Activities

Just ‘Cause They Say You May Surf, Doesn’t Mean the Water’s Clean

Guess what Great Lakes surfers, Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would go a long way toward cleaning up the water that you surf in.

That is right, with $146 million going toward cleaning up the nasty chemicals and toxins that lie in the lake beds and an additional $97 million to put an end to near-shore pollution.

Here is the hitch: although the President said this much should be spent on these clean up programs, Congress is the group that puts the money into them and they often come up short.

If you have a second over the next few days, email Read More » »

Hang Ten for Lake Michigan

[caption id="attachment_2102" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="From Vince Deur"][/caption]Surf’s up Dude, well, it could be very soon at five Lake Michigan beaches in the Chicago Area thanks to HOW’s very own surf enthusiast Vince Deur. Deur has been lobbying the city for some time to decriminalize lake surfing.

“There has been a lot of resistance to surfing in Chicago, going back more than 20 years,” Deur, of Grand Rapids, Mich., told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Surfing has been outlawed in Chicago for decades. “Now that we have a toe in the water, so to Read More » »

Hang Ten, Dude

Surfers are fighting for the right to do their thing on Lake Michigan. Chicago does not allow surfing at the Chicago Park District because of concerns that it is too dangerous. But a group of surfers called the Surfrider Foundation are trying to sway public opinion in their favor. Storms in the Winter can bring delicious waves that attract surfers from across the nation and Chicago is the only Great Lakes City that bans the sport. If the surfers are successful in getting the city to lift the ban then some are arguing this may make Chicago more attractive Read More » »

Pups Vacation

This story (and accompanying photo) come to us from Amy, who is from Haslett, MI. Here is her story:

We came up the term “pups vacation” during spring break in the year 2000. See, camping and canoeing on the Lake Michigan shoreline in 40-degree weather was hardly a spring break for us, yet, we guessed, the stuff of Dusty’s and Little Dipper’s dreams.

At the time of our first pups vacation, Little Dipper was a five-pound lhasa apso-bichon frise puppy and Dusty her 6-month-old male counterpart. For their first vacation we paddled a short stretch Read More » »

A Child’s Camping Story

Dennis and Nikki Darling sent in this story from their four year old daughter.

I went camping at East Harbor Park , Lake Erie. It was a lot of fun. I went swimming, fishing and hiking. My cousins went with us and we played together. We ate smoores and they where good. I also liked feeding the sea gulls and seeing all the birds. Lake Erie is a fun place to camp and play. I would like to camp there again.

Our Night In The Woods

This story and accompanying photo come to us from Maddie of Waterville, Ohio. Her story is called “Our Night In The Woods.”

Here is Maddie’s story:

In less than two seconds I had thoroughly drenched myself with water. Still recovering from the shock with waterlogged ears and eyes I was able to dodge the next wave, barely missing it. When they say kids do things without thinking, they are right. Though I and my friend loved each refreshing wave that came our way, we weren’t thinking. Finally, we returned to the covered area of the Read More » »

Camping At Lake Erie

This short story comes to us from Sophia, who is entering the children’s category at the young age of four.  Sophia resides in Warsaw, Ohio. 

Here is her story:

I went camping at East Harbor Park, Lake Erie. It was a lot of fun. I went swimming, fishing and hiking. My cousins went with us and we played together. We ate smoores and they were good. I also liked feeding the sea gulls and seeing all the birds. Lake Erie is a fun place to camp and play. I would like to camp there again.

Thank you for your story, Sophia!

Get involved to Read More » »

Fisherman’s Island

This story comes to us from Julieanna Frost of Manchester, Michigan. According to Julieanna, her story focuses upon one woman’s introduction to camping in the great outdoors.

Newlywed Sara was not particularly enthusiastic as she loaded her bags into the car for her first camping trip. Her husband Aaron was an avid outdoorsman, which is just more proof that opposites attract. They even received some camping gear as wedding gifts. Sara really couldn’t understand the attraction of sleeping on the ground. Frankly, she would much rather go to a place with room service, but she was willing to give it the Read More » »

A Trip To Lake Michigan

This story, called “A Trip To Lake Michigan,” comes to us from Nikki of Redford, MI. She is entering in the children’s category with her fiction-style story about a camping/beach trip.

Here is her story:

The car trip was never-ending. Twisted country roads, to busy interstates – Jacqueline had seen it all! She and her brothers were relieved when the van finally pulled into Hoffmaster State Park. The van kept traveling until it reached the campsite. So far so good Jacky thought to herself.

Then they started unloading the van, Jacky saw everything – from camp food to air mattresses, from electric inflator Read More » »

CAMPING NEAR THE SHORES OF GITCHE GUMEE

This story comes to us from Lisa from Bear Creek, Wisconsin.  She accounts an actual camping trip to the Upper Peninsula this summer.  Unfortunately, it did not go quite the way they expected it to.

CAMPING NEAR THE SHORES OF GITCHE GUMEE

We had the truck camper, all the supplies, and the site reserved for a week near the shores of Gitche Gumee.  It was July 27, 2007.  Our 7-year-old-daughter, Ashley, was so excited.  She remembered from last year swimming in the waves, playing in the sand, and searching for agates on the beach.

Five hours after setting up camp for our weeklong Read More » »