Blog
Harvest Host Bristol Caverns - Bristol, TN
Bristol Caverns was a fun experience. We got to go into the caves and see cool rock formations. If you want to see some pictures click here for my video on Bristol Caverns.
Here’s a few more pictures of Bristol Caverns and our camp spot for the night on Instagram: Instagram
Gettysburg, DC, and Lynchburg-oh my!
Maybe summer wasn’t the best time to start a blog. We’ve been having too much fun in all the places and I often don’t make the time to write it all down. When I look at my older travel journals (which, yes, I still do), I will find pages and pages of hand-written memories and then come upon a lone page with a ticket stub glued to it and a few bullet points of highlights from that trip. Those are often the trips when there is SO much to see and journal and I don’t do a great job of it - but I must jot down a few notes for posterity. The past couple of weeks have been a little like that, and while I can’t glue our hiking maps or metro cards into this post (which Owen wanted to save), here is a high-level overview and key memories made along the way.
Gettysburg, PA and Hershey, PA
August 12 - 16, 2021
We knew that we’d have the opportunity to learn a lot about the Civil War during our trek east and given the significance of Gettysburg, we camped close to the area, staying at the Gettysburg RV Farm Resort so that we could visit the surrounding area conveniently. It also happened to be a favorite of Owen’s as they have a hobby farm and petting area with goats, horses, chickens, ducks and a pig; an 18-hole miniature golf area, and a pool! The pool was great, because it was extremely hot during our time here. Some highlights and recommendations:
Start at the Gettysburg Visitor Center and museum. Absolutely fantastic and well-done. Our mistake is that we went in the afternoon of a travel day (and had a tired kiddo in tow who was not that into the history at that particular moment). Start fresh in the morning with the kids. I could’ve spent a day here; we spent about 2 -3 hours. It does an excellent job of providing context on the Civil War and preceding events, in case your history is a little rusty.
There are many ways to tour the Gettysburg battleground. By auto, foot, bicycle, bus…it is a 24 mile heavily trafficked loop, so we started early in the morning and didn’t have too many issues (we also went on a weekday). Many suggest hiring a private guide who will drive your car for about a 2-3 hour tour. We didn’t want to be constrained by anyone else’s schedule, so we did some searching and found this app, which is a GPS-enabled tour, and it did a great job of helping us get around and explain what we were seeing. If you go this route, you’ll definitely want and need to pay the $10 for the full audio tour. Well worth it. If you are someone that wants to ask lots of questions on your tour, then I’d recommend a private guide. We also prepped for this visit by watching the 1993 movie “Gettysburg”, which I’d recommend watching if you’re heading there, or if you’re simply interested in the history of Gettysburg and the strategy behind it all. Family-friendly and definitely helps make Gettysburg come more alive when you’re out there seeing where all these battles were fought.
Took a side trip to Hershey, PA where we learned about Milton Hershey. Fascinating fact - he had put a deposit on a ticket on the Titanic but ended up not going for business reasons. Just think - life without Hershey’s Kisses or Hershey’s miniatures. But more than that, he was a great philanthropist who backed many different causes, including a school for orphaned and disadvantaged youth, which is still operating today. The Hershey Museum was a great experience and we even made our own chocolate bars in the Chocolate Lab. You can’t visit this place and not crave chocolate. We also visited Hershey Chocolate World, where you can rub shoulders (literally) with everyone else that desires to be sucked into a tourist trap. They do have a fun and free ride that explains chocolate making, but unless you are really into chocolate and all that Hershey has to offer in the way of sweet treats, the Hershey Museum is a much better find (IMHO).
Washington, DC
August 16 - 23, 2021
Driving through DC with the RV was a nightmare….haha, just kidding. We certainly did not attempt that. Stayed at the Bull Run Regional park campground. Owen might have been most excited to stay here as we got to take the metro to DC every day we went in. Ever since he’s been little, riding the subway/light rail has been one of his absolute fave things to do. If it’s one of yours, then you’ll enjoy his DC YouTube video, which takes up a good amount of time!
Yes, we did all the things in DC. Powerered through these days for sure, and in hot/steamy weather. Let’s see if I can remember them all:
Day one: travel day and also went to Udvar Hazy Smithsonian. Home to Space Shuttle Discovery, Enola Gay, the Concord, and yes - a Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter! Baby Yoda was standing guard.
