Blog
Tucson, AZ
Dates of stay: Jan 20 - 24, 2022
Campground: Gilbert Ray - Tucson Mountain Park
We arrived at a beautiful county campground, outside of the city. It’s gorgeous! So many huge saguaro cactus and we have a lovely spot to catch the sunsets. The coyotes were out tonight and howling, right by our campsite, I swear - they sounded so close. There are lots of great trails here to explore.
Gorgeous weather, and we did a hike on the Golden Gate trail, just out of our campsite. We’ve noticed that people are popping the hoods of their RVs and cars open. We asked a ranger about this, and she said it is due to the packrats - they rest in the warmth of the engines at night because they are heated up by the sun. Sometimes they chew on the wires and can do a lot of damage. Supposedly the drafting helps prevent it; we were also told that essential oils sprayed around the area help (I did this), and string lights under the vehicle also helped - which also makes for pretty campsites I found out! We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset on our second evening, and made pizza on the blackstone (so that must’ve been a Friday)…
Side note: during this trip, we found out that Mom and Dad Conn purchased a home in Florida, so we are excited to have a place to escape to NEXT winter!
We also discovered the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, which was just 5 minutes from our campground. Using the term museum to describe this place definitely falls short. It’s home to a zoo, an aquarium, botanical gardens, an art gallery, an education center, an incredible raptor show, fossils, and more. The docents - both junior and adult docents - were incredibly well versed and taught us quite a bit. We spent almost the entire day there (6 hours) and still didn’t see everything. The day we were there, they had a mineral hunt going on for the kids. There were stations around the entire museum, and at each station, you would learn about certain minerals and then you would be able to have a specimen of each of the minerals. Was a pretty neat way to engage the kids. There is also an art gallery here, which is focused on conservation of all sorts of animals - it’s a really lovely place. Even the onsite restaurant was decent! Not to mention, the gift shop was really nice and we picked up our own little Saguaro cactus…
The museum sits on the edge of the Saguaro National Park, so we drove through this area to see all the cacti. We drove a scenic loop that took us by the rock art, and other areas that were built by the CCC in 1933 - ramadas, picnic areas, restrooms. The rock art here didn’t come close to what we saw at Seminole Canyon, but it was still interesting.
It rained tonight (which I am hoping will make the cacti flower), and also watched the Packers in the playoff game. Happy we were able to stream it. But they lost.
On our last day, we found the Titan Missile Museum, as this was a highly recommended stop by the Fulltime Families facebook group. So glad, because it was jaw-dropping amazing. From the website: “At the Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona, visitors journey through time to stand on the front line of the Cold War. This preserved Titan II missile site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987.”
Our tour guide served for four years here when he was in his early 20s. He was an outstanding guide, and he took us through a simulation to give us the experience of what it would have felt like if they were given the instructions to launch the missiles. It was bone-chilling in a way, and a very moving experience. As I still remember the movie “The Day After” from the 80s, which was all about middle American during the Cold War, this visit made that part of my childhood very real and it gave us all a close up look at how these individuals were serving during this time frame. HIGHLY recommend visiting if you are in the Tucson area - be sure to make reservations in advance. Today, the escape hatches are permanently locked into place and kept partially open so that the Russian satellites can see into the area, which was an agreement as part of the peace treaty when these things were decommissioned.
Wrapped up our final day with an afternoon bike ride through the desert scrub, and amongst all the cacti. Bumpy, rocky, sandy, not well marked, but fun. And thankfully, we did not end up on any cacti. Off to Phoenix to visit family and friends.
Alpine, TX
Dates of stay: Jan 14 - 19, 2022
Campground: The Lost Alaskan
We departed Lajitas for Alpine, TX - decided to extend our stay here until Wednesday, given the weather in Carlsbad which is cold and below freezing. We just didn’t want to have to make an unnecessary move, so we’ll just visit Carlsbad Caverns from here.
After pulling into the Lost Alaskan RV resort, we went to explore the town. After getting skunked on a propane refill at Tractor Supply - again (kind of becoming a trend for us), we were driving down the road and saw a sign that said “Sul Ross student meat market.” Sul Ross is a state university and of course, I was intrigued so we had to pull in. It’s run and managed by the university and it’s students. It’s mission is to teach best practices in the area of agricultural and butchering processes. They butcher and process all of the meats onsite at this facility and then sell everything to the public - and by everything, I mean everything (hearts, organs, etc). We passed on those but picked up some hamburgers, breakfast sausage and beef jerky. We made a stop at the visitor center, which is really a must on these stops and walked away with an armful of brochures and maps.
On our drive around town, we came to a very low bridge, commenting that the RV would never make it - well neither did the Sleep Number truck we encountered on the other side. Apparently, the driver was either not paying attention or wasn’t sure of the height variance but the top of his truck had been completely sheer off - it looked like a giant sardine can with the top completely rolled back. It was certainly and interesting site and not an experience we want to have….
The next day, we started off a very cool morning at the very small Farmer’s market - a bread stand, a place to buy microgreens, and a stand with jams and pickles. Pretty sparse, but we picked up some sourdough and cinnamon raisin bread. Tom and Owen went in search of an oil change for the Jeep and I wanted to explore some of the murals that the town is known for. There are also a number of shops and galleries that looked intriguing. I found so many beautiful paintings and photographs of the Big Bend area, pottery, other sculptures - but once again, reminded of the space constraints in the RV!
We explored the MCDonald Observatory Observatory and took a guided tour of one of the massive telescopes they have on their campus - approximately 200 tons of it. One of the telescopes here was the first to measure the distance of the earth to the moon, within 2 inches accuracy. Today, the measurements are within 1/2 an inch!
We took a 3 hour drive up to Carlsbad Caverns National Park (CAVE). On our way there, we passed the Prada “store” in Valentine, TX, complete with tumbleweed passing in front of it. This is actually an art installation that was created by artists in Malfa, in collaboration with Prada. I read about it years ago, so it was fun to see this on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
Our drive up to Carlsbad was beautiful, as it took us through the Guadalupe Mountains and we finally arrived at CAVE. The crowds at this time of year are very low, and it was a wonderful time to visit. We entered via the Natural Entrance (you can take an elevator from a different spot), but if you are physically able, walking through the natural entrance is absolutely amazing. This is basically the bat cave, and in the summer, you can see them fly out of here in the afternoon as they go hunting during the night. Inside the cavern it is very cool - about 53 degrees, so dress warm.
We highly recommend the audio tour for an extra $5 pp, as it really enhances the experience as it has info on the history of the cave’s discovery, indepth data on the geology, and the overall composition of the caverns and how they’ve been explored and preserved over the years.
There’s a “lunchroom” area, which actually used to serve the crowds back in the 50s (fried chicken was the best, supposedly) and there is a post office box where you can mail postcards from. Today, it still serves but only drinks, chips and candy bars. The structure/decor of the area is within the cave itself but it is very dated - definitely a mid 1900’s feel.
The original tourists had to descend down in a oversized BUCKET, then make their way down a crickety staircase .That would’ve definitely amped up the experience. You can still see this area today, from the walkway.
Very grateful for our ability to travel to CAVE, and our physical ability to experience this park - Owen had a real appreciation for the beauty and wonder of this place and it’s been one of his favorite stops.
