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Monday, June 11, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Top 10 Tacky Tourist Traps
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| Devil's Tower |
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Top 10 Historical Sites
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| Alcatraz Island inmates |
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Top 10 National Parks
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| Big Horn Sheep at Yellowstone |
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Expert Junior Rangers
Our four youngest boys have completed about a ton of junior ranger programs, over 50 actually, on our big family adventure. While we did not participate in Awana or Boy Scouts during this season of our lives, this system the National Park and some state parks have served as a great learning enhancer. They also encouraged lots of hands on activities and physical activities like picking up trash and taking hikes, interviewing rangers and spotting wildlife. As a body of work, doing fifty plus junior ranger programs is a feat accomplished that makes us quite proud of our boys. Blake learned a lot too, helping his younger brothers do the programs (he did about six or seven himself!).As a matter of fact Patsy and I learned quite a bit and our knowledge of our country has broadened quite a bit since walking with our sons through these cool programs!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Chase turns six!
We had a cool Avengers cake (he has seen the cartoon, but not the movie). Chase opened presents and we ordered some Chicago style pizza! He said it was all awesome and we had a great time with some of our family. This was our first time seeing our newest family member as well - little Lily who was born just over a month ago!
Baby Lily
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Campground Review - Cassidy RV Park
We had a quick stop over at Cassidy RV Park in Laporte, Indiana.
Natural surroundings - 7 - Nice little pond sits in the center of the park. Interstate runs right by it.
Facility usefulness - 1 - Not a lot to offer here.
Staff - 7 - Staff takes care of hotel, they were nice, did not see anyone around during the day.
Natural surroundings - 7 - Nice little pond sits in the center of the park. Interstate runs right by it.
Roominess - 8 - Normal sized lots.
Facility Fun - 5 - Pond is nice to walk around, not much else to do.
Facility usefulness - 1 - Not a lot to offer here.
Bathrooms - 2 - Just an outhouse.
Cleanliness - 8 - Clean and well taken care of.
Nearby attractions - 6 - Close to Michigan City and Benton Harbor.
Value - 9 - Paid $18 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups. Used Passport America.
Nearby attractions - 6 - Close to Michigan City and Benton Harbor.
Value - 9 - Paid $18 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups. Used Passport America.
Overall - 6 - Clean park, and the right price with PA discount, but basically just a traveler's park.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Fixing Howard
Throughout our trip we have fixed several things on Howard ourselves, and we have had a few repair jobs done by the dealer or a service contractor as well. I am surprised by how many things we have been able to tackle by using some common sense and researching the internet!
We originally purchased Howard from Terry Town in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We took him back there last fall before our standard one year warranty was up and they fixed a few things for us. We did purchase the extended warranty on the major items when we purchased the motorhome, and a couple of those things had some issues so we stopped in again to the dealer on our way out of Cadillac.
I can say we are not sure if the extended warranty was such a great idea since mostly they either did not have time to fix something (our stove), an item was covered but not that particular part (one of the slide-outs) or the part needed to be mailed to the manufacturer (the control for the jacks). So the jury is still out. Supposedly we can take it to any dealer who will work with our warranty company. We did contact Big Foot about our control box for the jacks which is having issues and they gave us the address to mail it to them, so we are hopeful this will be fixed! And we got our slide out fixed, but it cost us about $60.
Being in Grand Rapids for the day without our home always puts us a little out of sorts. We did get to have lunch with a friend who I used to work with in Roanoke, Jon Allen. He and his family now reside in the Grand Rapids area, so we had a nice time catching up and sharing all of our adventures with him.
We stayed the Woodchip Campground in nearby Byron Center, Michigan after we picked Howard back up.
Natural surroundings - 7 - Nice and quiet neighborhood.
Facility usefulness - 9 - Laundry, dog run, propane, picnic table, fire ring and grill at each site, free wifi.
We originally purchased Howard from Terry Town in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We took him back there last fall before our standard one year warranty was up and they fixed a few things for us. We did purchase the extended warranty on the major items when we purchased the motorhome, and a couple of those things had some issues so we stopped in again to the dealer on our way out of Cadillac.
I can say we are not sure if the extended warranty was such a great idea since mostly they either did not have time to fix something (our stove), an item was covered but not that particular part (one of the slide-outs) or the part needed to be mailed to the manufacturer (the control for the jacks). So the jury is still out. Supposedly we can take it to any dealer who will work with our warranty company. We did contact Big Foot about our control box for the jacks which is having issues and they gave us the address to mail it to them, so we are hopeful this will be fixed! And we got our slide out fixed, but it cost us about $60.
Being in Grand Rapids for the day without our home always puts us a little out of sorts. We did get to have lunch with a friend who I used to work with in Roanoke, Jon Allen. He and his family now reside in the Grand Rapids area, so we had a nice time catching up and sharing all of our adventures with him.
We stayed the Woodchip Campground in nearby Byron Center, Michigan after we picked Howard back up.
Staff - 8 - Staff was nice enough.
Natural surroundings - 7 - Nice and quiet neighborhood.
Roominess - 8 - Normal sized lots.
Facility Fun - 7 - Playground, outdoor pool (not open until Memorial Day),
Facility usefulness - 9 - Laundry, dog run, propane, picnic table, fire ring and grill at each site, free wifi.
Bathrooms - 8 - Nothing to complain about here.
Cleanliness - 8 - Nice and tidy.
Nearby attractions - 7 - Close to Grand Rapids.
Value - 9 - Paid $18 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups. Used Passport America.
Nearby attractions - 7 - Close to Grand Rapids.
Value - 9 - Paid $18 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups. Used Passport America.
Overall - 8 - Clean park, and the right price with PA discount.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Out with a Bang
We are so sorry, but this post has been removed because it is a part of our book Napkin Dreams that details our trip around America!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Campground Review - Valley Plaza Resort
We stayed for three nights at the Valley Plaza Resort RV Park in Midland, Michigan and enjoyed the indoor pool all three days!
Natural surroundings - 7 - Mature trees and not in the city. Still close to highway.
Facility usefulness - 7 - Picnic table, fire ring and grill at each site, free wifi.
Staff - 7 - Staff was courteous but not super so.
Natural surroundings - 7 - Mature trees and not in the city. Still close to highway.
Roominess - 8 - Normal sized lots.
Facility Fun - 10 - Playground, indoor pool, horseshoes, small lake with beach, basketball court, restaurants, movie theater and bowling alley on site, hot tub, sauna and tanning beds.
Facility usefulness - 7 - Picnic table, fire ring and grill at each site, free wifi.
Bathrooms - 9 - Showers were great, part of locker room area for pool.
Cleanliness - 9 - Very clean.
Nearby attractions - 9 - Right in Midland, close to Saginaw, and Bay City.
Value - 7 - Paid $38 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups.
Nearby attractions - 9 - Right in Midland, close to Saginaw, and Bay City.
Value - 7 - Paid $38 a night for a pull-through site with full hook-ups.
Overall - 8 - Fun park and very clean and well-kept.
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