I came across this picture a few years ago of a group of friends around a fire on a beach underneath a clear sky full of stars, and of course there was a saying attached to it about having a night like that over a night in a club. Anyway, the scene really struck a chord with me and was something that I began to dream of one day experiencing for it seemed so beautiful and something that would really make me feel that time has stopped for a while and I would be okay with that. There was poetry in this for me, this simple thing of having a fire on a beach with friends as th eSun goes down and the stars begin to reveal the beauty of the night.
Last summer near the end of August I headed up to the U.P. with my girlfriend and a few friends, the city of Munising to be exact, for a weekend of camping and exploring the wilderness. I booked a rustic tent campsite at this campground and to my surprise it happened to be down a short path through the woods on a sandy beach. The site overlooked Lake Superior, Grand Island, part of the U.P. to the west, and a few small islands. It really was the best kind of campsite. The first stay was spent mostly away from the campground as my girlfriend, a friend, me did some evening exploring as we waited for the rest of our company to arrive. We also spent some time getting the campsite all set up and hanging out on the beach. At 10:00pm the remaining two of our crew finally arrived. The first night went by with us moving them into the tent and low key hanging out on the beach and in the tent.
We spent the next day exploring, hiking, and cliff jumping before arriving back to the campsite around dinner time and as the Sun began to set we got a fire going with that simple dream of mine, not being something I was thinking about, I was just going with the flow. It wasn’t until the brightest stars slowly began to come out during the sunset that I realized that my friends and me had turned that dream into a reality, but it did not feel like reality. That moment when I realized that we were currently experiencing that scene in that picture I had viewed a few years ago was pretty surreal and something I cherished. For everything about it was truly beautiful. I was able to then take my own picture of my own friends around a campfire on the beach underneath the stars (above image).
You really never know where traveling or taking a simple adventure can take you, in this case for me I fulfilled a simple dream of mine that I was had been hoping to experience at some point during my time on Earth. When you travel you always have to keep your eyes open and take time to take a step back appreciate each moment for what it is. For you never really know what opportunities wonder traveling may guide you to and what kind of unexpected, truly awesome experiences are in store. Don’t stop exploring.
– Dustin
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