New Podding Friends

Last weekend we took the Pod to meet some new friends! I belong to R-Pod Owners group on Facebook and a couple of other semi-local Podders decided to meet at Sterling State Park in Monroe, MI for the weekend.

Four Pods in the Park - Photo Courtesy of Julie

We had such a great time meeting Kevin and his adorable dog, Remi from the Flint area along with Darryl and Julie from Ohio and their cute, four-legged friend, Cooper. On Saturday, a wild pod showed up and joined us to make "Four Pods in the Park." Jay and Jessica from the Pinckney area saw our threads on Facebook and decided to join us for the evening. It was their maiden voyage in their new Pod. Kevin introduced us to Flint style coney dogs for our 'podluck' on Saturday night. They were delicious!

I love making new friends along the way and enjoyed getting to know everyone. We shared travel stories, modification tips and gave lots of tours of the different Pods. We really hope to connect with everyone again.

Ramblin' Riggs on Site 19 at
Sterling State Park in Monroe, MI

As of right now, we do not have any other camping trips on the calendar. I'm not ready to be done camping for the season, so I'm hoping to sneak in a couple of more spontaneous weekends before the snow flies. Did I just say (or type) that 's' word? Hard to believe that today is September 1 already. The only good thing about that is that college football season started this weekend! Go Spartans!

42,692 Steps

Jim and I picked up a couple of Fitbits right before our vacation to Hocking Hills and Mochian State Park. We knew that we would get a great deal of activity in that week as there are at least six different places within the state park area that we wanted to visit.  We have been to Hocking Hills three

Hocking Hills State Park - Site 171

different times but have never camped in the state park. We were on site 171 (which ironically is the same number as our RPod). I thought this was a great sign. Our campsite was on the end of a loop and we had more than enough room.

When we arrived on Saturday, August 9, it was right around dinner time. As we pulled up next to our site we noticed that there was another RPod right across the street from us. We knew that once we were set up and settled we had to go make friends. The couple was from the Cincinnati area and was only out on their third trip. We exchanged lots of ideas, travel tips, and helpful hints. Often times we are the only "Pod in the Park" so this was a treat. We still gave a number of tours of our Pod that week and made some new friends. Other than one night and one afternoon of rain, the week was perfect. We started out using the air conditioner in about 85 degree weather but almost needed the furnace by the end of the week. Once the front rolled through the evening temperatures hit 47 degrees. The bonfire that night was a real blessing!

Old Man's Cave at Hocking Hills State Park.

Just a glimpse of the stairs that are all throughout the park.

Conkles Hollow at Hocking Hills State Park.

Cantwell Cliffs at Hocking Hills State Park.

Ash Cave at Hocking Hills State Park.

While we were at Hocking Hills we visited Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, Conkles Hollow, and Cantwell Cliffs. The other two places, Cedar Falls and The Rock House, we had visited once before so it didn't matter if we made it to those two or not. We also ate a couple meals at the Hocking Hills State Park Lodge. The food was amazing! We weren't sure about it as it didn't seem very busy, but I had some of the best pasta around and Jim's corn beef sandwich was delicious (and I didn't even think I liked corn beef...LOL).

Site 33 at Mochian State Park.

Midweek we moved up to Mochian State Park on the edge of Amish County in Ohio. We were on site 33. We had camped here on our first trip with our RPod and thought it was a great park. This time was a little different. The campground office was really disorganized and the people we not very friendly. The campground was packed as it was the weekend before most Ohio schools started back to school. We visited the Paradise Dam and Clear Fork Gorge and spend one full day in Berlin Ohio. We shopped most of the day at all the cute, little Amish stores and then stopped for a good, home cooked, traditional Amish dinner. It was delicious.

Clear Fork Gorge at Mochian State Park.

All in all we had a great week! According to our Fitbits, we took 42,692 steps around Ohio. I would say we covered a lot of ground.

Cousins Camping Weekend July 17-20, 2014

Once again, the only Pod in the Park.

The third annual Cousins Camping weekend was another huge success. From Kalkaska to Blissfield to Monroe to Livonia to Baltimore, Maryland, we all converged on the tiny town of Port Hope, Michigan. It was truly like taking a step back in time. It was a very small town with a full-service gas station, a bar, a post office and an ice cream store. We camped at Stafford County Park located right on the shores of Port Huron. We were camped on site #12, and with the rest of the family, we all formed our own little compound with the fire pit right in the middle. It was perfect --- minus the fact that it was July and we had to turn on the heater in our camper for one night and wear hoodies and long pants while sitting

around the campfire. This has been a crazy weather summer in the Mitten.

We arrived to camp late on Thursday night. We were the last to arrive. Traffic was terrible coming out of Ann Arbor. For miles we did about 15 to 20 miles for no apparent reason. On Friday, we biked in the morning and explored the little town of Port Hope.  Friday afternoon we loaded up two cars and ventured to

Heck Cousins at Heck's Bar.

