In what has become kind of  a fall tradition, my husband and I will be going on a cabin trip very soon! This time we’ll be staying in Harrisville State Park, which is roughly located halfway up the right side of Michigan’s “mitten” on Lake Huron. We visited this park for the first time in October, 2018 when we also stayed in a cabin. There was a city and park-wide Halloween party going on the weekend we were there, and though it was kind of fun to see the decorations, costumed children, etc. – it will be nice to be there when it’s a bit…quieter!

We’ll be staying in a cabin that looks like this for three nights:

This cabin sleeps four people, has a fridge, microwave, electricity and heat. It’s also set apart from the other camp sites on its own spot near the entrance. Outside there is a charcoal grill, picnic table, outhouse, and a fire ring. There is a modern bathroom building in the campground with showers that will be open during our visit. It will still be good to have an outhouse handy for those times when you don’t want to make the longer walk to the “real” bathroom!

 

 

In 2018, we stayed in a different cabin in the same park, that looked like this:

 

This cabin has identical sleeping capacity and amenities as the cabin we’ll be staying in this week. This one is located in the middle of the campground – and was a little “too close for comfort” to adjacent camp sites for our tastes (though it offered a nice “haven” for when things got a little too noisy/ crazy).  We both sat out on the front porch of this cabin while trick or treating was going on until the candy ran out (we grabbed the last bag of candy from a nearby Dollar General store).

We’re going to try to keep things simple on this trip in terms of food, booze, etc. One of our favorite “camp meals” is chili mac, which is essentially canned chili – and canned macaroni and cheese. It’s actually quite a hearty and satisfying meal (and it’s good to get plenty of fiber when you’re traveling…trust me on this tip)! A can of chili and a can of macaroni and cheese makes a perfect portion for two people. Usually the chain grocery stores will have a good sale going on Chef Boyardee canned pastas. It’s certainly not gourmet quality mac and cheese, but when you’re camping, it’ll do just fine!

You can either mix the chili and the mac and cheese together, or put the chili on top of the macaroni and cheese. When you’re camping, it’s more convenient to just mix ’em together.

A friend of ours named Janet is supposed to visit us on one of the days, whom we haven’t seen since August, 2018. The last time we saw her was at Fisherman’s Island State Park in August, 2018, where we enjoyed some libations on the beach. She brought small bottles of white wine, and I had my Shorts Soft Parade, where I did my best to imitate the woman in the can’s logo design.

We’ll also be exploring the area a bit, gawking at all of the lovely fall colors, and maybe eating some yummy chicken and dumpling soup at Wiltse’s in Oscoda. It’s a great excuse to use the WiFi, enjoy a cold craft beer and have some hearty soup!

My job tends to get pretty crazy in November, so October is always a great time to squeeze in a last little vacay for the year. Though there is talk about doing a New Year’s Eve cabin trip this year!