A Bad Day Camping Is Better Than A Good Day At Work » sand dunes http://timandjoanie.org Tim and Joanie's Vacation--One Year! Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:00:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Great Lakes, Great Times http://timandjoanie.org/2009/08/29/great-lakes-great-times/ http://timandjoanie.org/2009/08/29/great-lakes-great-times/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:48:06 +0000 tim http://timandjoanie.org/?p=391 We’re back!  This has easily been the longest hiatus for A Bad Day Camping, and all I can say is that I think I’m fearing the end of our adventures.  I figure that if I stop writing then I can postpone the end of our trip.  It’s been about a month since we left the abundance of knickknacks, 5 cent coffee, and dangerously obese people at Wall Drug, and we’ve made our way back to New Hampshire and the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  In between all that we spent a few weeks in Michigan where summer was in full swing.

We screeched into Michigan with brake pads nearly gone, headlights barely functioning, and stomachs craving egg sandwiches and broccoli casserole.  The Smith family house was exactly what we needed and Jeff and Jackie kindly welcomed us and all of our dirty laundry with open arms.  By the time we left Michigan our brake pads were replaced, headlights rewired, clothes cleaned, and tummies full of delicious food–thanks Jackie and Jeff!

Of course, it wasn’t all work.  We spent plenty of time “Up North” at Higgins Lake cruising around on the boat, tubing, kneeboarding, and water skiing (which I discovered is the cheapest way to get a high powered enema).  We also managed to squeeze in a few days at Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

Higgins Lake 08-14-2009 2-14-03 PM Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 08-06-2009 9-51-26 AM

With the end of our trip looming overhead, we also started to think about the inevitable–finding work.  So, in the midst of all the fun and games we managed to apply for a job of sorts.  In the spirit of adventure and up-for-anything attitude that has led us halfway around the world, we tried out for a TV show–The Amazing Race.  Our cousin Alex told us that we would be awesome for this show, and then by a stroke of luck there happened to be an open casting call in Michigan just days later.  It didn’t matter that we had never heard of the show or watched it.  We figured we’d trust our family’s advice and just go for it.  Stay tuned for an update on the job search!

]]> http://timandjoanie.org/2009/08/29/great-lakes-great-times/feed/ 0 44.4082794 -84.6936035 Where’s the water? http://timandjoanie.org/2009/01/08/wheres-the-water/ http://timandjoanie.org/2009/01/08/wheres-the-water/#comments Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:24:11 +0000 tim http://timandjoanie.org/?p=112 We spent two days hanging out at Three Rivers Petroglyphs–a BLM site about 50 miles from White Sands National Monument.  There was some strong wind in the forecast and we figured the last place we’d want to be is in the middle of some sand dunes, so we relaxed at Three Rivers for a couple of days.  Another beautiful spot, with some pretty neat campground hosts who spend part of their year there.  We  settled into a pretty good morning routine.  Wake up, read, coffee, breakfast of either eggs or pancakes, morning walk, sun basking…I could get used to this.

After waiting out the wind we took off for White Sands.  This is an incredible place that is almost hard to describe.  It’s so different from anywhere we’ve ever been, and had us thinking we were at the beach.  Ahh, soon enough…

White Sands National Monument 01-07-2009 2-54-29 PM

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