Interlochen State Park is one of our favorite locations to return to. It's next to a music school which we can hear from the campgrounds, and the entire Traverse City area is full of things to do and places to see. 

This visit, we rode the Boardman Lake Trail in Traverse City while our truck was getting worked on. Gorgeous and short, this trail provided us a bonus viewing spot of the youngsters' sailing school.  It was really neat to watch those 7-yr olds navigate the mini sailboats.

The next day was a longer, more challenging ride on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. Smooth, and 22 miles long, the northern side is mostly gradual slopes, where the southern side will give you 11% grade challenges, and the reward of speed on the other end.  Having a picnic lunch at the dunes was definitely a bonus.

Stay details:  Interlochen State Park; Interlochen MI 
* This park is large and beautiful, and offers many opportunities for family fun near the lake. The sites come in all different sizes, but only has electric, so water fill-up is a must before parking.  The park has a day use area for swimming, boating and BBQs, as well as nearby trails. The nearby music school is a nice ambience when enjoying your evening fire.
We were on site 95, but the next one over was facing us with his party and campfire, so it was rather intrusive. There are a LOT of large sites here, and a lot of family fun things to do. Recommended sites: 369, 371, 64, 414 & 193.

Arriving at Charlestown S.P. meant meeting up with our daughter and her family. The only problem with being on the road is missing family.  Being back in the north for 3 months allows us to catch up with everyone. By the end of this time, they all might even WANT to get rid of us! LOL!

Katie & Tony came out with the kids this weekend and camped for the night with us. The last time they camped with us, there were heavy rains and a tornado warning. This time, there was beautiful (warm) weather and sun. We all had a great time catching up, talking, having fun with the kids, and just being together. We look forward to seeing them again later this year.

Stay details: Charlestown State Park - Charlestown, IN
Note: This area was once the Rose Island Amusement Park, until the major flood of 1937 which created a 25-mile wide Ohio River flood which non until put 70% of Louisville under water, but also desimated the park . It was then purchased as an ammunition plant, then dedicated to the state of Indiana in 1995. The park itself is very large with 8 hiking trails and a campground. The campground consists of 189 campsites (129 electric, and 58 full hookup). The sites are well spaces at a great angle so you're not looking inside your neighbor's windows.  It has one small playground, several trash bins throughout the park, and a good amount of shaded sites to choose from.
While we were here, we did encounter several ticks on us, the kids and the dog. We decided not to take any more walks in the woods.

We didn't post much for April because we had a good amount of down time at Myrtle Beach. Mark gave the truck a break job and tune-up, so she's ready to cross the mountains. The rig got a cleaning overhaul and some new carpets & kitchen upgrades.
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God has really Blessed us at Briarcliffe with the friendship of an older couple. Mark dug right in and helped work on their tv. They ended up going to Best Buy together the next day and buying a new one. WOW, the difference in the new 43" 4k TV compared to their old 17" tube TV was an amazing transformation, and made Richard VERY happy!  We spent most of the day teaching them how to use the new technology, including email! It was almost like adopting parents, and they told us they were going to adopt us as their kids.  Ok!  :-)  They are even going to take a 2 hour drive to the next place we're staying (their home park), so visit with us for the day.  :-)

New Ministry:
Through our converstaions at the parks, we have decided to get involved with ROAM, a Christian RV ministry that is 'there where you need them".  Like the SOWERS ministry we joined, ROAM also helps camps with needed projects, but they are also involved with disaster relief, which is something we both have a passion for being involved in. Stay tuned on more details with this.

Travel Tidbits:
- As many know, Myrtle Beach is a HUGE beach party destination. Since we don't party, it ended up being pretty boring. However, there is a LOT of tourist attractions around if you'd like to catch some dinner shows, aquariums, Ripley's museums and parks. We saw Dolly Parton's Pirates Voyage, and it was spectacular!
- For bike riding enthusiasts, Myrtle Beach was not the destination to go. There were very few bike trails, and most of those were mostly on main road sidewalks. There were no trails paralelling the ocean.
- For dog owners. Myrtle Beach is a dog-owners paradise. From October-April, dogs are allowed on all the beaches, so you AND your pooch can enjoy the awesome beach and beautiful sunrises. From May - September, dogs are only allowed on the beach before 9am and after 5pm.