Other fun excursions included the mural tour for art class (well, I thought it was fun). Alpine is a really artsy town (also - go visit Desert Rose Provisions store if you get the chance - great art and other finds). The Visitor Center provides a map of the murals as well as scavenger hunt type document for them, so we used this as an opportunity for art and history class. The murals vary from landscapes of west Texas, to all of the musicians that are originally from Texas - that was a favorite one perhaps. We also came across a woman who was working on fixing a telephone pole that was covered in mosaic tiles. She explained to us that the town is currently working to cover all of their telephone poles in this way - we found a couple of others, and they were really beautiful.
We also hiked up to Desk Hill, which has become an iconic location in Alpine. This is a short 20-30 minute hike up a hill not too far from Sul Ross Campus. Back in 1981, three students decided to haul a school desk up to the top of the hill above the campus of Sul Ross State University - supposedly to have a quieter, more serene place to study. The desk stayed there, and now it is the endpoint of this hike up Hancock Hill where visitors can sign the notebook kept in the desk as well as take in the spectacular view of the school and surrounding town - which we did. Bicycle Tree is also up there (bikes in a tree - not sure what this is about).
On our final evening, we enjoyed a campfire with our neighbors, who lived near Austin, TX. They were traveling for a few days in their Airstream and invited us to come and visit them so they could take us sailing sometime! yes please….
We departed Alpine the next morning before sunrise and I got to drive….while treated to some gorgeous vistas as the sun came up. The roads are flat and straight here, which made for an easy drive.
Big Bend National Park - Texas
Dates of stay: January 7 - 14, 2022
Campground: Maverick Ranch, Lajitas, TX
Made it to Big Bend National Park! Getting to our campsite included driving through the park from the north entrance, so it was fun to get a glimpse of this massive park on the way to our destination. While we technically have been at a few other National Parks and Recreation Areas (i.e. Everglades, Gettysburg, etc), this is will be the first time we’ve really explored a National Park in any great detail, and we’ll start that journey tomorrow. The big spaces get even bigger here, and it is very dry and arid. The days are warm and sunny and the nights are cool, and full of lots of coyotes howling at night. I already feel like a week won’t be enough…
Spent our first full day at BIBE (the alpha code), Big Bend National Park. The alpha code is the code that the park service/rangers use to identify all of the national parks and it is created by taking the first two letters in the name of the park depending on its name (I.e. Yosemite is one word, so YOSE, or Grand Canyon is two, so GRCA).
Once again, thankful that we have the Jeep in tow as it allowed us to make it to many areas of the park on this trip that we would have not been able to do if we didn’t have a high-clearance, 4WD. Our first off-road experience was on Old Maverick Road, heading into the park from the west side. Our destination was Santa Elena Canyon, where we were treated to unbelievable view of a canyon that had been carved out over the centures. This is also the area where the Rio Grande intersects the US and Mexico and we were within a few feet of the Mexican border. We actually waded across a stream to the Santa Elena canyon trail (on the US side) and hiked back into a massive canyon that made us feel like the size of a pinhead. We were able to see kayakers down below on the river, and knew we had to add that experience to our bucket list for a future trip.
We drove the scenic Ross Maxwell drive and discovered Castolon - an old “town” that used to be a post for the Army in the 1920’s and later a store, and a community of about 35 people. The historic barracks burned down in a 2019 fire. A total of 950 acres burned; the fire actually started across the Rio Grande but the smoldering ashes were carried by the wind and fell down on the roof of the barracks, creating the fire.
The wildlife was more abundant today, and we saw a few roadrunners! Stopped off for a photo op at Mule Ear Peaks, a popular spot within the park. We did another off-road trail on Grapevine Falls Road - this as a very bumpy and slow-going ride, and we do not recommend taking anything other than a 4WD car up this road! This road took us to the trail head of Balancing Rock trail, and easy but sandy trail that leads up to a .25 mile rock scramble to a very picturesque spot. We had some fun with the pictures in this area, as it looks like you are holding up a massive rock when positioned just right. We also saw a wild javelina right along the trail! This was neat, as they are more nocturnal and also travel in groups, but he was just out by himself, munching on a few bushes.
The next day was another long, full day. This was the day we decided to cross into Boquillas del Carmen. This is a border crossing from within the National Park. It is run as a joint effort between that National Park Service and the U.S. Border Patrol. We drove to this station, triple-checked to make sure we had our passports, and were sent off down a dirt trail to the river’s edge of the Rio Grande. There, we were the only Americans waiting to cross, and a rowboat from the other side made it to us in about 10 seconds (this was a small, short crossing). After paying about $5 each to cross (promised to be a round trip excursion), we hopped in and they took us over to the Mexican side. It’s worth nothing that Boquillas is 100% dependent on US tourism to survive. Given COVID, the border was shut for 20 months and it barely survived. There were lots of little kids running up to us selling woven bracelets, which of course, we purchased right away. We also had the option to walk into town, or take the horses. With a .75 mile walk in front of us down a very dusty road, we opted for the horses. The wind was howling and sand was EVERYWHERE. It wasn’t the most ideal experience, but Owen caught it on video for his YouTube channel and it is pretty fun to watch. Other than the town, this is a very desolate area. We were greeted by more children selling handiwork, and Owen bought a scorpion out of wire and beads.
Seems that whoever leads you up into town on the horses also becomes your de-facto guide. Our guide for the day took us into the town, but really let us look around at our leisure. It was so windy that it was almost hard to enjoy the walk up and down the streets but we peeked into a small grocery store. Funny story - we needed some dry beans for one of Owen’s school projects and as Lajitas is SO remote, I was excited to find them in the store. But then I was reminded I couldn’t take them across the border since they were a food item! We had a great lunch at Jose Falcon - one of the two restaurants in town. Many of the local townspeople were also sending their arts and crafts, and as one of only a few tourists that day, I wanted to support their economy as best we could but as at all stops on this journey, we can only bring so much into the RV. Owen bought a really neat hand-crafted walking stick, and I found the cutest embroidered tortilla holder (wish I would’ve got more of those for gifts - next time).
After we had taken our share of photos and seen the town, it was time to head back. Forgot to mention that the road we traveled was also shared by very speedy trucks driven by the men of the town (another way to get back and forth). Our horses had to share the road with these drivers, and that made for an interesting (and very dusty) experience.
Owen and I hopped in the rowboat, but Tom really wanted to wade across the Rio Grande…..it was shallow enough so he could!
After we crossed back into the US (where we did have to go through customs), we headed over to the Boquillas Canyon hike. Beautiful hike, but we were sandblasted the entire way - so windy!!! We also made it over to the Hot Springs, where the water is about 105 degrees, and the hot springs pool sits right within the RIo Grande, looking over into Mexico. Neat experience overall.
There are three visitor centers within the park, and we discovered that the Panther Junction Visitor Center is the most informative yet all three are really good and the rangers are incredibly helpful.
After a long day, we finally headed back to Lajitas, stopping at the general store for a few necessary yet overpriced items - we’re pretty remote here so stocking up on food, necessities, etc is highly recommended. We did this, but we run out of eggs, milk ($7.99/gallon and not organic), and bread on a regular basis! Thankfully, this store has a pretty good selection and a wonderful deli counter as well, where we were able to get sandwich meat (we eat a LOT Of sandwiches on this trip….) especially for our day trips into the parks. RIght next to this store is the pen that holds the mayor of Lajitas…..a goat.
