Camp-Inn Camp-Outt

The Camp-Inn Camp Outt is an event sponsored by the builders of our Camp-Inn teardrop.  It's a lot of fun to camp with other teardrop owners and see what all the cool hacks are to make our small spaces more accommodating. And this camp out isn't just limited to those that own a Camp-Inn brand teardrop.  It's for everyone who wants to come, including those that have moved up into larger, more traditional campers. 

This event is always on the last weekend of September at the Castle Rock campground in Wisconsin, not far from their factory. 

Bailey might have been just a little jealous that Winnie
goes inside the cabin and she doesn't. 

Home Sweet Home for a couple of days.

Castle Rock Lake. It was an interesting green color.

Potluck dinner took up a lot of tables just with the selection of food!

Dutch oven made blackberry crisp!  Yum!

Outing #6

Adventure Dates: September 25-27, 2015
Trip Miles: 1189
Trip Nights 2

Total Miles: 10943
Total Nights: 20

Amana Colonies & LeClair, Iowa

I wanted to share our new Wander-Inn adventuring with my daughter, Alyssa.  We decided on a trip north/east to the Amana Colonies.  My brief visit earlier in the summer was calling me back.  The down side of this trip was it was a long road trip with too much to see for the short time we had available. 

Still on the road at sunset, accented by bug schmear

Our campsite. The canopy blew over (and away) at night and we couldn't fold the
side tent back up. We were pretty lame campers!

We must be elegant!  Wander-Inn's theme colors and the amazing
Princess WinterSpringSummerFall aka "Winnie"

The very entertaining owner of this quaint little coffee shop in Le Clair, IA.
Sad that I don't have more photos of Le Clair from this trip.

Flowers in the Amana Colonies

Interestingly there are a lot of wineries or tasting rooms
in the Amana Colonies. Nice!

Some of our favorites for around the campfire.

We built the fire, but I pooped out before wine time.  

Wander-Inn Stats:

Adventure Dates: August 21-23, 2015
Trip Miles: 1059
Trip Nights 2

Total Miles: 9650
Total Nights: 18

Cumberland Falls

Cumberland Falls is in the Daniel Boone National Forest in southeastern Kentucky. It's known for it's "moonbow" which I'd love to go back and see sometime.

I'm being followed by a moon shadow...

Cumberland Falls 

The trail to the falls was pretty and interesting, too.

Big Rocks! Look at the people below them.

Not for the claustrophobic!

Beautiful trail and nicely kept up!

The falls are less impressive in photos than in person. For scale, look at the following third photo and find that person in the second photo. 

Cumberland Falls

See the man on the other side?

There he is, sitting cross legged on his raft. 

Our campground was not much to write home about, but the area was beautiful and the falls quite impressive. 

No grass at all, all gravel camp sites. 

Bailey was not happy with the sharp rocks. 

Required camp fire.

 Reeces S'MORE!

A couple random area photos.

Along the river

The Cumberland River

Santa off-season or Colonel Sanders?

Wander-Inn Stats:

Adventure Dates: August 14-16, 2015
Trip Miles: 374
Trip Nights: 2

Total Miles: 8591
Total Nights: 16

Caesar Creek

Sunny Camping- unusual for us Blue Tarp Campers

Bailey on alert for play time!

Wild life of the green sort

Although we had a nice long cross country trip, we really want to get out in Wander-Inn as much as possible so we took a quick weekend trip to Caesar Creek near Waynesville, OH.  

It was just a kick-back couple of days with us and Bailey and some nice weather. 

Perfect!

Wander-Inn Stats:

Adventure Dates: August 1-2, 2015
Trip Miles: 127
Trip Nights: 1

Total Miles: 8217
Total Nights: 14

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig! (Oregon or Bust: Final Chapter)

This is my husband's solo leg of the journey from Seattle to home in northern Kentucky, so I don't have much to narrate other than sharing his photos. We'll have to recreate this trip so I can visit these sites, too. 

For the most part he followed I-90 east. In Montana he stopped at the Little Big Horn.

Info

The Little Big Horn Battlefield

 In Wyoming the Devil's Tower was a must-see and a close encounter (yuk-yuk/groan).

Devil's Tower

And then on to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Mount Rushmore

Also in South Dakota, next stop was the famous Corn Palace.

The Corn Palace behind Jasmine & Wander-Inn

From this point it was pretty much a straight shot home for Mark with a short sleep-over in a rest stop.  So glad I'm "retired" even if he's not.  

We earn recognition for the miles traveled and nights slept in Wander-Inn.  I'll be back with those statistics soon.

Adventure dates: June 12-July 5, 2015
Miles (all three legs): 7486
Nights: 12

Total Miles: 8090
Total Nights: 13

Wandering Around Oregon (Oregon or Bust: Part 2)

After a kick-back day of no road travel, Krissy & I headed to Portland, Oregon to grab Mark from the airport and then head to Madras, Oregon. The wedding was to take place in a couple of days, but guests were encouraged to arrive early and play.

Not too rough of a river, but it did have its moments.

About 1/4 of the wedding guests who went rafting.

"Playing" included river rafting on the Deschutes.

Desert nights are a cool contrast to the days.

Bonfires & Singing.

Was it the Yucca Yucca game?

Drinking Games.

Of course the next day was all about the wedding.  And of course the celebration!

My brother, sister-in-law & niece.

The bride & groom

I have to include a photo of the man who married them.

Day three of the wedding festivities we were fed an awesome breakfast prepared by the Reverend and his wife. Before I say goodbye to Madras, I have to share the view.

There's a lot of foreground in this photo, but look at those mountains!

Mt. Hood from the bride & groom's home.

We then hit the road for Medford.

Spelunkers, Mark & Krissy

Along the way we stopped to explore a lava tube cave near the Lava Butte.

While Krissy had to go back to work, Mark & I explored a little of southern Oregon.

I just can't imagine this was once a mountain!

We drove to Crater Lake, another fond childhood memory. Then Mark took Wander-Inn and went fishing for two days. 

Is that a Trout Slayer beer?

The Mightly Umpqua

The Bounty!

 Then off to see the Redwoods and the Pacific Ocean.

Krissy in the Redwoods

Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, California

Enjoying the beach in Brookings, Oregon

The time came when we had to say goodbye to Krissy and Oregon and head north.  We took our time and incorporated a side trip to Mount St. Helens.  As a Washington native I had never visited the site of our active volcano. Shame on me! 

We camped at the Silver Lake Resort.

Mount St. Helen 35 years later.

We ended finally in Seattle where Mark & I parted ways.  He took Wander-Inn and headed east for Kentucky and I hung out with my niece and her husband and Krissy joined us for the 4th of July.

Our new group, aka "The Betsys"

That's it for my part of this cross country trip with Wander-Inn.  As soon as I can steal some photos from Mark, I'll try to blog his leg of the journey home to Kentucky.

Next: Part 3, Mark's trip home