Name Change

               

Since our hiking dreams remain just that, we decided to change the name of the blog to Camping in Nature. Since we have purchased a class C camper, camping is more prevalent than hiking. We still will hike as you can see when I get the post up about our Arkansas/Missouri Trip.

First Camping Trip with Sir George

We took our first trip with Sir George in May on my birthday. We spent the weekend at Rock Cut State Park. We did not have the tow dolly and just took the camper. The first surprise was my daughter and her family pulled into the campsite across from us. I had no idea. Then in the evening we had a 'birthday' dinner and my brother-in-law and his wife arrived along with my best friend and his wife. Michelle pulled off a wonderful surprise - THANKS!

The weather was very hot and the power in the campground went off several times. We lived through and enjoyed our friends and family along with learning about our new camper!

Sir George

Sir George:

We upgraded from our pull-behind camper named George to a Class C named Sir George.

Michelle and I took delivery and are ready to drive away for the first time. We opted for a tow dolly so we can bring our car along. The purchasing experience was daunting, from the "car salesman" part to parts and accessories. After getting Sir George home we found the refrigerator did not work, so back to the dealer. I won't go into all the trials and tribulations but we will be off in Sir George for new adventures.

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!

Thoughts for 2018

Michelle and I would like to get some hiking next year. After hurting my ankle on the Appalachian Trail in 2016, we rather backed off hiking this summer. We did a bit at Gov. Dodge last month, but nothing long. We sill want to stay our overnight on a trail.

Some places we are looking at for 2018:

Door County, Wisconsin
Yellow River State Forest Trail, Iowa
Apostle Islands, WI
Mark Twain National Forest, MO
Eureka Springs, AR

If you have a information or experience hiking these areas, please information via a comment.
THANKS!  John and Michelle

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!