Welcome to our blog. I started writing posts and publishing to this blog as we departed on our maiden voyage in our (new to us) Airstream motor home.
As we traveled west and subsequently back east during the month of April 2016, I tried to take lots of pictures and post almost daily. The only time it may have been a few days between posts was due to the inability to get free and reliable internet WiFi connection.
All the posts in this blog are in chronological order with the most recent being at the top of the list. With the exception of THIS post. This post is called a “sticky” post because it stays at the top of the list all the time as a welcome and to explain some things.
So, whenever you come here, you’ll always see THIS Welcome post first, but then the next post will be the most recent that was written.
When you see GREEN text, that is a LINK. If you click on that link, you’ll be taken to another page (in a new window) to tell you a little more about what I was referencing in the post.
You can always click on any of the pictures to open them up in a larger viewer to see them more clearly
You can scroll down (and look at the left side) to see an area where you can “follow” our blog. Then you won’t have to keep coming back to see if there’s anything new, instead you’ll get an email when there’s something new posted.
We’d love it if you add your comments at the bottom of any of the posts. Don’t be afraid, if there’s something you’d like to say, just write it in the box and click on “post comment”.
That’s it for now, we hope you enjoy visiting the blog and catching up on our travels.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
We’re coming to the end of our first year as full-time RV’ers and Kathy and I have taken stock of the decision we made to leave the stix-n-bricks world of home ownership and hit the road as Workampers.
We left our family and friends back in Ohio on Labor Day 2016 and headed west to Arizona for our first Workamping experience. This position was for Sept 15th to March 15th, 2017. I’ve written many posts about our experiences while working in Arizona, you can find them elsewhere on this blog. Here’s a link to a post on our workamping experience there.
We had a great time and made some great new friendships there and we’d like to go back to Arizona again in the near future. If you’re contemplating visiting Arizona, we highly recommend the central portion of the state near cities like Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Sedona, & Jerome.
Central Arizona – Not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter
These spots are far enough north of Phoenix to be a little cooler and less looking like desert, but in the winter you’re far enough south of cities like Flagstaff so the chances of snow are pretty slim.
This video below takes you on a bicycle tour of the park. It’s a beautiful lush green RV park full of towering oak trees, an in-ground heated pool, hot tub, picnic pavilion, laundry room, and club house.
We don’t have to park new arrivals, answer the phone, or take reservations. There is a rental manager for that. Kathy and I are responsible for maintaining the rest rooms, showers, pool, hot tub, club house and laundry areas.
Take the tour and find out a little more.
Although it’s only been a year, we’ve come to realize that we are really enjoying this lifestyle change. We have sold our home in Ohio (to our daughter and son-in-law), and will be registering as Texas residents this winter when we are there for our next (winter) workamping position. Texas is viewed by “those in the know” as one of the 3 best states to domicile in for full-time RV’ers.
We hope to continue this lifestyle as long as our health allows and recommend to anyone considering some sort of lifestyle change to think about hitting the road in an RV and workamping along the way, both to help keep active and contribute to the household budget. We look for employers/positions that ask for about 10-20 hours per week in exchange for a full hook-up site along with water, sewer, electric, cable, wifi, and laundry allowance. We don’t want to work 40 hours+, we’ve been there / done that.
Thanks for reading … don’t be afraid to ask questions …we’d love to hear from you.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
We left Charlevoix the next morning after a comfortable stay at the Maple Leaf Inn and continued north on M-31 toward Petoskey. We had an opportunity to go along Lake Charlevoix on our way to Urgent Care (that’s another story altogether) when we happened along some of the famous “Mushroom Houses” we had heard about. You can read more about these famous homes and the self-taught architect that designed and built these beautiful homes by clicking here.
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Heading out of Charlevoix on M-31 along the south edge of Little Traverse Bay, we arrived in Petoskey (famous for Petoskey Stones) and we happened across their Farmer’s Market. Since we don’t have a lot of room for storage, nor do we have a large refrigerator, the only thing Kathy bought was a bar of hand made soap. Here’s a few pictures from the market, everything was so colorful and attractive!
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Moving on up the road out of Petoskey, some friends of ours here at the park told us about State Route 119 and the “Tunnel of Trees“. It sounded fascinating and we wanted to stay along the lake shore, so off we went due north on SR 119. Video below.
The Tunnel of Trees starts at about Harbor Springs and ends at a small hamlet called Cross Village where we found the famous (and out of the way) “Legs Inn” restaurant. Unfortunately for us, the restaurant doesn’t open until noon and we got there just a little too early, but we did take the opportunity to walk the grounds and check out some of the history of the place. There are beautiful gardens out back with patio seating and the original designer, Stanley Smolak had an eclectic flair and utilized the local Odawa Indians to help him build the Legs Inn. See more about the Legs Inn at this link.
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Beyond Cross Village (on M-119) we worked our way east and north on up to The Headlands International Dark Sky Park, McGulpin Point Lighthouse, stopped for ice cream in Mackinaw City and then on over the bridge. Although the day was clear and sunny in the city, the fog was heavy at the bridge and visibility was poor if not non-existent.
