July 11, 2008 by Tim Enright.

This weekend we are at Petit Park in Clare, Michigan. I adjusted the trailer brakes this week and used this as an excuse to check them out. You see we had to go camping in order to properly test out the brakes. We enjoy coming to this park anyway.

We had just returned from spending a week at Clear Lake State Park up north.  I cleaned out my entire closet in the RV, something that I never do. I always leave a few items in here that I never wear around the house. Well, as you can guess where this is leading, I neglected to put anything back in the RV for this trip. To make matters worse it was an extremely humid evening outside when we arrived at the park to setup camp. I found the clothing that I was wearing had become drenched from just setting up the RV.

With a little laundry soap that we keep on hand, my wife was kind enough to hand wash my clothing. With a small fan and a hair blow-dryer, I was back in business.

A little ingenuity can be a camper’s lifesaver.

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June 26, 2008 by Tim Enright.

It is time again for our 3rd annual 4th of July camping trip. Like the last 2 years we met several of our friends and family at the Clear Lake State Park near Atlanta, Michigan. This year we occupied 6 campsites in all.

On the 4th we all came together for our traditional potluck picnic. We counted 24 people for the picnic this year. We were even joined by several non-RVers. We enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, meatballs, salads, beans, kabobs, pies and more. It makes me hungry just thinking of all the food. We then played ladder ball and bocce ball. Later in the evening we sat around the campfire and ate Smores. It was a great time.

This year the park introduced a host camper. Not sure exactly what he was responsible for (and either was the park worker I asked) but I think he had something to do with the bike parade. My nephew even won 1st place for his patriotic bicycle decorations. I think the fact that he was also one of the few riders wearing protective gear may have helped persuade the judges as well.

My brother-in-law talked me into heading into Atlanta to do a bit of canoeing down the Thunder Bay River. Six of us went, including my niece and her girlfriend. I believe the two of them had a little more fun than the rest of us. I have never seen a canoe go down the river sideways before.

While I was off floating down the river, my wife found some Alpena strawberries and made jam. Alpena berries are some of the best in the state. I sure am glad she found them and took the time to make the jam.

In the evening, we took a ride out into the state forest area to look for elk. Along the way we stopped at what we loving refer to as “Enright Rock”. This was a good opportunity to take a couple of quick snapshots.

I asked this young man how he would rate the time he had at the picnic this year.

He gave it his best highest rating!

He said it was simply PHENOMENAL!

This was another good 4th of July. I can’t wait for it to come around again next year.

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June 5, 2008 by Tim Enright.

We have been back in Michigan for 3 days now following our 2 ½ week road trip. It’s time to go camping again.

This time we decided to go a little closer to home. We ended up at the Outdoor Adventures Saginaw Bay Resort.  The weather was not very nice. We had to put up our awning a couple of times. One time it was up for only 5 minutes when we were warned of 60 mile an hour winds coming our way.

This year the park is stressing a 5 mph speed limit. This apparently only applies to members and NOT employees. The staff zips around so fast that I swear there must be a pit stop set up on one of the camp sites. The speed limit is a good idea and it is good for EVERYBODY.

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May 31, 2008 by Tim Enright.

At 8PM we pulled over on the side of the road to watch our beloved Detroit Red Wings win against Pittsburgh in game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

We then proceeded to the next rest area, Angola Travel Plaza, I-90 - NYS Thruway, Milepost 447. We spent the night here between two semi trucks, one of which was running all night long. Not the best night’s sleep, need I say more?   

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May 30, 2008 by Tim Enright.

We called Onidea Shores Park located just outside of Syracuse New York to make our reservations for the weekend. We were told none would be necessary and to just come on in anytime.

Upon arriving, we found no one around to greet us. In fact we could not find anyone at all. After quite some time we ran into someone who told us where to find the office. We went to the office only to be told that we had arrived too early and they did not have time for us right then. We were told to come back later. So we did as we were told and left, very confused might I add.

We didn’t spend a lot of time at this place due to the fact we had a wedding to attend in town. The park did have water and electric. It was on a nice beach. I figure it must get pretty busy in the summer months.

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May 28, 2008 by Tim Enright.

First thing this morning we headed to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory.

We then headed to the Trapp Family Lodge where the people from the Sound of Music lived.

After that we stopped at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company to watch bears being born.

Finally after a full day, we arrived at Adirondack Adventure Resort, Schroon River. This park is part of Coast-To-Coast and a sister park of Outdoor Adventures in Michigan. We found it to be a lot like the Outdoor Adventure Resorts but not as well maintained. With a little bit of work and money it could be every bit as good.   

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May 27, 2008 by Tim Enright.

Located in the heart of downtown Burlington, Vermont is a campground called North Beach. I found it very strange pulling our 5^th wheel through the busy city streets and even started thinking that I could be getting into a driving situation that I may regret. But when I reached the campground, I found it to be like any other, just a little unusual to get to.

The campground is located on the shores of Lake Champlain. It offered large full hookup sites. There are 137 sites in total. They also provide security at night until 2AM.

We called ahead several times to make a reservation yet no one picked up our calls. When we arrived, we were surprised to find someone working in the office and were puzzled to why our calls went unanswered. We were informed that sewer adapters (sewer donuts) were required on all sewer connections. I do not know how they plan on enforcing this rule when the pipe at the site we were given had no threads and was sunk below ground level making it imposable to use our adapter. I love it when you are given rules that you cannot possibly abide by.

