Heaven on Earth

It doesn't take sitting on the beach for an hour to make me realize that the six hour car ride here was worth it. The second I see the wooden state park sign my heart beat doubles and I cannot hold back the smile on my face. This is my favorite two weeks of the year. The week that is filled with family, love, and relaxation, knowing that all of my troubles were left behind at home.

My family finally arrives at the campsite we booked on the first day of the year, to be sure we got the best site in the park. I swing the door open the moment the car comes to a stop and run straight through the site and up the sand dunes with my brother and cousin beside me. We fall to the ground when we reach the top and let the heated sand warm us as we stare off into the lake . This is our fairytale.

We have come here every year for as long as we can remember. This is where we can be anything we want, anytime we want to be it. This is where we are Pirates, Indians, Soldiers, and Animals. When we're here my brother, sister, cousins, and I become best friends and forget about our lives back at home.

When we are there it seems as though we have escaped from life, we have no problems to worry about and no plans to obey. We wake up when we want, and go to bed when we want. We go to town when we want, and go to the beach when we want. Everything is up to us when we are here.

There is so much to do that two weeks doesn't seem to be enough time. Some days we just want to relax by staying in the park. On those days we lay on the beach and at night we enjoy a campfire. We sit by the fire for hours telling scary stories and stuffing our faces with peanut butter cup s'mores, hotdogs, pies, and doughboys until we are all so full that we don't even have enough energy to make the walk to the bathrooms (which isn't all bad considering how unclean they are).

On the days that we have energy to burn, we go into town for a day of shopping or to explore the local beaches. Most of these beaches we discovered and named ourselves. To end our day we go to the bay for a walk on the boat pier and to watch a local baseball game. Each night, we fall asleep to the soothing sound of my grandpa's singing and the gentle strumming of his guitar.

When we get into the car to leave at the end of our trip, I feel hot tears filling my eyes, reminding me of the warm sand I had rested my head upon just two weeks before. I go through the rest of the year imagining my next trip the Petoskey State Park.