The End of Summer Chronicle
Photo by Tyler Smith
Well, here we are, the last day of summer. When Caleb and I bought the camper in May 2022, we didn’t even remember until we were all moved in and ready to explore that most campgrounds were booked nearly full for the remainder of the season! As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, moving into a fifth wheel was a spontaneous decision, we never had a ton of time before summer came to plan out our season. Even if we had planned everything out the summer before, we probably wouldn’t have been able to account for how hard it would be to transition into our new lifestyle. I think Caleb and I are finally at a point where we feel confident in our choice, we are so excited for the future and look forward to all of the places we'll go! We dove right in, and decided to just figure it out as we went.
We did get to do some trips this year that kept us busy a few weekends, such as our very first trip with the rig to Holland, what a learning experience that was! I’ve told the stories of the eggy disaster, cabinets falling in, and forgetting to fill the water tanks. But what I haven’t mentioned is the good time we had after we sorted everything out. It was our anniversary trip after all, the three days we were there, and in the past we always made it a habit to go and do something. So, this was the first trip we were able to experience truly living in an RV. We had the cats and rabbit in the RV and left to go and do things in town. That was a huge bandage for me to rip off, leaving my babies alone in a new city, in the RV? I mean, sure, I’ve done that before every other place we’ve lived, but those were apartments and a house. My better half got us all kinds of locks and safety measures to calm my anxieties a tad, he really does know how to put my mind at ease!
We also went into town as I said and spent the majority of one day walking around and shopping. I had a work call I had to be on one morning, so I hopped over to an adorable cafe called KIN Coffee House for the wifi! It was a short trip, but we really enjoyed ourselves on the whole.
We also biked to the beach each night, stopping for ice cream along the way at the Ottawa General Store. They had SO many flavors and I was overwhelmed with choices! We also found our home sticker of a mitten with a heart (you can place it wherever you are from on it, obviously ours went in Mid Michigan) at their big store next to the ice cream shop.
It was a short trip, but we really enjoyed ourselves on the whole.
Later in the month, we took another weekend trip with Caleb’s dad for Father’s Day up at a small campground in Houghton Lake. This was our first time camping with other people! We hung out at the campground and had fun playing on their play set, most of us made it out unscathed (you’ll have to ask Dad’s fiance about that story).
I ended up with a massive migraine on Saturday, so I ended up missing out when they all wanted to go to the beach. I stuck back and painted a little in the quiet (well, as quiet as it could get with someone pressure washing their rig down the way!). For me in particular, this trip was hard because I struggled with my anxiety while camping with other people. This trip was a lot for just starting to camp in an RV, at least for me. While learning how to use my camper and trying to focus on my pets (because this was all super new for them as well) I just had way too much to think about, too much stimulation, and it’s something that put quite a damper on my weekend.
The anxiety was better when Caleb was there though, and we did end up having a nice bike ride to get some ice cream later on Saturday.
For the next month just about we were parked at Caleb’s mom and grandma’s. We really enjoyed spending a lot of time with them, and they really helped us with the transition period of moving out of our house and into this new life! But we were ready for another adventure. So, Caleb took us to the Mason Steam Show for a long weekend.
Caleb usually does the majority of his volunteer hours for his apprenticeship here, so we figured we would just camp here! However, since we were still pretty close to Caleb’s work, he just drove to work for the two days left in the week, leaving me and the cats to fend for ourselves. At the steam show, there were no hook ups, so we were also undergoing our first boondocking experience. Boondocking is also called dry or dispersed camping, basically it is a camp site with no electricity, water, or sewer. It also happened to be about 90 degrees this weekend. Yay. He bought a “quiet” generator for us to run the AC to cool off the camper. However, it happened to be the loudest generator known to man. This loud addition meant we couldn't have it on at night! So, another fun lesson we learned, the fridge doesn’t run off of battery power. While Caleb was gone at work I got to start the generator and fill it with gas when it ran out, all while old men were watching from their sites, I felt very judged. There wasn’t a ton of stuff for me to do at the show, but we did go to the flea market they put on, and I had lunch with Caleb at some of the fair food stands. Other than that, I was inside the RV most of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I love sitting around on my phone as much as anyone else, but it got old pretty quick. The other part was that our cats did not have a good time, the tractors were pretty loud, and drove by constantly. After some time, Hope surprisingly started to watch them go by, from a distant window. All in all, I really hope we do not come back to camp here until we either figure out a solar system, or find a different spot close by to camp.
After the steam show, we set up the RV in my parents’ driveway for the first time. Caleb had to install a new 50 amp plug when we got there so we could run our AC units. Through the beginning of August we stayed there and hung out with my family, swimming in their pool since it was so hot (and yes, we also taught poor Henry how to paddle in the water just in case…he’s an adventurer now! We feel more comfortable parking next to a lake or something now knowing he can save himself), and enjoying the beautiful views of the rolling cornfields and forest out back. The cats love staying here (possibly because they’re from here like me haha).