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We ended up the day heading on down I-75, then over to Kalkaska where my folks had lived in their retirement years and are buried at the Garfield Twp Cemetery. Kathy and I drove around the area reminiscing how we used to come up here to see them when the kids were toddlers (they’re now 39 & 40).
All in all it was a great trip. Seeing new sites along with revisiting some places we used to frequent and bringing back pleasant memories. A great way to spend a few days in northern Michigan.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
One of the nice advantages of the workamping lifestyle is that we work (at the RV park) part time in exchange for our site and utilities. “Part Time” is key for two reasons. First, we’ve worked full-time for forty years or so and don’t want to do that any longer … after all, we are “retired” in that we quit working full time, started collecting our Social Security and pensions earlier than most (at a reduced rate) so that we could change our lifestyle and explore this great country of ours.
This week we headed out Thursday morning for a three day trip along the “baby finger” of Michigan bordering Lake Michigan where we enjoyed towns and villages like Manistee, Glen Arbor, Charlevoix, Petoskey, Cross Village, Mackinac City and finally back down through Kalkaska and Cadillac. The map of our three day trip is below.
If you’d like an interactive link to the map so you can zoom and pan on any specific area, here’s the link.
Day 1 – Manistee to Charlevoix
Our first stop was at Manistee. We didn’t walk the town, but we did head to the beach and on the way back through town, we stopped to admire the Ramsdell Theatre. Unfortunately we couldn’t get inside to see, but got a couple of outside pix. I wouldn’t have stopped there, but was curious about the large brick windowless tower poking up out the back of the building. Once we stopped and found that it was a theater, the tower to the rear made sense.
Pigs really DO Fly (at the Ramsdell Theatre sidewalk in front of the box office)Coming attractions at the Ramsdell TheatreRamsdell Theater, Manistee, MI – On the National Register of Historic PlacesThe Ramsdell streetside .. Note the high tower at the rear where they pull up the curtains and backdropsThe public beach along Lake Michigan at Manistee, MIOur selfie at Manistee Public Beach ParkThis is a decommissioned rail car ferry. It’s hard to see, but it has train tracks inside for the cars to ride onThe stern of the ferry opens wide to allow the train cars to be rolled on to the deckRelaxing along the Lake Michigan shoreline at Orchard Beach State Park just north of ManisteeHistorical marker at Onekema on the east side of Portage LakeThe park at Onekema overlooking Portage Lake
We continued north along M-22, often catching glimpses of the mighty Lake Michigan
Selfie at Inspiration Point (Arcadia Dunes Beach at Arcadia)The Kindness Rocks Project at Arcadia Beach
It was a beautiful drive up M-22 along the lake. Since it was a weekday, very little traffic and almost nobody else on the beaches we stopped to check out.
We continued up M-22 out of Arcadia, through Watervale and Alberta and on into Frankfort where we were able to pull in to the public park at the marina, break out our cooler and have a light lunch of tuna salad on crackers along with some cottage cheese and washed it all down with a few gulps of ice cold lemonade while watching the boats bobbing in the water and the sea gulls dive for their lunch (in the harbor, not at our picnic table!).
Leaving Frankfort, we headed on up through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore across Glen Lake into and out of Glen Arbor and into Leland where we knew from previous visits we would find the historic “Fishtown“. It’s mostly just a tourist trap now with lots of shops filled with collectibles and souvenirs, along with a few cafes but also is an active harbor for pleasure vessels and charter fishing operations as well. You can easily spend a lot of money in Leland.
Years ago we had continued north on M-22 all the way to the Grand Traverse Light adjacent to the Lelanau State Park at the tip of the baby finger. It’s a nice trip up with a wonderful little museum in the lighthouse and I’d recommend this to anyone visiting the area.
Now, I KNEW that Leland was a tourist spot, but we thought maybe we’d get a room there for the night and be able to walk the sidewalks and rub elbows with those further up the economic ladder from us. NOT! We found a motel online and our smartphone said that they had only one room left, so we darted up the street to get there and check in. The nice young lady behind the desk told us the rate was $391 (per night!) and NO, that did NOT include a few rounds of golf!
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Soooooo, we headed out of Leland, through Sutton’s Bay and on to Charlevoix where we hoped to find a room for the night.
We found the Maple Leaf Motel (only 10 rooms) on the south end of town where our host Cindy welcomed us to the last room available, and as promised we found the room to be clean. I asked Cindy where we should have dinner tonight and she recommended the new “Cantina” restaurant located in an alley off the beaten track. She also told us about the 80th annual Venetian Festival going on in downtown this week. We decided that all sounded like a great night so off we went …
The harbor at Charlevoix, getting ready for the band at the Venetian FestivalThe Venetian Festival at CharlevoixDinner menu from the Cantina restaurant where we had dinnerCantina “Street Corn” grilled, rolled in Chipotle Mayo, then rolled in cheese – Yummy!Kathy’s Chicken and Shrimp TacosMy beef and bean burritoMural on Rexall Drugs downtown CharlevoixA man and his dog on the paddle board in the harborA 2 hour cruise out into Lake Michigan on a catamaran
Some shots of folks enjoying the festival food at the harbor and listening to the live band in the amphitheater
This ferry coming in from Beaver Island (watch the video below)
Kathy wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. But she also wanted ME to GO ALONG!
