I’m a people watcher. I enjoy observing humans in their surroundings.

How they behave when they think no one is watching

How they react to situations

Mannerisms, body language, posture etc

I’ve done this all my life without even realizing it. No I don’t stare at random strangers or peek into windows I only observe from afar in public places like I’m currently doing now at a campground outside of Leland, Michigan.

Which is beautiful by the way

My current fixation is on my campground neighbors. Not just the folk who reside on both sides of my truck tonight, I also do rounds around the grounds to see how other campers click.

The majority of camp participants after the summer season are empty nesters who took some retirement funds and bought fifth wheels, RVs, buses or lower budgeteers with masses of pop up tents with adding screened rooms and privacy pools pop ups. I tour with these types of folks by proxy either on my road trips or weekend adventures. I’m sort of the fly on the wall. I don’t quite fit in with the others I’m a tad younger but not by much as every year passes. I don’t try to mingle but will converse with my neighbors if they are the chatty types.

My truck set up always gets a few rubber necks who stop by for a tour and well I love my setup so I’m always happy to oblige. I doubt I’ll ever own a giant pull behind trailer or camper it’s just not my thing. A Sprinter van? Yeah I can be talked into that. Or a decent sized camper on my truck which is my next ideal upgrade. I love my camper set up and my trailer

But

There are days, especially windy, rainy ones that a firm roof over my head and a soft bed seem more cozy to my standards. I’m no longer trying prove things to myself or get into a pissing contest with my ego on how self sufficient I can be or exercise my bushcraft skills which are mostly acquired from reading about lean to’s as opposed to actually implementing them into my camping. In a sense of brevity, my camping has gotten a tad softer. My first real truck camping trip was to Maine and I just slept out of the back of my truck. I had a cooler, duffel, head lamp, futon mattress and pillows. An old Coleman stove that only had one temp level of “boiled to shit” but I loved it. The downside on rainy days I’d spend half my day horizontal in a ARE camper top cavernous tomb. I have a touch of healthy claustrophobia. It was minimal and simple. Made it easy to be nomadic wherever I went. I love my RTT and awning but often times I always feel like I bring too much shit with me but it’s like the old saying goes “it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it”

I also enjoy cooking when I camp. It’s one of the few activities that brings my old passion back out of me. I’d thoroughly enjoy making a overlanding cookbook implementing local ingredients from areas I travel along with last minute gas station groceries that I’m always buying. Bought a great Dometic fridge on marketplace last month and was excited to give it a try on the road. Ice coolers are awesome for cold beverages nothing beats them with those ice chips rolling down your elbows from a cold beer or soda you just pulled out of your cooler. On the perspective it’s nice not draining water out of those “water tight” ziplock bags and your favorite cheese flavor is discolored and raw cut of beef is water logged.

No thanks.

One particular oversight, I had planned to use my 110v/400w AC outlet to charge my ecoflow battery that I hook my fridge up to. Little did I know that the outlet only works when the truck is in park. In my first full day on the road I had to find a campsite with power to recharge my battery. No big deal but it changes my logistics. You can get almost three days worth of charge btw with the fridge. I foresee a solar panel in my future for my battery so I don’t have to depend on full hookups. I was off grid in the upper peninsula of Michigan for two days so I kept one eye on my battery charger keeping my fridge with $105 worth of groceries in it. It did its job. I griddled a bacon cheeseburger with onions my first night, made some steak and eggs for breakfast the next morning and enjoyed a hot bowl of ramen with chicken under my awning as a cool rain drizzled for most of the night.

After this last trip I have decided that parking lot camping has reached its end. I never feel in any danger when I camp. I camp around apex predators in the middle of nowhere so I’m prepared for most surprises. Obviously I never want to be in a situation where I have to explain to a judge why I put a hole in someone. If I choose to pull over for the night my go to is Cracker Barrel. Most of their lots are well maintained and in decent areas. I’ll still stop at the nearby gas station to see what sort of local riff raff I have to contend with. If I don’t get the wrong vibe I’ll pull behind the CB and roll my little mattress out in the back of my truck, grab a lightweight blanket and shut myself in for the night. I try to get 4-6 hours of sleep on a good night. It was 81° in Kentucky that night. Starbucks spot light shining in my eye and I was cuddling up with a lot of uncomfortable pointy gear. I “slept” for about 3 hours. Got back in my truck at 3am and kept my compass north. I grabbed a venti of petroleum at a Starbucks before Cincinnati. Also had no idea Cincinnati basically sits on Kentucky’s doorstep. I don’t go up that way very often. As I was popping all of my joints into place my brain was asking “what are we doing here man? It’s time we cut out the parking lot shit. Your family would sleep better knowing that you aren’t sleeping in parking lots”

