As I’ve been here in Northern Michigan helping my sister out, I went through a lot of her firewood. I forged more from a trail nearby but in the process burned out the motor in my little 6″ chainsaw. As this was such a handy tool, I opted for another one. Only I upgraded to a 21volt, 880W motor, 2 batteries, a case and an additional 8″ blade & chain. It of course came with safety glasses, some gloves, oil bottle, screwdriver and a small brush to clean up the chain. Watch out wood, I’m ready to be a lumberjack! Lol!!

And of course we had to have a fire!

My sister Mary blessed Beth and I with a visit from Georgia. We had a great time swimming in Lake Michigan, eating out as well as cooking meals together. Fires in the evenings talking about anything and everything.

And Pearl received an upgrade to her dashboard radio. I am now able to see my back up camera on a little bigger screen as well as access my phone apps on it. My back up screen has been dark for about a year, so I’m happy to have it back.

So I got a steal of a deal on a donation for a tandem sky diving trip in beautiful Charlevoix Michigan.  My donation to the Veterans Committee of the Elks organization in Charlevoix of $75 won the auction bid. What a fantastic way to close out my stay here with sisters. Sunny skies, light winds and Robert was a 10 year seasoned pro making sure I landed safely.  Skydive Charlevoix was professional and extremely generous to donate the jump which sells for $300. I highly recommend checking their website for locations and I believe they post recent dives on Instagram.

It’s always fun to get a small taste of home ownership. Beth continues to improve her home and is happy for any help she can get. Lol! We work well together and the front garden and new banister are completed. And of course after all the work, we did play some.

Just a few pictures from my travels here in Michigan. Had fun visiting my cousin, unfortunatelymy cousinDee had a unexpectedtrip to meet her new grand baby.  Then a quick trip to see my brother and sister in law and got some fresh veggies from their garden. Then flags at both my Mom and Dad’s grave were changed. Oh, and Beth found this book for me! LOL!

I’ve stayed here before in the fall but I was lucky to find a lot of openings during this busy time. Site 56 was great, very huge and no neighbors on one side. Pearl blocked the neighbors on the other side. Actually all the sites here were huge and very well marked off. The beach was beautiful! The trail system even better. The humidity could have been a Lot lower. I was melting when I finished the Lagoon and Marsh trails but it was worth the effort.

I’ve stayed here before and wanted to come back in order to go on a shipwreck adventure. There’s a few options to see some of these wrecks. Glass bottom boat, kayak, dive, maybe snorkeling as some are pretty shallow. I opted for the kayak tour. There were 6 of us and 2 guides. 5 in the family, that left me to be adopted. The weather was perfect,  water on Lake Huron smooth as glass. It was about a 45 minute boat ride out, then 2 hours paddling,  then back to  Alpena where the adventure began. I may go back again and do the glass bottom boat tour but I enjoyed my time on the water.

After some discussion,  Beth agreed to go camping with me. She had her own tent, cot, mattress pad and a bed for Miss Annie.  Fisherman island was the first place I ever camped at. Then it was a county park called  Bells Bay. There’s been a lot of memories made here and I’m happy this trip included Beth and Annie.

Adding the campground map for you.