It’s been way to long since I have sat down and wrote about our adventures.  Did we stop going places?  Heck no. I  can’t imagine a life without spring break trips, weekends camping and summer road trips.  When I look back I can’t believe the last thing I wrote about was Memorial Day weekend.  We had some great trips last summer and fall that I can’t believe I didn’t write about.  No good excuses other than time just gets away from me.  With our Spring Break trip starting less than 50 days from now my goal for 2017 is to simply do better.

But in the mean time I will try to hit some of last year’s highlights since we had plenty of good times in the RV.

After Labor Day we headed to one of our favorite campgrounds- Pinegrove Campground in Shawano.  Back when we bought our first travel trailer we had a seasonal site there.  Since then the campground has grown.  They have updated the playground and store, as well as added a pool and inflatables. We had some rough weather after setting up but after that the weekend was great.

We had a site right across from the field and pool area, which was a great location. Everything was a short walk so the kids were able to do whatever they wanted.  Lots of time spent in the lake, the pool, playing mini golf and on the playground.  We were able to watch the movie Saturday, from our fire. We were also close enough to the store that the WiFi worked from our site- there is a small daily fee for this service but so worth it with a teenager.

Our other trip in June was to Cedar Point in Sandusky- but we will save that for it’s own story.

July took us to our annual Diederich family trip to Bear Lake Campground for the Iola Old War Car Show and Swap Meet. As always this was a great long weekend.  Lots of time was spent at the lake and hanging out on the pontoon boat (even if it was anchored), tubing, jet skiing, at the playground, playing cards, hanging out with family and relaxing around the bonfire.  But the best part of the weekend was our group dinner on Saturday night.  This year we did things a little different and made a Louisiana style shrimp boil.  It was so much fun eating straight off the picnic table and it tasted AMAZING!!

We ended the month with a farther journey to Munising, MI where we stayed at the Munising Tourist Park Campground.  This is one of my all time favorite campgrounds.  There are no bells and whistles at this campground.  The playground consists of 2 or 3 swings and an old rusty slide. BUT the sites we stayed on where right on Lake Superior.  We opened our door to a beautiful view and the sand was less than a 25 yard walk.  There was no better morning coffee than the ones we had in Munising right next to the water. It was a convenient spot to put the kayaks in (looking forward to having the paddle board there this summer) and had we had a boat it could have been docked right at our site. Sunsets were gorgeous.  The park is also just a few miles out of the quaint little town of Munising and a short drive to the famous Pictured Rocks.  We enjoyed being at the site so much we didn’t venture to either but look forward to visiting them in the future.

In Aug we went to Shawano Lake, another one of our favorites. We had to pull a pop up so the boat could come along. It was our second time here that year, and much different from the first.  There was no snow- although it rained most of Saturday and was pretty chilly for late August.  The snack bar was open since it was after Memorial Day- I love the snack bar.  Sunday was a beautiful day so by mid afternoon the lake was quite busy unlike in early May.  We took the boat out and the kids got to ski and tube, which is always a great time.  I was just happy sitting in the sand and enjoying a Margarita.  One of the nice things about Shawano Lake Campground is the late check out time, 3:00 PM, which allows you to fully enjoy Sunday on the lake.  Bonus when Saturday’s weather isn’t the best.

Labor Day Weekend we headed to Chute Pond.  Still not my favorite campground, but it is spent with some of my favorite people to camp with so that totally makes up for it.  Why not my favorite?  Long walk to the beach down an actual well-traveled road that runs through the campground.  An even longer walk to slippery rock. These walks can be stressful at times with the kids. The “beach” is a grass hill, although the lake is pretty decent- the kids had a blast on the paddle board all weekend. We bought it right before this trip so the were all pumped to use it. The site is also a pretty good walk to the flush toilets.  Thankfully we don’t have to worry about that.  The staff is not the friendliest.  But like I said it is a great group of people to camp with and therefor we are able to overlook all of this.

This year fall camping took us back to Bear Lake for a lakeview site, which was super cool. We went to Plymouth Rock Campground for Tough Mudder Weekend and to Quietwoods South for Halloween.

Friday and Saturday of the weekend at Plymouth Rock were cool and soggy.  Rained most of the time.  But Sunday was beautiful!  The kids and I hung out at the RV while Scott took part in the Tough Mudder.  We watched some movies and played some board games.  And I got to enjoy a bloody mary in the warm fall sun.

Our final weekend of the year was a Halloween theme weekend in mid October at Quietwoods South in Brussels, WI.  It was so much fun and will become an annual trip for us.  Saturday afternoon the campground had activities for the kids (young and old alike.)  We painted pumpkins, made caramel apples and took a wagon ride around the campground.  Then in the late afternoon there was trick or treating.  Majority of the sites (and the campground was full) had trick or treating set up for the kids and adults.  Kids dressed in their costumes and got lots of candy and parents that walked around with them were rewarded with jello shots, beers, mini bloody mary’s, and various other treats.  There was a haunted corn maze and a haunted house. Quietwoods also has a bar and snack bar with hot food at the camp store, which is always nice when there isn’t time to cook or you just want to grab a quick bite.

The weekend after this was one of the nicest late October weekends we have had in a long time.  We were very sad that we had other commitments and weren’t able to book a last-minute weekend.  We sadly winterized the RV and gave it a good wash before we parked it for the winter.

We have now started our repacking lists and are getting ready to bring our second home back out of storage.  Starting the countdown to our biggest adventure yet and the beginning of another great season.

