Day 1 –
Day in the life of a Muskegon State Park Campground
Host
Left Traverse City SP around 10:00 and drove down to Muskegon
State Park to start our new jobs. The
drive down was very pretty although there were times it felt as though our
teeth were knocking around in our heads due to the road and MH shocks! Air ride next time!
Got to the state park around 3:00 and checked in with the
Ranger. We were handed a bundle
containing name tags, t-shirts, DNR vests, hats, a large set of keys for the
supply rooms, and a 5” three ring binder with information on being a host! (We can wear the vests with regular clothes
or wear the t-shirt.)
Our site is located next to the bathrooms and we have a large
white tent adjacent to our site with all kinds of stuff…..books, games, water
floats, bulletin board with weather information, information on the programs of
the week, pamphlets of the area, maps.
All right next to us!
More than 1,000 acres are nestled between Muskegon Lake and
Lake Michigan containing dunes, ponds, forests, fields, lakefront and coastal
plain marsh. Day users and campers use
the scenic beach. Snug Harbor picnic
area and boat launch area are located on Lake Muskegon. The Lake Channel connects Lake Muskegon with
Lake Michigan and offers barrier-free access.
The park has two miles of sand beach and Lake Michigan and one mile on
Muskegon Lake. There are twelve miles of marked trails. Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park is not
far from the park.
There are two campgrounds about 1.5 miles apart with each having its own host (we don't split host duties between the two locations). This park is called Lake Michigan CG and is
located right on the lake. We have 102
sites with the majority of them being tent sites.
The Channel CG is
located on the Ship Channel and Muskegon Lake.
The majority of the sites in this campground are RV sites so Dave will
be going down there Sunday morning to assist the hosts there with the
sanitation station and getting the RV’s through and out.
Between the two campgrounds is the public beach and Snug
Harbor with the boat ramp. The drive
down to Channel CG is very scenic along Lake Michigan.
The Campground Host notebook was very informative and
complete. Our duties include hosting a
weekly coffee hour Saturday and Sunday mornings; provide or assist in at least
one special activity such as the explorer guide’s fishing program or a craft
program we conjure up; direct traffic and assist campers at the sanitation
stations on Sunday (in the Channel CG), make tours of the campground, loan park
equipment; check bathrooms for supplies and advise Ranger if there are
issues. Mostly we are the campground
ambassadors and our jobs are to visit with the campers!
The only part of this that had me concerned was the craft
hour! It’s been years since I’ve done
any kid crafts and didn’t know what to expect.
We checked out the host supply room and found it full of craft supplies,
ideas and also coffee supplies. There is
also a host budget in case we want to buy something specific for crafts.
We had a quick dinner and walked the few steps to the top of
the dune looking down on the beach and Lake Michigan.
At this point Dave said, “Auhhh, we gotta do
this for a month?” It was
beautiful.
Watched the sun sink into the
lake and called it a day!
The sand is so deep and soft here. Reminds me of Cape Cod summers.
FRIDAY – DAY #1
Friday, our first “official” day on the job, we met with the
Volunteer Liaison Ranger who went over the different areas of the park and
discussed what he’d like us to do which was basically what we read.
Across the street from Lake Michigan Campground is the
Muskegon Sports Complex with one of three luge tracks in the United States operated
and designed for introducing beginners to the sport of luge. It is open to the public on weekends for a charge. Not too far away is a water park
and amusement park so this campground is very convenient for families. Hiking trails crisscross the park and all, in
all, it is lovely.
We were getting ready to head down to Channel Campground to
meet the hosts there when a car pulled up, and Laurie and Dale came to us. They are the CG hosts and have been here
before so were a wealth of knowledge.
We’ll also be coordinating with them regarding donut pickup for coffee
hours and Sunday morning “sanitation station” assistance.
Last year when I started inquiring about hosting in
Michigan, I was told we would need to
attend a Campground Host Workshop held over a couple of days each year in April
up in this area. You can host only two
years in Michigan then this workshop is required. That’s probably why most of the Michigan
hosts are from Michigan; it’s easier for them to attend the workshops.
Laurie
and Dale attended the workshop during which they learned about crafts for
kids. I figured that was part of the
seminar as you could only say so much about the rules, regs and history of the
parks. Michigan hosts cycle through about every 30 days. The parks don't require a commitment beyond 30 days and two of the jobs we were offered last summer were 30 day stints running consecutively so that would have worked out great had we not already committed to Vermont (for which we are very, very glad).
Laurie said she was going to do rock painting with fingernail
polish and brought the supplies with her.
We went into the “host storage area” and there were about 5 coffee cans
of rocks and another 5 cans of nail polish …. so I have my craft for the
summer! Also there were wood disks with
holes drilled in so the kids could make necklaces and paint the wood
disks. Another idea.
Laurie poured over the supplies and grabbed some things she
would need. Although we won’t be doing
the crafts together, we discussed when we would do them so they’d be the same
time and day and that when the Scout Ranger was putting on a program, we didn’t
do crafts. That leaves us about 3
Saturdays to do it. So I think we’ve got
the craft thing covered!
Michigan-ites take their sports seriously!
We have two buildings with bathrooms and showers on each end
of our campground and we check them three times or more a day to be sure all it
OK. So……another treat of being
here………the last thing we will do is check the lower bathhouses to be sure they
are in good shape and then walk half a circle further to Ruth Anne’s Ice Cream
Shop located just the other side of the park fence! We can then stroll back up to the upper
campground, eating our ice cream, burning our calories and watch the sun set
over Lake Michigan.
How hard is this going to be?
SATURDAY – DAY #2
At 7:15 AM Dave confirmed that the coffee pot was on and then
Dale picked him up to show him where to pick up the morning donuts. They are sharing this responsibility this
summer. Coffee hour starts at 8 AM and
ends at 10AM.
Dave came back with
about three dozen donuts which I cut up and put on a platter. Around 8:30 the families with kids started
coming by looking for donuts and coffee and a little chat.
It
was great meeting everyone. The campers
were curious as to the hosting details and we were curious about where they
were from.
Most of the campers here are from Michigan. Some camped here as children and are now
bringing their kids back. There are
several large groups of families camping together and the sound of children’s
laughter is heard through the sites.
Billy is learning to be a host and doing very well. He sits quietly while people come up and generally watches everything that is going on!
We need to be around the campground on Fridays, Saturdays and
Sundays and work a minimum of 30 hours which is only five six-hour days or spread it out over the week coming and going when we need to and hanging around the campground and checking up on things. When we leave the CG, we just let the front gate know.
Dale is a fireman so he'll be in and out and Laurie is a nurse recovering from knee replacement surgery so she'll be going to rehab while here. Obviously they are flexible about how we fulfill our 30 hours.
We are not required to clean sites but said
we would do walk a rounds with our “picker upper” to be sure everything was tidy. Most of the workers here are college kids and
in another week they will be leaving for school so that will pare down the
available staff. The kids go back to school after Labor Day so next weekend may be a little slow (I'll still schedule rock painting) and Labor Day is full, then it'll probably slow down during the week and then we'll be gone. Wow! It will go by fast!
We’re looking forward to the next four weeks. It should be fun!
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