Day two: First full city day. Took the metro to Arlington National Cemetary to see the Changing of the Guard at the Unknown Soldier’s tomb, JFK and Jacqueline Onassis gravesite, and also saw a large funeral procession in progress complete with a horse-drawn carriage and full military honors. Jumped on the Big Bus Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour and rode around most of the city to determine what we wanted to come back and see. Lunch down at the waterfront at Shake Shack, which I wasn’t too thrilled about as I’ve been trying to stay away from chains! We’ve done a pretty good job with that and there weren’t too many other options. We also visited the Lincoln Memorial. To wrap up our day, we had to go in search of an Amazon Locker for something - forget what Tom had ordered.
Day three: Visit to the Natural History Museum, lunch in Chinatown (where we thankfully escaped a downpour) and visits to the (outside) of the Supreme Court building, Thomas Jefferson library, and the Capital. Everything is pretty well gated off and not even the Capitol Visitor Center was open. The next day, by the fountain in front of the Thomas Jefferson library, there was a bomb threat by a man who had driven his truck right up to the fountain. We had taken pictures there the day before. He was disarmed and hauled away….
Day four: Tom and Owen went to the Air & Space museum (unfortunately large portions were under construction) and I took the opportunity to discover the American Indian Museum, which was fantastic! We also went to the American History Museum in the afternoon, one of Owen’s favorite. Lunch at the food trucks for the 2nd day in a row, along the mall. I discovered the Smithsonian Visitor Center!
Day five: Our longest day yet. We went back to the Smithsonian Visitor Center, as Tom needed a good place to do a call from and I wanted to explore it a bit more. This building, also known as “The Castle” is the first Smithsonian building built as a result of the funds that James Smithson bequeathed to the U.S. that birthed the Smithsonian organization. Even more interesting - Smithson was an Englishman and never set foot in America, yet left his entire life savings (over $500k in the early 1800s) to a country he never visited. He was passionate about sharing knowledge with others and had specific requirements for what would be in the original Smithsonian including a chemistry lab and a library. The building now houses the Smithsonian Visitor Center and the crypt of James Smithson. The history behind the development of the Smithsonian Institute is fascinating and there were so many roadblocks to its creation that it’s amazing it’s even here. I never knew the story behind the great museums and institutions until today. High recommend visiting The Castle when you’re in DC. Not only is the history fascinating, but there is an exhibit highlighting all sorts artifacts from the different Smithsonians and the gardens in this area are gorgeous. I could go on … pro tip: it’s open at 8:30 am (all other museums open at 10) so it’s a great place to start the day!
We also secured tickets to the Holocaust Museum - I went a couple of years ago with my dad, but Tom and Owen had not been. Unfortunately, the children’s exhibit wasn’t open due to COVID, given it is a high-touch/interactive exhibit. But it is still breathtakingly horrific. If you have not been, this is a must for everyone.
We also visited a lot of monuments - Thomas Jefferson, MLK, Veterans Memorial, Nurses Memorial (fact: my parents know the woman who was behind pushing this memorial into being, and my dad actually used to date her!), and the WW2 Memorial, where we were able to soak our feet. This IS an accepted practice as the soldiers were known to celebrate in the fountains of Europe once the war was over. Wading is not prohibited, but putting your feet in is.
Days five and six: Pool time! There is a large waterpark in the actual regional park, and as “residents” of the campground, we were able to go for only $4. This was a great way to wrap up our time in DC before our next stop - Lynchburg, VA. We were also staying very close to the Manassas Battlefield, where the 3rd Civil War was fought, and we also took some time to tour this area to understand what happened here. The confederate army was successful with this battle, and at that time, the war was far from over. It happened two years before Gettysburg.
Lynchburg, VA
August 23 - 29, 2021
Our home is in the Blue Ridge Mountains this week….found a great campsite at the KOA in Lynchburg, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway. I think this was our lowest-key week yet, which we loved and was much needed. Still found time to:
Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway for amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Hiked an actual part of the Appalachian trail (Bucket list - check)
Scrambled up a boulder field and encountered a five-foot Eastern Ratsnake on the way down….
