
Is it just me, or does the 4th of July seem like it happened weeks ago? It hasn’t even been a full week! We went camping at the end of June to celebrate my birthday, and it feels like it never happened. Once we come back and get into a routine, it’s like we never left. I feel that way about summer in general–we wait so long for it to return, but once it’s here, it’s like it’s always been summer. Then it flies by, and we’re back to waiting ;).
One nice thing about blogging is having a record of things I’ve done. Let’s try to remember the past couple weeks, shall we?
I was actually in New Orleans on a work trip toward the end of the month. Once I came back, I had a couple days at home, then we were off again–so that’s why I didn’t really get back into my usual routine.

We took off on a Thursday night and camped for three nights at Sleeper State Park in Caseville (Michigan). We stayed there last year and really liked it, plus it was one of the few places with any availability when I was booking. The State Parks really filled up fast this year!
We got there kind of late on Thursday. I hate setting up in the dark, but it was nice waking up there on Friday. We spent some time checking out the shops in Caseville before hitting the beach.


Caseville is a small town, but they have a really nice beach. They also have a brewery! My husband isn’t a huge beer guy, but since it was my birthday, he couldn’t say no ;).


We had a fire later at night (my favorite part about camping!), although it was mostly so we could cook dinner. It was in the 90s all weekend! I’m not trying to go too far into “glamping” territory, but thank goodness we had a couple of small fans for our tent or we would have roasted.

On Saturday, we drove over to Port Austin and spent some time at their Farmer’s Market. We bought incredibly delicious homemade pickles and potato chips (honestly, probably the best salt and vinegar chips I’ve ever had!). The pickles did not last long. After the market, we grabbed a couple of drinks to cool off before heading back to the beach.

On Sunday, we headed home, with a brief detour at a flea market and stop at one of my favorite restaurants, D’Angelo’s. It’s a pizza place with a vegan menu, and their burgers are delicious.
The fun didn’t stop there, though! We took off a couple extra days to recoup, plus we had the 4th of July holiday, so we spent a few more days eating all the things and getting all the sun.


On Wednesday, my sister and brother-in-law had us all over for the 4th of July.

It was also a belated birthday celebration.

My mom got me the best gift! Everything was Golden Girls themed. I couldn’t stop laughing.

I actually tried to buy those Pops recently, but my husband told me not to. He said we had too many, which is honestly a valid reason, hah! Still, I kept stalking them on Amazon and almost threw them into my cart multiple times. Little did I know, he was in on it and was trying to keep me from buying them!
To continue the festivities, my sister also got me the most amazing vegan cake! It was a funfetti-style cake topped with vanilla and birthday cake flavored macarons. It was SO GOOD. My terrible picture doesn’t do it justice!

Whew! We packed a lot into a few days. It was a great trip and birthday, and I’m looking forward to camping more this summer. Hope you had a great 4th of July, too!
Tell me: How did you celebrate the 4th? Do you like camping?
PS: Want more Golden Girls? Revisit this Saturday Six post: Thank You for Being a Friend.