On last minute notice, four people pile into a small Geo Prizm to drive 3.5 hours to Pentwater, Michigan. A lovely little community just south of Ludington, a major tourist and vacation spot in northwest Michigan (lower peninsula). We drive to meet two of our friends for just one night at Charles Mears State Park. Not knowing what to expect when we arrived, I found myself to be pleasantly surprised by our surroundings. We were directly on Lake Michigan, literally steps away from the water in a slightly wooded and hilly area. I would have loved to just lay on the beach all the next day, but I had to get back to a weekend job. We had no time to check out the lighthouse that’s in view from the beach and the nearby trail.