Made friends with Mark and Audrey from Lynchburg, who Owen made an impassioned plea to follow him on YouTube
Swam, swam and swam at the KOA pool - more steamy hot weather
Major highlight: A visit to the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. This was way cooler than we thought it would be, but I think it is because we have spent so much time steeped in Civil War history on this trip. This is the actual place where General Robert E Lee surrendered to General Ulysses Grant. We saw the room where they actually sat and signed, and learned how this was the start of peace and reunification for the country. See this if you’re a Civil War history buff!
Discovered Natural Bridge - an amazing natural structure, 55 feet taller than Niagara Falls and over 500 million years old. There is a highway that crosses over it! We drove the RV over it on our way out of town. George Washington carved his initials in the stone in 1750 and you can still see this today.
Biked through Lynchburg, ate at the Water Dog (great food along the trail) and hiked up STEEP hills for fresh-made cider donuts at Mama Crockett’s (which I then needed to figure out how to bike down the hill with them - I ordered half dozen after all!)
Niagara Falls, NY
Rolled into 4 mile Creek Campground on the shores of Lake Ontario - beautiful spot with big open campsite spaces. It’s known as 4 mile Creek as it is where the British staged their troops and planned their attacks on the French at Fort Niagara - which was four miles away up from the creek. For the record, the British won and then the American forces took it away from them until 1813 (War of 1812), when the British had it for another year and we finally took it back for good.
Of course, the main draw here was Niagara Falls (you’ll find a couple pictures below, as well as a link to the video Owen made, which is probably quite a bit more engaging than my journaling). A highlight for us was Cave of the Winds, where we had the opportunity to stand on the “Hurricane Deck” which I am quite sure is what it would be like to stand in a hurricane!
Hi everyone Owen here and I will put a link here for my Niagara Falls video but if you just want to go to my Channel click here and if you want to see my Niagara Falls video click here.
Here are a few more pics on Tom’s Facebook page.
One of our favorite finds here was Sanger Farms, thanks to a Yelp search. Ever since COVID, Friday nights have become a traditional pizza night for us. While we’ve made a couple of them back at the campsite on the Blackstone, it’s also been a good excuse to search for a new pizza spot. We were originally going to go to the Main Street Pizzeria in Youngstown, which is a charming, historic town on the water. But due to the extremely sticky and dirty tables, flies, and the very sad-looking pizza, we made a diversion. That’s when Yelp told us about Sanger Farms, a couple miles out of town.
This is a family-owned place, with a family farm that has been owned for decades. The matriarch of the family was known for her baking, and instead of selling pies on the roadside as was customary at the time, she would invite people into the barn. That idea took off and now the farm has a cute cafe that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We tried their pizza and it was fantastic! Owen had a frozen cherry slushy made from the cherries on the property (they have an orchard too) - that was heavenly. We also stocked up on a few groceries - fresh peaches from the orchard, zucchini and eggs. There might’ve been a few baked goods in there too - the store was chock-full of cookies, pies, butter tarts, breads and bars.
We met the owner, and when we got to talking to him, we found out some really neat historical data points. We learned that the land on their property had been taken over by eminent domain during WWII for the Manhattan Project, and had been mined for materials, which eventually turned into a pond when they hit water. When they were doing renovations on the barn (where the cafe and store now stand), they discovered a crawl space that had beds and a few utensils in it. At first, it was thought that it was part of the Underground Railroad, but a historian was called in and they learned that this was an area where the women and children were evacuated to (probably from the Fort Niagara/Four Mile Creek area) when fighting was taking place. Super interesting! I loved this stop.
We also visited the Fort Niagara museum and tour, which we highly recommend. The buildings are well-curated, with furnishings and artifacts from when it was a working fort. They also do daily demonstrations where they fire both muskets and cannons, and the “actors” are dressed accordingly. Owen really liked this part! One of the neatest things IMO on display was a portion of the American flag that was captured by the British in 1813 as a war token. Over time it ended up a British man’s home (not sure of the connection back to the lineage) until it was purchased by the Fort Niagara in 1993. The fort did see some Civil War activity but ceased to operate in the early 1900s. It’s a beautiful spot, overlooking Lake Ontario and over into Canada.
