Midwest Living magazine, one of my very favorite magazines, came out with their picks for the best state parks in the Midwest. The magazine’s May/June 2010 issue features 36 of the best state parks in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
I plan on highlighting some of their selections in the very near future.
It is interesting to note what states Midwest Living considers as those in the Midwest. I have been somewhat struggling with what states to include as the Midwest for this blog and it became a source of minor debate in an earlier post.
The name of the blog is Gr8LakesCamper, so the Great Lakes region is in play. But I also say that Gr8LakesCamper “celebrates the world of RV camping in the Midwest.” Are the Great Lakes region and the Midwest one in the same? Probably not.
So, in keeping with the name of the blog, I have decided that all states with shoreline on the Great Lakes — New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota — plus Ontario, Canada, will receive the most emphasis on this blog.
However, should a suitable topic present itself, I reserve the right to blog about those states in the immediate vicinity — such as West Virginia, Kentucky, Iowa and Missouri. For example, this summer my family and I will be camping at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, and I will most definitely be blogging about that trip.
And another thing. As stated, this blog celebrates the world of RV camping in the Midwest. Obviously, this means most posts will be about camping destinations in the Great Lakes/Midwest. However, I also reserve the right to every now and then go off topic and blog about something other than a Midwest camping destination. Most of the time these will be posted on my personal blog and not here, but on very rare occasions I might want to post it here, too.
I want this blog to be enjoyable for all, me included.
There. Ground rules have been set.
On the Personal Blog — The 13th Annual Gathering of the Tin Can Tourists, an organization committed to the celebration of classic trailers and motor coaches, will honor the 100th Anniversary of the RV Industry at its Thirteenth Annual Gathering on May 20-23, 2010 at Camp Dearborn in Milford, Michigan. Click here to read the whole thing.
Gr8LakesCamper celebrates the world of RV Camping in the Midwest. Gather around the campfire and share tips, ideas and stories on RVing, camping and travel destinations. Follow Gr8LakesCamper on Twitter, Facebook and the personal blog.
Gr8LakesCamper
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I hope everyone will appreciate this blog, and bear with me as I stumble my way through it!
Thomas Becher
When you go the mammouth cave, take your own flashlight along. I wanted to and have 2 Maglights (led) in the truck and my wife said oh, it’ll be light enough in there . So I didn’t and it’s not. kinda spoiled my adventure. Next time listen to myself
Francis
Hey, it’s*your* blog! If you find something off the beaten Lakes track and it’s interesting, some (heck, maybe many) of us completely unfamiliar with the Great-Lakes-upper-mid-westernish part of this wonderful land would welcome hearing about it. I would, anyway. 😉
Duffer
Umm…I’m assuming that these “ground rules” you mention are those that will be followed by the author. Right? In other words, we should call it your focus, or the theme of your writing. Let’s see how it develops. Good luck with your new blog here, son.
Liz Bard
When you are in Kentucky, I hope you will stop in at Bardstown, KY. They have “My Old Kentucky Home” with docents in period dress, a whiskey brewery tour, a museum about the history of whiskey and Bardstown history (in the same building).There is a museum about the Civil War and a village nearby about how life was then. Not far from Bardstown, is another town that has some old cars at a auto dealership (free) and a Cocoa Cola Museum.
There is also a state park nearby that has Lincoln’s boyhood log cabin, I don’t have access to my maps and log book. We saw all of this in 2007, before we had an RV.
Don’t forget Bowling Green, KY has the Corvette Museum. My husband spent 3 hours there and I was trying to rest in a hot car. That was the impetus for us to get a RV before his next Vietnam units reunion.