Hoeft State Park, past and present, Part I

For many years when I was a kid our family vacation was to camp at Hoeft State Park in my Dad's hometown of Roger's City Michigan.  I remember staying just over a week each time, usually including 1-3 days where we visited my other grandparents on Mackinac Island (more on that later).  I don't remember vacationing other places--I vaguely remember going to New Mexico a few times when I was little, and a few places around Indiana, but most of our vacation time was spent in Michigan. Twice now I've been lucky enough to take my own kids to the same park so I can drag them around to all the spots I loved as a kid. (or maybe I should think of it as all the places I didn't love as a kid but now am fond of?  No, I think I loved these places!)

Don't the kids look thrilled?  "Oh, gee, more photos of us with scenes from Mom's childhood.  Fantastic."  Notice The Girl is wearing my sweatshirt...and so it begins..I wonder if I'll have anything to wear when I go in my closet tomorrow morning.

When we were there this year, there was a sign at one of the campsites that said, "So and So's 50th consecutive year of camping at Hoeft State Park!".  I asked my folks how many years they have camped there and they figured about 20, but not consecutively.  I thought maybe I'd find photo evidence to figure out how many years, but wasn't really successful.

My folks gave my brother and I each a CD of scanned photos from our childhood several years ago, so I started looking for photos of Hoeft State Park and/or Roger's City.  I didn't find as many as I expected, which could have many causes (not as many photos were taken, they didn't get scanned, we didn't go as many years as I think), but there are far too many to put here.  I found a couple pictures at my grandparent's house from before I was born, but the first Hoeft State Park photos that I could identify were from 1974.

Here are some of the highlights of Hoeft (and the surrounding area) from "then" and now:
The playground:
I love this playground.  I still love it, even though it is now "safe".  The main playground is between the campground and the beach, so every trip to the beach included (and still includes) at least a couple slides on the slide or swings on the swing.  Some of the equipment that was there when I was a kid is gone (wooden "horse", merry-go-round)--both were still there in 2009, but are gone now, but the swings and slide are still there.  Some new equipment has been added--metal and plastic trees to climb, sand diggers, and a short jungle gym.  There is also a porch swing style swing for the parents to sit on while watching the kids play.

 2014, my kids and my mom in the trees.

 The Girl helping her cousin, while The Boy takes a rest in the background and my brother runs away.

 The Girl on the slide, 2014

 Mom and I on the slide, probably 1983, before I had my hair cut short for 7th grade.  I should have written down the years when I was saving pictures to a temp file, shouldn't I?

 My kids and my parents at the merry-go-round, 2009.  The merry-go-round was gone this year....bummer!

 Me, on "the horse", 1989 I think.  This was the year I really didn't want to go on vacation with my family--the folder this came out of also has my "moving to Purdue" photos in it--but I remember having a good time once I was there, even if I didn't admit it. I couldn't find any pictures of my kids on the horse in 2009, so maybe it was gone after all.  My dad remembers this being at the playground when they went to the park in the 50's and 60's, so perhaps it wasn't removed so much as disintegrated.

We always camped at the State Park--first in tents, then in a pop-up camper, then back to tents for my brother and I while my parents stayed in the camper.  In 2009 and this year, my folks rented the former "Ranger's Cabin" (sleeps 8+!) so we wouldn't all have to bring camping gear from all over the US.

2014 Cooking outside.  Aunt M, Cousin M, and The Girl talk about dinner plans. Note the fire pit in the background, to compare to the earlier one in a few photos.

Probably 1983.  These two little girls were camping next to us and were five years old.  I was twelve, according to them, "The coolest age ever".  I think their parents probably took advantage of the free babysitting, as offered by me, and I took advantage that someone other than my brother would play cards with me.  Win-win all around!  The girls and I wrote letters (yes, real ones with stamps) for a couple years after this..but I have no clue what their names were or where they were from...wouldn't it be funny if they were friends of friends of someone who reads this?  He, he, he...

My brother and I cooking over a fire at Hoeft, probably 1982 or 1983.  I should have written the dates down.  It is kind of interesting that in the late 70's/early 80's the park put in fire pits lined with concrete and that since then the pits have been replaced with above ground fire "pits".  I wonder what the reason is--to keep people from falling in?  Prevent forest fires?  Easier to clean out? Looks like we might be cooking biscuits on a stick here.  Man, The Boy looks a lot like my brother in this picture...or maybe it is just that 8-9 year old boy "look".

