We left Trackrock at 11AM after attending the chapel service and saying so long to friends. The drive was about 140 miles, most of which were quite curvy and hilly. The MH did a great job handling them all. We arrived at Volunteer Park about 3 PM and set up on a level, pull-thru site, so we didn't have to disconnect the Envoy. This should serve us well for a one night stay.
Aug. 1
We left at 8:30, drove 169 miles, and arrived at Whispering Hills RV Park about noon. This is a new park and good enough for a nite on the road, but probably not a destination campground, unless you were interested in something in the area like the horse museum. The sites are level, although not shaded, and the roads are paved, but rough. The restrooms are the best we've seen in awhile.
Aug 2
We drove 140 uneventful miles and pulled into Hidden Paradise Campground about 11 AM. There is a swimming quarry here with inflatable slides, trampoline and rafts that gets a lit of use. The campground has a lot of permanent sites, but also ample sites for nightly use. The facilities are not new, but seem clean. We are in another pull-thru site, so we didn't need to disconnect the Envoy. We plan to be here for two nites.
Aug 3 We woke up to a thunderstorm this AM and much needed rain. We are hoping it doesn't add humidity to the heat.
Aug 4
We decided to stay on I-69 instead of secondary roads and after driving 220 miles, we pulled into Waffle Farm Campground. The CG is on a chain of lakes and is huge. We got another pull-thru site and will stay here one night. It is well maintained and even the seasonal RVs are clean. They have a well-supplied store and the washroom facilities are adequate.
Aug 5
Made it to our final destination near Hersey, Mi. We got set up and made a much needed Walmart run to Big Rapids about 15 miles back south. The campground is nice, but quite open and sunny. It is warm here, but not as hot as we have been experiencing. The best news is that we are right on a designated trout stream, Hersey Creek. We added a trout stamp onto our license and will try it this evening. We drove about 190 miles today and were glad to be in one place for awhile.
Aug 6
After fishing the river next to the CG in the AM with no results,
We had a great afternoon with John's boys, GF, and spouse. We hung out at the CG for awhile, then drove to Big Rapids for pizza and wings. It was fun to catch up with stories and get to know Brett's GF, Nellie.
Aug7
We took a ride to Luddington and enjoyed the Lake Michigan shore, drove up to Manastee, then back to Cadillac. On the way we stopped at several NF Recreation Areas to check out fishing opportunities, but were created with hordes of mosquitoes. After dinner at The Dawg House, we met Brett, Nellie, and Brian at Mitchell SP.
Aug 8
Margaret, Jake, Josh, and Rosie arrived at the campground and we hung out here for awhile. After dropping Rosie off at her grandparents house, we took Margaret and the boys out to dinner at Chase Creek Smokehouse. We had a great dinner and better conversation.
Aug 9
Margaret, Jake, Josh, Brian, and we took a day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore today. What a beautiful place!! The boys had a great time climbing the dunes as we tried keeping up with them. We hit torrential rain on the way, but the weather cleared, and turned out perfect. We finished the day with dinner at Red Lobster.
Aug 10
We took advantage of the cooler temps to take a bike ride on a local bike path. We passed a Methodist campground and stopped to check it out. The campground part was not too impressive, but the grounds and facilities were. Later in the day we drove to the farmers market and picked up some peaches, strawberries, and corn. The were excellent. John fished the river nearby and caught a small rainbow under the bridge on a white wooly bugger.
Aug 11
We had a great dinner and time at Nellies place with her, Brett, and Brian. Nellie prepared an outstanding goulash.
Aug 12
We drove around the area and checked out other campgrounds in the area. We liked Merrill Lake County Park, but we are still not sure what we are going to do when we leave here on Monday.
Aug 13
Rain in the area all day so we hung out in the campground.
Aug 15
We are on the way back to Trackrock and stopped at Potawatomi Recreation Area fir the night. We launched the kayaks on the chain of lakes here, but were limited to a couple bream. The evening was gorgeous. This is an excellent campground with many seasonals that are very well kept.
Aug 16
Happy Birthday Brett & Brian. We are back at Lost Paradise, between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. We stayed here on the way up and found it ok for an overnight.
Aug 17
Reprise at Whispering Hills. We got settled, had dinner, then took a refreshing swim. Another overnight stay. We are getting a whiff of a skunk that was on the side of the road on the way into the campground. Nice drive today of about 136 miles.
Click picture to access Picasa album.
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Aug 6
After fishing the river next to the CG in the AM with no results,
We had a great afternoon with John's boys, GF, and spouse. We hung out at the CG for awhile, then drove to Big Rapids for pizza and wings. It was fun to catch up with stories and get to know Brett's GF, Nellie.
Aug7
We took a ride to Luddington and enjoyed the Lake Michigan shore, drove up to Manastee, then back to Cadillac. On the way we stopped at several NF Recreation Areas to check out fishing opportunities, but were created with hordes of mosquitoes. After dinner at The Dawg House, we met Brett, Nellie, and Brian at Mitchell SP.
Aug 8
Margaret, Jake, Josh, and Rosie arrived at the campground and we hung out here for awhile. After dropping Rosie off at her grandparents house, we took Margaret and the boys out to dinner at Chase Creek Smokehouse. We had a great dinner and better conversation.
Aug 9
Margaret, Jake, Josh, Brian, and we took a day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore today. What a beautiful place!! The boys had a great time climbing the dunes as we tried keeping up with them. We hit torrential rain on the way, but the weather cleared, and turned out perfect. We finished the day with dinner at Red Lobster.
Aug 10
We took advantage of the cooler temps to take a bike ride on a local bike path. We passed a Methodist campground and stopped to check it out. The campground part was not too impressive, but the grounds and facilities were. Later in the day we drove to the farmers market and picked up some peaches, strawberries, and corn. The were excellent. John fished the river nearby and caught a small rainbow under the bridge on a white wooly bugger.
Aug 11
We had a great dinner and time at Nellies place with her, Brett, and Brian. Nellie prepared an outstanding goulash.
Aug 12
We drove around the area and checked out other campgrounds in the area. We liked Merrill Lake County Park, but we are still not sure what we are going to do when we leave here on Monday.
Aug 13
Rain in the area all day so we hung out in the campground.
Aug 15
We are on the way back to Trackrock and stopped at Potawatomi Recreation Area fir the night. We launched the kayaks on the chain of lakes here, but were limited to a couple bream. The evening was gorgeous. This is an excellent campground with many seasonals that are very well kept.
Aug 16
Happy Birthday Brett & Brian. We are back at Lost Paradise, between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. We stayed here on the way up and found it ok for an overnight.
Aug 17
Reprise at Whispering Hills. We got settled, had dinner, then took a refreshing swim. Another overnight stay. We are getting a whiff of a skunk that was on the side of the road on the way into the campground. Nice drive today of about 136 miles.
Click picture to access Picasa album.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
