Month: November 2024

Summer and Fall – home and the Northern Outpost

We spent summer and fall, splitting our time between our house and our northern outpost in Frankfort, MI.  Our schedule mainly revolved around the weather and when we needed to come home and fill up our water buffalo and do laundry. We also planned around several family events, helping our parents and a few doctor and dentist appointments.

Our time “up north” was spent cycling, hiking, running, paddling, enjoying the beach, and an occasional beer at one of the local microbreweries. Several times a week, we went to Crystal Mountain Resort, about 12 miles from our outpost.  Dave rode the trails, while I walked and ran along the golf course. It’s a beautiful area and I love the hills. Other days we we go to Beulah, where Dave would head west on the Betsie Vally Pathway on his bike and I would head east for a walk/run along the shore of Crystal Lake.  We hiked many other trails in the area, including the trails at the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy Conservation Center. We met some of the staff there and spoke with the guy who designed and built most of our favorite trails..

I visited the art center in town many times and spent plenty of time doing my novice version of birding, with my Merlin app. We met up with several sets of friends, some who live in the area and some who just like to vacation there. Our longest stay there was 23 nights at the end of September. That time we had to get water at our friend, Mary’s house and do a bit of laundry by hand.

The weather was beautiful most of the time. For the first time, we got to enjoy the fall colors in the area. Until this year, we were always away on a fall trip during the peak colors, or bad weather forced us to quit camping earlier. We had planned a fall trip to Shenandoah National Park, but canceled it because of the rare warm, sunny fall in Michigan. It was good we cancelled our plans because hurricane Helene devastated the area.

Between May 20 and Oct 21 we spent 78 of 155 nights camping.  73 of those nights were off grid, at our northern outpost.

Mears State Park, Ludington & Pentwater

On our way home from our northern outpost, we stopped at Mears State Park on Lake Michigan. On our way into the park, late afternoon, we were heading up a very steep hill. For a minute or two, we just happened to be at the right angle, with the bright sun blocked by something, to see the Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3). We assumed it would remain visible to us, but it did not. Regardless, it was a great stroke of luck. I decided it was a sign from the universe…

We spent time in Ludington and Pentwater, both very cool towns. Dave road some trails while I hiked. We enjoyed the beach. Best of all, we made friends with five fellow campers and their sweet dogs. We enjoyed a great night with them around the campfire, eating campfire grilled cheese, s’mores and  sharing tales of our adventures. It was a fun time!

Sleepy Hollow State Park

Our final campsite for the year was at Sleepy Hollow State Park. It was midweek in fall, and we practically had the place to ourselves. There were trails gallore! On our last day, Dave rode the trails on his bike all day, and I hiked and ran 7 1/2 miles. We cooked outside and enjoyed a campfire with Slushie.

We camped 176 nights this year, (784 nights since we bought the RV in 2018). It was so fun! Now, it’s time to take care of things at the “sticks and bricks” and plan for 2025.