Stay Details:  Briarcliffe RV Resort - Myrtle Beach, SC
* This park is part of the Coast to Coast resort parks that we joined last year. It was a good destination, being it was close to the beach, close to stores, and had some amenities for visitors. The park also accepted some mail delivery for us, which was really nice. We enjoyed walking to the pond just about every night and sitting with the ducks.

During our 2-week stay at Bee's Resort, we were able to get in some sightseeing, truck maintenance, and quality friend-time. The friends we met in CA (Bill & Marilou) were scheduled to be with us here, but they were delayed due to truck issues. They came in later, and we really enjoyed seeing them again!  In the meantime, we made friends with the people who were next to us: Tom & Eleanore, who serenaded us with his guitar and singing; Carl & Ruthie who also have a Reflection, quickly became friends; and Dub & his wife who we helped back in and get parked; and finally Robert & Kim, needed help with a severe septic problem as we were walking through the park. They were all wonderful people, and we were very blessed to have met them.

Deciding to visit a Disney park, reservations and tickets were required. We were hoping for Hollywood Studios, but they were booked through to April 22nd, so we went to Animal Kingdom instead. I must say, we do not have the desire to return any time soon. Maybe it's just us getting older, but we also don't think it's worth the expense.

We really enjoyed our visit to Tampa, Fort DeSoto in St. Petersburg, and our bike riding around the island and shores. We've been wanting to visit LazyDays RV for a long time, and it was amazing. This is a HUGE place, a LOT of RVs, and very nice staff. 

During our stay, we also had time to upgrade our furniture, and get some spark plugs changed on the truck. 

Stay Details: Bee's Resort, Clermont FL.
* This resort has very tight sites, and we were placed into the overflow area in the front by the road. After a walk around the park, we realized this was actually better than many other sites, except that we were under an acorn tree which rained small nuts on our roof for the next 2 weeks. It wasn't too bad, and we still had full hookups. Just know that most of the people at this park are seasonal, so you will feel like an outsider at first.  However, just making an appearance helped alleviate some of that, and we made several friends in no time. Their restaurant is closed down, and the people working the front counters are not very nice. Just smile and be nice to them and they will loosen up. This resort also accepts mail for you. GO AMAZON!

Packed a lunch and spent the day visiting the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Fort Pickens, just south of Pensacola, FL. It was a beautiful 70 degree sunny day. The drive through the Seashore area was awesome, with beautiful mult-colored homes and beautiful beaches and water.

We saw a lot of evidents of the recent Hurricane Sally, but were also glad to see people actively rebuilding their properties back to beautiful. Some homes & businesses were left abandoned, and thousands of trees and debris is still scattered around.

Ended with a fabulous B-Day dinner at Lambert’s Cafe (Home of the throwed rolls)
What an awesome day!

Stay Details:  Wilderness RV Park; Robertsdale, AL
* Note: I didn't mention this in a seperate blog because the campground isn't worth mentioning our opinion. It is very run down, with many older full-time residents that let their campers get into disrepair.  Many areas in the park were an eye-sore, so we mostly kept to ourselves and toured beautiful locations nearby.  
This is a Coast 2 Coast park, and I would not recommend staying here unless you really need to.

Before leaving Phoenix, we decided to take a 'quick and leisure' walk up to Superstition Mountain.  Yeah right!  That walk was NOTHING like the above, but we are determined, and we kept making small goals. Those small goals kept adding up and we arrived into the canyon area right before the Syphon Draw Trail Waterfall. It was a rewarding with glorious views, but because we were tired and needed to check out, we had to head back.

We were extremely tired and sore from this hike (even Pica), but we were very glad we made the hike.  Our hike ended up being 3-1/2 hrs.
Note: If you ever doubt making a hike, just make small goals for yourself. You never know how far you'll get.

Pica LOVES travel days!  She loves them SO much that she doesn't want to get out of the truck when we're all set up!  At least during this video, she finally got up. Most days she doesn't!  LOL!

1) The rewards after a day of hard work (maintenance, cleaning, cooking) is.....
Guiltless relaxation. Happy November from sunny Arizona!

2) Oh how I love our kids/grandkids, but there’s just something about a kidless pool. And oh how we count down the days to swimming with the kids again too!

2) I never thought I’d buy a rake to keep the rocks neat. Apparently a lot of people in the south make their rocks look nice (since there’s no grass) .

3) Oh how I miss the grass..

4) Note our screen door is open. Pica loves watching the neighborhood, and it’s weird keeping it open! No bugs!

Stay Details: Silver View RV Resort; Bullhead City, AZ