It’s been way to long since I have sat down and wrote about our adventures.  Did we stop going places?  Heck no. I  can’t imagine a life without spring break trips, weekends camping and summer road trips.  When I look back I can’t believe the last thing I wrote about was Memorial Day weekend.  We had some great trips last summer and fall that I can’t believe I didn’t write about.  No good excuses other than time just gets away from me.  With our Spring Break trip starting less than 50 days from now my goal for 2017 is to simple do better.

But in the mean time I will try and hit some of last years highlights since we had plenty of good times in the RV.

After Labor Day we headed to one of our favorite campgrounds- Pinegrove Campground in Shawano.  Back when we bought our first travel trailer we had a seasonal site there.  Since then the campground has greatly grown.  They have updated the playground and store as well as added a pool and inflatables. We had some rough weather after setting up but after that the weekend was great.

 

We had a site right across from the field and pool area which was a great location. Everything was a short walk so the kids were able to do whatever they wanted.  Lots of time spent in the lake, the pool, playing mini golf and on the playground.  We were able to watch the movie Saturday from our fire. Also close enough to the store that the WiFi worked from the site- there is a small daily fee for this service but so work it with a teenager.

Our other trip in June was to Cedar Point in Sandusky- but we will save that for it’s own story.

July took was to our annual Diederich family trip to Bear Lake Campground for the Iola Old War Car Show and Swap Meet. As always this was a great long weekend.  Lots of time was spent at the lake and hanging out on the pontoon boat (even if it was anchored), tubing, jet skiing, at the playground, playing cards, hanging out with family and relaxing around the bonfire.  But the best part of the weekend was our group dinner on Saturday night.  This year we did things a little different and made a Louisiana style shrimp boil.  It was so much fun eating straight off the pick nick table and it tasted AMAZING!!

We ended the month with a further journey to Munising, MI where we stayed at the Munising Tourist Park Campground.  This is one of my all time favorite campgrounds.  There are no bells and whistles here.  The playground consists of 2 or 3 swings and an old rusty slide. BUT the sites we stayed on where right on Lake Superior.  We opened our door to a beautiful view and the sand was less than a 50 yard walk.  There was no better morning coffee than the ones we had in Munising right next to the water. It was a convenient spot to put the kayaks in (looking forward to having the paddle board there this summer) and had we had a boat it could have been docked right at our site. Sunsets where gorgeous.  The park is also just a few miles out of the quaint little town of Munising and a short drive to the famous Pictured Rocks.  We enjoyed being at the site so much we didn’t venture to either but look forward to in the future.

In Aug we went to Shawano Lake, another of our favorites. We had to pull a pop up so the pontoon boat could come along. It was our second time here this year, and much different than the first.  First there was no snow- although it rained most of Saturday and was pretty chilly for late August.  The snack bar was open since it was after Labor Day- I love the snack bar.  Sunday was a beautiful day so by mid afternoon the lake was quite busy unlike in early May.  We took the pontoon out and the kids got to ski, which is always a great time.  I was just happy sitting in the sand and enjoying a Margarita.  One of the nice things about Shawano Lake Campground is the late check out time, 3:00 PM, which allows you to fully enjoy Sunday on the lake.  Bonus when Saturday’s weather isn’t the best.

Labor Day Weekend we headed to Chute Pond.  Still not my favorite campground, but it is spent with some of my favorite people to camp with so that totally makes up for it.  Why not my favorite?  Long walk to the beach down an actual well traveled road that runs through the campground.  An even longer walk to slippery rock. These walks can be stressful at times with the kids. The “beach” is a grass hill, although the lake is pretty decent- the kids had a blast on the paddle board all weekend. We bought it right before this trip so the were all pumped to use it. The site is also a pretty good walk to the flush toilets.  Thankfully we don’t have to worry about that.  The staff is not the friendliest.  But like I said it is a great group of people to camp with and therefor we are able to overlook all of this.

This year fall camping took us back to Bear Lake for a lakeview site, which was super cool. We went to Plymouth Rock Campground for Tough Mudder Weekend and to Quietwoods South for Halloween. Friday and Saturday of the weekend at Plymouth Rock were cool and soggy.  Rained most of the time.  But Sunday was beautiful!  The kids and I hung out at the RV while Scott took part in the Tough Mudder.  We watched some movies and played some board games.  And I got to enjoy a bloody mary in the warm fall sun.

Our final weekend of the year was a Halloween theme weekend in mid October at Quietwoods South in Brussels, WI.  It was so much fun and will become an annual trip for us.  Saturday afternoon the campground had activities for the kids (young and old alike.)  We painted pumpkins, made caramel apples and took a wagon ride around the campground.  Then in the late afternoon there was trick or treating.  Majority of the sites (and the campground was full) had trick or treating set up for the kids and adults.  Kids dressed in their costumes and got lots of candy and parents that walked around with them were rewarded with jello shots, beers, mini bloody mary’s, and various other treats.  There was a haunted corn maze and a haunted house. Quietwoods also has a bar and snack bar with hot food at the camp store which is always nice when there isn’t time to cook or you just want to grab a quick bite.

 

The weekend after this was one of the nicest late October weekends we have had in a long time.  We were very sad that we had other commitments and weren’t able to book a last minute weekend.  But we sadly winterized the RV and gave it a good wash before we parked it for the winter.

We have now started our repacking lists and are getting ready to bring our second home back out of storage.  Starting the countdown to our biggest adventure yet and the beginning of another great season.