When in Angola.....

This past weekend our travels took us to Pokagon State Park in Angola, IN. This was suppose to be our annual "Friends Camping Weekend," but our friend's truck had other plans (Sorry Don and Deb!)

We had our favorite spot, site 452, on top of the hill and wouldn't you know we had the whole loop to ourselves. It was so nice and quiet despite about 5 inches of rain, severe thunderstorms and the biggest swarms of mosquitos we've ever experienced. 

We have stayed at Pokagon numerous times and know the area quite well. In fact, when we go to Angola we have a set list of things that we need to cover. 

• The Pickle Factory Outlet Store
• Clay's
• Moe's Southwest Grill
• Gays Hops-N-Schnapps Discount Liquor Store
• and now I'm going to add the Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet! (thanks for the tip Doug!)

We also discovered some amazing campsites in the 100 loop. After all these years, I thought this was the loop for group camping, but come to find out, they have 27 electrical sites in this loop too. We are planning to go back in September for the Seaplane Splash-In event and will definitely have to try one of these sites next time. A couple of them have beautiful views that overlook Lake James.

We hope that Don's truck is feeling better and is back on the road again soon. At least we have another trip booked with them this season to look forward to.

Pokagon State • Site 452

I wonder what is in my Tervis?

Always trying to take a picture of the Pod at night
with our lights. This doesn't do it justice, but
one of the better ones I've taken.

We had the entire loop to ourselves. 

Here's our bounty from the Pickle Factory Outlet.
We considered renaming the Pod the Pickle Pod.

Spontaneity at its finest!

If you know me, you know that I'm a list-maker and a planner. I usually have at least two lists going at all times (at home and at work). I'm organized and love to plan! On the other hand, I love to be spontaneous too and just roll with things. This definitely summed up our last camping trip to Hayes State Park for the weekend of May 17-19.

Hayes State Park • Site 160

A couple of weeks ago we returned from our first camping trip in Ohio and we literally rolled home, unhooked the Pod and jumped in the car to head to my Mom's to celebrate Mother's Day. We didn't unpack anything but the things we needed to start the work week. 

Once we got to Mom's, my brother said they were going to Hayes State Park with another couple (Always great to be with you Trina and Noah. It had been WAY too long)  and we should join them the next weekend.  We decided the Pod was packed and we might as well go. I literally made reservations on Wednesday night and we left on Friday morning.  I didn't make any lists or do any planning. Brother told me what to bring and had the food all figured out. I made a quick stop at the grocery store and we headed out. We experienced all kinds of Michigan weather from cold to hot to humid to sunny to rainy all in a short weekend. One of these days, I hope Michigan can figure it out. I also hope I won't have to pack a hoodie in July!

We did have dinner at Jerry's Pub at Wampler's Lake (finally!). We had stopped there a couple of times and couldn't get in because they were so busy. My brother made reservations this time and we were seated right away. If you are ever in the area, I'd highly recommend stopping. Ideally, you'd want to sit on the deck with the view of the lake, but it was cold and rainy when we were there. I had the lake perch dinner and it was some of the best perch I'd ever had. We started the meal with a BBQ Pork pizza to share. It was outstanding!!! I hope they make it part of their regular menu. I'd definitely order that again. 

Even Louie was cold!
Glad he brought his sweater.

Always look forward to my Brother cooking up a good
breakfast on Saturday morning.

Louie may be a little spoiled.

Love a good campfire!

Starting the 2019 Camping Season with New Pod Friends

Site 64 at Pymatuning State Park in Andover, Ohio

I find it ironic that we ended the 2018 camping season by attending the 10th Anniversary RPod Rally in Kentucky and we started the 2019 camping season by attending the Ohio May Mini RPod Rally at Pymatuning State Park in Andover, Ohio on May 9-12.

This is the third RPod rally that we attended in the seven years that we have owned our Pod. Each rally is different and we sure have met a lot of fun people along the way.

The weather in Michigan certainly has reflected spring time and the rain has been relentless. This seems to be the case in Ohio, as well. We packed winter and spring clothes and used the heater one night and had to turn on the air conditioning the next night.

