2018 is Shaping Up!

Most of our reservations are complete for the year.  We planned to spend time at Big Bay State Park on the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin in July. All the campsites at Big Bay are booked for the season along with any other national or state parks in the area. I learned Wisconsin DNR will take reservations eleven months early. So this August I'll book Big Bay for our 2019 season. All our other reservation are complete except one. That one we need to wait for 90 days prior to booking.

Michelle and I attended the 2018 Chicago RV & Camping Show and found our next camper. The Thor Motor Coach Four Winds Sprinter 24FS would be a great step up. We were very close to signing on the dotted line. Because of my height the only chassis that works is the Mercedes Benz, plenty of legroom there. The closet is in Grand Rapids and the salesperson could not guarantee the "show" price. Another year!

On the hiking front, we still have not spent an overnight on the trail and hope to change our status twice this summer. Our first attempt will be on the Ozark Highland Trail. The western terminus is at Lake Fort Smith State Park. Combining with other local trails, we can do a loop.  The second is a loop trail in Yellow River State Forest, IA. We are going to do it this summer!!

The rest of the summer we will be camping at:

• Mirror Lake State Park - Wisconsin
• Rock Cut State Park - Illinois
• Lake Fort Smith State Park- Arkansas
• Roaring River State Park - Missouri
• Starved Rock State Park - Illinois
• Pike's Peak State Park - Iowa
• Willow River State Park - Wisconsin (step-daughter wedding and National Narrow Gauge Model Railroad Convention in Minneapolis.

So, only two months or so until we are camping - a bag of shells!