We visited Sanger Farms (again) for lunch - great sandwiches! And more cookies. Campsite neighbors were really friendly here, and we definitely seem to be the people that are farthest from home. A lot of the people camping here are from the area (or within New York) and are always great sources of information for places to see and things to do. We wrapped up our final day by jumping into the cool waters of Lake Ontario and enjoyed a very distinct and gorgeous sunset from the beach - one not to forget.
Sunset over Lake Ontario
People met along the way: We finally introduced Owen to the movie “The Perfect Storm” and the next day, met a retired helicopter pilot from Vermont that used to fly that same route as portrayed in the movie. How weird. We also met Naomi and Tom Fleming - from Alexandria, MN (where Laurie’s parents live and where we spend a good majority of vacation time). They sat right in front of us on a trolley ride and starting chatting it up. They knew my uncle Bob, and have good friends that live on Lake Ida - where my parents live. Crazy how these things happen.
Hiccups and hangups: Tom clocked his head on a low doorway at the Fort (soldiers weren’t as tall I guess). He has a nice bruise as a result (not new for him - also happened in Lima, Peru). We also decided to leave a day early as we had miscalculated the route down to our next stop. We had about 7.5 hours of drive time and that was to much to do in one day. We decided to hit a Harvest Host stop in DuBois, PA as a midway point.
Dates of stay: August 5 - 8, 2021
Grateful for: The discovery of Sanger Farms, the warmth and friendliness of their staff, amazing food and the historical points of interest
Raystown Lake, PA
Our first substantial hilly drive…Tom is nailing these roads! So impressed - our rig, with the Jeep towing behind it - is a solid 50+ feet of rolling wheel estate. I’m still hesitant to take it on a long drive (because of the turns) but I’ll get there. We’re staying at the Seven Points campground in the Raystown Lake Area (by Hesston, PA) for the next 3 nights. Once again, great campground with spacious campsites and the whole area is beautiful. There are two main draws - Raystown Lake, which is the largest manmade lake in Pennsylvania and the Allegheny mountain bike trails. The lake is gorgeous, nestled in the hills and it also boasts the state’s largest marina. Some of the houseboats here made us want to trade in the RV - wow! The lake itself is 28 miles long and would be a fantastic way to spend a week meandering it. We’re also thankful we landed here when we did as it is hot, hot, hot and so we’ve been treated to some pretty fantastic rainstorms in the afternoon.
Owen has made some fast friends with a bunch of kids here and they play on the playground even as it gets dark. We’ve been really impressed with his willingness to seek out connections so organically. While there were some other attractions in the area (Lincoln Caves/Caverns), this was a good spot to get caught up on some work, school, and some trip planning. We’re now officially booked all the way through the Florida Keys (mid October) so that gives us some stability for the next few months in a way.
Owen’s YouTube video on Raystown Lake and Tom’s Facebook pics
We went down to the beach to do some swimming and realized that a large portion of the swim beach is actually a massive, sloping concrete slab that gradually gets deeper as you enter. While a clean lake, the interesting part is that there’s a natural collection of slippery algae (?) on the concrete so once you start walking in, you have absolutely no traction and you just kind of glide into the water. Getting in is fun, getting out is a true test and nearly impossible. So strange and yet a fun experience and one we won’t forget! The water felt great on such a hot day. They also have a fantastic visitor center, with history and hands-on exhibits related to the area. We were here on a Monday - Thursday, but on the weekends they have all sorts of stuff planned. Sadly, we were going to miss opportunities to help with monarch tagging and releases, yoga at the beach, “chalk the walk” (Sidewalk chalk art), live music, and a good old fashioned revival on Sunday. Supposedly they plan events like this every weekend. Oh well - can’t do everything!
We did try out the Skills area within the park, which provides a test run for the Allegheny mountain bike trails. It was pretty impressive, with some drops and ramps built in. Owen and Tom spent more time on it than I did - I still have my mountain bike from my 20s, so you do the math -it’s a little old and not sure how much I trust it (or myself). There are some great hiking trails in the area as well as walking path that goes around the entire area, made of recycled rubber. This entire area is managed by the Army Corp of Engineers and it is a fantastic place to camp. Five stars!