Pinnebog, Michigan to the site of "Heck's Bar" (for those of you that don't know me that well, that is my maiden name). We were all excited to see if we were related. The owner, Robert Heck II, was very welcoming. He was equally enthusiastic to find out where we were all from and if we could trace back our roots. Well, sure enough, his family and my family originated in the same small town in Germany. We enjoyed some great Michigan beer and all sampled the famous "Heckleburger." This burger is the foundation of the Heck's Bar menu. It was OUTSTANDING! It was the first burger that I didn't have to drown in condiments. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again. If I ever venture to that side of the state again, I'll be sure to stop in and see my new "cousin."

Saturday morning my brother cooked up a mean breakfast to send a few of us off on a kayaking adventure. I had never kayaked a Great Lake before and I will admit I was a little nervous. We headed down to Harbor Beach to set sail. I did pretty well this time with navigating my kayak. I was able to get in it and out of it ok without

Cousins Kayaking on Lake Huron.

getting wet! That is always a successful trip in my book. At one point, I did have whitecaps coming over the front of my kayak but that didn't last too long and I was able to stay afloat. I was just reminding myself to stay calm and be sure that I was heading into the waves and not against them. I also had my cousin Patie nearby to keep the conversation going to take my mind of things (Thanks Patie!)

Saturday night we cooked up a fest, played some rounds of cornhole, sat around the campfire telling stories, catching up, toasting to those that are no longer with us, and making plans for next year. All the fine ingredients to another great Cousins Camping Weekend. 

Here is some more photos of the weekend....

Chef, Brother Bill

Jimmy never likes his picture taken. He's always doing some
marketing for Siena Heights wherever we go.

Cousins Jason, Becky and Doug 

It's not camping until someone breaks out the cornhole
Cousin Lois, Brother and Scott

The view from the campsite - Lake Huron

The Cousins Camping Compound and Fire Circle

Lake Erie Love

I've always been a fan of Lake Erie. It is probably because I grew up on its shoreline in Monroe, MI.  I have very fond memories of perch fishing with my dad, taking long walks at Luna Pier to clear my head or just sitting on the beach at Sterling State Park. This past weekend (June 6-8) we ventured to Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon Ohio located on the opposite shores of Lake Erie. 

Have you seen Ohio's newest marketing campaign, "Lake Erie Love?" Here's a link to their new music video....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el_wvc3X7p4. They nailed it. This song gets stuck in my head so bad and ironically, everything that they mention in music video happened this weekend.

We....

... "woke up with the sunshine on my face"

.... "had no troubles anymore"

... "laughed until we cried"

... "light up the summer skies"

...."had the time of our lives"

We were on site 132 and we couldn't get over how much room we had. We didn't have much shade and it did get pretty warm in the afternoon, but we survived. We have camped at this park once before and thought it was nice, but this time we walked away with a new appreciation. There's something here for everyone from nice sandy beaches, to walking trails, to a paved bike path, activities from ice cream socials to movies on the big screen at the outdoor amphitheater and we even enjoyed a professional fireworks display over Lake Erie on Saturday night.

We camped with three other couples and had such a great time together. We got a few hands of euchre in, plenty of hillbilly golf and a newer lawn game called "Can Jam." We cooked an outstanding dinner over a charcoal fire on Saturday night. We also spent a few hours at the beach working on our tans. Once again it was another stellar weather weekend in Northwest Ohio. We woke up to rain on Sunday morning but its getting pretty dry around here, so it is much needed. 

Site 132 at Maumee Bay State Park

The back of our site lead right to a little pond.
We didn't even think about bringing our kayaks, but we will next time.

A beautiful sunny day at the beach.
The top of my feet will never be the same.

Our next camping trip isn't until the middle of July to the thumb area of Michigan with all of my cousins. I know we have to stay put for the next couple of weekends for family and work commitments, but something tells me that we will have a couple of spur of the moment trips pop up before the middle of July. In the meantime, the Pod got a good cleaning yesterday once we got home. We will be ready to roll in a moments notice.

Until our next podding adventure...

Holy Mosquitos - Pokagon State Park

Site 452 at Pokagon State Park in Angola, IN

Our next weekend (May 30, 31, and June 1) adventure took us to Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana. We planned this weekend back in January with some of our oldest friends. This trip is the third time we have camped at this park and we were able to get our favorite spot again. Site 452 is located in campground #4 on its own half circle with just a half dozen sites on the entire loop. The site itself is located on a small hill that overlooks the rest of the sites and has good morning sun, but plenty of afternoon shade.

There are several activities at this park. We spent Saturday at the beach on Lake St. James which is located within the state park. The weather was beautiful and even warm enough for a little swimming. I wasn't really planning on swimming but the water was really nice. We took our bikes but didn't take them out

Lake St. James at Pokagon State Park

of the truck. The park does have a nice paved bike path but we never tried it out.

