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