People met along the way: Owen met a friend (Lane) and they hung out quite a bit. Our campsite neighbors were super friendly, from the area, and gave us lots of great tips for Gettysburg. They also offloaded their extra home-grown garden tomatoes and zucchini - win win!
Hiccups and hangups: There is a funky smell coming from the air conditioner when it turns on (almost a sulfur like smell); we’re hoping it has something to do with where we’re camping and not the unit itself!
Dates of stay: August 9 - 12, 2021
Grateful for: Our awning not getting destroyed during a thunderstorm (when we were in town shopping for groceries), and the sunrise that we saw on our departure day with the fog above the lake
Erie, PA
After a one-night stay at a Harvest Host in Fremont, OH, we headed up to Erie, PA, destined for the Lampe City Campground, near the city marina. Located near Bayfront Park, it was a nice, small and quiet campground by Presque Isle State Park - which should be the main reason anyone comes to visit Erie. Erie is pretty industrial, and as Tom likes to put it “a town with a lot of potential.” Of course, there were a lot of parts that we didn’t have a chance to discover. We liked the campground thought and it was also our first paved site, which we soon realized is quite nice as it greatly minimizes the amount of sand and grass that gets tracked into the camper! Seems we are sweeping that out multiple times a day.
We arrived early afternoon so we took advantage of the rest of the day to drive over to Presque Isle State Park. Originally billed as the “Playground of Pennsylvania” it is an isle that juts out into Lake Superior and served as a safe harbor for American soldiers back in the 1800’s; a fair amount of boat building also happened here during those times. It was turned into a state park in the early 1900s and now has many hiking and biking trails, 11 beaches (at least), a marina, floating houseboats, playgrounds, boat rentals, the Perry Monument (Perry was credited with defeating the British in a battle and keeping his men safe in and around this area), and the Presque Isle lighthouse that Owen and I toured. We also discovered the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, which is a great find. It is located just before the entrance to Presque Isle, is free, has lots of hands-on exhibits for kids and does a great job providing historical and environmental knowledge about Presque Isle. I particularly enjoyed the exhibit that explained Presque Isle decade by decade, starting in the early 1900s. In 1966, a UFO was spotted on the island, which brought about national attention and they even had plaster molds made of the supposed “legs” of the UFO that remained in the sand. Good stuff.
When we were loading up at our previous stop in Fremont, Tom discovered that the left rear tire on the Jeep was losing air and had a nail in it. We attempted to get it fixed in Erie, but no luck and we ended up buying a new tire. Yay for us - not exactly what we had anticipated so soon but hey - it’s going to happen. Thankfully, if Tom hadn’t discovered it before we left Ohio, it could have blown out while we were towing it behind the RV and that could’ve been really bad. So counting our blessings that he caught it when he did.
Short stop here (only 3 days) and we’re off to Niagara Falls next!
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.
Iron Fish Distillery - Thompsonville, MI
Inside Iron Fish Distillery
Outside Iron Fish Distillery
Iron Fish Distillery is in Thompsonville MI. They have really good pizza. we stayed at Iron Fish Distillery as a harvest host spot. On Friday they had live music. They have corn hole, connect four, frisbee, and a game where you throw bean bags at bowling pins. They ran out of pizza because it gets really busy. We were able to get there in time so we still got pizza. We saw a helicopter land and take off at the distillery.
St. Ignace, Michigan
We fully expect that this trip won’t be all rainbows and sunsets - meaning that there will be places we would’ve and should’ve skipped to see something more exciting but that’s part of the journey as well. St. Ignace itself was fine - but the draw that brings most people there seems to be Mackinac Island. Apologies in advance to those of you who love this place, as there are some redeeming qualities to it but if I was to rate this on Trip Advisor - and I might - it’s probably getting no more than 2 stars. Maybe 3 if I’m feeling generous.
We pulled into our campground, the Lakeshore RV Campground, just outside of St. Ignace (pronounced like “Agnes” but with an “I”). Beautiful views overlooking Lake Michigan and the Mackinac Bridge. There’s a private little beach just down from the campsite, with a few benches and a table where you can enjoy views of the sunsets, the large freighters passing and of course, the bridge. The bridge is the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the US (5 miles long) and once completed, it negated the ferry industry that ran for years in the Mackinaw Straits.