On Saturday evening, we headed to Clay's Family Restaurant in Fremont, Indiana. We had eaten here the last time we camped at Pokagon. It is only a couple miles from the park and the food is really good. What's even better is that on any given day they have at least 10 homemade pies on hand for dessert. I had the best peanut pie EVER! I had ordered it to go as I was pretty full from their fish fry but as soon as I saw it I had to at least try one bite. Well, one bite turned into several more that just melted in my mouth. It was delicious!

My only issue the whole weekend were those pesky mosquitos, but I guess that goes right along with camping. They must grow them big in Indiana because these mosquitos could carry a small person away. They were huge. My ankles have never had so many bites. I applied and reapplied bug spray at least a dozen times each night, but that didn't seem to slow them down. I finally just held a citronella candle and that seemed to do the trick. Mosquitos have always loved me and I think they always will.

Pure Michigan #1

Jim and I had a week off of work and I had planned a trip to up state New York. We had a couple of things come up that forced us to cancel that trip. We were really looking forward to going, but life happens. We hope to reschedule for some time later this year. We were still able to get away later in the week and we headed up north to Tawas Point State Park. We had been to Tawas a few times but never had the opportunity to camp there.

The state park was beautiful. Our site (#44) looked right out of the bay. There wasn't many people there during the week but as we got closer to the Memorial Day weekend it started filling up. The weather was outstanding while we were there but the wind was crazy!! We needed to use the heater at night to take the chill out of the Pod. The park has a really cool lighthouse and a bike path that goes all the way through town. We rode 12 miles of it on Thursday. That was a long way considering it was only the second time we had been on our bikes all year. 

We could only get reservations through Friday as it was the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend. We moved across the state to my cousins place in Kalkaska. My brother and sister-in-law also joined us for the weekend. It was nice to catch up with our cousins over good food and some serious card playing. 

We loaded up the kayaks and took them with us hoping to break them out for the first time this year but it didn't happen. Once we got home we were able to take some time and kayak for a few hours on Lake Hudson which isn't too far from our house. Its a real nice lake that isn't too busy. I'm still not real comfortable in my 'yak but the more I do it, the more comfortable I get. My exit strategy still needs some work, but I think it will get there too. 

Here's some pictures from our trip....

Campsite #44 at Tawas Point State Park

The boardwalk to Lake Huron

The beautiful sunset over Tawas Bay.

Tawas Point Lighthouse

This is from our weekend in Kalkaska. I'm calling it Camp Latham.

Impromptu Camping Weekend (April 25 - 27, 2014)

We finally saw the light at the end of the winter tunnel and decided to break out the camper for the weekend. It was a pretty quick decision to head out and we didn't even have time to de-winterize the Pod, but we took our chances. I had been stalking the weather all last week, but never took into consideration that we were heading to Lake Erie, Sterling State Park to be exact, and the winds were forecasted to be out of the east around 25 mph off the lake. It was FREEZING cold and too windy to even have a campfire. I was surprised that there was about 40 other campers out and braving the cold winds. I was very thankful for the heated bathroom at the park and that our heater in the camper worked just fine too. We still had a nice time and since it is my hometown we spent Saturday afternoon with my parents watching the Detroit Tigers baseball game. 

So, this officially opens the camping season for 2014. We have trips planned to New York, Ohio, Indiana, and of course, around Michigan. I'm just hoping that this crazy weather will straighten up and we won't have to worry about freezing temperatures and snow in May!

Here's a couple of photos from our weekend!

The Pod on site 14 at Sterling State Park in Monroe, MI.

We had a nice view of Lake Erie.

Camping Fever

It's almost of the middle of February and we have five camping trips on the calendar. I'm counting down the days until I can get outside and enjoy the weather! This winter in Michigan has been something. I think we are making up for the lack of snow that we have missed over the last 20 years. We probably have a couple of feet on the ground and its not going to go anywhere, anytime soon. Not only have we had a ton of snow, it has been arctic around here too. We are running out of places to pile up the snow.

In the meantime, my solution to combat the winter blues is to plan, plan, plan. I always need to have something to look forward to. We are looking forward to camping at some of our favorite places again this season with family and friends. 

• Totem Pole Park in Petersburg, MI
• Pokagon State Park in Angola, IN
• Maumee Bay State Park in Maumee, OH
• Cousins Camping Weekend with my family someplace on the east side of MI
• Ludington State Park in Ludington, MI

We also hope to make it to Hocking Hills in southern ohio either this spring or fall. Last year we took at total of 14 trips between April and October. Not sure we will be able to do that many again, but I think I'm up for the challenge. I'm heading back to school in August to work on my Master's Degree in Strategic Communication, so I'll have to see how much work and time that will be before we figure out our fall camping possibilities. 

In the meantime, its back to winter in Michigan. Here's some photos of some incredible snowdrifts around our house. 

The snowdrifts almost look like waves coming across the field.

This is our front porch and the snow is higher than the step.

One of the most incredible snowdrifts I've ever seen.
Notice it is up to the bottom of our garage window.