Brothers and Sisters

Ludington State Park - Cedar Campground

Our last camping trip of 2015 was to Ludington State Park in Ludington, MI. We have camped here before and just love it. The park is beautiful and you cannot beat the view of Lake Michigan. We joined my brother, Bill and his wife Nancy and Nancy's brother, John, and his wife Lety from Indianapolis, IN.

Graduate school was in full force and I had a ton of homework. I think I spent more time at the Ludington library than I did anywhere else. I'm thankful that they had free WIFI and a quiet place to do homework. Each day, Jim dropped me off for about four hours to work on my assignments. It was a little frustrating since I wanted to be with the others, but I know my studies are important.

The weather was just perfect for our long weekend of September 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, 2015. We had cool mornings, warm afternoons and a couple of rainy nights. We walked and biked but we never took the kayaks off the truck.

On Saturday, we hiked the Skyline Trail Boardwalk which is another trail that Jim and I hadn't discovered yet. There were over 100 steps involved but the view is well worth it.

On Sunday, we ventured out to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse. It was a 1.8 mile walk out to the lighthouse. We started early in the morning before it got to hot, but it didn't take long to warm up. We definitely reached our FitBit step goal for this day.

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

One morning we were invaded by some wild turkeys.
They were a little too close for my comfort.

Maybe the turkeys knew it was time for
breakfast thanks to Chef Brother!

My time at the library being a good student
even while on vacation!

Hamlin Lake at Ludington State Park

Love Lake Michigan sunset!

My selfie on the pier in downtown Ludington.

It was a long walk up....

...but the view on the Skyline Trail was well worth the climb!

John, Lety, Nancy, Brother and Jimmy

Brother and Sister

Brother and Sister

Just another dam photo
(Sometimes I just crack myself up!)

The trek to the lighthouse...

Getting closer...

It was a beautiful site.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Maumee Bay State Park

Labor Day weekend (September 4, 5, 6 and 7, 2015) took us to Maumee Bay State Park just outside Oregon, OH with our group of friends. This is one of our favorite parks and it is close to home, which is nice on a holiday weekend. We typically don't like camping on the holidays weekend but this wasn't so bad. Maumee Bay State Park has nice wide spots that are all a little secluded, so it didn't seem like we were right on top of our neighbor.

We got to camp first and got everything set up and I started working in my homework so I didn't have to do much during the weekend when I wanted to hang out with our friends. The weather was sort of gloomy and of course I was watching the weather reports as they were calling for rain and storms throughout the weekend. Once everyone else arrived we sat around the fire until the early morning. This is always one of my favorite things to do while camping. I'm not sure what it is about a campfire but it is always so relaxing and mesmerizing. This is probably why I always sleep so well when I'm camping too.

Saturday morning we woke up around 5:30 in the morning to driving rain and hollowing winds. Our friends across the street from us were in a tent with two small children. Not that we had a lot of room in our camper, but I thought it would be better to be cramped than riding out the storm in a tent. I

Kara and Shelby survived the storms in their tent.
They are such happy campers!

texted them to make sure they were ok. They were for the most part but their tent blew down and everything was soaked. They were safe in our other friend's camper which was much bigger than ours. We finally joined them once the rain slowed down and decided to head to breakfast instead of cooking in the rain. After breakfast we took a trip to Wal-Mart so they could buy a new tent. We also ventured over to Camping World to pick up some sealant for our camper as it started leaking in a few places during the downpour. The rest of the day was pretty gloomy, hot and humid so we didn't do much but sit around.

Sunday was a much better day but still super hot. We decided it was time to take a swim in the pond and get some sun. Summer had finally arrived even though the calendar said it was September. The day was so hot that we decided not have to campfire, so we all gathered in my friends camper again and watched TV. 

So in 2016, I think we should look at camping in October or maybe even November so its not so hot, but then again, with our luck it would probably snow!

Fourth Annual Cousins Weekend

The RPod at Little Grey Goose Lake. Pretty nice spot!

The Fourth Annual Cousins Weekend was held this year at the Arend's cottages on Little Gray Goose Lake in Jerome, MI on the weekend of August 27, 28, 29, 30, 2015. I'm so glad that we kept our tradition going now for four years in a row. I hope we can keep it going for at least another four years as family and time together is super important. We all get busy and have our own lives, but I think it is very important to take time out of our busy schedules and spend time with those that you love.

I wanted to recap the last four years of trips that we have made together just for my own memory's sake:

• 2012 - Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, MI
• 2013 - Camping at Muskegon State Park in Muskegon, MI
• 2014 - Camping at Stafford County Park in Port Hope, MI
• 2015 - Cottage weekend at Arend's on Little Gray Goose Lake in Jerome, MI

Little Grey Goose Lake

We took our RPod and parked it on Aunt Lucy and Uncle Dick's front lawn. We've always wanted to take the camper up to the lake to see how well it would work and I think it worked out pretty well. My cousin Mike and his wife, Kathy brought their pop up camper too, but everyone else stayed in cottages. It was a nice mix of accommodations as not everyone is a camper. 

The weather wasn't the greatest for lake activities but that was ok as we had plenty of catching up to do. We took off on Thursday night after work and since it was only a very short 40 minute drive, we were parked and set up in no time. 

