US Road Trip: Moving Across the Country

It has been interesting moving across the United States. We stayed in Minnesota, passed through Wisconsin, then into Michigan. Green, green, green with woods and lakes everywhere!

In Minnesota we stayed at Leech Lake, an Army Corp of Engineer campground. This particular camp is all run by a group of devoted volunteers who just love this campground. The lake itself is huge, but it had a really nice channel perfect for kayaking leading to the larger lake. This was our only respite from the hungry mosquitoes who found Steve to be a gourmet meal. From there we drove through Wisconsin on our way to Michigan. This was a long nine hour day. It was worth the drive though because we found a true jewel in our camping experience so far, Van Riper State Park.

All the public campgrounds have been beautiful and clean! By far, our favorite so far has been Van Riper State Park. We decided to break our pattern and stay here an extra day! Our site looks out on to an open field that has different playground stations for the kids. There are multiple big old fashioned swing sets and a slide, plus the regular climbing active multiple use playground. I love the swingsets though as they harken back to a bygone era. I should have taken a picture of them but you can see their outline in the beach photo below. The park is named after a well beloved figure, Dr. Paul Van Riper. He practiced medicine from the early 1900s until his retirement at the age of 92. He mainly served mining families. He also was active in local affairs. He helped the township provide for The Children's Swim Beach, later Champion Swim Beach, that eventually became Van Riper State Park, named in his honor. The park is truly a beautiful park, camping included.

Travelling in the 5th wheel has been just fine so far. I've stopped for a few groceries, but our staples are still holding strong. Mainly I haven't been able to pass up farmer's markets!:)

Tomorrow we head into Canada! A totally new adventure!