The sites here are even tighter than the last place (!) but it was a relatively quiet site (“boring” for Owen, as there weren’t any kids his age or many kids at all). We set up, and headed into town for a look around and to research the options for getting to Mackinac Island the next day. We put Owen in charge of this project and he pored over the options, ultimately setting on Star Line ferries - the fastest, from his perspective. The other main option is Shepler’s, but both offer similar services and pricing. St. Ignace seems to serve as a jumping-off point as the main tourist draw, but there are also some historical museums about the area and quite a bit of trail hiking as well.
We took the ferry over on a Tuesday, and the weather was perfect. The boat we took included a ride under the Mackinac bridge on the way to the island, which was certainly cool to see. Upon docking and getting our bikes unloaded, we headed out onto Bicycle Street (I actually don’t know if that’s the name - it’s probably Main Street) but I heard a stat (unverified) that Macinac Island has the most bicycles of any island in the world. Based on what we saw, don’t think we can really dispute that. This place puts Amsterdam to shame.
You can bike around the island (8 miles roundtrip) but unfortunately, we could only go part-way around the island on each side because- construction! They were doing shoreline restoration, and perhaps this added to the bummer factor of our visit, because biking to see the island is one of the best parts. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island - only bicycles and horsedrawn carriages. Now some people might find this charming, but near on collisions with bikes versus horses looked probable and there are ample amounts of horse dung to avoid, along with trying not to enter into a head-on collision with oncoming bikers. There were just SO many people. And bikes. And horse crap.
Many of the houses on this island are absolutely gorgeous, but with so many throngs of tourists riding just in your front (or back) yard, how does one enjoy this? Ok, so there ARE many interesting things on the island to see including Fort Mackinac, Fort Holmes, historic churches, beautiful vistas, historic cemetaries and lots of trails. The only place where there aren’t a lot of people are the hiking trails and the inner bike trails on the island. There is also Arch Rock, which is one of the more famous rock overlooks on the island (waiting line to get up the stairs to take the picture….). Earlier in the day, we were told we weren’t able to visit this place as there was police activity in the area, and it was blocked off. It opened up later that day and we did eventually bike over there. Sadly, we found out later that evening that it had been closed in the morning as a man in his 40’s had died by suicide by jumping off the arch, and he was found that morning. So very sad.
Arch Rock
We found a cute place for lunch (no line!) called the Watercolor Cafe, which was right on the water and offered great views of the marina and Lake Huron. Good food, good prices. We did bike up to the Grand Hotel, which really is a sight to see - so massive! But just to access the sprawling patio and order a beverage, one has to pay an admission fee of $10 per person. I guess I understand it, because if you are paying a minimum of $500-$600/night to stay in a room (that looks like fashion designer Betsey Johnson has thrown up in BTW), well I don’t think I’d want to be bothered by tourists either. But it IS grand to look at.
We returned to Bicycle Street and hopped into the closest confectionary we could find for some sugary reinforcement. If you like candy shops, souvenir stops, and eateries/breweries of all sorts, this might be your kind of place. We hopped back on the ferry at 3:30 and appreciated our visit and the opportunity to do so, but decided we did not need to go back anytime soon. Upon getting back to St. Ignace, Owen wanted to head to splash pad that he had seen the day before, where he decided to get soaking wet, and managed to pull me in as well (it was a pretty hot day).
Splash pad! St. Ignace
Back at the campsite that night, we got out the pudgy pie maker for cherry turnovers! A classic camping must-have.
On our final day, we spent a good majority of the morning working and doing school. I’ll probably write a post on what that looks like for us but we’ve decided that Owen is going to do school year-round, so we started in earnest this week. Through a combination of an online program (that we monitor and partially teach) as well as curriculum that we will completely oversee, he is starting to dive in and also use our route as a means of learning. By the time we wrapped up all of our respective duties, we had a few hours left in the day to take advantage of so we drove across the Mackinac Bridge to Mackinaw, and went to a Coast Guard Icebreaker ship (now a museum). Of course, had to fit a couple cheesy photos in.
“Hi - Owen here. I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun going to Mackinac island and the splash pad was really fun. The Coast Guard Icebreaker ship was a great experience. In Sault Sainte Marie we went on another ship but I was glad they were not the same experience.”