Each night we had an awesome bonfire, too much good food, too many drinks (if that's possible) and a wonderful time together.

I wonder what we will do in 2016? It's never too early to start planning.

Captain Brother Bill, Cousin Laura and Cousin Doug

Cousin Beckie and Cousin Laura

Cousin Lois and the newest Cousin Ryker

Chef Brother and Cousin Jason

Husband Jim and Cousin Doug --
They always seem to solve the world's
problems when they get together.

Two Pods in the Park

Graduate school has taken up a lot of my time this fall and I've not been very good about updating our camping blog. I wanted to get some notes/thoughts down before I forgot the details of the four camping trips that we took between August and September of 2015.

The weekend of August 21, 22, and 23, 2015 we joined our RPod friends Darryl and Julie at Harbortown RV Resort in Monroe, MI. I thought it was rather ironic that we were going to camp in my hometown, but why not? The resort was awesome with pull-thru sites, free WIFI and cable TV.  The weather was warm enough to take advantage of their beautiful pool too. We usually camp in more rustic places so we were not used to these kind of accommodations, but I think I could get used to it. Our weather this past summer was really strange. We only had a few days of 90 degree weather and high humidity, which was okay by me.

Its always nice to catch up with Darryl and Julie and share RPod stories, modifications and travel adventures. We really enjoy their company and are looking forward to more camping adventures with them in 2016.

Two Pods in the Park - Harbortown RV Resort in Monroe, MI

Family Fun Weekend in the Irish Hills

Our second camping adventure of the season brought up to the Somerset Beach Campground located in Somerset, Michigan. We have been coming to this area for years as my Aunt and Uncle have a cottage in the area. We've passed this campground several times and my brother thought it was due time to check it out. He made the reservations as a surprise to Conner for his ninth birthday celebration. Aunt Liesel and Uncle Jimmy were happy to tag along, besides it was a short 40 minute drive from our house.

Ironically, we didn't spend that much time at the campground as we headed over to Goose Lake for the day on Saturday. The campground had plenty of activities for the kids from zip lining to fishing to kayaking to archery. I think the kids were a little disappointed that they didn't get to enjoy those activities, but we made up for it by spending the day at the lake with my aunt, uncle and cousins. The kids got to fish, enjoy several jet ski rides, swim off the pontoon boat, kayak and bounce around what energy they had left in an inflatable that was there as part as the annual summer picnic. We returned to the campground in the early evening and the kids barely had enough energy to have smores around the campfire. I cannot remember the last time that they wanted to go to bed.

Hard to believe that the summer is winding down, but we are just ramping up our camping. We have several trips planned through the end of the September and I cannot wait.

Here's some highlights from our family fun weekend in the Irish Hills...

Very nice lake at Somerset Beach Campground

Our campsite at Somerset Beach Campground

Pontoon ride at Goose Lake in Jerome, MI

Goose Lake in Jerome, MI

Cousin Paul was a very fine captain

Conner and Allison enjoying the lake

Jetski rides with the kids

More jetski fun

Cooper and Allison

Conner on the jetski

Conner in the kayak. He did eventually set sail.

Better Late, Than Never...

I cannot believe that it is August 12, the summer is almost over and this is my first blog update of 2015! I'm not sure where this year is going. It seems that every day, every week, every month is just flying right by me.

My summer started out with my first trip aboard to London and France for three weeks. I was blessed with an opportunity to travel with three co-workers from Siena Heights University to southern France. We were immersed in the French culture and studied with other faculty and staff members from ten Dominican Universities from across the United States. This trip was amazing from start to finish!

Once I returned home in the middle of June and settled back in, we had family commitments, work commitments, weddings, and birthdays to attend, so we didn't get on the road until the end of June. It was really a spur of the moment trip to the west side of Michigan. We camped at Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer, Michigan from June 28 through July 2, 2015. I called a week before to check to see if they had any availability for the week before the Fourth of July. I really didn't expect to find anything on such late notice. Sure enough, since it was during the week and not over the Fourth of July holiday, they had some openings. We stayed on site 103, and really, the park wasn't crowded at all. We have travelled to the west side of Michigan several times, so we were both very familiar with the area and what to do. We had visited this state park before but never camped there. It was very peaceful during the week, but as it got closer to the holiday weekend, the park filled up fast. The weather wasn't all that great, so we didn't take advantage of the awesome beach that was right at the park. Each night we were hoping to see one of the stunning Lake Michigan sunsets, but we didn't get that either.

Siena Heights University has a campus in Benton Harbor so we meet up with one of my co-workers, LeAnn and her husband for drinks and dinner at Greenbush Brewery in Sawyer, MI. The food and beer was amazing and we enjoyed our time with LeAnn and Gary. We had one more day left on our trip without any plans, so LeAnn and Gary recommended a trip to the Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, MI before we left town. I'm not much of a whiskey drinker, so this was an all around experience for me. I will admit I left double-fisted and am still enjoying the Old Country Goodness Apple Cider Liqueur. Cheers!

Below are some photos from this trip.

Warren Dunes State Park, Sawyer MI • Site 103

Warren Dunes

Jimmy capturing the sunset.

My dinner at Greenbush Brewery! 

The only decent sunset on our last night.

My flight of whiskey at Journeyman Distillery. Oh my!