The First Big Rig Trip
We booked our first RV trip to Timber Ridge RV and Recreation Resort. The kids were so excited about this trip and often refer to it as “dirt bike trail” even though they didn’t end up riding their bikes on what turned out to be the kinda scary dirt bike trail. We booked a week at the park, Sunday through Friday. When we arrived we were given our spot number located directly across the street from the playground, which was great for the kids! We had a relatively easy time leveling out the RV with the blocks. We didn’t realize until after a night of very hard rain that our site was at the bottom of a hill and woke up to about six inches of standing water in our site. Luckily, we were able to move over a few spots to dry ground without any major issues. Everything on the RV was fine, but our large mat and rugs were all water logged and caked with sand, mud and mulch. Some of the amenities were closed due to COVID, but the kids had a blast playing on the playground and swimming in the pool. They also have a man-made lake surrounded by sand that was fun for the kids to play in as well. We heard there is often a lot more action in that space during normal times. The campground was relatively quiet through the week. Thursday afternoon and evening the park started to fill up quickly. We knew that booking our stay Sunday through Friday was a good idea, as we were able to avoid the weekend crowd.
We did end up doing a load of laundry. One of the washers was having issues so the floor was pretty wet, but overall the washers and dryers were in decent shape. Quarters are required for both the washers and dryers. We took about $10 in quarters with us, but you can get them at the main office. The campground also has a variety of bikes and golf carts to rent. We brought the kids bikes with us and walked around, so we didn’t take advantage of the rentals. The ice cream from the cafe was incredible! We ended up getting a scoop with each visit to the pool area. The dog park was tucked in the back corner of the park. A bit torn up, but had a decent amount of activity space for dogs. Kali isn’t really into climbing or jumping through tires, but the kids had a blast trying to show her how to participate.
While in the area we drove to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. We started at the visitor center to get a patch and pin and for the kids to stamp their National Parks Passports. We learned it was the last day for the driving scenic tours, as they were going to shut down the roads for repairs. So we took advantage of that opportunity and we are so glad we did! The drive was GORGEOUS! There were a few spots to pull over and get out to look over the lake and the dunes at a distance. After the scenic drive we continued into the park and found a small little beach on Lake Michigan for the kids to swim and play in the sand. All three of them love the water. They don’t care how cold it is, we hit the sand and their shoes are off and feet are in before Ryan and I can even get the beach blanket in place. Speaking of beach blankets, we purchased a Grand Trunk beach blanket, and it has been nothing short of amazing. It folds up super small into its own little bag, dries extremely fast and sand doesn’t stick to it, at all. This has been a game changer in the amount of things we have to carry to the beach with us.
We loved our stay at Timber Ridge! It was a great choice for our first trip in our RV. We hope to visit again next year at the end of summer or early fall.
We chose to try out our Harvest Host membership for the drive home. Harvest Host is a membership for RVers that provides unique RV camping at over 1400 wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, museums, and other unique locations. We chose to stay At Moo-ville Creamery. They had a great little petting zoo, small playground, a simple menu and of course incredible ice cream. Harvest Hosts allow you to stay on their land with hopes of you participating in some way by making a purchase or paying to take a tour of their unique space. There was a terrible storm that came through overnight. Everything was fine and thankfully the kids slept through it all, even with the NOAA weather radio constantly going off.