On our next day, we stayed closer to “home” and hiked to the picnic table about 1.5 miles up in the hills near our campground. Owen and I also explored the boardwalk in the Lajitas Village (which is essentially the Maverick Ranch hotel/shops area across the street from the campground). After that, we drove west for a bit - gorgeous views and this road also snakes through Big Bend State Park. We stopped at an area with 4 primitive campsites within the park as Tom wanted to also check out the boat landing here. There was one lone trailer there - a couple from Hoffman, MN actually - as well as their friendly cat, Boomer, which acted more like a dog. They suggested that we hike Closed Canyon trail within the state park, just a few miles down the road. There was still a few hours of sunlight left, so we did!
This was probably one of our most awesome hikes yet on this trip. The Closed Canyon Trail is a relatively short, 1.4 mile round trip hike through a narrow slot canyon. For those of you that want to get to it when you’re there, the trailhead is located approximately 22 miles west of the Barton Warnock Visitor Center and 26 miles east of Fort Leaton State Historic Site on River Road, FM 170. It was amazing! We loved it….and we were afforded the most spectacular view of the sun hitting the mountains when we emerged at sunset.
Another full day in Big Bend:
Dinosaur exhibit - there have been many fossils that have been found here
Drove up to Chisos Mountain and hiked the Chisos Basin loop (2 miles) and had lunch here while Tom grabbed a call
Drove off-road to Glenn Springs Road and hiked 3 miles on Pine Canyon trail. This trail led us through desert as well as what can best be described as the woods - it felt like we were hiking in Wisconsin, until we saw the random cactus here and there…
On our way out while we were on the dirt road, we came across a couple and their daughter from Ontario that were hung up on a massive rock in their Ford Class B van - there was another person that had stopped to help but between all of us, we couldn’t get them unstuck so we went for help. There isn’t any cell service in this area, and by this time, all of the visitor centers were closed. Thankfully, we were able to call the Chisos Mountain Lodge, and they put us in touch with the dispatch service. The crazier story here….we didn’t find out about their status until a few days later. I was checking by Facebook messages and there was a new message from a Fulltime Family, who had noticed that in one of the FTF groups, I had said our family was in Big Bend for the week. She was reaching out as another FTF to see if it would be at all possible for our paths to cross while we were both there. As I was reading her message and looking at her picture, I quickly realized that THIS was the family we stopped to help!! I felt bad for not seeing her message earlier (she had actually reached out before this incident took place but I hadn’t seen it). Thankfully, we learned that the ranger HAD come and rescued them, and found them a place to camp for the nite in one of the campgrounds.
We stopped for burgers on the way back at the High Sierra Bar and Grill in Terlingua- the large, oversized cold Mexican cokes were the BEST after a long day.
The following day, Owen and I did a video tour of the RV, which was kind of fun (he did a great job editing!). He’s been creating videos along the way, which will be so cool to have for posterity. But mostly excited because we just booked ONE MONTH in Jackson Hole, May 8 through Jun 4. Will be here before we know it.
On our final day in the area, we got on our bikes and explored Big Bend State Park near our campground. Or at least tried. On mile 1, I totally bit it and slammed down on the ground, resulting in lots of cuts and bruises and a very sore elbow and thigh! Tom and Owen cotniued and I limped back to the campsite…
Tom and I drove to a scenic overlook in the park, stopped at an old movie set where westerns had been filmed, and on our way back, saw well over 50 long-horned sheep crossing the road into the canyons and hills. Our pizza place here is Gizzi Up, which had good pizza, yummy pastries and a great patio to enjoy it all.
Seminole Canyon State Park - Comstock, TX
Dates of stay: Jan. 2 - 7, 2022
Campground: Seminole Canyon State Park
Beautiful drive down into this part of Texas - it’s starting to get really remote, with lots of wide open spaces. This state park is really in the middle of nowhere, and snuggles up to the Rio Grande river, effectively allowing us to see into Mexico. This state park is known for its famous pictographs - rock art from over 4000 years ago that still remains on the canyon walls.
We did not have full hookups at this site (no sewer) and the bathrooms didn’t have any hot water for the entire week we were there, so it was a little “rougher” than normal but not bad at all as we still had water, and the hot water heater! The mornings were cold, and the days were sunny and warmer. We took to exploring the trails pretty quickly here, and discovered Canyon Rim Trail, a gravelly, rocky trail that snakes alongside the Seminole Canyon.
The Canyon Rim trail is about a 3.5 mile trek containing lots of undercut rock, fallen boulders, and large swatchs of creme, salmon and grey cliffs - it’s quite beautiful. Also, lots of ocotillo plats (NOT a cactus we learned), as well as prickly pear cactus along the trail. Didn’t see any wildlife out and about, but did witness a spectacular sunset from our campsite. Supposedly there are illegal border crossings in this area, with people coming up through the canyon. We were also told by our guide that the canyon area within the park is filled with sensors, to detect any activity. We weren’t really certain whether this is true or not, or if it’s a warning to keep people out of the canyon beyond visiting hours so as to deter any vandalism to the canyon walls/area (also a good idea). One day we did see the helicopters circling the canyon so maybe….we decided not to to find out.
One afternoon, Tom and I explored the surrounding area - Pecos River, Pecos River Bridge - beautiful canyon area. From this point, we were finally able to over and into the mountains of Mexico from the Amistad Recreation area. We met a couple with a truck camper and talked to them for a bit as we think that could be a good set up for us down the road (post Owen’s graduation….)
We toured Seminole Canyon within the park with a guide today and saw the many petroglyphs left over 4,000 years ago in this area. We also learned that this area is defined by 3 different biomes - the Acacias, desert, and Juniper and ash trees/bushes. The visitor center here is spectacular!
Struggled to do it, but I got my butt out of bed for a sunrise hike and took the Canyon Rim path to the lookout point. Glad I did, as it offered up one of the most peaceful and serene mornings I’ve had yet.
The trails here are also pretty good for biking, and we explored those on our last day here. We wanted to take the trail all the way to the Rio Grande, but we were running out of sunlight so we weren’t able to make it .
Lakehills, TX (San Antonio)
Campsite: Thousand Trails Medina Lake, Lakehills TX
Dates of stay: Dec. 19, 2021 - Jan 1, 2022
We drove through some pretty beautiful hill country to make it to our campsite, which is a Thousand Trails location based in Lakehills, TX - about 45 northwest of Downtown San Antonio. Upon arrival, we were told not to “feed the deer” and we quickly learned why, as at our campsite we were surrounded by about 20 extremely tame deer, just waiting to be fed. They’d come within a few inches of us and while tempting to feed them, we did not. Originally, campers WERE encouraged to feed them, but given the risks to the deer of not being able to fend for themselves in the wild, the campers are asked by the wildlife management not to feed them (although we noticed many people still did).
While we are not all that close to San Antonio, we are within 20 miles of a wonderful state park - Government Canyon State Park, home to dinosaur tracks and lots of great trails. We made it there about 3 times during our visit, and on our 3rd trip, we made it to the tracks. They were left by sauropods and therapies, and you can make the prints out really well as they’ve been preserved in the limestone for centuries.
