travel

Camping Chronicles – Duck Creek RV Resort

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Last week we broke from our normal trip to St. Joe, Michigan and we traveled to Muskegon, Michigan to stay at a campground. We’ve been in St. Joe for over 10 years and it was hard to break tradition, but I also wanted to experience something new and get some more use out of our camper.

Here’s a breakdown of our first week long camping adventure and the longest we’ve traveled. Papaw Brad and Andrew traveled with us for the week as well. Shout out to Mikey for preparing the camper and truck for a longer journey and always making sure we stay safe. I’m the perfect Passenger Princess and I sleep and read. If we didn’t have the small bladders in the back seat we probably could have made the 5 hour stretch with no stops.

We left Friday morning and drove north with a stop in Rochester for lunch. We arrived at the resort at 3 and starting setting up and began dripping in sweat. The boys found the bouncy pillow/trampoline and the Mallard Mart.

Day 2 we explored in Muskegon State Park. What’s interesting about the Michigan state parks we visited is that there was no charge to get in. We quickly noticed a great beach that we would return to for a beach day. Close parking lot, accessibility strip for ease with the wagon, and not crowded at all. We were unable to find any great fishing spots but also noticed the beautiful sand dunes within the park. We also checked out the Winter adventure park but noticed everything was extremely expensive and only the big boys would be able to do anything leaving Wyatt and Brooks out. We didn’t stay long. Maybe this is more of an attracting in the winter?

Day 3 we hit up our resorts water park. I was worried about a few bad reviews for Duck Creek but we really enjoyed camping here. There is SO MUCH for the kids to do. Easton, Andrew, and Wyatt were able to fish on their own and ride bikes safely. There are NO outside guests aloud and every pool/water entrance requires an adult and a passcode to get in. There are so many great water features at Duck Creek. They have an indoor and outdoor pool that are open from 10 am – 9 pm. They also have a waterpark open from 12 pm – 6 pm. The waterpark has a “lazy” river that’s more like a crazy river (not relaxing at all). They have two water slides and then a large water feature perfect for little ones with smaller slides as well. Later in the day we traveled to Grand Haven, Michigan to check out the town. We ate at Lucy’s (pretty good), walked around a bit, but unfortunately most shops were closed because it was a Sunday evening. We wanted to stay long enough for the Grand Haven Musical Fountain but Brooks kind of prevented that…..or my lack of patience for Brooks. Either way you want to look at it. The Musical Fountain doesn’t begin until 10:10 pm so that’s a long wait for a 4 year old who has been at the water park all day.

Day 4 we went to Michigan Adventures which is just across the street from the RV resort. It was a great little amusement park. There were decent rollercoasters and basic rides. It had an amazing waterpark but the day ended with a LOT of stress and money spent. We realized as the water park was closing that our bag of clothes and shoes and some towels was gone. We checked with lost and found and nothing had been turned in so we assumed someone stole it. I panicked at the thought of walking on the hottest pavement ever to the truck far away with no shoes so I went to the nearest shop to grab the most expensive name brand sandals they had to offer. $200 later everyone had shoes, we had no clean clothes, and only a few towels to share. I wanted to cry but resisted the best I could. Before we left I filed a lost/stolen report for our bag. We walked to the truck in silence in our swim suits and brand new sandals. Mike always has the best perspective reminding all of us to not let one bad thing ruin our great day. The boys shed some tears over their stolen shoes. Within an hour we got a call from the amusement park that someone had turned our bag in. Turns out the large family sitting behind us at the waterpark had accidentally grabbed it. The man apologized profusely and said they didn’t even look inside once he realized it wasn’t theirs. It was accidentally stolen and we’d spent $200 for no reason….but at least our things were back! We also had to drive back to Grand Haven because at some point throughout the day Mike realized he’d left his debit card at Lucy’s the night before. We returned to Lucy’s for the card, ate at Blue Porch per a friend’s rec and it was SO GOOD and then we hung around and watched the Musical Fountain which had a Ladies of the 80’s theme. Did I mention that the Saturday before was a Taylor Swift theme? I was the only one interested in going to that. Only female of the group problems…

