Welcome!

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 motorhome primarily in and around West Michigan.  The other mostly camped with family in a tent a few times each year.  When we got married, we started taking one or two tent camping trips per year.  Then, in 2012, we purchased a 1975 Apache Ramada hard-sided pop-up camper which had been refurbished on the inside.  Check it out here:




From 2012 through 2014, we got hooked on camping in the Apache!  We took several trips each year and developed a love for having a "mobile cabin" that allowed us to see several parts of the great State of Michigan.  We also enjoyed all of the people we met who reminisced about the Apache camper they had or used as a child.  It was a great experience having a retro camper, and it was just perfect for two plus a dog! 

In 2014, our family grew with the addition of our daughter!  Having an infant makes camping a bit of a challenge, but we did still manage to take a few camping trips that summer.  What we realized in the process, however, was that we were going to need more space to camp comfortably, and we should look for something that didn't require quite as much set-up at the campsite.  So, during the latter part of the 2014 camping season, we began to discuss buying a bigger RV.

We hemmed and hawed about what to purchase.  We ended up deciding on a travel trailer for several reasons.  We ruled out a motorhome relatively quickly because of both the cost of purchase and the fact that we like to leave the campsite and explore the surrounding areas when we camp, so we didn't want to have to unhook and pack up each time we wanted to get out.  At the time, we did not have a truck and didn't want to purchase one right away, so we ruled out buying a fifth wheel.  We decided that a travel trailer would be ideal for us, and began looking.

We attended the 2015 Grand Rapids Camper, RV & Travel Show to begin shopping for our new travel trailer.  We looked at lots of options and features while we were there.  Ultimately, we decided that we really liked the features, quality and reputation of the Jayco brand.  We found a model that perfectly fit our needs, and began researching where to buy.  Luckily, one of our local dealers, All Season's RV Supercenter, is a Jayco dealer.  We made an appointment, and checked out the model we had been researching.  While we were there, we also checked out a slightly bigger model with a few additional features - most importantly a slide-out couch!  We ended up deciding to purchase the larger model, which was a Jayco Jay Flight 28BHS.  We picked up our camper in April of 2015.  At the time, we towed it with a 2007 Jeep Commander, and the photo below was taken on our way home:


The Jayco 28BHS has turned out to be a wonderful purchase!  In 2015, we took several camping trips as a family.  Among other places, we visited:
  • Muskegon State Park's Channel Campground in Muskegon, Michigan
  • Sleepy Hollow State Park in Laingsburg, Michigan
  • Bay City State Recreation Area in Bay City, Michigan
  • Cheboygan State Park in Cheboygan, Michigan
  • Fort Custer State Recreation Area in Augusta, Michigan 
  • Muskegon State Park Lake Michigan Campground in Muskegon, Michigan
Before the 2016 season, we decided to upgrade our tow vehicle.  The Jeep towed the camper well, but the camper was right near (or maybe over) the limit of what the Jeep could tow in terms of weight and the wheelbase of the Jeep was quite short in comparison to the combined length of the Jeep and trailer (which made for some very interesting trips in the wind).  We ended up purchasing a 2011 Ford F-150, which tows the camper great and gives us a lot more cargo room for camping gear.


The 2016 camping season was one of our busiest!  We made return trips to Muskegon State Park's Channel Campground, Sleepy Hollow State Park and Muskegon State Park's Lake Michigan Campground.  We also camped at:
  • Traverse City State Park in Traverse City, Michigan
  • Holland State Park in Holland, Michigan
  • Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee, Michigan
  • Burt Lake State Park in Indian River, Michigan
  • Muskellonge Lake State Park in Newberry, Michigan
  • Indian Lake State Park in Manistique, Michigan
  • Straits State Park in St. Ignace, Michigan
We have a week-long trip to upstate New York planned for 2017, as well as several long weekend trips around Michigan.  Stay tuned and thanks for checking out our blog!

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