Re-Cap of 2017 Camping

We started out the season camping with my daughter and her family. We camped at Baraboo Hills Campground, a commercial campground with all the goodies. We camped with friends of Lindsay's, so there were plenty of children, including our grandsons. So the pool, bouncy things and all the kid attractions made for a fun weekend. We usually stay at county, state or national parks, so this was a different and fun kind of weekend.

In June, Michelle and I headed to Tahguamenon State Park in Paradise, MI in the Upper Peninsula. We pulled into town and stopped for gas, the place was packed with bikers. A bit of a surprise. We headed to the campground and found our site. We did tourist things. Our first stop was the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  The number of ships that perished is considerable with the Edmund Fitzerald the most famous. The mosquito population was just overwhelming, thankfully the gift shop sold bug spray! 

 

We spend a day on Mackinaw Island. The bridge is amazing crossing from lower to upper peninsula.

We took the ferry out to the island and spend the day. There are no cars on the island with all transportation by horse and buggy. There is a fort on the island along with the downtown area and the famous hotel.

The horse and buggy tour was great fun,the tour guides were funny and informative. The fort has great exhibits of how the original settlers lived. Lunch was at the oldest building on the island and this is well worth the visit.

Another day we visited Sault St. Marie on the Canada side. There was a long wait to get through customs and the young lady in the visitor's center was helpful and loved a Canadian TV show called Heartland. We had a great discussion about the show. 

We also took a boat tour of the locks in Sault St. Marie. The Canadian locks are for small boats which we went through. The American locks handle the large ships moving through from the two lakes.

During August we spend a few days camping at Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee, MI. During this time of year, the beach is very rocky and narrow. The campground has over 300 sites and not many trees. We were surprised how quiet folks became at quiet hour hit. 

Michelle started a new job this summer, so we had to cancel the Colorado trip. We did in late August spend a weekend at Gov. Dodge SP in Wisconsin. We had our friends Scott and Lynn over for dinner and played cards afterward. After living in Madison for some years, Michelle and I visited House on the Rock. What an odd collection of things! The world's largest carousel is inside and works.

We are planning a late October weekend at Rock Cut State Park....could be a bit chilly!

Camper MIA

Camper Issues:

After three seasons, our Viking camper's floor started to rot through especially by the door. We kept having water inside the camper and could not determine the problem. Michelle finally figured out that a clamp was not properly installed under the sink causing the slow flooding.

Our dealer, Kramer's Kampers inspected the situation and said our camper floor looked like a ten-year old camper rather than three-years. Somehow they convinced Viking to repair the damage by replacing the floor. In mid-February we pulled George (our camper) out of storage and pulled over to Kramer's. Viking then transported George to their facility in Michigan.

As usual, we planned and booked the entire 2017 camping trip in February. As time went on, we kept expecting to hear from Viking. Kramer's was not able to get answers from Viking on the status, only there were working on it. Time went on in March and April, still without any answers.

Our first camping trip was scheduled for the weekend of May 19. Kramer's told me Viking was finished with the floor but had to replace the roof. Estimated completion, not known.

Now that it is May, we cancelled our first trip and for a family camping the next weekend we took out our tent. We did not want to cancel this one since is was with my daughter and her family- the Grandkids!!

Finally Kramer's gave me phone numbers to call at Viking. Yesterday they told me the floor and roof were complete! But.....the found a mildew spot on the tenting on the backside and they would have to order the new tenting for replacement. After some discussion back and forth, we determined it was not to bad, they would send a replacement to our dealer if we felt it was necessary, and otherwise George was ready to go.

We asked that George arrive back at the dealer no later than Monday which we could make for the trip. Of course, I always have to call Viking and I will later today to find out about the transportation situation. More to come.

Wrap-Up of 2016 Camping/Hiking Season

This season did not turn out as well as we planned. We did our usual weekend trips to state parks close to our home. Our big trip where we wanted to do an overnight hike the Appalachian Trail were thwarted by a serious strain to my ankle (see below).

We were also planning to hike a loop in Michigan consisting of the Manistee River Trail and the North Country Trail for a nice twenty-mile overnight hike. Another planned hike was on the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Both of these postponed due to the ankle injury.

Our pop-up camper George still has problems each season. Mostly just little, annoying things due to cheap construction (you get what you pay for). The floor by the entry door has gone soft which is a major issue. We cut out a wood piece to cover and our dealer is sending picture to Viking to see if they will do anything for us.

Last weekend we put George into storage for the winter. I am already planning next year, with hiking!

Appalachian Trail

For our June trip, we first headed to a weekend with a friend in Kentucky. He took us down to Nashville for an evening of pub crawling What an amazing scene, four or five blocks of bars all with live bands. There is no cover and the crowds and music are amazing. We started out at Tootsies and worked our way down the block.

But back to camping and hiking. We drove from our friend's home to The Lodge at Amicalola Falls. We had arrived to close to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail! We did not realize (poor research on my part) that its a day hike from the campground to the terminus. During the first day we hiked up see the Falls and called it a day.

We hiked up to the Falls from one side, up a forest road and then back down using the stairs. I am happy we did not go up this way!

The next day we drove the car to the southern terminus. We drove a very, very bumpy forest road. The pot holes were numerous and deep but eventually we made it to the parking lot. There were other folks getting ready to do some hiking there too.

We first hiked south to reach the actual start of the trail before hiking out to the first shelter. There were a few folks around the area soaking in wonderful scenery. We hung out awhile and then headed north on the trail. We got about a mile further north from the parking lot when I slipped and fell, twisting my right ankle. I thought a small thing and decided to keep on going. We took a break in another half mile and inspected the ankle more closely.

At that point we decided it was best to head back. We hiked up hill most of the way back to the parking lot and went back to our campsite. About 1:00 am I decided it might be time to see a doctor and headed to the closet ER. The upstart is a severe strain and as I write this on August 3rd, I am still in physical therapy. SIGH! Thus our hiking for this season comes to a halt.

Camping Map

Here is our Google Map showing our camping locations by year since Michelle and I started camping.

Click here

2nd Trip of the 2016 Season

We spent the first weekend of June at Yellowstone Lake State Park in Wisconsin. This park is close to Blanchardville and Mineral Point, the park is situated out in the middle of nowhere. The lake is man-made and beautiful.

We spend a quiet weekend enjoying nature. 

2016 Is Off & Running

Our camping season has begun! We picked up George, our pop-up camper, from my daughter-in-law on May 7th. She and her husband Nate are kind enough to store George over the winter in the huge out building. We took George to Kramer's Kampers in Zion, IL for his yearly tune-up. This is our fourth year with George and we are realizing how cheaply he is made. Little things keep breaking which is just a nuisance.

As usual our first camping weekend was at Rock Cut State Park outside of Rockfore, IL. This is our annual shake-down trip to make sure all is working well. This year the all the bathrooms and showers were working which is great after our experiences last year.

Rock Cut is a wonderful weekend camping experience. Make sure to reserve your site early as camping does fill up. There is a great lake, day hiking trails and a nice concession/restaurant across the lake. (Pic is not us)