We visited the local Farmer’s Market that afternoon, which I was happy about as it was the first one we’ve come across on the trip. Purchased fresh greens, juicy slicing tomatoes (maybe the best thing I’ve had so far), and fresh baked bread. Also had to pick up some smoked whitefish and a traditional “pasty” (pronounced past-tee), which is a handheld meat pie. Like an empanada (but honestly, not as good IMO). Still, we want to try as much of the local fare and I have a strict goal of not wanting to eating at any chain restaurants this next year if we can help it.
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
We weren't too far from Sault Ste. Marie, so it was a relatively easy drive to our next campsite - Aune Osborn Campground, which amounted to a large, grassy field right next to St. Mary's River. This spot is well-known for the famous Soo Locks, where thousands of Great Lakes freighters pass through the locks each year. Our goal in choosing this spot was to witness some of this traffic and learn more about the area in general. The St. Marys River is the only water connection between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes. There is a section of the river known as the St. Marys Rapids where the water falls about 21 feet from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes - thus the need for the Soo Locks.
After squeezing into our campsite spot (the sites are pretty stacked together here), we decided to take a drive into town to actually see the locks, as the Soo Locks Park provides some of the best viewing (short of being on the river itself). At the time we were there, we saw one of the Soo Locks tourist boats going through the locks, and watched that transaction take place. There is also a really great museum in the park, that has all the historical information on the locks being built, the damage and destruction because of natural disasters and wars, and lots of maritime facts and figures to absorb. Owen’s favorite display included a simulation that allowed him to open and close the locks to allow the boats through. I still marvel at the facts about Lake Superior - it’s size, depth and power.
Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, MI
A typical “footer” freighter heading toward Lake Superior through the locks
Due to COVID, we still can’t enter Canada, which we had hoped to do by now. Maybe by the time we get to Niagara Falls we can (estimated date is August 9 at this point). There’s a really great museum that we can see from the US side, all about the bushplanes but unfortunately, we won’t get to it. However, we did visit two historical sites - the sadly named “Tower of History” and the Valley Camp ship museum (the latter of which was really amazing).
As we were walking up to the Tower of History, it actually looked vaguely familiar and reminded me of the St. John’s church on the campus of St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN. Sure enough - the same architect had been hired to design this structure, which was originally going to be a shrine for missionaries, but it never came through to completion. But you can now walk up 292 stairs to the top, which Tom and I did (because, bragging rights) while Owen took the elevator up the 25 flights. Maybe he’s the smarter one in our bunch. Of course, we were treated to some spectacular views.
After that, we headed over to the Museum Ship Valley Camp - a freighter that was used on the lakes for over 50 years but it is now a museum and it is very well done. The Smithsonian has rated it as a first-class Smithsonian museum (which sounds good in theory, although still researching to find out exactly what that means). The entire ship is pretty much on display and has been turned into a historical gem that contains so much information - from the mechanical aspects to the living quarters to information on so many different ships that frequented the waterways. A few highlights and key takeaways:
Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial and Exhibit - the two lifeboats that were recovered from the wreck are on display here (or more accurately, 1 1/2 lifeboats). These were stunning to see. The theatre here also shows a continuous loop of footage related to the ship, the wreck, the retrieval of artifacts, and the families of the survivors.
1200 gallon aquarium inside the ship, stocked with fish from the Great Lakes region
Dating back to the 1800s to present day, there still are not any women recognized in the Hall of Fame
The hull of the ship on the lower level is so uneven as all of the weight from past loads of iron ore buckled it
Back at the campsite, Owen has made fast friends with a number of kids as this seems to be a pretty family-friendly campground. The main activity involves challenging one another to climb up “the rock” without any assistance (picnic tables, for example)….
Finally, we just spent a lot of time chilling out, watching the ships and finding the best fudge!
People we met along the way: Damien and Karen, who are avid travelers and spent years traveling fulltime by boat! #lifegoals
Hiccups and hangups: Lost an ornamental lugnut off the hubcap on the trip over (minor issue!)
Grateful for: Watching the ships (Tom), seeing the locks “that was really fun” (Owen), and listening to Owen play the violin while the ships went by (Laurie)
Duration in Sault Ste. Marie: July 17 - July 20, 2021
Next stop: St. Ignace, MI
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
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