Crisp Point Lighthouse Was NOT The Scene Of The Crime!!!!

Before I forget, just needed to say that the saying, "LESS IS MORE!!", was not an original idea that suddenly popped into my head. A long time friend and my brother in law, Zell, shared the idea with me. Thankfully. Several years ago, he and his wife, Cindy, sold their condo and their "stix-n-brix" house and hit the road full-time in a Chevy 2500 pulling their home, a 5th wheel, down the road behind them. They sold or got rid of all their "stuff"!! To be honest, I was not the ONLY ONE that thought they had totally, "T-o-t-a-l-l-y", lost their minds. That's Totally with a capital "T".

"Less is More" is a mantra that best describes what RVing is all about.

Zell shared this idea several years ago in a phone conversation. Cindy and he were workaming in the Florida Keys. His job was making coffee and being host and entertainment coordinator at the RV park's clubhouse. He said, "This is the life. It's about 78 degrees and I sitting here in shorts and flip flops drinking my morning cup of coffee looking at the ocean. And they are paying us and we are staying here free." Didn't sound like such a bad idea to me. I was sitting in my house and it was about 28 degrees outside and our local TV weatherman was calling for snow and freezing rain.

So I guess you might be scratching your head and wondering, "What's all this got to do with Crisp Point Lighthouse?" Stay with me, I'll show you what I am talking about.

CRISP POINT LIGHTHOUSE

Had it not been for that conversation that cold North Carolina morning I would have never thought about going to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, let alone Crisp Point. Neither Evin nor I would have ever laid our eyes on such a stately sight. We would have never walked on Lake Superior's beaches.

When my son, Chan, got his first pilot's assignment with American Airlines, his first duty location was Detroit. As it turned out, he would only be there for a year before transferring to Boston and moving his family to New Market, New Hampshire. He got out of that town as soon as he could. "Why would anyone want to visit 'Detroit'!?!?", was my attitude. "He can come visit me in beautiful North Carolina." Boy, was I ever wrong!!!! Shows what I knew.

Those of you that know Evin and me have probably often heard the story of how we got "side tracked" to Michigan not long after we set out on our first long distance, away from home, adventure. Our truck phone rang our first day out. We were on I-40, having just crossed into Tennessee, on our way to Utah. It was our new RV friend, Bill. He and his wife, Linda, were on their way to Michigan to visit Howard and Linda of http://www.rv-dreams.com/ fame. Evin and I had attended the RV-Dreams' Spring Rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in April, 2010. I had met Bill via the RV-Dreams Community Forum. A very experienced RVer, he had been a wonderful source of information, encouragement and support as we were just starting out on our RV adventures. 

Evin had her heart set on going to Best Friends' Dog Town and voted "NO" to the side trip. Bill responded, "It is only about an 800 detour. You can get to Utah from Michigan!" So we stopped for the night at Cumberland Mountain State Park near Crossville, Tennessee to as I put it to Evin, "...sleep on the idea."

We had four wonderful days at Cumberland Mountain; but, that is another story for a future post.

Evin argued that, " I don't want to go up to Michigan. The black flies and mosquitoes will eat us and the 'Pups' alive!" I counter with, "Let's call Howard and Linda and see what this year's crop is like." Got Linda on the phone and she assured that, "...it was not a problem." So, off we go for "FOUR" days in Michigan.

Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort, Hillman, Michigan

From left to right. Howard, Linda, Evin, Linda and Bill. The back of our RV is on the left. Bill and Linda's is in the right. May 2010

More about the crime later. Got to get to a meeting. Stay tuned.... See how we spent "4" days!!!!