Hmm.  Not sure what year this is.  Let's see...the cat is camping with us, so it is before he died in 1991 (1992?).  I'd guess it was before I went to college as well, so maybe 1988 or 1989.  By then my brother and I had given in and returned to sleeping in the camper...tents are over rated.  Note the electric skillet on the picnic  table...I like camping with my parents.  We usually cooked a few meals over the fire, but it was nice to be able to whip something up relatively quickly as well, so we didn't have to spend so much time "in the kitchen".  It was also handy to heat water for dishes, etc.  This camper was cool--slept six, had a table and benches, that I only remember using as a table once in a while, to play cards, not eat.  ("Food doesn't belong in the camper"). We did have a refrigerator, but no running water or bathroom. I think that is the car (in the background) that my brother totaled in the early 90's.

I'd say 1976 or 1977...me digging in the sand at the campsite.  Note the sand pail in both photos...do you think they are the same ones from the picture above?

My clearly teenage brother watching mom cook dinner.  He looks thrilled beyond words.  Each campsite used to have a green bench, like this one, and a picnic table.  When we visited in 2009, we noticed that most of the green benches were gone and thought that they weren't replacing/repairing them anymore, since most people probably bring their own camp chairs.  During the 2014 visit, it looked like the benches were being repaired and put back into the sites--they must have found enough rangers to assign that to someone as a duty.

These two pictures could be in 1990.  I didn't camp with the family that year, but the photos were on the disc and seem pretty representative of our trips in the late 80's.  I liked the party lites hanging from the awning.  I think one year I pitched my tent under the awning because it rained soooo much.

Reflective oven cooking, mid 70's--perhaps early 70's. this might actually be 1974, before my brother came along. I remember using that reflective oven for many years though--here we are making pizzas--yummy campfire pizzas! Notice I am wearing a stylish bonnet, to celebrate the upcoming Bicentennial, my love of all things Laura Ingalls, and to protect my delicate ears from ear infections.

Pre-camper camping--note the bikes and the big green tent--When I was allowed to watch MASH  I always thought our tent looked like theirs and my mom tells me it is because this one was "Army surplus".  We always took our bikes camping-a much easier way to get around and into town.

My kids, sleeping in the cabin, 2014. Quite a difference from the Army Surplus tent.

One of the famous park benches, 2009.

Aunt M, reading to The Girl and The Boy, 2009

The Boy, reading to Cousin M, 2014.   The Girl is trying to read herself to to happy place, where she isn't on vacation with her family, I suppose.







Dusty Cat and I reading, probably trying to get to our happy place where we weren't vacationing with our family, probably 1986 or 1987.  How do you like my perm? And the shorts?  My mom actually made those shorts for my brother, but he gave them to me. My awesome (leaky) tent and favorite bike in the background.  It looks like the tent is pitched under some kind of awning and that maybe my brother has his own tent off to the right. Dusty is sitting on his cat carrier, probably watching a chipmunk eat his food.  I think he used the cat food as bait, hoping to some day trick a chipmunk into being captured, skinned, and fried like Kentucky Fried Chicken.

This is such an awesome photo, for so many reasons. We can see the camper, the 1978 Volare' (Rustmobile) station wagon...This must be sometime in the early 80's.  I like the power lines running through the top of the photo.  We noticed during this year's trip that the park no longer uses "cards" (shown on the post) to show if the site is occupied or not--it all seems to be computerized.  It is kind of a bummer for us campsite stalkers though, hard to tell if there is a RV coming back that night or not.

View of the cabin where we stayed in 2009 and 2014.  It was a Sears House--purchased from Sears and shipped.  Some modifications have been made over the years, but it is a pretty and is a well made little house.

And here I am, probably in 1974, demonstrating, um, something.  That I was allowed to chop wood? Um, I can't imagine that happening.  I think I see one of the famous benches in the background though.  The shovel on the ground (left side of the photo) is pictured in at least one other picture in this blog entry and was used by my dad this year at the cabin.  I can't figure out the camper/trailer in the background though--I guess it could be a neighboring campsite.







To be continued...