Around Our Campfire

We spent July 1-5 at P. H. Hoeft State Park just north of Rogers City, Michigan, which is located directly on Lake Huron, and has about a mile sandy beach frontage on Lake Huron.  The park is almost 100 years old, but has been maintained well for its age.  Some elements of the park (like the pavilion pictured below) date back to the early times of the park, but others are almost brand new.  The park appears to have a strong local support base, as the Friends of Hoeft State Park were visible throughout our stay, and even offer a small camp store and other events for campers. Campsites at P.H. Hoeft are average-sized and close together.  Some sites are very wooded and shady, while others are more open.  We chose a site near the Lake Huron shoreline, and it fit our 28' camper and it was wide enough to fit our 28' trailer and truck, but would not have had room for another vehicle, so visitors would have had to use the visitor's parking lot locate...

We spent the weekend of June 9-June 11 at Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee, Michigan.  We returned to this park after spending a long weekend here last year, and this is a park which we could come back to year after year. The park itself is very easy to get to.  It is a very short drive north on M-110 from US-31 (about 1.5 miles) just north of downtown Manistee, and is located right along the shore of Lake Michigan.  Pulling into the park, you are greeted with a view of the water from high atop a bluff, and the views from within the park are hard to beat! We like to stay in one of the sites that has a Lake Michigan view.  The bluff at the southernmost end of the campground offers panoramic views from high atop the bluff, and give a great vantage point for watching the sunset over Lake Michigan.  Sites 41-47, 50-60 108-121 offer this view, while the remainder of the sites are shielded by trees and hills from having a lake view.  T...

We camp often.  As a result, we get a lot of questions about our camping experiences.  Because we have a three year-old daughter, the questions often center around what it is like to camp with young kids.  Examples of those questions include: What campgrounds are the most kid-friendly? What should I bring to keep kids entertained? Should I look for a campground with a pool? We have found each of the Michigan State Parks we have stayed at to be quite kid-friendly.  So far, we have not camped at any privately-owned campgrounds.  Our daughter absolutely loves spending time at these parks.  Campsites that are surrounded by nature or woods seem to hold her interest the best, because she can "explore" without really ever leaving our campsite.  She really enjoys "helping" build a campfire (I only let her gather sticks for it at this point, but as she grows, I'm sure she'll be right there with me getting it started), and she also enjoys checking out all...

In early May, 2017, we spent a weekend at the Channel Campground at Muskegon State Park.  This is another park is packed in the summer months, but is less full in the "shoulder" seasons.  We love to come to this park each year in the early season and then come back in the fall season, in part because this park is beautiful but also because it's close to home.  That way, in the spring, we can run home easily to get something that got left at home during the winter, and in the fall, we can start unpacking the camper to get everything out that we don't want to store for the winter. The Channel Campground has two separate loops.  The "First Loop" has 10-12 campsites which are located right along the Muskegon Channel.  We always try to get one of these sites, because they offer a great vantage point to watch boats coming and going throughout the day.  We especially love it when the Lake Express car ferry comes by, because it is such an amazing boat to watch op...

We spent our first camping trip of the 2017 season at Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater, Michigan.  This park fills quickly during the summer months, but in mid-April, most sites remain open.  The campground is located right on the shores of Lake Michigan.  It has two loops of campsites, and we chose to stay in the loop closest to Lake Michigan.  The 5-6 sites closest to the entrance along Lake Michigan have views of the water, and the remaining sites have a small dune between them and the Lake.  The dune is not too tall to climb, and has several established trails to the water.  The top of the dune has a few benches spaced out from one another, which would provide an excellent place to sit and watch a summer sunset.  The sites with Lake Michigan views also have the general beach access parking lot between them and the water.  Being mid-April (although unseasonably warm), there were not many people coming to ...

The camping season begins today!  Our camper emerged from its winter storage location today! We choose to store our camper indoors for the winter.  It's not cheap, but it is worth the investment to not have any snow or ice pile up on the roof and to not have to worry about the effects of water freezing and thawing on the camper all winter.  We use DC Storage  and are very happy with the service they provide.  Our camper gets winterized before heading to storage (even though it is indoors, we opted for unheated storage) and then cleaned out in the spring.  Drop-off and pick-up are very easy (I just have to give DC an email heads up a couple weeks in advance), and the facilities at DC Storage are kept clean and free from rodents and bugs.  Plus, the monthly payment is automatically drawn on our credit card, so there's no forgetting to pay the storage fees.  I highly recommend DC Storage for your camper's winter home! This weekend, I'll work ...

Welcome to Around Our Campfire!  We spend lots of time during the spring, summer and fall camping, and we love to share our stories and experiences.  We figured a blog would be a great way to journal our experiences and share them with all of you.  We hope you'll follow along with our camping adventures.  You might be following along just to see our latest destination, to learn more about us, or to get pointers and suggestions for your own camping adventures.  Regardless of why you're here, we're glad that you're along for the ride! Who are we?  We're a family of 3 humans and one spoiled Basset Hound from Michigan.  We spend several weekends each summer camping in various locations (almost all in Michigan).  We're no camping experts, just the casual weekend campers who like to relax with the conveniences of an RV. We're still relatively new to the RV experience as a family.  One of us grew up camping often with family in a Class C motorho...