On this leg, we were fortunate to have visitors! Mike and Judy, Tom’s parents, came down to to visit over Christmas. While this was a celebration unlike any other holiday we’ve experienced, it was so so nice to have family with us for Christmas and we feel extremely lucky that they took the time to drive for 3 straight days from Wisconsin. We were able to have them stay at the little (tiny) cabins available on the property, so the distance from our RV to their front steps was about 30 seconds! Quite convenient and Owen loved hanging out with them at their place.
We did explore San Antonio - checked out the Alamo of course, and the Riverwalk. As part of Owen’s education this year, we are taking full advantage of the locations we are visiting to learn more about the history. So this week has been about Texas’ independence from Mexico, the significance of the Alamo battle (which the Texans lost) and how it led to the Battle of San Jacinto (which was ultimately won by the Texas, and secured their independence).
On our first trip in with Mike and Judy, we toured the Alamo but there were SO. MANY. PEOPLE. Too peopley for me. I think I’m getting used to the quietness of the campgrounds. I last visited with my grandparents when I was about Owen’s age, so it was fun for Owen to be there with his grandparents. We also had lunch at Cafe Rio on the Riverwalk, and enjoyed the Mariachi band play Guantanamera for us! We discovered another sculpture garden here - not as expansive as the one in New Orleans, but very enjoyable.
On our second trip in (just Owen, me and Tom), we walked 5.5 miles along the quieter portion of the Riverwalk at night, after we had finished an early dinner at Iron Cactus. Even more people on this day, as we are in the holiday week. We wanted to do a riverboat ride, but the lines looked hours long! The walk was really enjoyable and so glad we did that, as it gave us a look at where the boats don’t go. We made it up to the lock and dam area, and turned around, enjoying the Christmas lights all along the riverwalk.
We settled in here for a couple of weeks, heading to the small town of Lakehills for groceries from the sole store in town and also visited the 4-Way bar and grill for good burgers one day. We also got lucky and found a local meat market (Schott’s) for some wonderful local cuts of meat, which was good, as we needed to restock the freezer. We are trying to shop local as much as possible, and realizing that many of these smaller towns offer a lot of great options.
Medina Lake is really no longer - it has dried up over the past 3 years, and we learned that it “cycles” about every five. We walked and biked the lake bed, but realized it would be a much better campground if we were able to get out on the lake. The dock itself was completely dry docked, and except for a few roaming cattle, there wasn’t much to experience. There are a lot of really great trails throughout the campground, and we enjoyed the expanse of this campground. They also had a decent activity center with a mini golf course, shuffleboard, and Tom and I even tried pickle ball for the first time (kind of fun, and I beat him the first time).
New Year’s Eve was quiet - both in and around the campground, and in our RV! Movie marathon until midnight, and we celebrated and said good night at 12:01. Happy 2022 all!
Austin, TX
Dates of stay: Dec. 12 - 19, 2021
Campground: McKinney Falls State Park
This was the first campground we pulled into that was militant about its 2 pm check in time! We usually arrive before that, and it’s not ever a problem, but we had to wait around a bit in order to comply. No big deal - was a beautiful park to walk around in and explore. Once we checked in, we found our site (a pull-thru). The sites are big here, with lots of good trees to hang the slackline. A highlight of this journey was meeting Nancy, John and Lili - our “neighbors” across the road. As Tom celebrated his birthday during this visit, I had put up a “Happy Birthday” yard sign and as we were pulling into the driveway and he saw it the first time, the neighbor exclaims “how did you know?” It happened to be John’s birthday just the day before, so we had a good laugh over that and proceeded to talk to them for quite some time. Lots of similarities between our families - they also departed on July 6 (same day as us) from Maine, and have a 13 yr old as well. We got together for a potluck a few days later and that was super fun. We’re hoping that our travels criss cross again at some point!
We explored many of the must-sees in Austin, which I’ve notated on my Trip Planner in Trip Advisor (State Capital tour, boardwalk along the river, SoCo area, a local brewery…..) For Tom’s birthday, we played mini-golf at the iconic Peter Pan course and ate at Terry Black’s, for some outstanding BBQ!
We really enjoyed McKinney State Park, and this was our first Texas State Park as well. The land was originally owned by Thomas McKinney and he had strong ties to Texas’ history, especially as it related to the Texas revolution and independence. He had over 30 enslaved individuals on this land , who built a stone grist mill - many remnants of this can still be seen today. After McKinney’s death, his widow, Anna, sold the property to James Woods Smith. Members of the Smith family owned and farmed the land for several generations before donating it to the State of Texas in 1973.
“Old Baldy” is an iconic attraction - a 500 yr old Cypress tree in the park that is one of the oldest on public land in Texas. There are beautiful trails to hike and explore around here, and the close proximity to Austin itself makes it an ideal state park. Reservations well in advance to camp here are highly encouraged! I don’t think we saw one empty spot the whole week.
Gulf Shores, AL
Campsite: Gulf Shores State Park
Dates of stay: Nov. 19 - Dec. 2
Every time we leave a place we love, it seems to replaced with another great find. Gulf Shores State Park, Alabama, is hands-down, the best state park we’ve stayed in so far. We were told ahead of time that we were lucky to find a spot here, and once we got here, we see why. We booked quite a few weeks in advance, and secured two weeks at site 117. We were right off the main road, and central to many of the activities going on.
Tom planned our drive from Carrabelle to Gulf Shores along the coast, so it was an extremely scenic drive as compared to the interstate route. Lots of water, bridges, marinas, and also lingering damage from Hurricane Michael interspersed with lots of new construction. It’s baffling to us, because it all has the potential to get completely destroyed with the next horrible storm, yet the beauty of the area and ties to the community are the reasons people stay, I’m certain.
Gulf Shores is located about 15 minutes from the border of Florida, and we passed through “Flora-bama” a tacky, touristy, picture-taking opportunity area (that we’d return to in a few days for oysters). When we arrived to the Gulf Shores area, we started to encounter lots of high rises and beach front properties along with the restaurants and shops that seemed built for tourists. And then all of a sudden, nothing but pristine sandy beaches, sand dunes, and scrub. There is a massive area - about 6,000 acres of preserved state park property. After the Deep Horizon oil spill, the state was given $70+ million to restore the area. The state park itself boats a Nature Center, beach Pavilion, Learning Center, restaurant, cottages, a beautiful swimming pool, tennis courts, amphitheater, a pier, Shelby Lake, a parkour course, playgrounds, miles of paved biking trails, a butterfly garden, bouldering area and more miles of boardwalk throughout the park. The campground has 500+ sites, that are very well maintained and spaced out well. There’s even a little commuter bus that goes around the park in case you need transportation to the different areas.
One of the things that we really appreciated was the daily programming by the Nature and Learning Centers. We were able to cover Life science for two weeks here! We took classes on snakes of the area, constellations, skates and rays, and beach creatures (class on the beach where we learned about all the different shells and the creatures that live in them). One day we took a guided nature walk with one of the naturalists, and learned a lot about the plants and trees in the park, although failed to see any wildlife even though there are supposed to be gators and snakes in these parts.
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We arrived here on a Friday, and as Fridays are pizza nights, we found a place called Papa Rocco’s. We did takeout, and had a little time to kill before our pizza was ready for pick-up but there was a musician setting up for that evening and we learned he was one of the singers from The Platters - the artists behind my parents’ song (Only You). I introduced myself and said we’d be back the next night, as he was also playing on Saturday. When we returned with Owen the following night, he recognized us and upon request, we asked him to play the song so we could FaceTime my parents which they got a kick out of.