Day 5 started with laundry at the resort. They have two excellent and clean laundry facilities making it very easy to keep up with clean clothes. Only $5 per load – but maybe that’s normal? Not sure! After I did some loads of laundry we left for Silver Lake, Michigan to take part in the Mac Wood’s Dune Rides. This is a MUST DO for anyone traveling that direction. The tour guide was hilarious and the ride was awesome. All the boys loved it. They mentioned the Sable Point Lighthouse at the end of our drive so we had to drive down to check that out. It cost money to go up but we figured, why not since we’re here. Going up wasn’t the issue. Once I was up I wanted to throw up only imagining Brooks tumbling down. Going down was absolutely awful. I had a full blown panic attack thinking of Brooks tumbling to his death with each step down. To walk down you must look down and all you can see are metal steps with gaps between each step. All I could imagine was the worst case scenario. We stopped to eat in a recommended place – Chicken Shack and YUMMY! These were some of the best wings I’d ever had! Definitely recommend if you are a wing connoisseur. We headed back to the resort for some pool time to end the day and even took Ginger to the small beach at the resort. She absolutely loved the water and we decided we really needed to get her to water more often. The perks of our resort were many but being able to hit the pool whenever we wanted was so nice to cool off in the heat. At this point in the week the camper was a bit of a disaster and being outside was kind of miserable without shade or a fan but we were having fun despite it all. This was the evening the wildfire smoke rolled in from Canada and the sky was so eery.

Day 6 we hit the beach at Lake Michigan via Muskegon State Park. I could sit on the beach all day. The waves, the sun, the relaxation. The beach and a book are my happy place. My boys are the same way and honestly after 6 hours at the beach none of them had even asked to leave but we realized dinner time was approaching so may need to head out.

Day 7 I was determined to spend our day outside and in the water. Unfortunately the Canadian wildfires made it less sunny and a bit cooler. Everyone was sleeping in until 9 or 10 am at his point because of our late nights and long days. The waterpark opened at noon so we were standing at the gate ready for it to open to grab a shade seat. I decided we were out of jelly for some PB&Js so we’d get some concession stand food and it was DELISH, but expensive. We all snacked on some food for lunch. Something that I realized as I laid by the pool was how much I missed my mom….and also Cheryl. It’s a strange feeling watching so many families have a grandma or grandparents to vacation with and just wishing we could do the same. Cheryl would have loved the trip and I would have really loved having a female to hang with. This was our last full day at the resort so the boys tried to do the duck boat (paddle boat) but due to the bad air quality the kid had left early who was working it and they weren’t able. They did do the putt putt and gem mining that the resort also had. Brooks and I had an excellent nap by the waterpark because there is nothing better than shade and water noises for the perfect nap.

Day 7 we headed home, sadly. We stopped in Baroda, Michigan to hit one of our favorite restaurants – The Public House. We visit here every year around Bryce’s birthday when we travel to St. Joe and I was sad we didn’t get to this year. Mike realized it wasn’t out of the way to stop for lunch so that made me a happy girl! Unfortunately they changed the menu a little and got rid of my favorite wine and pizza, but I did find some other delicious food to eat. We made it home by 5:30 and quickly changed over to pig showing for Linny’s Memorial Showdown.

Our campcation was amazing and the boys quickly deemed it as “Best Vacation and Camping Ever.” The freedoms of things to do safely at the resort made it really enjoyable for all of us. I’d definitely go back and highly recommend Duck Creek RV Resort to any of our friends. The only cons were that putt putt, gem mining, and arcade were all extra but honestly that was to be expected. There was also pickleball, basketball courts, dog park, and more to do for free! Be sure to check it out – https://duckcreekrvresort.com/index.html By the way – they do have some cabins available if you don’t have a camper!

Camping Chronicles – Potato Creek State Park

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Last weekend we visited Potato Creek State Park in New Liberty, Indiana. Our goal is to visit every state park in Indiana. We have a ways to go but we’re getting there! We saved Potato Creek for the summer because it’s a 2 1/2 – 3 hour drive and that’s just not enjoyable on a Friday after a week of school. We also wanted to spend 3 nights there because of the distance so we could enjoy 2 full days.

Friday we took our time getting there and made a lunch stop and a Walmart stop for an electric scooter for two of the boys. We saw a horse and buggy hitched up at Walmart and were on our way to North Liberty.

After a quick set up and bikes unloaded and new scooters put together the boys were off to discover a new campground. Wyatt’s bike didn’t have the training wheels on yet and I suggested he just try it without. He’s done so well on his scooter with balance I wondered if he finally had the balance down to pedal. He took off after two assists with total ease. We had Campfire Queso for dinner and smore’s for dessert.