It rained a lot while we were at the rally but that didn't stop the fun. We enjoyed two podlucks together, we tie-dyed our first t-shirts and met some awesome people that I have no doubt we will see again. It is always fun to talk to fellow podders and see what kind of modifications they have done and what ideas we can steal. Just for the record, we haven't done anything to the inside of our Pod. I guess we like it just the way it is.

We certainly appreciate the time and effort that our rally hosts put into our weekend. Despite the weather, it was a great time and a good balance of organized activities and time on our own to explore the area.

Pymatuning State Park in Andover, Ohio.
We have one nice, sunny day.

We tie-dyed t-shirts. This is Jim's.

We have never done this before. This is mine.

Such a great time!

One of the podlucks together.

We visited the Greenville Railroad Park and Museum. 

Pod People

Back in January, we made reservations at Green River Lake State Park in Campbellsville, Kentucky to attend the Kentucky Mini-Mini which was hosting R-Pod tenth anniversary rally. Reservations usually go VERY quickly when it comes to these sorts of events, so we were super excited to make them early and get a spot.

We headed south for an overnight quick stop in Indianapolis to catch up with my childhood friends. I didn't take any pictures but this was the first time we did some driveway camping with the Pod. Our time together with the Shock Family is never long enough, but I'll take an evening together to break some bread and catch up. We definitely need to plan some more time together again soon.

The next morning we headed down to Kentucky. It was almost 85 degrees when we arrived and had been raining. Once we got settled at this beautiful campground right on Green River Lake, we took at walk to see how many podders were in the park. There were Pods as far as the eye could see. According to Travis, our fearless leader of the RPod Travel Club, he reported that there were 114 Pods in attendance with a total of 121 RV's in the park. Forest River, the manufacturer of the RPod spoiled us with a catered, bbq dinner one night and they also brought the new RPod's for us to see. They also hosted a wonderful Q&A session which proved that this company truly cares about its customers.

One thing that can be said about traveling with this group is that there are a lot of awesome cooks! We had a "Soup and Chili" night and I've never seen such a variety of soups and chili.  We also had a "Pancake and PJ" night. I didn't see any pancakes but there sure were a lot of creative breakfast dishes to sample.

We met some awesome Podders from all over the United States from California to Maine and reunited with some fellow Podders that we had met at previous gatherings.

This was a nice way to conclude our 2018 camping season. Once again, it went WAY to fast and I don't feel like we did enough camping. We got home and Jimmy had to promptly winterize the Pod and clean it out for the long Michigan winter.

I guess that means that it is time to hibernate...

Site 151 at Green River Lake State Park

Trying to capture the sunset. This doesn't do it justice.

Soup and Chili Night

Crockpots of soup and chili for days.....Oh so good!

Beautiful Green River Lake Dam

Forest River giving away some awesome prizes.
We didn't win anything but got some pretty
cool swag for attending.

RPod Travel Club Banner

Hard to capture all the Pods at the campground

Green River Lake State Park

Sunshine and Seaplanes

Last weekend we ventured to Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana for a weekend of camping and seaplanes. Yes, I said seaplanes! I ran a crossed an event on Facebook for the 2018 Seaplane Splash-In and I knew that Jimmy would enjoy going to something like this. Little did I know, that I would enjoy it too!

We took off on Friday and made a long weekend of it since we haven't camped as much as we usually do. The campground was packed for the weekend and I'm sure the event and the nice, fall weather had something to do with it. We stayed through Monday which is always nice. The campground emptied out on Sunday and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. There was only one other tent-camper in our loop.

We took walks, slept-in, enjoyed some outlet shopping, and spent all day Sunday watching the seaplanes take-off and land in Lake James. I would have never guessed that thousands of people would show up for this event. I have a feeling that this will become an annual event on our calendar.

Google was kind enough to put together a video of my photos from the weekend and I think this just about says it all. Enjoy!

