Roaming Free In An RV

After visiting with family the past week, we headed off to Mackinaw City. We were both very excited to get settled and set up camp for a full 5 days! Not having to move around for a few days, not packing luggage, and being able to stay in our new home sounded wonderful!

I have been asked to share what other campers are like and this past week was a great example. We pulled into our campsite at Tee Pee Campground when a fellow neighbor from Canada came over to help us back in. We were all parked and getting set up when a different neighbor came over to ask if his truck was in the way of our lake view. Later in the week, Brad and I were on the camp beach watching the sunset when we meet two guys who were around a campfire. We got to talking and found out that they were friends who’d lost touch with each other and were getting reacquainted . We ended up seeing them the following couple nights, talking, and joking around.  It’s so great to meet such nice and helpful people at the campgrounds!

We were meeting up with family on the weekend to go to Mackinac Island for the day so we checked out Mackinaw City the days prior. We went to Starbucks most mornings and plugged into their Wi-Fi so I could work on my blog and Brad was able to get work done with his new in-home sales job. Mackinaw City is a typical tourist town, with the exception of having lots of fudge shops. Fudge is a really big deal here and I do have to admit, they have the best fudge ever.

Mackinac Island holds a special place in our hearts as it was the second vacation Brad and I took prior to getting married. On Saturday, we took a ferry to the island with the family. For those who do not know, there are no cars allowed on the island. You can walk, bike, or take a horse-drawn carriage ride. We all opted to bring bikes to get around and the first thing we did was bike the 8 miles around the island. We started biking downtown and from there the scenery changed to the beach on one side and a forest on the other. There are lots of stopping points along the way to skip rocks, build cairns on the beach, walk up 207 steps to a viewpoint, or have a snack.

Speaking of snack, the best fudge shop on the island is Ryba’s and we visited there . . . twice. To burn off some of those fudge and ice cream calories, we biked to Fort Holmes, which is the highest point on the island. Not many people know about the Fort and it’s really a great secret as there are great panoramic views of the lake and bridge.

Away from the island, we had quite a few firsts this week. The first one was me driving the truck. To answer the questions that I know are forming in your minds, it was just the truck, no 5th wheel. I did good. No accidents and Brad didn’t get worried or yell, and yes, I looked extra short.

Second, we had our first real visitors where we sat down and played a game. Third, I cleaned the whole house from top to bottom. I will not say how quickly I did this as I do not want anyone to get jealous. 😉

The funniest first was using the wagon portable dump tank. One end of the hose connects to the 5th wheel sewer pipe and the other end connects to the hole on the portable dump tank. Normally, a hose stand is used to help the flow of the water leaving the tank, but we couldn’t use the hose stand because the hole on the portable tank was too high, not on the ground like going to the actual dump tank. Other than the hose getting too heavy to hold, the tank trying to roll away, and me dumping dirty water on my foot, it wasn’t so bad. We both felt better that the tanks were not going to overflow into the clean house.

We are off on our last long drive (8 hours) to Ohio for a week to explore Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Till then!