Saturday morning we had omelets and bacon for breakfast, took the dogs for a walk, and then off to hike Trail 3. The boys had been constantly nagging about hitting up the General Store. They always love to spend our money! The campground has a great little general store with all the basics and some fun things too – including a cooler of ice cream treats and candy as well. We located our state park magnet, but unfortunately it’s not like some of the others we have in Easton’s collection.

We came back to eat a snack and take a quick rest before loading back up to hit the beach. The water was nice and the boys enjoyed a couple hours of swimming and playing before dinner. Honestly, it was one of the better state park beaches I’ve seen! There was a path right near our camper from the campground to the beach but dragging Brooks back after swimming for a few hours sounded awful so we decided to drive.

For dinner we had the most delicious steaks from Maxwell Meats, some potatoes, and peppers with cream cheese.

Sunday we got up to hike another trail behind the Nature Center. Potato Creek’s Nature Center is near a great playground. They also have an amazing center. Two huge windows for viewing some of the critters below. An upstairs kid area for extra play. Pelts to feel and animals to see.

After the Nature Center we came back for some lunch. The boys decided to head out fishing and I decided reading and hanging with the dogs was better. Easton came back OVER THE MOON over the 17 inch large mouth bass that he caught! Wyatt was very proud of his little blue gill. Brooks came back to tell me he lost his pole in the water. Luckily we had Papaw Hazard who saved the day and was able to fish Brooks’ pole out with his own pole. Pure luck!

We stayed in sites 252 and 254 and I loved the location and 254 had an excellent amount of shade for the heat. I’d highly recommend this State Park and we will definitely be back!

Spring Break in St. Louis

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By February I always wish we had something planned for Spring Break and we went back and forth on where to take a quick trip and thanks to my Facebook friends I decided on making a plan for a quick trip to St. Louis in between Mike’s travels for work. I am so glad that we did! It was an awesome trip with so much to do and we packed it all in for just a few days.

We left on a Wednesday and our boys were incredible car riders – just needed something to watch the whole way there. We didn’t even have to stop….for them…just for me. We found a delicious place downtown next to Ball Park Village called Salt and Smoke for lunch. I had a yummy brisket sandwich.

Then we headed to the Gateway Arch National Park to see The Arch. I’ve actually never been to St. Louis, but Mike had. I had heard it was difficult to get tickets for the tram to ride up the arch so I bought them ahead of time knowing it was the first thing we could do after arriving and eating lunch before checking in to our hotel. The ride up was worth it – but if you are claustrophobic or scared of heights – then I would NOT go up in the tram. Our boys loved being at the top but then also seeing the Mississippi River down at the bottom and realizing how high up that we truly were. We relaxed and walked around Riverfront Park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Then we ventured to our hotel, Drury Inn Union Station to get checked in and settled in. We quickly learned that they offered free hot breakfast, free hot dinner, free popcorn and pop from 4-8 pm and 3 free drinks at the bar for adults from 5:30-7 each night as well. What?! I was impressed with the hotel and also in love with how old and vintage everything looked. Of course we had to start with a hotel swim because that’s all the boys could talk about – checking out the pool. On the way there I realized I forgot the Puddle Jumper for Brooks and goggles for the boys. Also, I forgot a sippy cup and we had already lost one pacifier for Brooks and I panicked that we’d lose the other and be really screwed. Texted my sister who reminded me of good ole Walmart delivery and ordered it all to be delivered as we arrived at the hotel. We really lucked out on that deal because instead of delivering us one Puddle Jumper they sent 4 and we only paid for one – so who needs a Puddle Jumper? I’ll make you a deal! After swimming and checking out the hotel dinner (meh) it was early to bed for a big day on Thursday.

Thursday we woke up to rain and storms so we decided we better do some indoor activities because the storms could be popping up all day. First, we started with the hotel breakfast which had biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, waffle bar, yogurt, fruit, cereals, and toasts. It was quite the spread and perfect to start our day. Downside – no coffee creamer but thank goodness for Starbucks and DoorDash because mama can’t start her day without coffee.

Then we walked over with umbrellas to Union Station and – WOW! Highly recommend hitting up Union Station when the weather is nice and you’re in St. Louis. We were really excited to come back and see/do those things when it wasn’t raining. We went inside to the St. Louis Aquarium which is attached to Union Station. The boys, especially Brooks, loved all the fish but I probably wouldn’t do it again. I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t in the “top things to do with kids” website lists I had seen and then realized quickly why that was. Not much to the aquarium. If you’ve ever been to Newport Aquarium in Cincinnati then this most definitely doesn’t compare. I’d skip it if it were me! Then we took a ride on The Wheel which was nestled right between our hotel and Union Station.