Holy Heat Wave

Labor Day Weekend signifies the end of the summer and that means  hoodies, pumpkins and cool weather are not far away, but that wasn't the case for this year. Every holiday weekend of the summer of 2018 delivered heat and humidity (my two not-so-favorite things) and Labor Day weekend didn't disappoint. 

We headed out Thursday evening to start our long weekend of camping even earlier. We were meeting some friends at Hayes State Park in Brooklyn, MI. To their surprise, they didn't know we were coming a day early. I loved the look on their faces when we rolled up to our site. I wish I would have taken a picture. 

Minus the heat (thank God for air conditioning in our Pod), we had a great time. Saturday, the girls got some swim time in and cooled off at Wamplers Lake. Sunday it was just too damn hot to do anything, so we decided to take off and seek some air conditioning at the different wineries/breweries in the area. I didn't know there were so many different places, so close to home. We hit Black Fire Winery in Tecumseh, Cherry Creek in Brooklyn and Chateau Aeronautique Winery in Onsted. Such a fun day discovering new wines and beers and getting a bit of a break from the heat. 

Jimmy did a little experimenting with cinnamon rolls over the weekend and baked them in the pie iron for breakfast. Actually, it was second breakfast or maybe it was dessert after the breakfast, but whatever the case, it was a really good experiment that worked well. I believe this is going to be an addition to our camping food menu. So easy and good!

We didn't want the weekend to end, so on Monday we stopped by my Aunt and Uncles cottage in Hillsdale and ended up spending most of the day hanging out there.  I can honestly say that we squeezed every little bit of the holiday weekend out of it that we could!

We are looking forward to fall in Michigan as it usually has some great weather ahead. We have a couple of more trips on the books and looking forward to our adventures.

Until next time, here's some pictures from the weekend.

Site 164 at Hayes State Park. 

Camping with our friends, Don and Deb.

Saturday at Wampler's Lake before the storm rolled in.
At least we got some relief from the heat.

Jimmy experimented with baking
cinnamon rolls in the pie iron.

They sure were good with a hit of smoky flavor!

Labor Day Monday at my Aunt and Uncle's Cottage
in Hillsdale. We were in the area and decided to stop for a visit
before we headed home. 

Better Late Than Never

I've really been falling down on my blogging duties this year. Good thing we have only been out twice so far! Back in July, we had an opportunity to sneak away for a quick and spontaneous weekend. We knew we couldn't go too far away as we only had a couple of days. We wanted to check out someplace new, so we headed to Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area in Pontiac, MI. The first thing that I think of when someone mentions "Pontiac" is the old Pontiac Silverdome where the Detroit Lions used to play. We were already wondering how this campground was going to be right in the middle of the city. That's part of the adventure, right?

So, the sites were awesome and mostly secluded with plenty of shade.  It was a super hot and humid weekend and wouldn't you know it rained mostly all day on Saturday! It hadn't rained in weeks, so go figure! We decided that it wouldn't be an official camping weekend without a trip to the local WalMart and then it was time for lunch. We stumbled across Billy's Tip N' Inn. Boy, this was a good find! We had some of the best pulled pork and Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches that we've ever tasted. If you ever find yourself in Pontiac and you're hungry, I'd highly suggest checking this place out. You won't be disappointment!

Saturday night, the rain finally stopped and we were able to have a fire and relax (kind of). We had free entertainment across the street well into the wee-hours of Sunday morning. I think we only got a couple hours of sleep between us. There was a huge Class-A Motorhome on the site across the street from us that partied all night long. We lost count of how many times the park ranger was at their site asking them to be quiet and turn their music down. I've never witnessed so much disrespect in all of my camping years! We were surprised that they didn't get kicked out of the park.

Since we ended up cancelling most of our trips this summer, we hope to hit the road more this fall. Labor Day weekend is approaching and we are looking forward to a well-deserved, long weekend with friends!

I didn't take a lot of photos, but here's a couple to document the weekend.

Site 34 at Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area.
The sites were awesome!

Awww..time to relax!

Two of my favorite things!
My hubby and my Pod...