clair034

The end of summer is looming and I can neither believe it’s almost over nor am I ready for it to be over. It seems like it was just a few days ago when we were shopping for our new camper and planning a two-week excursion in our new home on wheels. But it wasn’t just yesterday and it really is almost the end of summer – at least unofficially. After this Labor Day holiday weekend, kids who haven’t already returned to school will do so and many families will pack away their RVs and campers until next spring. I both love and hate this time of year. While I really love the crisp days of fall and the cool evenings, as well as my son’s high school football games, I really miss the carefree days of summer and the more frequent camping trips. We do have some fall camping planned, but it won’t be on as regular a schedule as our summer camping. Maybe just a couple of times out, and likely near home because of late Friday night games. But that will be for a future note. Right...

Camping with family and friends just doesn’t get any better than when you find the perfect campsite and have wonderful weather. However, the weather will be what it will be, so make sure the site works for you. On a recent camping excursion we caught up with my dad and mom, sister and her family, brother and his family, and two grown nephews and their fiancé/girlfriend to do some camping at a state park in northern Michigan. Since this is near where I grew up and this is a state park my grandma took me to for many day trips as a kid – and we’ve camped there in the past, quite a while ago and several popup campers ago – I thought this would be great. Things sure change over time! The state park camping facilities, like many state parks, need some updating attention. With trees in the way and very uneven sites, it isn’t easy maneuvering into a site, especially from the narrow roads. While we don’t have a mammoth trailer, at 29 feet, it does use up it’s own space. Finally, we were i...