To the Sand Bar and Back - Tailgating Water and Boating Style!

Ok, what day is this? Oh yeah, July 4th! Hugh, Kel and I all woke up and proceeded to find the pancakes and sausage that Steve was cooking for people at the campsite! They were fabulous especially since I didn't cook them!


Well, Hugh, Kel and I headed to the Sand Bar on Torch Lake. If you have ever heard of Kid Rock's song about the sand bar (at Torch Lake/All Summer Long) then you know what I am talking about! Let's see - get in by walking in chest-high deep water to the sand bar, 500 boats or so hanging out, thousands of people milling around, boats with food to buy, gas-powered blenders (with a chain saw motors!. How does that sound? Like a really good time! I think I will need a vacation from my vacation when I get back!

The Sand Bar at Torch Lake was unbelievable! This lake is the third most beautiful lake in the world according to National Geographic (so we were told)! We had to park on the side of the road and walk quite a ways to get to the only public access on this lake. People flocked to this location every weekend (or maybe even during the week) if it is a good day! We found out that a boat is required if you want to stay for a really long time. Hugh purchased an inflatable boat to put our cooler (with beer and Jungle Juice) and other goods that couldn't get wet! It was fascinating walking around and pulling that boat. First off, we had to walk in cold chest high water to even get out to the sand bar that was actually about knee deep anyway. There was volleyball, beer pong, music blaring from every location. We bought burgers from one of the boats that had a few grills. They were actually great! We wandered around and stood still for awhile, then wondered again. At one point, I sat in the boat with my feet hanging out. The boat was not sedentary at all. There were waves that kept me going up and down. I had to hold on to my drink at all times! Ok now for the people we met along the way - the guy who wanted a puff from Kel's cigarette, one girl wanted a light for her cigarette, a guy wanted to pay for a beer (and Hugh gave him mine for nothing), a guy who gave us his trash (cigar and empty cigarette package), kids pulling boat to collect cans, and all these guys that came up to Hugh because he had a Central Michigan University Chippewas shirt. Our observations consisted of seeing seeing people of every age and bathing suits or even one guy dressed up as Abe Lincoln! People were dancing on boats, dogs everywhere! Our most basic observation is that every game you can play on land can be played in the water! Frisbee, volleyball, horse balls (almost like horse shoes) was observed while we were there.

The only problem? Finding our way out when we wanted to leave! We actually made it out without getting lost. It seemed like a long way back to the car. After we got to the car, we changed next to the car from our wet clothes to our dry clothes! Do you think anyone was watching from the neighborhood houses? Let's hope not!

We left the Sand Bar and went to the Oasis and had a beer and played Keno! The campground was our next stop. Kel is making Jungle Juice. I am sitting here writing my blog. Kel puts a towel over my head and computer so that I can read my screen. Kel tricked me because she proceeded to take my photo to upload to Facebook. Ok, so I am addicted to writing this blog! Anyway, we are not sure yet what the next adventure will be but we are up for just about anything.

Stay tuned!

Kelly