Category: Camping

Drove the camper up the western edge of Michigan in early September.  We hit a very cool, rainy stretch of weather.  Didn’t ride much.  Too wet, too cold.  Camped in Luddington, Sleeping Bear, and Petosky.  Hooked up with the Stubers of Traverse City in Glen Arbor. We tried a group bike ride in gloomy conditions .  Made it out about four miles when the threat of impending rain made us hightail it back to the cars.  Good call, it started to rain within 30 seconds of getting back.  We strolled down to Art’s Tavern for lunch.  Rain came down in sheets for an hour straight.

The forecast was grim enough that we all just drove all the way back to Traverse City, where we hung out dry and warm for the rest of the day.

Bob came up to Petosky for a ride one day.

Most of the pics from the first gallery are in and around Luddington State Park.

Photos (and videos) can be seen HERE.  This link should bring you to a “lightbox” view of all the photos in a gallery. Clicking on any thumbnail gets you a larger single view.  You can then arrow left and right, or use the on-screen arrows to go left and right.

Hit <esc> to go back to the lightbox view at any time.  Close the tab when you’re done viewing, and you’re back to this page.

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Phase two of this trip was camping in Porcupines Mountains, in the UP.  We met up with Howards and Walls, camped in the only RV site in the entire park.  We treated ourselves to gourmet dinners 3 nights, did two spectacular hikes.

Click here for gallery.

Two videos, one of camp live, the other a compendium of waterfall shots. Lots and lots of waterfalls.

Click here.

We visited Anna B in Tampa for a few days.  The Walls came down to Ft. DeSoto with their new Casita.   Highlights included catching the Farmer’s Market on a Saturday, a few kayak floats, and Throw Golf, the new budget game sweeping the nation’s homeless encampments.

Visited The Villages on the way home, rented a small house for 3-4 days. Had our own stink-bomb of a 2-stroke golf cart!

Pictures here.

Picture gallery can be seen here.  This link should bring you to a “lightbox” view of all the photos in a gallery. Clicking on any thumbnail gets you get a larger single view.  You can arrow left and right, or use the on-screen arrows to go left and right.

Hit <esc> to go back to the lightbox view.  Close the tab when you’re done viewing, and you’re back here.

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A typical spring run to Florida.  Pack the camper, hightail it to a Walmart somewhere south of Nashville (Franklin TN, in this case) so as to avoid horrible traffic on day two.  Drive down I-65 through Birmingham and Montgomery, attempting to avoid rush hours.  “Camp out” overnight in some Walmart close to Tampa.  On day 3, arrive bright and early at the first camp ground, Oscar Scherer State Campground this time.

We stayed in Oscar Scherer for 3 nights.  Hiked, kayaked, pedaled the Legacy Trail loop that includes Casey Key. Then drove up to Ft DeSoto for a full 2 week stay.  The Dosches were there for three days or so before we showed up. They headed home after another four days.

Spent more time in the kayaks, paddling to Shell Key, and less time on the bikes this year.  And way less time playing tennis.  Only made it to the clay courts once.

The bugs were worse than usual.  Noseeums.  We were bit and scratching. They were worse in the evening, no so bad in the morning.

At the end of two weeks, we drove to TH Stone State Campground on Cape San Blas, up in the panhandle.  Florida is a big state!  It took us about 8 hours to get up there, between being slow in general, and having to stop constantly to gas up.

Noseeums were worse here.  Camped next to Randy and Anna from McFarland.  There were at least 3-4 other Cheeseheads in our campground. We rode bikes twice (30 mile RT to the Raw Bar), never got the boats out, strolled the beach.  Drove to Apalachicola one day, strolled downtown, took in an old car/boat show, drank beer at a local brewpub.

Headed home after four nights.  Rained all day the first day, really hard.  Lost 1.5 hours sitting in traffic towards Birmingham due to a massive RV fire in the right lane.  There was almost nothing left of this bus. Saw a lot of accidents in general, due no doubt to the weather.  Made it to a Walmart north of Nashville.  Uneventful drive on day 2, one minor delay from a horrible crash involving two large semitrucks, one smashing into the other and wrecking it before flipping on it’s top in the weeds. About 8 firemen were trying to pry open the cab on that one when we drove by.

For the hell of it, I shot pictures of housing and real estate on Cape San Blas from our moving truck as we were driving out of there at 40mph, so take it for what it’s worth.  Lots of rich folks’ homes, facing the gulf . Most are on stilts. That gallery is here.  It’s clear, you get that feeling, that these homes are exposed! A major storm could so easily roll over Cape San Blas and wipe it out.  Be rich and have good insurance to own a home out there.