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A few days later, my parents joined us and Owen gladly packed up his belongings so he could spend the next week with them! They’ rented an AirBnB right on the beach, so it was nice to spread out and have a real kitchen to cook in over Thanksgiving. Most of the meal we picked up from the market, but Tom grilled up ribs and we also did shrimp that we had picked up in Carrabelle. So it was a bit of a mashup meal, but Tom still did the traditional baking of the pies - pumpkin and apple this year.
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We spent the next few days enjoying all that the park had to offer, riding bikes, walking the beach, and picking up shells - lots of shells. Mom, Owen and I had art class one day which involved using the various shells to make angel ornaments for our respective trees. We found a couple of fun places to eat, including The Ruby Slipper (originally started in New Orleans), Flora-bama for chargrilled oysters and oysters on the half shell, Doc’s Seafood (the original “local” one), and we checked out the onsite park restaurant - Woodside - which had excellent food and live music.
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Tom, Owen and my dad spent a day at the Naval Museum in Pensacola, as well as a day at the USS Alabama in Mobile. I was a little museum’d out on this front so took the opportunity to spend some time with my mom. We checked out the shops and restaurants at the Wharf and did a little Christmas shopping, and also spent more time at the beach.
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Sad to say goodbye, we spent the next few days enjoying the sunsets from the pier and the beach, finishing up a few trails that we hadn’t yet biked, kayaking, and catching the holiday laser show at the wharf.
We could easily spend a couple 2-3 months here and might have to figure out how long term camping works at this park!
Carrabelle, FL
Camped at: Sunset Isle RV Resort and Marina
Dates of stay: Nov 1 - 19, 2021
We got lucky here….found out about a private rental through a group on Facebook, and we ended up staying for nearly three weeks in this lovely waterfront community. It’s a small sleepy fishing village, located among Florida’s “Forgotten Coast” - little development, small town feel, and beautiful areas to walk, hike and fish. We really “settled in” here, and even started to get to know the locals. We discovered Carabelle Junction, the ONLY coffee cafe in the area and enjoyed many a morning coffee here. Owen and I secured a non-resident library card at the library, and frequented that place for good internet and movie rentals. Not bad for $10. We discovered the local seafood market and found some of the best musket dip for lunch! But one of the biggest highlights was befriending Don and Karen England, who were kind enough to extend their hospitality during our stay there. Don even took us out fishing one day, and we caught multiple, beautiful Redfish - which proved to be the best dinner we’ve had on this trip so far.
We also went to the lighthouse in town a couple of times, which is a focal point of this area. One our first trip, I ran into Linda - a local yogi teacher who was starting up classes there. I was fortunate enough to take in one of her classes while in the area, and that added to the “localness” of our trip.
We also did some great hikes in this area - one of them, through Tate’s Hell State Forest - had it’s own little version of hell for Laurie - nearly stepping on a five foot black snake, curled up in the path!!
We also discovered a couple of local festivals - the Seafood Festival in Apalachicola, and the Musket Festival in Sopchoppy. Apalachicola is an amazing little town - basically a bigger Carabelle - but the food and shopping is better. I also found a great little Farmer’s market near Bee Inspired Too, which is a great little shop that I fell in love with. We also loved The Apalach Outfitters store! Most fun of all was the Chocolate Shop - good coffee, and massive amounts of desserts to choose from. The Grateful Dead inspired interior coupled with the bread and chocolate vibe definitely channeled my brother for me.
We spent Veterans Day at the local WW2 museum, as this part of the country - the Carabelle beach in particular - was used as a training group for the D-Day invasion! So much deep history here, and it was great to be able to really experience this and take it in. We also ventured out to St. George’s Island for the day, but the red tides had somewhat of an impact on the air quality, so we didn’t spend too much time here.
Overall, we loved the quietness and sleepiness of the area. At our RV park, we also got to know Fran - a local woman from the area, who had lots of stories to share with us.
We are pretty sure we’ll be back along the Forgotten Coast someday, and hope to find it untouched when we do!
Hobe Sound, FL
Stayed at: Jonathan Dickinson State Park - just north of West Palm Beach
Dates stayed: Oct 4 - 9, 2021
Located just north of West Palm Beach, this was our first Florida State Park that we stayed and we were SO IMPRESSED. This park in particular used to be a secret World War II training camp,, and you can still see some of the old buildings and foundations that remain. The park’s namesake was a shipwrecked Quaker merchant, and from this place lived Trapper Nelson, the legendary Wild Man of the Loxahatchee.
They had the best Nature Center, staffed with super smart and helpful park rangers - Owen became a Junior Park Ranger here, and because they had good WiFi, we did school quite a bit here. They also had a store close by that sold the best coconut popsicles I’ve ever had in my life.
They also have an alligator cove, and we saw two baby alligator, and what was either the papa or mama and that was pretty cool. We also spotted a gopher tortoise. Great mountain biking and trails in this area too.
We did not get out on the water on this stop, although we did go to the ocean, where there were miles and miles of shells. We also watched huge tarpin play in the surf, right next to shore.
Other points include the best pizza we’ve had to date (Fridays are pizza nights), although Tom left his credit card at the restaurant and thankfully made it back in time to get it as we were leaving EARLY the next day!
Anxious to see what future state parks have in store as we have a few more coming up.
South Haven, MI
This was our last stop in Michigan and it was a pretty good way to wrap up our trip in the state. We stayed at the Van Buren State Park, which was quite a bit larger than Orchard Beach (over 200 sites). Even though we had made reservations back in February, this campground was already so booked that the only way we could stay for the next four days was to book one campsite the first two nights and then another campsite the last two nights. Thankfully, they were right across the road from one another so we didn’t have to move too much. We encountered some pretty uneven ground at that first spot, and it took Tom about five tries to get it just right (which he finally did), but we needed a major assist from the chocks below the tires on the right side of the rig. As he was maneuvering the RV into place, it had quite a bit of a lean to it and Owen kept exclaiming “it’s going to tip over! it’s going to tip over!” That would’ve been something to write about. We recommend avoiding site 110.
We were excited to have visitors that first evening! Tom’s childhood friend, Chad Milne and his wife Donna, drove over from the Madison area to spend the evening with us, which was about a five-hour trek for them. We had a great evening catching up, enjoying an amazing steak dinner on the Blackstone and sitting around the bonfire. Once again, great weather and no bugs. The next morning, we all went out for a hike and had the opportunity to climb the sand dunes in this location. Hot and sunny (and steep), these were more challenging than Sleeping Bear. They led down to the state park beach, another solid spot for swimming, wave jumping, and body surfing.
Tom had a few calls that morning, so Owen and I headed into South Haven, the central part of town. There’s a cute downtown area that also leads down to the Marina and the main public beach. What a great part of town - gorgeous views, boats coming in and out of the marina, the lighthouse on the end of the pier - everyone was out enjoying the weather and the summer vibe. The thoughts of “I could live here” crossed my mind, but I’m sure the idea of it is likely akin to living in Door County in the summertime. Heavy tourism season for sure.
During our time here, I went to the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market and found most of our groceries for the week. While we’ve definitely had to seek out places like Aldi and Walmart for a few essentials, we are trying to shop locally as much as possible. Owen discovered that South Haven is the “Blueberry Capital of the World” and this is not hard to dispute given the number of markets dedicated to fresh fruits. Now I’m trying to find a couple recipes to use up all these blueberries we have before they go bad!