We took off to find Fitz’s Rootbeer for lunch after a few recommendations. Easton and I are both big rootbeer fans and I loved seeing them bottle the rootbeer in a side room as we ate. They had tons of flavor options and the bottomless mug of rootbeer icy cold was incredible. The food was awesome too. After that we took off back to downtown St. Louis for City Museum. Of course it was top of our list and we’d heard so many great things about this place. We’d also heard that we should prepare to lose our kids and be okay with it. Someone else had recommended flashlights. I put the boys in neon shirts so they’d be easy to spot in a large crowd and that helped a lot. I also saw families witih walkie talkies and that seemed like a great idea for next time. Thank GOODNESS Brooks decided to take a nap because it was definitely not a place for toddlers – more of a place for kids aged 5-12. Amazing place with lots to discover and explore. We told the big boys to stick together and we kept an eye on them as best we could outside of the tunnels and caves they were climbing in. I’ve never seen anything like it and honestly it’s quite hard to explain. It use to be a shoe factory and I’d love to know more on the history of how it became what it is. Unfortunately we went on a day they were trying to set a Guinness World Record so it was extra crowded – another reason I was so glad Brooks was passed out in the stroller.

I’m sure that bigger kids could handle 5-6 hours at the City Museum but our boys were wore out after 3-4 hours so we headed back to the hotel to relax and have some popcorn before dinner. Friends recommended Mamas on The Hill and it was such incredible food I’d definitely go back. I had Pollo Piccata and Mike enjoyed the lobster ravioli. Amazing authentic Italian food. I’d love to visit The Hill area again during the day to walk around.

We started Friday morning with breakfast at the hotel and another DoorDash win from Starbucks. Our goal was to hit up the St. Louis Zoo first but as we left the hotel we realized it was really chilly and cloudy so we changed plans and headed to the Magic House which is their Children Museum. If we lived in St. Louis we would definitely have a membership here. It was very reasonably priced ($14 per kid) but so much to do and explore. I’m sure we didn’t do it all because we had intentions of also hitting the zoo up in the afternoon. This place was amazing for all ages, but especially Brooks. Easton and Wyatt both said this was their favorite place of the trip.

On this day we decided to skip lunch and eat some snacks at the zoo. We arrived to a beautiful entrance. It was in the 60’s that afternoon and not a lot of animals were out due to the chill in the area. The zoo is FREE which is amazing and you only pay $15-20 for parking right outside the entrance. The St. Louis Zoo is nestled inside Forest Park which is a 7 mile park, bigger than Central Park in New York. How cool would it be to walk through the park for an exercise and swing through the zoo each day? What a neat thing for St. Louis natives. We did go ahead and purchase an Adventure Pass because not everything is free at the Zoo. This allowed us to do the train, carousel, the 4D theater, and a few other areas. My favorite was definitely the butterfly pavilion.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped in at Sugarfire Smokehouse in downtown St. Louis for some amazing bbq. I had the twice smoked burnt ends sandwich and Mike enjoyed some St. Louis ribs. Then we had to swim at the hotel pool again because it was still all our kids talked about. Seriously – how is the hotel pool the best part of a vacation where you visit and see so many things? Kids….

After a swim we went over to Union Station for ice cream at the Fountain (yum!) and watched the fire and lights show in Union Station.

Our final morning was Saturday and we checked out of the hotel after packing up. Before hitting the road we hit up one more of St. Louis’ free attractions – the St. Louis Science Center. We watched a really cool show at their planetarium about stars and planets. We saw dinosaurs, played games, and enjoyed lots of hands on science activities. If you love science, this is definitely the place for you. This appealed more to the older boys but there was enough to keep Brooks entertained as well. Then, we hit the road and grabbed a quick lunch outside of St. Louis.

About halfway to home Mike stopped in Casey, Illinois because I had mentioned the “world’s largest” things. We drove through their quaint little town to see some of the world’s largest thing and I’m still wondering – why? Why did someone stop and think – hey let’s add all of the world’s largest things to our town for people to stop and see? Just so random – but neat!

We saw the world’s largest rocking chair, teeter totter, ruler, windchime, golf tee, and more!

And sweet Wyatt on our drive between Casey and Fortville said – “Are we back in America yet?”

I loved the time with my little family and all of us being together the most. Lookin forward to our camping trips this year and our next vacation in July!

Truly a Fortunate Gal