This wide-open water is one of the reasons we brought the ocean kayaks—they move quickly so you can paddle from a ho-hum spot where you’ve put in to a more spectacular spot like one of the many islands around here. Tracy had in mind us kayaking out several miles to the famous Apostle Islands, but […]
Month: July 2020
What I Love about this Campsite, Part 2
(Part 1 is here.) Cool Campground When there’s wind, the lake is pushed against the shore right behind the trailer so that it sounds like the ocean. That breeze is cool and keeps the insects away. Banjo loves it. Hiking trails leave right from the campground, and there are more just a short drive […]
Tragedy Narrowly Averted
That’s how Bobby Weir introduces a song during a Grateful Dead concert in 1980 that I’ve listened to a million times. He says, “From a long line of tragedy songs, here’s a song about tragedy narrowly averted.” The band launches directly into an old standard about a monkey who’s so confident from years of sitting […]
Seasonal Campground
I saw this practice of people parking their camper in one spot all summer back in Virginia at Small Country Campground, but only now it is sinking in as a very cool idea. Most of the campers along this section of the bay into Lake Superior park their campers here in the spring and leave […]
Premium @ Superior
Please excuse the mess on the table in the photo above, but I just love the view from inside the Airstream at this “premium” camping spot—directly on Vandeventer Bay, the west end of Lake Superior. This campground doesn’t have the woods, the privacy, or the direct lake access for the kayaks (I think) that we […]
Key Is Entering the Water Lilies Slowly
I finally found my groove in my new kayak (and with myself), at least for this lake. I slowed all the way to a meander as Tracy paddled away at his own rate. As long as I’m not trying to keep up or catch up, I seem to be okay. It’s the fast paddling that […]
Five Days by Black Lake
If you’ve been following along with me, you may remember my huge relief at spending five days in Savage River State Forest in Maryland, where we had no electricity and no cell service for a glorious five days. That was extra peaceful and quiet because we’d been camped at Small Country in Virginia for two […]
Great Campsite, Too Little Time
We had only three days at Perrot State Park in Wisconsin, right across the Mississippi from Michigan, near La Crosse. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s increasingly relevant: more people than ever are in RVs camping. Other full-timers tell us they never had to bother with campground reservations until this year, and now they’re having […]
Old Friends, Primo Beer, New Toys
YAY! Seeing Tracy’s best friend, Dave, was our central goal for coming to the Midwest this summer, and with the virus we thought we might have to sacrifice the visit. It took a severe thunderstorm to get us stuck at the brewery where he and his wife were working for the day, but thank you […]
What I Miss the Most
When I first started dreaming of life on the road, I was at the tail-end of about 30 years of being responsible for family members in various settings, from hospitals and nursing homes to my kitchen table early each cold morning before school. The idea of literally driving away from it all pleased me to […]
