2019 Holiday Newsletter

I am so far behind on my travel updates that I decided to sum up the whole year and send out my Holiday Newsletter along with my wishes for everyone to have a happy and healthy holiday season.  Photo above from Siesta Key Beach in Florida, a bit different than our many cold Chicago Christmases!…

Ketchup Blog – Family, DC & the OBX

Okay, first things first, this blog is from Ray’s point of view since Susan Dawn has been very busy with Christmas presents. So we left Maine, I can’t remember how long ago now, and headed south to French Creek State Park, PA. Campground was nice but the best part of this stop was meeting up…

Acadia Park, Maine and then southward bound…

I know this is late but we’ve been so busy this last month. I really don’t know how we ever had time to work!  But I am really excited to tell you about Acadia National Park in Maine.  We made this reservation in March and had really been looking forward to it.  Funny how things…

Waterfalls, Fall Colors and Bears, Oh My!

Can’t believe it’s late September already.  Since our last post we explored the Finger Lakes area of New York, including going to a Bluegrass Festival on a sheep farm and we even found a few more amazing waterfalls! We then spent almost two weeks in a Army Corps of Engineers campground in the Green Mountains…

Crossing borders and then, the biggest of them all (so far)…

It’s true, time does fly when you are having fun!  I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last blog post. Well, after our time in the Upper Peninsula, we spent a fun couple days near Mackinac Island, highlighted by our 45th Anniversary celebration.  On our special day, we took the ferry to…

Exploring the U.P., Kayaks & Waterfalls…

I really had no idea what to expect of our time up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised by all it has to offer. We did so much and we were without internet service for the lat 5 days, so I’m a bit behind on my…

My new “job”, picking flowers and wineries…

After a very busy few days in Chicago over the 4th of July, we got back to our campsite for a little rest and relaxation and spent a few days trip planning for future travels.  I kind of feel that trip planning is my new job. You think this life is all fun and games,…

Back Home for the 4th – Time with family and friends…

When we left our house to begin our new life on May 1st, I felt a combination of emotions; excitement, apprehension, anticipation and a big heap of sadness to leave our home of 25 years and our loved ones from this area. One thought that helped a bit was that we had a trip planned…

Kayaking, Purple Hair and Family

Arrived at the Army Corps of Engineers, Tionesta Recreation Campground, in western Pennsylvania on Monday, June 5th for 10 days.  Can’t beat the prices at these parks, half price with our National Parks pass which is $17.50 a day with full hook ups.  Our campsite was right near the dam outflow which enabled us to…

#10, Fun with Family and another History Lesson

Our first stop in Pennsylvania was at a little private campground called Homestead.  Can’t believe this is the 10th campground we stayed at this year. Check out our cork map with the pins indicating where we have stayed. Picked this campground based on the convenient location to where our son, Ryan, lives and the sightseeing we…

National Parks and sunshine

Last week we stayed at Gloucester, Virginia near Jamestown and Yorktown and Virginia Beach.   We spent 10 days there and got to do a little historical sightseeing, wine tasting and time in the sun. We arrived to a couple of rainy days and then the sun came out and this campground had 2 swimming pools…

This is what we do this for…

Last week we camped in Bandit’s Roost Campground, an Army Corps of Engineers campground in Wilkesboro, NC.  It was a great camping experience mostly because we were lucky to get the perfect campsite.  There was a walk down onto our own private patio area right on the lake with lots of shade.  We built campfires almost…