If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know that I’m “skeered of heights”. I can’t even climb up on top of the motor home. I can handle a six foot ladder, but that’s about all.
It might not look it, but I’m shakin’ in my shoesA shot from atop the wheel (Skeered)A street performer downtown Charlevoix during the Venetian Festival
The video below shows a group of kids having a ball on the hill. It would be a really tough climb with a sled in the snow.
We got the last room in town, $85 / nite. Not a lot of fluff, but a clean roomResting back in the room after dinner and the festival downtown
That’s it for now, the next post will be from Charlevoix through Petoskey, Cross Village and the Tunnel of Trees and then up across the bridge (and back) and then down to Kalkaska.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
Today was another special day here at Pere Marquette Oaks RV Park. It’s the Fourth of July holiday weekend and all our regular residents are here along with all the rental lots taken with first-time and return visitors. Many of the guests are relatives of some of our full time residents. Lots of little ones having tons of fun.
The day started out with our 2nd Annual 4th of July Bicycle and Golf Cart Parade. Children started decorating their bikes last night, while Grandmas and Grandpas decorated their golf carts, scooters and such with all kinds of red, white, and blue banners, flags and other regalia. We even had marching music blaring to keep the ranks in file.
We paraded throughout the park while throngs of on-lookers waved and cheered (and smiled) at the clever decorations. Awards were given for the best entries in each class.
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After the parade, all the participants and spectators gathered around the new flagpole for the dedication of the plaques honoring our Veterans. Both the flagpole and these plaques were donated by Bill VanDeVusse and Lee Presley and we all thank them for their generosity.
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And after the dedication, we all gathered in the pavilion for cookies, cake, punch, and Popsicles. It was a wonderful cap to a great early afternoon. I have to apologize for not getting any pictures of everyone during refreshments in the pavilion … I guess I was to busy stuffing my face with all the delicious goodies to think about picking up the camera, (duh!)
After the refreshments, many of the residents and visitors enjoyed some basking in the sun, playing in the pool, or relaxing in the hot tub.
A special shout out of THANKS goes to Chris for organizing the parade, Marianne and Mike for installing the plaques and the recognition of our Veterans, and finally Jean, Marianne, Sally, and Sue for getting all the goodies donated and the hall set up and serving everyone.
It’s always good when friends come together … can’t wait for the next opportunity!
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
This event is free and open to the public for all to come and see what it’s all about. Kathy and I took a drive over on Friday to see what this was all about. So COOL!
Although I never owned one, when I was younger some of my buddies had RC airplanes or RC boats, but JETS? Really? JETS?
These guys and gals have a club and, like most clubs, I’m sure they meet periodically and share ideas and talk about the art of building these beautiful birds and of course, learning to fly these things at fantastic speeds without crashing.
Although we didn’t talk to any of the participants, no questions asked, still we enjoyed see how beautiful (and fast) these guys are. Some of them are up to about 6 feet long!
I hope you enjoy seeing these pix in the slide show below and check out the video I shot too that shows just how fast these guys shoot across the sky.
Although I’d like to play with these (like to have one of my own), I’m sure the average RC Jet hobbyist has thousands invested (too rich for my blood) and further, we’d have a hard time transporting one of these guys in the motor home.
Enjoy …
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Here’s a video I put together with some samples of the wild flying these guys are doing, I’d love to be in their shoes!
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
This post is late … we’ve been having too much fun here outside and have not been up to date on posting pictures to the blog.
I wanted to share with you how we were all able to honor our Veterans here at the park a few weeks ago on the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Last year, the association bought a new aluminum flagpole and it was installed last fall. This spring flowers were planted at the base of the pole and on Saturday May 27th, we all gathered around, dedicated the new American Flag and honored residents (and visitors) of the park who have served protecting our freedoms.
The Veteran’s names were called out along with their branch of service, their rank and years served. There were about 40 names called off and those who were present stood and were applauded for their service. After the service, the Veterans gathered in the clubhouse for refreshments and a time to talk with others that served.
We are all blessed to have had these men and women risk, and in some cases give their lives to protect our freedoms. This ceremony is just one small way we can give back and let them know their sacrifice has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
Struggling to get rid of that cute but pesky little varmint. Should I use a BB gun? Maybe a live trap? Maybe some rat poison? Should I worry about what is most humane? Watch the short video below.
Let me know your thought on this (below in comments) or if you have any other ideas on how I might get rid of this little fella.
We’d really appreciate it if you would do us the favor of helping us continue to publish this RV / Travel / Workamping blog. Do you purchase any products from Amazon? If you do, it would be great if you’d use the link in the sidebar or one of the links below to get to Amazon … after that you can change your search. By making your Amazon purchases from our site, we will receive from Amazon a small percentage of your purchase and it doesn’t cost you any more. We’d really appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Herb & Kathy
NOTE: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
