Cheboygan State Park

On Wednesday the 26th, we pulled up stacks (or wheels), dumped our tanks in a sprinkling rain and aimed our LD (Lazy Daze) for the Straits of Mackinac and the seven mile bridge across it. We had heard about strong winds and possibly difficulties crossing the bridge. We crossed in the morning when there were no winds, and it was a piece of cake. We called ahead to Cheboygan State Park and verified that they had spots. We have found that someone answers the phone in the parks and actually communicates with you. (As opposed to the California. System.) The state park is located on Lake Huron and only 5 miles out of Cheyboygan (with it’s Wal Mart Supercenter) and about 20 miles from Mackinaw City. We drove into Mackinaw City and took a 30 minute ferry ride out to Mackinac Island. The island is very upscale with lovely “cottages”, grand hotels, bed and breakfasts and shopping. The island is unique since no cars are allowed and everyone moves around by bicycle or horse drawn carriage. We used our hooves instead of the horses. We toured the old fort and visited some of the historic buildings. Back at our campsite and some relaxing and reading under the trees.

P. S. (Travels with Pris-Thank you Sharon G-really enjoyed the book)

Here are some notes of observations for our motorhome friends. We haven’t seen a Bank of America north of Colorado.

The state campgrounds have very nice sites, usually large, well spaced, mostly with trees, good hiking trails and many on lakes and rivers. Many of the sites have been reserved, but they save some for first come first served. Also, if the reserved sites are not taken, you can have them. Some of them have full hookups and most have electricity. They all have water available and dumps. We have not had trouble getting sites. The only problem is that they are off the beaten track if you are trying to make time. We have found the book RV Camping in State Parks by D. J. Davin helpful. It includes the locations, phone numbers and facilities in the parks.

We have used Trailer Life RV Parks, Campground and Services Directory to find private RV parks. We like the CD because it shows the location of each park instead of having to look it up by the city. We’ve found it’s important to have a site with trees for shade since this has been a hot summer and have electrical hookups just in case we need A.C.,

About the bugs. As one Lazy Dazer told us, “I never saw a single mosquito---------they were all married and had kids.” We have seen mosquitoes, knats, and biting flies but they vary by location, temperature and humidity. Most of the time we have had a breeze (since we’ve stuck by the water) so we’ve been lucky. Otherwise, deet helps.

We’ve only used deet stray once.

About navigating: We are also using CoPilot GPS to navigate. You can program the trip in and it shows you where you are, where to go, and includes any landmarks or points of interest that you want. It is not infallible, however. It wanted us to go through a dead end street, jump up to an overpass and did not identify a gravel road. It’s helpful to have AAA maps for a backup. The laptop has worked great, as well as the Bluetooth for finding satellites. The Bluetooth has to be fully charged and the laptop doesn’t like to run the navigation system for both Trailer Life and CoPilot at the same time.

About Shopping. Small towns have limited supplies but larger towns are better and Wal Mart Super Centers have everything. Their locations are pin pointed on the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) maps. Gas prices have varied from one town to another, even in the same county.