That evening we went to Bove’s for dinner. We had seen an episode on the Food Network featuring Bove’s famous lasagna so we had to give it a try. We arrived only to find it is only served on Wednesdays and this was Tuesday. Just our luck. I really wanted to compare it to the lasagna my wife puts together. I am sure it would pale in comparison. But I guess we will never know.

UPDATE: The following is taken from Bove’s Blog dated June 11^th, 2008

(Just 2 weeks after we were at there for dinner and missed out on the lasagna)

Lasagna Lovers Rejoice–Bove’s Lasagna Available All Summer!

Since the Food Network has aired the special about our famous lasagna, we have been inundated with requests for it. As you know, Wednesday nights have always been “Bove’s Lasagna nights.” That’s about to change . . .

In order to cater to our “traveling fans,” I am making lasagna everyday throughout the summer. Please continue sending me emails telling me that you are coming so I can meet all of you, hear your comments about the show, and hear your thoughts on my lasagna. I want to make sure that you have your lasagna reserved.

People have been traveling from all over the country, and even the world, to taste my lasagna. My family and I are amazed. We’ve hosted people from California, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Canada, and even Tanzania (that one was hard to believe).

I can’t wait to see all of you this summer

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May 25, 2008 by Tim Enright.

On the trip from Bar Harbor to our next destination, Baxter State Park, we decided to head up to Eastport, Maine. Eastport is the furthest city east in the United States.  More impressive than Eastport was a small restaurant called Helen’s. This is the place where you will find Helen’s pies. These are the BEST homemade blueberry pies in America. They are made with small juicy wild Maine blueberries. The slogan at Helen’s is “Pies you will remember for the rest of your life” and we will vouch for that.

That evening we arrived at Hidden Springs Campground in Millinocket, Maine, near Baxter State Park. The people at the office were awaiting our arrival. We checked into our site and were given more than enough information to aid in our adventure to seek and photograph a real live Maine moose. The next two days we spent exploring the north Maine woods. Along with the moose we saw a black bear, a bald eagle, deer and of course a ton of black flies.

We encountered a woman from the area who was nicknamed the “Moose Whisperer”. Her name was Vicki Nolan. She is a local guide who was very knowledgeable about all things to do with moose. She said that she spends a lot of time with the moose. We learned quite a bit about them from her.

Hidden Springs Campground is a nice campground. It has plenty of shade trees, a pool, shower and bath house. The sites are water and electric. We found it to be a nice place to stay while exploring the state park.

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May 22, 2008 by Tim Enright.

We arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine on Thursday only to discover that the place we had chosen to stay at was not open yet. The Bar Harbor Campground was to open on Friday. We saw a couple of employees working on the sign at the road. I ran over to talk to them and they were kind enough to allow us to come in a day early.

Bar Harbor Campground is run on a first come, first choice basis. Because we were allowed into the park early, we got our choice of spots. We backed into a spot directly on the ocean that had full hookups. It was very nice.

The park offers both full hookup and water/electric only sites. It has both wooded and an open areas in the park. There is also an area designated for tents on the ocean. It has a heated pool, laundry, showers and bath houses. They advertise Wi-Fi, but it only works at the entrance to the park where the office is located. This is a huge inconvenience.

As soon as we unhooked from the 5^th-wheel we headed for Acadia National Park. This park encompasses most of Mt. Desert Island. It has miles of carriage roads and hiking trails. It also is the home of Mt. Cadillac, which is the largest mountain on the east coast. You can drive to the summit of this mountain and see a breathtaking view of the entire area.

One of my personal favorites of the entire trip was spent climbing the trail to bubble rock. This is a rock perched on the edge of a mountain which looks as if it could fall at any time. The trail leading to bubble rock has a semi gradual incline and is heavily wooded. You do not realize how high up you are until the trees clear when you reach the summit. I made this climb with my wife. I am not fond of heights and was very proud of my accomplishment.

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May 21, 2008 by Tim Enright.

Upon entering Maine our first stop was at the Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster Company. This place is famous for its spectacular lobster roll. If you don’t know where this place is it can been a hard place to find. You can forget about getting there with a trailer. We had to park on the side of the street about a half mile away on a very steep hill. And wouldn’t you know it, when we got there we forgot the camera and I had to hike back to get it.

Next on the trip and also in the town of Freeport was L. L. Bean. We spent quite some time shopping there. This place was enormous and had everything.

We finally arrived at our destination for the night, Camdin Hills State Park. This park is located at the base of Mt. Battie which offers a view of Camden, Penobscot Bay, and the surrounding islands.

The park is one of the few in Maine that offers electric as well as water. On the downside the sites are extremely unlevel. They are some of the worst we have ever experienced. It can also be difficult to maneuver around the many trees in the park. The park also offers WiFi, but they did not know how to get it to work. The Wi-Fi will work on a trial basis for about 30 minutes and then password they provide will not work.

On top of everything else this was a very bad day for the notorious Maine black flies. You could only setup camp with one arm. You needed the other one to constantly swat at flies. Anyone was has experienced this knows that this is no exaggeration. This was not one of our better stays.

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