Quiz time...

What do you call camping, but in a glamorous and stylish way?

Glamping of course.

Don't feel bad. I didn't know it either until the weekend of May 9 thru 12.


We camped in a place called Warren Dunes, in Sawyer, Michigan.


It turns out that Jules' way of camping has an official name. She has been camping all decked out like this since 2007, when she first got Bob the Burger. Now we find out that there is an actual term that identifies our way of camping. Glamping. I think Over The Top Fun Camping would be a good name too, but it doesn't have the catchy ring of Glamping.

But the best part of going to Warren Dunes? Meeting a whole bunch of other Glampers. They all belong to a group named  The Loyal Order of the Glamper. A very welcoming group! No stuffy attitudes here! So I'm a member now too. This was their third annual Mother's Day Camp Out at Warren Dunes. I must say though that we men types are outnumbered considerably.

Clearly these folks like to dress their campers up. They totally embrace the philosophy of making a camper their own. If you want to make your camper all original, go ahead. If you want to make it into something totally different, go ahead. If you are in the middle of decorating your camper and you change your mind and redecorate, that is perfectly normal. All of these folks like to color outside of the lines! Free spirited I guess best describes the group.

The weather wasn't quite as balmy as the forecast had called for. It never made it up to 60 like the weather people predicted. It did rain though so they got it half right. For the most part it was in the 40s and lower 50s.

Mmmmm, toasty buns. Whoa, easy there! I'm talking about what is wrapped in the tin foil. Sheesh.

As for the group and the camping weekend, it was great fun. I got to meet a whole new bunch of folks and even ran into others that we had met before.

Ginger even got her own new sign (gumdrops of course) just for this get together. This gathering wasn't an official rally so it was a gathering. It really didn't matter to me, rally, gathering, either way I was camping with Jules and Norm and a lot of other great people.

The unofficial, or maybe official, I really don't know, hostess of the event was Alana. Here she is with her hubby, Dave and son, Will.

Will is real cool, like Brock. Brock and Will standing next to each other would be awesome. Brock all blond and blue eyed and Will with his dark brown eyes and black hair. Like a Ying and Yang of little guys.

This is Sue. She is such a jokester! How anyone can have so much fun and energy I don't know.

Check out her chandelier!

Woo WHO!

I just hope that if I run into her hubby at the next gathering that she can explain this better than me. We were posing for owner and camper shots outside of her camper Crackling Rosie when Sue spun me around and landed a kiss on me. Curled my toes! Its a good thing she was married and I am all smitten with Jules or I might have been moving to Michigan.

I think my being a celebrity just overcame her for a second. It happens you know.

Being a Glamper does not require your camper to be vintage either, just glamped up. Like vintage, it doesn't have a certain standard, just what works for you.


This is Beth. She and her husband Don were our neighbors for the weekend. Beth is all about turquoise. See I can learn. Initially I commented about how she liked blue. The school bell rang LOUD! Blue is way different from turquoise. Beth was laughing all the time while school was in session, but I still was taking notes.

No, I was not holding his leash! Do you see that I wasn't looking at him and he not at me? He wanted to chomp me! Norm thought it would be great fun to get a picture. I was VERY quiet and VERY STILL. Do you see that collar?

Actually this is Finnegan. He is very friendly and patient. He did do a lot of sniffing though and poking with his nose in strange places. Dogs are weird that way. I prefer to just say hello and share a tasty beverage.

Okey dokey, less chatter, more pictures.

This is Lynn and her camper Lady Rose.


If I had gotten this updated sooner I might remember more.

This is Judy. I can't remember the name of her camper though.

I just hope that she doesn't hold it against me.

 


Stephanie and her son were our "across the road" neighbors.

They didn't seem to mind the late night bear sounds that Norm makes when he snores.




Zoe and her little Frolic.

Just the name of her camper reminds me of my childhood, frolicking in the forest. Mom said we were running amuck, not frolicking.

This is Nancy and her trailer Chick-a-dee. I am guessing on how to spell that though.

You know with names these days there is no regular spelling. It might be a picture of a chicken and the letter D.

Rhonda and her hubby and grand baby Payten.

This is one of those pictures where my age causes me problems. I recognize Karen (on the right), but for the life of me I can't recall her friend's name.

This is Diane. She did a major crash and burn to get her camper ready for this rally. It is all red, white and black everywhere. Very cool camper and easy to find when one has a few too many tasty beverages at another campsite.
Wait, we were in a Michigan state park. Those kinds of beverages were not allowed. Disregard the tasty beverage comment.

Mary and her daughter. They belong to Finnegan. At least that is what Finnegan told me and I was not about to argue with him. Anyhow, Mary has a business that is all about wholesome cooking with real good ingredients. Nothing like the places that I usually eat at. I don't think she has an eel recipe though.

These two crazy folks are Mike and Sandy. They have the worst case of aluminitis that I have ever seen. They currently own more than 21 campers. I had to take my shoes and socks off to count that high and ran out of fingers and toes at 21. So I don't know exactly how many they have.

Mike just smiled when I asked him. I don't think he knows for sure anymore either.

Beth was camped across the road too, next to Stephanie. Her camper used to be known as Bee Bee but got a new name when Beth got her. Beth calls the camper Wanda Jean.

I was a big fan of Norma Jean, Wanda's little sister. But that is a story for another time.

Donna is Sandy's sister. She is almost as crazy as Sandy, but not quite. Perhaps it has to do with Sandy being married to Mike, I'm not sure.

Great people, slightly off center is all. Which of course is in no way a problem! We love them all the same.

This is Richard and Dianna. They drew the other side of Jules and Norm for the weekend. Great neighbors. Very tolerant of me and Norm. I would say something funny about Richard's line of work but I just don't want to become part of his work, so I'll be nice.






Pot Luck Meal

While we were camping in Michigan for the first time at this gathering. I came to the realization that what I've heard about Michigan being in a financial mess must be true. Somebody didn't pay the heating bill for the state and the heat got shut off. It was chilly the whole weekend. I really shouldn't poke fun though. Being from Illinois we just have our governors retire to federal prison when they leave office.

We had a great time and met a whole bunch of new friends.

 

 

I promise I'll get better at getting the entries done sooner. I have been so busy lately that I just had too many things on my plate. Desert included.

 

 

Until next time,

 

Travis