However, our stay was cut short. Our RV went in for a scheduled service at Grand Rapids Camping World. This ended up being a complete waste of time because they did nothing after having our RV all week, during a scheduled maintenance. We do not recommend going to this location for any reason. They didn’t want to help us buy the RV of our dreams that was located at the Hugo, Minnesota Camping World, and their service department completely failed us. They had our RV from Tuesday until Saturday (originally was scheduled for Thursday pick up) and we only got it back Saturday because we called them. They knew from the day Caleb drove all the way there with the rig on Tuesday (roughly an hour drive for us) that they did not have enough technicians. So on the Saturday they had told us it would be ready, we had to call them to see what time it would be ready, and that was the moment they chose to inform us that “Oh, we haven't done a single thing to it all week, we’ll have to keep it longer”. We went and just picked it up that day and decided to never return to their location.
Pyramid Point Lookout near Empire, MI and Sleeping Bear Dunes! We loved this view and it’s a very long way down if you decide to go see the water. I wouldn’t want to —probably couldn’t— climb back up…
After that whole predicament, we returned to my parents’ for one week until our next trip, we were going to Petoskey! We did not take the RV or pets with us this time, because everyone would be staying in an AirBnB together. I’m too close to my animals to leave them that easily, it was just a long weekend… I’d be fine. And it turned out to be more than fine, we had a great time! We explored downtown, walked on the boardwalk, went mini golfing together, went swimming at the State Park, and got to enjoy an amazing lunch at Beards Brewing, one of Caleb’s favorite places. My favorite part of the whole trip was this core memory: everyone was at the campfire, and Caleb mentioned that there was a meteor shower that night so we should keep an eye out for them. He kept an eye on the sky, and saw a couple fly by. That spurred everyone to go get blankets from inside and set them out on the lawn to watch the meteor shower. Watching the meteors, we got a chance to see the new StarLink satellites go by for the first time. The way they flew by, they almost seemed like alien technology. That night was a great moment of friendship; just talking, laughing, creating great inside jokes, and stargazing at the beautiful night sky.
We loved this trip and getting to spend so much time with our sweet little niece, siblings, mom, and grandma. Unfortunately, it was just a long weekend, so we all headed home in our own directions.
Caleb and I went towards Sleeping Bear Dunes on our way south, stopping at a trail I’ve been wanting to go on for quite some time now (Pyramid Point Lookout. It was breathtaking -- literally! I had to use my inhaler twice!). This trip made us realize that we don’t have to always take the camper with us, because for the next couple of years, we will be based in Michigan.
So, the entire summer we were learning more new things about the camper, ourselves, and the nomad life! So when Labor Day came around, we were super bummed that we didn’t have a spot to go to. That is, until his dad mentioned there was a spot open for us if we wanted it up at Higgins Lake! That trip was our first really fun one with the camper. We were with a bigger group again, and I wasn’t any more anxious than my everyday self (lol) this time around. We stayed near the campground for the most part, with the exception of going to the next town over for gas and then eventually finding ourselves at a zoo way up in the middle of nowhere!
We also had a beach day, with our camper being within walking distance so that we could go back and forth for lunch and to visit the animals. It made me more comfortable and I was actually able to decompress a little bit. I also had a big first that weekend: tubing behind a speedboat! I had never done that before, and I was pretty nervous! My husband who hadn’t been on one in a long time did it three times in a row before I tried it out, and everyone reassured me they would go slow and not make me fall in! I can see why people enjoy it so much, it was a thrill! I had also not been on a boat in so many years at that point, so it was really enjoyable to be out on the water.
We did group dinners every night and sat around the fire with all of his dad’s friends. We had a great time, and it was wonderful getting to connect more with Caleb’s soon-to-be stepmom, and his Dad. Annnnd the cat’s both got to experience a beach for the first time! They were timid with it, but I don’t think it was a full on hatred, they’ll just need to be exposed to it a little more I think.
Right behind Caleb is Henry, hiding from the water lol.
This whole summer has been so much fun, we have learned so many new and exciting things on this journey. For our next adventure, camping in the winter! Since we won’t be traveling south yet because Caleb isn’t quite done with his apprenticeship classes here, we will be parking in the snow. It may sound extremely daunting and what some are most likely thinking “why would you do that, it’s so dumb”. Well, for the experience, silly! No one said this would be easy; we’ve been doing a lot of research on winter camping in the fifth wheel, and to be honest, it truly isn’t too different from preparing anything else for winter. We’ll cover more of the details in a future blog post.
We can do it, it will be hard work, but Caleb and I have gotten through so much together, I honestly cannot wait to see what this next season brings us.
Stay Adventurous!
-E
