So this trip was last September. In the past I've made Jeep/camping trips out to Colorado which I've posted those trips here. I wasn't sure that I was going to post this trip, as it wasn't much wheeling but more camping, and the trip really evolved as a test run for future trips out west with my new trailer.
Earlier this year I had a trailer built for my Jeep (the build link is in my signature). I've always read that short wheel base Jeeps are lousy and unsafe for towing, which can certainly be true, so again this was a test run to see how it did in both dirt, two lane roads and on the highway at 70 mph. My observations about towing the trailer are in the build thread, so I'll mostly just mention the trip itself below. I do have to say first that having the trailer is great! My previous two week trips out to Colorado were minimalistic camping due to how little fits in the back of a Jeep! :laugh:
So I planned to camp at several places, see some tourists sites with the wife, and end up on Drummond Island where we rented a cabin. I've wanted to see Drummond for several years now since the Ultimate Adventure and ProjectJK have both been there.
Now about the trip…
We left Indiana and drove north through the cornfields and then traveled along the western side of lower Michigan. And, there is always something you just happen to forget when leaving for a trip! Oh yeah, the cast iron frying pan! Fortunately there was a Cabela's near Grand Rapids that we stopped at.
We then made our way to the campground Lake Michigan at Manistee. This is a very nice federal campground that sits behind a hill along the beach that protects it from wind. Along the top of the hill are some awesome hiking trails through the woods that we used. The sand on the beach was awesome. There were only a few camping trailers and several tents in the campground being that it's off season. The camping spots themselves were very nice, large and well spread out. I'd camp here again. The first night it was very quiet and we heard coyotes at night.
My wife and I always make our traditional mini-pizzas for our first night camping with wine. She makes whole wheat dough that she freezes, and then I cook them in the cast-iron pan with butter on one side, then flip it over like a pancake, top it and cover it. I have to be careful not to burn them as my Coleman grill has two settings: off and high, but it works out well. The pizza and wine were excellent, and the company was even better. Sunsets were also awesome.
One of my recent purchases was an ENO DoubleNest hammock. Wow, talk about comfort! I also included the rain fly tarp, which was nice as we did later run into rain. With a local Michigan brew in hand, I had my best nap in years that afternoon!
One of the cool things about having a trailer was to include a battery box and a power inverter. I have yet to fully realize what that's for, but… Optima Battery + Power Inverter = Charged iPhones in the woods.
While exploring some Jeep trials I also found some camping spots in the national forest for future trips.
Earlier this year I had a trailer built for my Jeep (the build link is in my signature). I've always read that short wheel base Jeeps are lousy and unsafe for towing, which can certainly be true, so again this was a test run to see how it did in both dirt, two lane roads and on the highway at 70 mph. My observations about towing the trailer are in the build thread, so I'll mostly just mention the trip itself below. I do have to say first that having the trailer is great! My previous two week trips out to Colorado were minimalistic camping due to how little fits in the back of a Jeep! :laugh:
So I planned to camp at several places, see some tourists sites with the wife, and end up on Drummond Island where we rented a cabin. I've wanted to see Drummond for several years now since the Ultimate Adventure and ProjectJK have both been there.
Now about the trip…
We left Indiana and drove north through the cornfields and then traveled along the western side of lower Michigan. And, there is always something you just happen to forget when leaving for a trip! Oh yeah, the cast iron frying pan! Fortunately there was a Cabela's near Grand Rapids that we stopped at.
We then made our way to the campground Lake Michigan at Manistee. This is a very nice federal campground that sits behind a hill along the beach that protects it from wind. Along the top of the hill are some awesome hiking trails through the woods that we used. The sand on the beach was awesome. There were only a few camping trailers and several tents in the campground being that it's off season. The camping spots themselves were very nice, large and well spread out. I'd camp here again. The first night it was very quiet and we heard coyotes at night.
My wife and I always make our traditional mini-pizzas for our first night camping with wine. She makes whole wheat dough that she freezes, and then I cook them in the cast-iron pan with butter on one side, then flip it over like a pancake, top it and cover it. I have to be careful not to burn them as my Coleman grill has two settings: off and high, but it works out well. The pizza and wine were excellent, and the company was even better. Sunsets were also awesome.
One of my recent purchases was an ENO DoubleNest hammock. Wow, talk about comfort! I also included the rain fly tarp, which was nice as we did later run into rain. With a local Michigan brew in hand, I had my best nap in years that afternoon!
One of the cool things about having a trailer was to include a battery box and a power inverter. I have yet to fully realize what that's for, but… Optima Battery + Power Inverter = Charged iPhones in the woods.
While exploring some Jeep trials I also found some camping spots in the national forest for future trips.