We had a pretty chill week here - Owen and Tom spent a lot of time rolling around in the big waves in Lake Michigan, we did a number of hikes on the sand dunes and in the surrounding trails and also biked into town one afternoon on the paved bike path that took us directly from the campground into downtown South Haven (4.5 miles one way). The plan was to get ice cream but instead of getting melting ice cream there was a meltdown and we decided it was best to try another day…
The excitement for that campground happened on our last evening there. A massive tour bus camping vehicle came into the area close to where we were camping and promptly got stuck - the soil around here is really sandy, and a hazard for extremely heavy and long rigs, that need room to maneuver. Along with the rangers, the camp hosts, and plenty of onlookers, we watched as the driver tried to free his wheels from the ground but to no avail. They eventually had to call a tow-truck, which must have come in the middle of the night as it was already getting dark when this was happening and they were gone in the morning. Felt really bad for them, and also grateful this did not happen to us in our first spot - it could’ve!
We were treated to a gorgeous sunset on the beach on our final evening, thankful for all we’ve seen and experienced in Michigan. We had no idea how much we would love it and are pretty certain we’ll be back sooner than later.
Manistee, Michigan
August 13, 2021 - Finally updating the blog; Laurie burned through a ton of data (accidentally - see hangups/hiccups below) and we’ve had to save the remainder for the “essentials” - work and school! Goes to show how much we take our internet at home for granted….
We rolled into Manistee - staying at Orchard Beach State Park - on a early Saturday afternoon (July 24). We’re all getting pretty efficient at camp set up, but had a minor issue at this spot which involved no working electrical. But the rangers were super efficient and had it working within the hour. Owen had already done his due diligence on the park and discovered that there was a trolley that stopped by that afternoon, for anyone interested in a 45-minute tour of the city. Tom and I were tired from being on the road but we obliged and we were so glad that we did, as it gave us a really good overview of the city and took us to parts that we might not have discovered on our own. It definitely helped us plan out the next few days. And as we were the only ones on the trolley at that time, it was like our own private little tour with our guides, John and Jim.
Side-trip excursion: It’s worth noting that prior to arriving in Manistee, we had stayed at a Harvest Host location the night before (Iron Fish Distillery). We had a little time to kill before we could arrive in the State Parks (check in isn’t until 3 pm), so we were close enough to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area that we thought we could tag that area in the morning before heading down to Manistee. That required an early wake-up time (6:30 am), and it was drizzling a bit, so we threw the rain gear into the Jeep. As we got closer to Sleeping Bear Dunes, we also got closer to the storm. By the time we arrived at the “Scenic Drive” area, we were enveloped in a downpour! It was also kind of funny because we were the only ones out there at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning! The rangers weren’t even out to take our admission fees. For me, this was reminiscent of a Conn family adventure, for sure.
We drove into the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes parking lot (again - solo), except for a couple of rangers gathering up garbage and recycling. It was still pouring, but because we live by a mantra of “There’s no bad weather, only poor clothing choices” we suited up in our waterproof jackets and went hiking. Now these sand dunes are MASSIVE - many miles - and boast some pretty impressive inclines and declines. The rain was a warm rain, and actually compacted the sand, which made them easier to climb. We had the place to ourselves, and actually, had quite a bit of fun. We figured we hiked about 2 miles, but never did make it to the lake - it was still pretty far away, and we encountered a number of false summits. At times it kind of felt like we are on the planet of Tatooine…(so.much.sand)…
Hungry and wet, we decided it was time for breakfast and found a great spot in town at the Good Harbor Grill in Glen Arbor, MI. Tucked into a small community, it was a busy and popular spot. After that, we headed back to the RV, where the sun was just starting to come out. We broke down camp and headed to Manistee. On the way, we also had time to swing through Traverse City, a picturesque Marina town situated on the west arm of the Grand Traverse Bay (part of Lake Michigan). We made lunch (in the RV in the Walmart parking lot), unhooked the Jeep, and headed to a park at the marina to have our lunch there, and walked down Front Street - another fun area with shops, restaurants, etc. Places such as “Peace, Love and Donuts” and the “Arcade Cafe.” We’ve been told that Traverse City is a must see, and while we didn’t see too much of it, it does seem like a great place to visit. Finally - on to Manistee!
Manistee is known as the “Victorian Port City” and is historically recognized for its prominence with the early lumber trade industry. Supposedly the US government “went to war” with Manistee in the 1800s as they were concerned that there was too much clearing going on with the forests. There are beautiful Victorian homes and buildings throughout Manistee, and the tour is a great way to learn more about them and the families that built up the city.
Manistee is also located on what is known as the Gold Coast of Lake Michigan (east side of the lake). While we couldn’t access the beach at our campground due to the erosion, there were a couple of beautiful beaches within a 5-10 minute drive of us including
North Beach - More private, smaller (with some gorgeous homes on it)
Fifth Avenue beach: This seemed to be the “main” beach with the most traffic, parks, bathhouses, and places to buy ice cream treats (of course we did), and we spent the majority of our beach time here
The beaches are amazing - clean, pure sand bottoms and the lake isn’t even that cold. We’ve been extremely fortunate with the weather on this entire trip so far. And really, no bugs!!!! The sunsets from our campground were also quite special.
There is a good downtown district, with a mixture of gift shops, coffee shops, restaurants, book shops and a museum. We particularly liked The Outpost - combination of a great coffee shop and lots of great outdoor wear and gear. There’s also a riverwalk that goes for about a mile on the RIVER where one can dock their boat. We had dinner one evening at TJ Pub’s (one of the oldest establishments in Manistee) and during our hour-long wait, enjoyed the walk along the riverwalk. There were a couple of other restaurants right on the water that we didn’t get to, but those looked fun as well (these were Bluefish and Fillmore, for posterity….)
Per a recommendation of other campers we met, we headed down to Luddington (about 30 minutes from Manistee) to go to the Historic White Pine Village as well as the Maritime Museum. The White Pine Village offers a living-history tour of late 19th century - early 20th century pioneer homes and establishments. All the buildings (some original) contain thousands of artifacts and archives detailing life at this time, and also the agricultural and lumbering industry. The Maritime Museum was really well done, and had exhibits highlighting the car ferry industry, the lighthouses, and of course, lots of information about shipwrecks, of which there have been over 5,000 in the Great Lakes in total. Of course, we had to make an ice cream stop after our museum visits and found the perfect stop - The House of Flavors (chocolate chip cookie dough for Owen, black cherry for me, and strawberry for Tom). We also went on a quest for a boogie board here, as Owen wants to body surf the Lake Michigan waves - and we’ll likely find many other places along the way to put it to use.
We got pretty comfortable in Manistee, as we stayed for 5 days and it included a lot of beach time, work and school time, exploring and even some Olympics viewing by the bonfire a couple of nights. Also - lots of laundry. Right across the park from us was the Beech Hemlock Nature Trail, which offered up about a 30 minute trail run for Tom and I, and even allowed us to see about 10 deer on the trail.
Owen wants me to note that I had to get a new phone while in Manistee because I had cracked the screen pretty badly right before our trip (not to mention it was 8 years old) and it was time for an upgrade. However, I mistakenly used our “RV Wifi” to do the update and transfer all my photos, videos, apps, etc - and it used up 75% of our data for the month. He is not letting me live it down, because it has severely cut into his YouTube time.
