My nieces that play softball live in a different state. It is only occasionally that we are able to make it down and see them play.

Imagine how excited my wife and I were when our brother in law said they were going to be driving North to play in a tournament in our state.

The tournament was set for the weekend after the 4th of July in Traverse City, MI. It is a beautiful area of our state. There is so much to do and so many things to see in a relatively small area.

Given that the tournament was right near Independence Day and also the same week as the National Cherry Festival we knew the town was going to be busy.

We usually prefer to visit Traverse City in the fall when things have kind of died down and the downtown area isn't as crazy as it gets in the summer.

In fact on this trip we completely stayed away from the downtown area. The campground we decided to camp at was on the South West side of town and the softball games were just South of town.

We decided to stay at Holiday Park Campground. Although the rates were a bit more expensive than the State Parks we traditionally stay at, the sites and facilities looked really nice.

We were lucky enough to get a pull-through campsite, so setup was a breeze.

The sites also had full hookups, so we were able to shower and everything in our trailer without having to go to a separate building.

This campground is a resort, so they don't allow tent camping unless it is for children and teens on a site where a trailer is already being kept.

Another thing we noticed about this campground was just how quiet it was. We pulled in on a Thursday and it was very hot. We hung out in the trailer with the A/C on until a front came through dropping the temperature and humidity significantly.

We started a fire and as we were sitting around it we noticed the unsettling quiet. In a State Park you can usually hear other campers laughing, music or kids playing, and various other sounds. That wasn't so in this campground. We enjoyed our fire nonetheless and then retired for the night.

Friday the softball team lucked out and didn't have any games, so they were going to head to the Sleeping Bear Dunes to spend the day. My wife and I have seen the dunes already, so we decided instead to hit one of the local casinos. I am sad to say we didn't have a ton of luck there, but we had a good time, so that is all that matters.

That evening for dinner several of our other family members were coming into town for the softball tournament. We decided to all go out to eat and ended up at Boone's Long Lake Inn.

I am sad to say I didn't get any pictures because quite frankly, I wasn't that impressed with the food. I have heard lots of good things about them and the place was packed which tells me people think pretty highly of it. Maybe it was just an off night or because they were overly busy. I don't know.

My wife and I came back to our site and decided to have another fire. The weather was still really nice from the front moving through the night before and it was nice to just sit around the fire.

Towards the end of the night, someone from outside the park started shooting off fireworks.

My wife was able to grab a couple of pictures of the fireworks above the trailer across the street from us.

If I didn't mention it before, this campground was huge and the section we were in was quite a distance from the main building. There are other sites at the other end of the park that are on Silver Lake.

When I called to make our reservation they asked if I had ever camped there before. When I told them no, they immediately pushed me to the section of the campground we were in.

Apparently many of the prime sites are reserved for members and you don't even get the option to camp in one of those if you don't pay enough or know someone.

That is the nice thing about State Parks, all of the sites are open to everyone. You just need to be quick to get your reservation in.

Saturday arrived and it was time for softball. My nieces team played very well for their first game and in their second game came back from behind to finally win. It was a great day of watching them compete.

After the games were over my wife and I retired back to our trailer to have a cookout with her parents and one of our other nieces. I grilled some food and for dessert we had some awesome Moomers Ice Cream.

Sunday brought even more softball. Four games to be exact. My nieces team won their two pool play games to make it to the semi-finals. They played a tough semi-final game to make it to the finals and ended up run-ruling the opposing team 13 to 2 to win the tournament!

It was very exciting and my wife and I were so proud of the girls and what they accomplished that weekend.

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