I always have some projects that need to be done while at my sister’s home. We work well together!

I always swing into Charlevoix to see my mom for her birthday! 94 trips around the sun! We had multiple dinners and lunches out and about the area to celebrate!

Back again to catch up with a few more friends. My friend Brandy is the best, letting me park Miss Pearl at her house and helping with a few projects. Also, hosting a get-together for those who could make it over. We also tackled a few projects for her.

I also celebrated a birthday and was able to watch a new game called IN YOUR FACE.

As some of you may know, I’ll be the camp host at Fayette Historic State Park in Garden, MI for the month of July. This is in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I’ve camped here multiple times and love it!

In order to participate in this state park program, I needed to go to a training session. It was enlightening and informative. The main lesson learned was to smile. I think I have that down! Oh, and Saturday morning coffee.  After that, I will visit with other campers, do some activities for kids and adults, have open campfires to share travel stories, and provide information on local events and places to visit. I’m required to be on duty 30 hours a week, they provide my campsite for free and I have $200 available for activities.

Because I’ve never been to this state park before I had to do some exploring. I had no idea this was the site of the tree nursery that provided seedlings to the CCC camps in the 30s. Very cool information on how pine cones were processed for seeds and the number of trees started here. Oh, there’s also a fantastic lake to boat and enjoy here.

I had to have some recall work done on Miss Pearl and opted to stay at this beautiful National Park.

Watson’s in Benzonia is a Ram Pro Master dealer and had me set up with a rental car 1st thing and off I was. Charlevoix 1st for a quick visit with my sister and mom. Work was finished that afternoon and I had a pleasant night at my campsite.

Next day was exploring and hiking to Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the scenic drive was closed so only views from below.

This was a Boondocks welcome stop for me. It is truly great people offer a safe place to stay in this busy area. Old Mission Peninsula is known for multiple Vineyards and Wineries. And a lot of history of both Native American cultures and Shipwrecks.

I started off at the tip of the peninsula at the lighthouse. Walked the beach, stopping in the museum and gift shop and chatting with the volunteers there. As I worked my way south towards my place for the night, I did some sightseeing of historical places and then the rain came in. So wine tasting was put off for the next day.

Sunday morning started off at a lavender farm. Then lunch and sun at the beach followed by a couple stops at wineries to taste test some local wine. I found out quickly to stick with a Pino Gricio.

No deep, dark, rich red wines here in Northern Michigan.

Due to the Memorial day holiday I called on some friends to help me out with a place to stay. Thanks Margie and Al as well as Cheryl for helping me out.

It was a great surprise to run into these friends as well.

This was a quick stop over to break up a long drive and also to check out this state park. I don’t normally hit these southern parks in Michigan because I’m spoiled with northern Michigan state parks. It was nice if not big!! There were some sites that were tucked away and you had a little privacy. My advice,  keep to the outside edge for a more wooded and secluded site. The walk to the beach was easy and the water beautiful.

It was great to stop and visit my Nephew and his wife and their fur babies! I certainly got in my puppy time love here!

This was in the Hoosier national forest in southern Indiana. There are multiple campgrounds in this forest. I was happy to have settled for this one.  There is a historic home on site, 2 lakes, multiple trails and great camp hosts. Well worth to come back to.

OH, I didn’t post the best part of this stop. I sat in on a Fossil talk and won this kit to dig up a Dinosaur!