Other than that, a pretty successful stay in Manistee.
People met along the way: Friendly couple from (near) Detroit camping with their grandkids. When I pulled out the Jiffy Pop, they mentioned they hadn’t seen that since the 70s.
Hiccups and hangups: No electrical at first, but quickly remedied. Laurie using up 75% of the data plan for the month (and it just kicked off) - Owen keeps reminding me of that.
Dates of stay: July 24 - 29, 2021
According to Owen…
Manistee was fun. We went to the beach on 5th Ave. On the first day we got to Manistee, we rode the trolley around town.
Paradise, Michigan - Tahquamenon State Park
Welcome to Tahquamenon (rhymes with “phenomenon”) - and this place was pretty phenomenal. We realized that prior to leaving Munising (where we had full hookups, mind you), our next campsite had none of that - we were staying at the Rivermouth campsite at Tahquamenon in the “rustic” section. When we were booking campsites back in the February/March timeframe, it was nearly next to impossible to find open campsites, so we were taking what we could find when it came to the size of our rig. Given the spot we landed for the next few days, we were happy to survive without electrical and water hookups just fine. Since we’ve been tent camping for the good majority of our lives, we still feel like we’re walking into the Taj Mahal when we enter our rig. Our spot was gorgeous! Heavily wooded, and steps away from the Tahquamenon River, which empties into Lake Superior (thus, the Rivermouth campsite name). We also discovered wild blueberry bushes behind our campsite area, which made for a nice treat from Mother Nature (and good blueberry pancakes).
We decided to take to the water right away, and inflated the BOTE kayaks. The water was glass, and we paddled for about an hour, downstream from the campsite. We weren’t far from Lake Superior - perhaps a mile. Came across a playful beaver who was fun to watch as he would dive into the water with an enormous splash of his tail, as if we were trying to get us wet (or keep us away). That night, it rained from 9 am until 7 the next morning. There were quite a few campsites around us with nothing but tents and while grateful for our dry and warm spot to sleep, my heart went out to the tenters - we’ve been there before! Not pleasant.
Since the next morning was still a little overcast and wet, we decided to head up to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. Located about 15 miles north of our campground, this museum has exhibits of 12 area shipwrecks, a restored 1860’s era Lighthouse Keeper’s Quarters, and a Lifeboat Rescue Station, detailing how rescues used to be attempted for sinking ships and their crew. This is also the oldest Lake Superior lighthouse still in operation.
The museum houses the original Edmund Fitzgerald bell that was recovered from the Nov. 10, 1975 sinking, as well as a second order Fresnel lens. Tom and Owen have a goal of seeing a first order, but we have to go to the East Coast in order to find one. The second order was pretty cool though. We came here on a relatively calm day, and it was still quite windy and you can just imagine what a place like this must feel like in the heart of winter.
Whitefish Point (the Edmund Fitzgerald sank about 17 miles northwest from here)
After our visit to the museum, we headed to the falls area, which is a main attraction in these parts. There are the Upper Falls and Lower Falls, both easily accessible by a paved footpath. Pretty views too:
Lower Falls, Tahquamenon State Park
Upper Falls, Tahquamenon State Park
On our final day, I (Laurie) decided I wanted to do a through hike from one spot to another and have Tom and Owen pick me up at the end. So I decided I would hike from a path that started near our campground and hike up to the Lower Falls area - about 8.8 miles. I’m calling this hike the “Muggy Buggy Uno” hike because it was hot, it was buggy and it’s likely not going to be the last hike like this. Tom and Owen dropped me off at the trailhead (about 3 miles down a dirtroad in the middle of nowhere), and I gave them about a 2.5 hour estimate as to how long it would take me. A mile in, I realized that maybe I should’ve brought the bear spray because if I was a bear, this is probably where I’d want to be. Complete silence, no other foot traffic, wild berries, lots of water….pretty remote. Oh, and no cell service. I really was on my own! The trail was quite tough - lots of different terrain, some switchbacks and overgrowth so I knew it wasn’t a heavily trafficked path but it was beautiful. I even found myself a “forest wand” to help clear my path. About a mile from the end, my support crew showed up and hiked with me the rest of the way. So nice! During my trail workout, they had found a local basketball court to shoot some hoops, followed by fresh french fries and rootbeer floats.
We finished up the day with a kayak out from our campsite to the mouth of Lake Superior. Between the hiking and the kayaking, I was pretty beat! Good way to wrap up our stay here.
People we met along the way: Two other couples in the surrounding campsites that camped often here - Ted and Norma (and their sweet dog), and Jeff and Sharon
Hiccups and hangups: No hookups was a hangup for Owen :-)
Grateful for: Seeing the Upper Falls (Owen), visiting the shipwreck museum (Tom), and time alone on a nature trek to reflect - and get a good hike in (Laurie)
Duration in Tahquamenon: July 14 - 17, 2021
Next stop: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan - home of the Soo Locks
Munising, Michigan (Upper Peninsula)
Pulled into Christmas, MI (about 3 miles outside of Munising) to, Silent Nights campsites, which was our home for the next few days. These sites were great - plenty of space, and full hookups (water, sewer, electric - yay!) The town is cute and kitchsy in its homage to the Christmas season in that the streets are named “Mrs. Claus Lane” and “St. Nicholas Avenue”, and the restaurants and businesses follow suit in their offerings - such as where we’re staying. Gorgeous weather, so we got situated, unhooked the Jeep (our tow vehicle for the trip), and decided to explore. Headed into Munising, which is the main town from which all activities around the area get booked and launched, it seems. We decided to drive up to get a few initial views of the terrain, which took us to Miner’s Castle. We were just starting to get a glimpse of how beautiful this area really is.
Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior
Miner’s Castle, Picture Rocks National Area
This area is well-known as the Pictured Rocks area, and plenty of hiking, biking and boating opportunities exist to experience. We planned to do all 3 during our time here! After a little more exploring around the Miner’s Castle area, we headed back to camp for dinner. A family with kids around Owen’s age pulled in next to us that afternoon, and he had fun playing tag and catch with them until it got dark. Hoping we will have lots of opportunities like that along the way. This family was from southern Illinois, and on a 3-week camping trip through Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.
The next day, we were anxious to try out the new BOTE kayaks we brought along (inflatables) and check out the shores of the area. We headed back to the Miner’s beach area, where it was relatively accessible for the boats and also offered an amazing expanse of sandy beach.
Owen discovered a path that hugged the rocky shoreline and would take us 10-15 feet above the water’s edge. Outfitted with ropes along the way (it was not a place you wanted to slip into the lake because chances of getting back up and out weren’t in your favor), we sneaked along the path for about a quarter mile until we had to turn back as the path left no option except for cliff jumping. We did return to the beach and jumped into the chilly waters of Lake Superior - which actually felt pretty good! Spent most of the afternoon here, just taking in the beautiful weather and the sights. That evening, yet another family pulled into our campsite and Owen had new friends, once again. Hoping that we have lots of these opportunities for him along the way.
