The Final Campout of 2011
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:06 pmI want to share my final camping trip of 20ll, with all of you. Although this is md January, this trip was taken in October. I'm just now getting around to posting it. I know a lot of you have seen previous pictures from my other trips to Aloha State Park, but we also have a number of new folks on here and no two trips are ever alike so...
After a 55 mile drive up to the park, you enter the little village of Aloha, the park's namesake
And from there into the park
I camp at this state park on an average of 4 times a year and have my favorite spots. One of them being the boat basin at the end of the middle campground. This is a popular spot for the campers who have boats during the summer months. And always a busy place.
But now with schools started, you can see it is a very deserted place. Just myself, the dogs and the ducks
Even Mullet Lake, the second largest lake in the state and park of Michigan's Inland waterway was empty. No boats other than an occasional fisherman, no jet skis, no water skiers or tubers, no pontoon boats
Tessa could care less about that. She was taking a fall wade in the la
The campground was also empty, except for about 6 or 7 of us scattered all over the park. This is typical for weekdays in fall, when schools are in session. About the only people who camp after Labor Day, are retirees or those without children. Some families do camp on the weekends though especially at parks who have the popular fall festivals. aloha had just finished up theirs when I arrived the next morning
The dogs and I spent time walking and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the park now that the summer vegetation has died down. You can find all kinds of things if you look. A little stream trickling down to the lake
A nest high up in a tree
And hornets nest high up on a branch. Can you imagine the fun that would have ensued, had this coming tumbling down. It was over a campsite
We also explored the snowmoible/bike/hiking trail that runs along the park boundary
I had registered for 2 nights on this site and wasn't sure if I was going to stay another night or not as it was getting kind of boring. But during the course of walking around the park, I had spotted another site that looked kind of inviting. So we enjoyed a last campfire on the boat basin
The next morning I hauled the trailer over to the dump station, dumped the tanks and put a bit more water into the water tank, reregistered for one more night and set up camp on the other site. This one was a bit closer to the lake and a cement pad site to boot
This site had a nice view of the lake
Although it's October and there's a lot of green around, fall was very much evident
Even in the gathering of the geese, getting ready for migration to their winter home
Eventually however, all good things come to an end. An although I enjoyed this new site, I could only stay the one night as work was calling me home the next day. Time for Otsego Lake State Park to do our annual Halloweenfest. So the dogs and I enjoyed one final sunset
And Tessa enjoyed one final wade
The next morning, I packed us all up, dumped and rinsed the tanks for the last time and started for home. And the sign says it all.
We will. See you in the spring
After a 55 mile drive up to the park, you enter the little village of Aloha, the park's namesake
And from there into the park
I camp at this state park on an average of 4 times a year and have my favorite spots. One of them being the boat basin at the end of the middle campground. This is a popular spot for the campers who have boats during the summer months. And always a busy place.
But now with schools started, you can see it is a very deserted place. Just myself, the dogs and the ducks
Even Mullet Lake, the second largest lake in the state and park of Michigan's Inland waterway was empty. No boats other than an occasional fisherman, no jet skis, no water skiers or tubers, no pontoon boats
Tessa could care less about that. She was taking a fall wade in the la
The campground was also empty, except for about 6 or 7 of us scattered all over the park. This is typical for weekdays in fall, when schools are in session. About the only people who camp after Labor Day, are retirees or those without children. Some families do camp on the weekends though especially at parks who have the popular fall festivals. aloha had just finished up theirs when I arrived the next morning
The dogs and I spent time walking and exploring all the nooks and crannies of the park now that the summer vegetation has died down. You can find all kinds of things if you look. A little stream trickling down to the lake
A nest high up in a tree
And hornets nest high up on a branch. Can you imagine the fun that would have ensued, had this coming tumbling down. It was over a campsite
We also explored the snowmoible/bike/hiking trail that runs along the park boundary
I had registered for 2 nights on this site and wasn't sure if I was going to stay another night or not as it was getting kind of boring. But during the course of walking around the park, I had spotted another site that looked kind of inviting. So we enjoyed a last campfire on the boat basin
The next morning I hauled the trailer over to the dump station, dumped the tanks and put a bit more water into the water tank, reregistered for one more night and set up camp on the other site. This one was a bit closer to the lake and a cement pad site to boot
This site had a nice view of the lake
Although it's October and there's a lot of green around, fall was very much evident
Even in the gathering of the geese, getting ready for migration to their winter home
Eventually however, all good things come to an end. An although I enjoyed this new site, I could only stay the one night as work was calling me home the next day. Time for Otsego Lake State Park to do our annual Halloweenfest. So the dogs and I enjoyed one final sunset
And Tessa enjoyed one final wade
The next morning, I packed us all up, dumped and rinsed the tanks for the last time and started for home. And the sign says it all.
We will. See you in the spring
and it wouldn't be boring. 