I remember that day when I was at Sleeping Bear Dunes. I did something awesome and scary that I will NEVER forget.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes are dunes that go straight into Lake Michigan. They are about 100 meters above Lake Michigan. One summer, I was at the Sleeping Bear Dunes when my dad and I decided to run nonstop straight down the dunes into Lake Michigan. “We’re going to have to be careful because the bottom of the lake is full of rocks,” my dad explained. “Don’t worry,” I responded “I’ll be careful.” “Okay,” my dad responded.
I wondered why I was doing this. Part of my brain wanted to do it. The other part wanted to stay on top of the dunes and not do it. I observed my surroundings. Around us, people were running down, tanning, chatting, climbing back up. It seemed very painful. They were also walking and watching Lake Michigan with its endless blue water. “Okay, here we go.” I sighed. I wasn’t too excited to run down the dune. But I wanted to go. “Three, two, one.” And then we ran.
I closed my eyes. “Open your eyes!” My dad warned me. “There are rocks on the dune!” “You don’t want to bump into them!” I saw a rock and jumped over it. We were running at like… twenty miles an hour. That was really fast and I could not speak.
Everything was a blur. I kept jumping over rocks and turning to not knock people over. Lake Michigan was getting closer. “J-j-j-um-um-p-p!” I spluttered when we were 5 feet away from Lake Michigan. So we did.
I jumped into the cool water. Just to say, I was in a bathing suit. Dad was right. The lake was rocky. In fact, I hit the ground too hard so I got millions of cramps. I did not wince one bit. We also had to climb back up the dune under the scorching sun. The Sleeping Bear Dunes were extremely steep. Believe me, it was exhausting.
When I finally arrived at the top of the dune I was ready to pass out. Luckily, I did not. But all of this was still worth it. I will never forget this amazing and awesome moment of my life. I loved it, even if it was painful and exhausting.