Planning- Camping

Tonight I decided to try and map out a tenitive route for when the kids and I go camping this summer. I decided to start in Muskegon. I used KOA to map a route based on where they have parks. The parks tend to be a few dollars more, but they usually are more kid friendly than some of the other parks. I'm planning a 2 night stay in each place except 1, which will be a 3 night stay.

There is a KOA in Muskegon, but it's not on Lake Michigan. It's really not TOO far, though. And, it's near Michigan's Adventure. Not sure if I'll take the kids there or not. That will depend on the budget. If I do, I plan to have Nick join us for those first two nights of camping, then head home.

After Muskegon, we'll head north along the lake shore, up to Traverse City. I've actually never been to Traverse City, even as much as my family traveled when I was little. That should be a lovely time of year up there. I don't know when the Cherry Festival is, but I'd actually prefer to avoid that, so that I am not tripping over hundreds of other tourists.

After 2 nights there, we'll head the short distance up to the bridge, and camp across it in St. Ignace, also a KOA park. Here, we'll stay 3 nights. I want to head up to Sault St. Marie for 1 day trip, and explore the Mackinac area for 1 day, hence the 3 day trip.

After St. Ignace, we'll head south again, down to Grayling. I actually spent a lot of summers in a small cabin on the Au Sable just outside of Grayling when I was little. An "Aunt" & "Uncle" owned it on the river, and we went up 2-3 weekends every summer. It was fantastic. We would go canoeing down the river, and just have fun.

In Grayling, we'll stay at a Jellystone park. I have no day trips planned while we're there, and they have a fun park with a pool that has a two story water slide. They also have 3 playgrounds, an air pillow (for jumping? Not sure), volleyball, basketball, weekend events, and more. It's $43/night, but with no day trip, I won't be spending money elsewhere, either.

On day 9, we'll head south to home.

That's the plan, anyway.

The total cost for the campground fees is $188. A bit pricey, but I know it won't be -that- much cheaper at the first 3 stops if I find a smaller private campground. I'd save about $10-15 is all, and a lot of them I've looked up in those areas are not nearly as kid friendly- no playgrounds, no swimming area or pool (either is fine, as long as the kids can swim), etc. I'd rather spend the extra $10-15 to be at a kid friendly place.

Now, if I chose a different area, or a different campground for the last leg of the trip, I could save probably $40 just over 2 nights, but I know the kids will love it.

Also, KOA has free wifi, so I can take Nick's laptop with me, and upload photos here and there- but mostly, I can talk to Nick at night when there's nothing left to do. ;)

I have almost $75 worth of points for January. I don't think I'll have an issue meeting the $75 mark this month. If I can do that for all of January, February, March, April, and May, I'll have $375 to put towards the trip. That covers the groceries and the cost of the campground fees. I'll still need money for the tent and camping supplies, gas, and money to do some things while we're out and about.

Overall, though, I think this is coming together rather nicely.

Oh, and so far, I'm thinking of doing the trip the second weekend of June, right after school lets out. I also want to see if some family members want to either tag along for the entire trip, or meet up at different points. My brother's family might be able to meet up for a few days somewhere. My aunt's both enjoy camping, too. We'll see!