Fine

And I agree. Fuck parking lot camping. No I’ve never been messed with, never pulled a gun but I did pull an axe on some kid that was walking around my truck in Texas one night. I don’t know what his intentions were but I think I changed them. I don’t travel in a state of fear just awareness.

Michigan was a gem. My first stop was Traverse City and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t 90° when I pulled up and humid at 1pm.

I said “fuck this” and pulled back to Cadillac where it was less humid and cooler. Hung out with some Michigan locals and their RVs until their beer coolers began to empty out. It was a little surreal watching the festivities without partaking. As I’ve said 100 times before I allow myself one beer for my socializing. I watched my neighbors put down a half dozen or so while I sat under my awning like a fly on the wall. The behavioral changes over the evening, the slurring, volume of their voices. By hour three my neighbor was making out with his wife sporadically while he flipped burgers over his blackstone.

Listen

I’m not judging at all, these people were having the time of their lives and good for them. I smiled while they played. I smiled at their leisure and I smiled thinking of how I used to be a part of this ritual. Watching it from the outside was weird. My ears perked up each time a heard a can erupt. Not in an enticing way. It’s summer, sun was setting, music was playing and beer cans were chirping. These folks were living their best lives. It’s just odd being only a spectator. Also small trigger moment, I’m not used to liquor being sold in grocery stores. I told my wife it was wild to see “my old friends” chilling on a shelf while I pushing my cart of groceries. I can walk into a liquor store with no problems. I expect to see them there. Not a grocery store.

There was no influence, no weekness nothing like that. It was more of a “You don’t belong here. You’re in my way”

I was fine. I was more than fine. To be out of town, my mental gears grinder from driving 1000 miles and the upcoming euphoria of a vacation mixes well with a tall vodka cran. I declined the mental invite and went about my day. I told my wife about it because well, I tell her everything. And I ended it with a “that ship has sailed babe. He’s no longer with us”

I took off for the upper peninsula the next morning and stopped for some coffee in Mackinac village. Drove over the bridge and drove past a dozen ice cream shacks labeled Pasties. Also Michigan has quite the abundance of smoked fish..

I headed up to Pictured Rocks area and took residence by Clear Lake for two days. The lake was a spit away from my site. I spent the evening watching the sunset over the lake with a burger in my hand.

The next day I drove up to a trail head and walked cliffside for about 10 miles and back on the North Country Trail.

Had a little mishap with an unidentified insect that decided to attack the back of my leg about two miles in. I’m allergic to certain insect species not life threatening but it can put a damper in my afternoon. My leg got a nice welt on it later that day but I survived. I dug this hike. It was shaded, green, mossy and quiet. I might’ve passed 4 people the whole time. Took me to a beach head where I sat on an old fallen tree and propped my feet. Rain took over for the rest of my day so I took advantage and read in my tent for a bit before dinner.

I spent two days in the pictured rocks. Paddled a bit and walked the shore line. I never got over how massive the lakes were. It truly felt like walking in the ocean. I got to witness two of the largest lakes in the world in two days. To add I didn’t come across one face without a smile. Even the gruff characters carried their own charm. It’s a different style of living up there than what I’m used to. Greenville has become a little too over the top for me. I can resonate with the simplicity of life up there.

I went back down to Traverse City and spent the day walking around town. Stopped back down in Mackinac village. I wanted to check out the island but it was foggy and windy by the ferry boats. I’d already spent two days in constant drizzle and I wanted to warm up so I left. I needed to dry my feet on some city sidewalks so I went souvenir shopping for my family although I didn’t find what I was looking for. Sat by the lake at a family campground to some Huervos rancheros for dinner. Took a quiet walk at sunset and slept like a champ.

Had a random comment on a Facebook thread asked if I’d been to Leland fish town yet so I looked it up on my navigation and found it to be only 40 minutes away which isn’t much after you’ve driven a 1000 miles in one day so I headed northwest for breakfast.