I think we were all really looking forward to our next excursion, which would involve a day’s worth of exploration around Grand Island. This recreation area is part of the Hiawatha National Forest and allows for camping, hiking, and biking - but no cars. You access the island via Grand Island Ferry service, run by Patrick, Marie and their deck hand, Kali. Super nice people, who gave us lots of recommendations for sites throughout the US, as when they are not managing the Grand Island Ferry Service, they’re traveling in their sprinter van around the country. They said Big Bend National Park in Texas is not to be missed. They also requested that we contact them at the end of the trip “to see how things went.”
Caught the first ferry at 9 am (which is a rather large oversized pontoon boat), loaded our bikes, and traveled a mere 1/2 mile to the other shore. And we were off - the first couple of miles were pretty tame and then we quickly learned that we were in for some true mountain biking - large rocks, steep inclines (and declines) and lots of rock. I won’t lie - there were frustration and tears at times from the youngest Healy member but he really hung in there and went the FULL 21 miles! Tom and I were tired out too - it was a great ride and we hardly saw anyone else out there. The views were spectacular and the water was so clear - and the cliffs - - steep!
Overlooking Lake Superior from Grand Island
Round-trip it took us 5 hours (we were told the average is about 4-6 hours, although I would say expert bikers can get through it pretty quickly (we took a few breaks to rest and take in the views). The island was originally inhabited by the first settlers in the 1800’s (the Williams family, who had 10 kids) - two of the boys died in Lake Superior, although not sure how. The original home was eventually turned into/expanded into a resort in the early 1900s. A few buildings, as well as private residences, remain on the island. The original cemetery (where the Williams family is buried,) is hauntingly beautiful. It is still an active cemetery and descendants of the families that lived here over the years are able to be buried here.
Our final full day in Munising included hiking as part of our plans. We headed towards the Chapel and Mosquito Falls area initially, where we hiked the 3 miles roundtrip to Chapel Falls (supposedly the more interesting one of the two). Easy trek, heavily visited as it is easy to get to - if you have the right vehicle. The dirt road leading up to it is very well worn, rutted out and has large potholes. While there are a couple of parking spots for RVs, we would NOT recommend this unless you want to risk smashing up your grey and black tanks (we took the Jeep). There was an option to check out Chapel Beach, but we wanted to see Twelvemile Beach as well, and that included another 3 mile hike. This was a far less visited hike - we only saw 4-6 other people - and the views and landscape had large, overhanging rock cliffs and was a bit more strenuous than Chapel. It eventually led us out to Twelvemile beach - exactly what it sounds like. We were treated to a beautiful expanse of sand, which rivaled that of Hawaii or Panama. We kept asking ourselves - where is everyone?? But realized that these spots are a little extra work to get to if you’re able….and we realize that not everyone is, so what I love about the Pictured Rocks area is that there are many beautiful areas that are accessible to all.
Twelvemile Beach
We also had some time to drive down to Kitchitikipee. The touristy website says it best: “Two hundred feet across, the 40-foot deep Kitch-iti-kipi is Michigan's largest freshwater spring. Over 10,000 gallons a minute gush from fissures in the underlying limestone. The flow continues throughout the year at a constant 45 degree Fahrenheit. By means of a self-operated observation raft, visitors are guided to vantage points overlooking fascinating underwater features and fantasies. Ancient tree trunks, lime-encrusted branches and fat trout appear suspended in nothingness as they slip through crystal waters far below. Clouds of sand kept in constant motion by gushing waters create ever-changing shapes and forms, a challenge to the imagination of young and old alike.” Here’s a photo below that is taken through the middle of the raft, and this video, which shows the fissures:
After all this, it’s time for pizza then, right? Yes! We were looking forward to the Pictured Rocks Pizza place in Munising (good reviews, and a cute patio) but it was closed, so we did carry out from Main Street Pizza and headed back to our campsite for a late and rewarding lunch.
Time to say goodbye to this beautiful area, even though I’m sure we could’ve found much more to do here. There are glass-bottomed boat cruises, kayak excurions, pontoon rentals and more. We pulled out of Munising on the morning of July 14, my brother Brian’s birthday. He would’ve been 46 on the 14th and he would’ve loved it here. He also would’ve kicked our butts on the Grand Island Mountain Bike trails…. RIP peace Brian - miss you so much.
People we met along the way: Patrick, Marie and Kali from Grand Island Ferry Service; the family from Indiana
Hiccups and hangups: None, really!
Grateful for: Our excursion around Grand Island (both Owen and Tom); perfect, amazing weather all week that allowed us to experience all of these places (Laurie)
Duration in Munising: July 9 - 14, 2021
Next stop: Tahquamenon State Park (Paradise, MI)
Rhinelander, WI (our transition travel spot)
Given that our plan is to head east, we have our sights set on Michigan - more specifically, the UP. We also plan not to drive more than 200 miles in any given day, so thankfully,my cousin Eric lives in Rhinelander, WI - provided for a good stop for a few days. Figure the first few legs are going to feel novel in many ways, so it was nice to be able to land there for a few days (even though we’ve done a couple of inaugural trips to get the kinks worked out).
Arrived on Tuesday evening and promptly set up our 38 foot RV in the front yard! They’ve got a great spot - right across the baseball fields sits Boom Lake. We were treated to some amazing sunsets each night - here’s our first official setup:
We’re quite familiar with Rhinelander as Tom’s brother and wife also lived here for many years, and it was where we celebrated their wedding. However, we got to a few new spots, thanks to Eric and Kristi:
CT’s Deli in downtown Rhinelander (the place was hopping for lunch on a Wednesday)
Holmboe Conifer Forest, where Kristi, Laurie and the kids went exploring - beautiful Hemlock forest and we found the coolest looking red mushrooms
Tom and Eric went fishing on the Wisconsin River - Eric is the founder of On the Fly Fishing, and offers fly fishing float trips, and all sorts of guide services for aspiring fish anglers
The World’s Largest Hodag Statue! We’ll be working to get photos with all the kitschy statues across the country because, why not?
CC, Chloe, Owen and Marlin at the “Real” Hodag statue
Kristi and Eric also took us out in their pontoon for a ride on Boom Lake. We even got over to Estabrook Island to explore a bit. This small plot of land offers a nice stopping off point to hike around and if you’re up for it, camp for the night. The land was donated by The Estabrook family and has become a public area for anyone to enjoy. There’s a great little campsite you can paddle right up to. We also found a homemade rope swing, but it looked a little suspect…
A fave part of the trip included meals cooked by Eric. As I mentioned in our first post, he’s an excellent chef! Some of the cuisine we were treated to included:
Crab rangoon stuffed and bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers (um, nightly….)
Fish ‘n chips: Fresh caught Florida grouper (flown in by a friend), deep-fried to perfection
Some of the best ceviche we’ve had, and grilled salmon tacos (sorry Eric - I’m not doing it justice here as I need a few more culinary details!)
To wrap it up, on the final night in town, we learned (through the power of social) that good friends of ours were a mere 4 miles away! Tom and Bridget Posta (Laurie’s high school and college friends) were staying at a cabin near friends of theirs, and we met up for hellos and hugs. That was super fun.
People we met along the way: Kristi, Eric, CC and Chloe, The Posta’s
Hiccups and hang-ups: one shoe that became a dog chewable, and problems with the RV door lock getting jammed by foreign objects (Tom deftly fixed)
Grateful for: Fishing with Eric (Tom), walking around town with the girls (Owen), and amazing food and the hospitality of the Thoreson’s (Laurie)
Duration in Rhinelander: July 6 - 9, 2021
Next stop: Munising, MI