We decided to “pump the brakes” a little on long distance travel as we suffered fuel pump sticker shock traveling to Michigan in May. We reconsidered our summer and fall travel plans for now, and are thankful we did a big western U.S. trip last fall. We will see what the rest of the year brings.

We left Florida on April 15th and made stops in North Carolina and Maryland to see family. We experienced Spring in several locations as we moved north.

In North Carolina our timing was good for strawberry season and it was a very good season indeed. Fun picking with Cheryl, Darren, Ellie and Norah and oh so good to eat! We enjoyed our stay at Jordan Lake State Park and having Ellie spend the night with us in the RV for the first time.

Moving on to Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park Maryland for a visit with Beth, Kevin and Gemma.

Warm enough for swimming and the splash pad, as well as a day trip to nearby Great Falls National Park. Lots of play time with Gemma, and a campfire with S’mores.

Returning to Michigan on May 5th we had lots of activities to keep us busy thanks to granddaughters Megan and Anna. All great things, including Megan’s Confirmation at church, dance recital and band concert.

We helped prepare for Anna’s high school graduation party, took her out to lunch on her last day of school, attended senior awards night, and of course the graduation ceremony.

The whole family was in town to celebrate her graduation. Appreciated having so many family and friends come to the graduation open house.

The following week we flew to North Carolina for Darren’s 40th birthday celebration and attended Ellie’s first dance recital. Lots of fun family time there too, and we were able to fit in a Doobie Brothers concert over the weekend in Raleigh.

Meanwhile diesel price still going up……….

We settled in at Indian Creek Campground near Tecumseh for most of the remaining summer. A Tiger baseball game on Fathers Day, some beautiful country sunsets, and campfires with friends Steve & Marie.

A trip to northern Michigan was a nice break and we visited with my brother Milt and wife Linda and friends Jerry and Connie.

We met up with Jim’s brother Ken and wife Violet for a camping trip to Brimley State Park located in the upper peninsula on Lake Superior.

A little cool in the U.P., but we took advantage of a couple of nice days to visit Sault St Marie and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We watched a couple 1000 foot freighters go through the Soo Locks as well a great lakes cruise ship.

Tahquamenon Falls is always worth a stop and we enjoyed a really nice day there seeing both the lower and upper falls.

On our way back south we stopped at Hartwick Pines near Grayling for a couple of nights. Very nice State Park campground, but no cell service in the park. Hartwick Pines is a special place for me since it was one of my Mother’s favorites.

When she passed away in 1985 our family made a donation to the park and an antique engine was purchased. It is part of the park’s logging museum exhibit . We found the engine with the memorial plague still in tact.

Starting to see a slow decrease in diesel prices as we approach the end of July. Our plan is to stay in Michigan until after Labor Day and then head south via an east coast route.

Planned stops include Letchworth State Park https://parks.ny.gov/parks/letchworth in western New York, Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC and St. Augustine, FL. Then it is back to our spot at Siesta Bay near Ft. Myers Beach for the winter.

A couple of side notes: As of the end of June I terminated my employment with the company I have been working remotely for the past 4 years. However, I am maintaining my own small tax and accounting business. It will be enough to keep me busy part time, especially during tax season.

And we are approaching our RVing 5th year anniversary at the end of August. That doesn’t seem possible. I’ll be summarizing the year soon and can absolutely say we have no plans to stop.

(click on pictures below to enlarge)