Leland was amazing. I cycled around the little fish huts by the pier. Had a conversation about sandwiches with a local deli and crunched on a homemade waffle in a bakery across the street. I had intended on leaving for Greenville that day. My wife found a campsite outside of Cedar and also told me I was only about 20 minutes away from Sleeping Bear Dunes and my response was “welp away I go” and I did.

The giant dunes were my favorite. I looked down the mighty one (turn off #9 on the trail map) and quickly made my decision that I wasn’t attempting it. Could I have done it? Yeah I can climb it I just didn’t like the fact that it looked like a cliff from my vantage point and your boy doesn’t do heights very well. There was no wrestling with my confidence it was quick “nah” and I kept driving.

Pictures do not do this place justice

Followed the road up towards Glen Arbor and hiked the dunes to Lake Michigan. I always have a habit of raw dogging hikes I don’t research. I went to go walk up a dune and saw another one. And another one

And then I climbed about 5 more. It’s around a 4 mile hike give or take a step it also depends on how often you walk off trail there’s plenty of short pull offs for overlooks.

It’s a fun hike. It’s an ass kicker too because you’re walking in sand, sometimes ankle deep sand and a lot of times ankle deep uphill sand. Fairly certain this was the route my parents took to school every morning. I enjoyed the heck out of this hike and to be able to do it barefoot was quite the grounding experience. I’d drive up there just to hike it again.

Not anytime soon though..

I grabbed a campsite outside of Cedar and spent the afternoon chatting with some new friends on each side of me. I’d exhausted most of my groceries so I had MRE of jambalaya. The day’s activities put me roosting in my tent at 8pm. I sat with my feet pointing toward the lake with my headphones on and dozed off. I was probably an hour down the road before my neighbors got up for breakfast.

I headed straight home from Dunes to Greenville. 15 hour drive but it took me through the Cumberland Gap parkway for the first time and needless to say I’ve found a new area to explore soon. I’d never been in that particular area and well wow.. if I hadn’t been in such a hurry to get home I would’ve spent another day up there. Cherokee lake area/ Bean station has my attention.

I’d give this trip a solid 7-10. Would’ve been more had the rain not kept me down for a bit it’s no reflection on the beauty of Michigan just my personal experience.

Highly recommend. If you have the time go drive to the “Porkies” I’ll have to go back up there specifically for that next time.

I love these trips I take annually sometimes bi-annually. Listen, they’re tough at times.

My back doesn’t appreciate sleeping in cramped quarters in the back of my truck.

Sometimes my GPS decided to fall asleep and I get turned around

I often times don’t get to see things and places I had intended to visit

Last minute campsites can be hard to find

You can’t control the weather so when your vacation is centered on the outdoors you either get wet or get moving elsewhere. I had my eye on Colorado and or Tetons if Michigan had called for rain all week. Colorado is on fire so that was my deterrent. Tetons? Man I just didn’t have that drive in me. 29 hours one way.

These trips also carry no itineraries. I point at a spot on my navigation and I just go. I don’t plan anything except for the first town that I’ll arrive in and I go with the flow. I’m gambling each time I do these trips. For the most part it turns out fine even remarkable but I’ve had a couple that didn’t turn out so well.

Still better than a day at work.

My vocation has been one always focused on timing, meetings, multitasking, tight schedules and deadlines. I throw all of that out the window when I go on these trips. Often times I change the day I come back or leave it open by a day or two. Lot of driving, lot of dependency on instinct. When it scores it’s amazing.

This one did.

I’ll always do these trips although I intend to make them a little “softer” at times. I don’t have to raw dog everything. Having a companion to drive and experience things along the way helps. If you have the right one. I’ve always had good company when I do. I can be a little hard to be around when things go sour though.

The best part for me that I gain from these little adventures are my memory downloads. I’ll sit still in my own little world and recap these moments and smile. As I’m currently doing now. Since I’ve started doing these I’ve probably spent 4 or 5 months on the road over the last 5 years.

Should’ve started sooner but I think it was meant to happen in this era of my life. You start to understand when you spend time around all these folks that have retired and live out of a motor home and well good for you.

Freedom to live

10/10 will do it again if I haven’t said it already. Some just good ol nice peeps up there. I never saw a frown including in mirrors.

Peace out Michigan.