After a long 5 1/2 months of not doing much, we made a kind of last minute choice to go camping. We have worked to continue to avoid crowds and closed in spaces so even camping during the busy summer months just didn't seem like the best choice. Instead, we waited until kids were actually returning to school and we knew we would have the campground mostly to ourselves - which was the case! The only other people there were older couples or homeschooling families HA!
I always like to share the in's and out's of our trip mostly because it's a great place for me to look back at for ideas later plus, if you read this and are a camper, it might just give you an idea or two for a future trip.
Monday:
The Plan: Pack up, load up, hook up, head out.
The Meals: Lunch at home - simple, just soup and sandwiches
Dinner: Steak Kabobs, Salad, and Baked Beans
The Reality:
Our goal was to be on the road by 1:00 but we didn't get on the road until 2:00. It always takes longer to hook up then we remember :-) The trip was uneventful and easy. The set up was actually pretty easy - it helps that Josh and Nate are older and know what to do for set up. Our meals were just as we planned. We cooked our favorite steak kabobs over the fire. The beans I made the day before and had planned to throw them in the crock pot to warm up but due to our late start, they wouldn't have had enough time to really warm up so we ate them cold (which are actually my favorite anyway). After dinner, we went down to the beach and watched an amazing sunset before enjoying our campfire and smore's.
I have decided that I need a small crock pot for the camper - I have one I use at home and love it. I have a large one in the camper but sometimes, like for beans, it's just too big. So that is on the list for next year!
Tuesday:
The Plan: Go to Lewis Farm and Petting Zoo and Drive through Muskegon
Meals: Breakfast - Donuts, Cheese Danish and Hard Boiled Eggs
Lunch: Sandwiches and Chips
Dinner: Bernie O's Pizza (our favorite!)
The Reality:
Meals: Breakfast was on point: Lunch: McDonald's; Dinner: Bernie O's
The rain started around 3:00 AM and it rained hard and alot. We enjoyed breakfast in the pop-up and then just hung out until about 12:30. We were reading to go exploring for a bit but were also hungry so we stopped at McDonald's for lunch before driving around downtown Muskegon and then heading out to the public beach just to see the water. We did not go to the farm due to the rain. On the way home we picked up coffee and cookies before spending a little time at the camper. Finally, we did get our pizza (and it was good!). The rain stopped in time for us to enjoy a campfire and smore's again which was wonderful!
This year I bought a drying rack for our towels. It's something that was on my list for a few years. Granted, it rained a lot so nothing every really dried but it was nice to have a place to put the towels under the canopy instead of on a clothesline in the rain.
Wednesday
The Plan - The beach, taking a walk to the other campground
Meals: Breakfast - Eggs, Bacon and Toast
Lunch: Sloppy Joes
Dinner: Hot Dogs and Chips
The Reality:
Wednesday was another rainy day - but not as rainy as Tuesday! Cooking outside was not an option due to lots of water (I didn't feel like getting electrocuted!) so thankfully there were plenty of muffins and donuts left. I pulled out sandwich fixin's for lunch for the same reason. By early afternoon the rain had stopped so even though it was too chilly to sit at the beach, we walked the channel all the way to our favorite part of the state campground which is closed this year due to flooding. We wanted to see the flooding for ourselves. It was eerily quiet and looked like an old deserted forest area. The water had even receded some but still our two favorite campsites are completely under water. From there we drove to a new ice cream shop and got some ice cream (I know, how surprising that we got ice cream at an ice cream shop HA!). On the way back to camp we stopped at a "bunk house" that the guys always hike too. They also went on a hike down into the forest while I enjoyed a book in the car :-) Eventually we went back to the campground and made a last minute choice to turn around and get Subway for dinner. By that time the rain had stopped again and we actually enjoyed a great fire with lots of chatting around the campfire.
Things I forgot: Cereal and eggs. I also was not as organized as I have been in the past which meant more bags and bins making it harder to find things. We are hoping to camp a few more times next summer so I need to get back to my "old" ways to keep things more organized.
Thursday
The Plan: Pack up, load up, hook up, head out
Meals: Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: On the road
Dinner: Spahgetti or something simple at home
The Reality:
This was the best night sleep for all of us - no rain, not too cold, and maybe so tired that we slept. With that being said, we all slept in! Once we got up we did have breakfast but since I forgot the cereal it was the last of the muffins and donuts! Thankfully there was no rain so that made packing up easier. We didn't just head home, though. Nate suggested we go to the beach since it was dry. We were able to enjoy a great picnic lunch of sandwiches on the beach as well as feeding lots of seagulls. Then, my dare devil Nate wanted to swim so down to the water we went. Yes, he got in and yes, it was cold. Once he had his fill of the water we headed for home. Once we unloaded, I made sloppy joes for dinner - which was easy since I just needed to heat them up!
Before we left for camping I bought a $20.00 space heater and it was a life saver. The temps dropped into the upper 40's one night so without the heater our little pop-up would have been cold!
