some sort of game. And Steven got the worst of the games.