My husband and I decided to try doing something really ballsy – try renting a cabin in Michigan’s state parks system – in mid July! 😂

We know how popular camping is in Michigan’s parks, especially in high season (summer), and also especially since the 2020 global pandemic made camping an even more popular pastime.

Popular Michigan campgrounds such as Ludington, Traverse City, Holland and Hoffmaster book up fast – with even individual sites being extremely difficult to book (especially ones with lakefront or water access).

We wanted to do a July trip since our work schedules in August didn’t really allow for any camping to happen. Between the second half of August being blacked out for me and his fist half of August deadlines? August was a “nope” for us going out of town.

So I braced myself for what would likely be a very limited selection of lodging available for the time block we’d selected in July.

Yup, pretty much everything was booked already…except… 🤔

Thompson’s Harbor State Park? Huh. It’s near Lake Huron, that’s a plus! Undeveloped except for hiking trails and two rustic cabins – Cedar Haven, which was close to US 23…

The other Thompson’s Harbor cabin’s name was Stone Path, which was a bit farther from the road. And looked… interesting:

Of COURSE I would have to pick the more scary looking cabin! I mean, this is me we’re talking about here! 😂 Wanting to rent a scary looking rustic cabin is very “on-brand” for me- as a super woke Gen Z person might say about me!

I wish that I could share videos on here (which I could if I paid for an upgrade), because I shot a video tour of me entering the cabin for the first time. It’s on my FB profile if anyone wants to stalk me and find it, (it is public)!

It’s also on the Miskatonic University Fighting Cephalopods public FB page.

I’m not a Tik Tokker and I’m no videographer for sure, but my husband was very amused by it!

Inside, though – that very scary looking cabin showed a much different face! It was unlike any cabins we’d ever rented in the state park system before (we have rented a lot of them, both rustic and deluxe over the past couple of decades).

Behold the interior of Stone Path Cabin:

Perhaps the cabin was trying to remind of us of how scary it still could be. We took a five minute drive to Sand Bay Trading Company (convenience store) to get a bag of ice for our drinks. When we got back… OMG 😮

I set up the bunks and the rest of the lights when we got back.

Little did we know that our cabin would turn into a sort of rave party around 11 pm! Too bad I left my backless sequinned halter top and ecstasy at home 😂 🪩 🩰

I also retrofitted an old candle lantern with battery powered flameless candles. It was nice to be able to grab it without worrying about burning my hands!

We originally wanted to listen to a Grayling radio station to tune into Dee Snider’s House of Hair, but we couldn’t tune that in.

So we found WKJZ 94.9 FM in Alpena and seemed OK with what they were playing. Mike had already rejected a station that was playing the Carpenters’ song “Top of the World!”

It all started innocently enough with hearing a clip of “Silly Love Songs” by The Wings. It took us a minute to figure out that we were listening to a DJ curated techno dance mix” Boy were we in for a treat!

This 70s-80s techno dance mix even managed to make a B-list 1981 Genesis song sound cool.

What song was it? “No Reply at All.” IMHO kind of a jangly sonic hot mess, kudos to DJ Dynamix for making it sound cool!

I’ll have to try streaming this show at home if I can!

The next morning? Coffee time! How nice to have a stove to use and not have to bring our own camp stove…

Which was perfect for making…

I found another valuable use for super insulated mugs! Aside from looking trendy – they are awesome little “mini coolers” for squirreling away ice for cold drinks the next morning! Even better if you have cooler space, or the very minimum, an insulated lunch bag. Treat that ice that you paid for like a precious resource. Nothing is more refreshing on a camping morning than a nice cold drink! Non alcoholic for me of course (you do you).

We checked out some beaches while we went sightseeing:

When campfire time beckoned, another type of drink was in order!

Mike managed to capture a great sunset beyond our scary looking cabin:

Nice thing about a cabin, is that they are nice and cozy when the fire dwindles to embers and you want to get into more comfy clothes. So much easier than trying to change clothes in a tent…