There really isn’t too much to say about Cliffside park that hasn’t been said already. A wonderful county campground where there is not one bad site! That’s not to say that we don’t have a favorite, we do; site 4. Site 4 is like your own private country lot.
We settled quickly at Cliffside and spent just a couple days relaxing before the three of us loaded up the truck and headed to Nekooza Wisconsin where my brother owns a house on the lake. Tammy and I spent three great days there and Eva loved Bills wife Angie. We had so much fun there it made me miss boating. Bill gave us a great tour of the lake in his pontoon and the next day we went four wheeling. The last day there my Sister and her husband Jose came up with their kids and we had a mini family reunion. It would be great to turn the clock back to when the kids were really small and we all hung out. Unfortunately we had to get back to Cliffside so after our goodbyes we went back to camp.
Now, initially we thought this would be a relaxing vacation at Cliffside; but it ended up beings a working vacation at my daughters new house. Sometimes we would take Eva and have her in the backyard. At other times we would leave her in the trailer (if we thought it wouldn’t be long).
So when we went to my daughters house the first day she wanted to go to IKEA to buy a large bookcase unit for her office. Now that I have experienced ILEA I can honestly say I don’t like it. Tammy has a different opinion.
When we got back to Jennifer’s house it took four hours to assemble it. Also a lot of guessing on my part while looking at the assembly direction; which were horrible.
In addition she had 14 light fixtures that needed to be replaced and three ceiling fans, three new toilets, all entry and exit doors locks replaced, two barn doors needed to be assembled and hung and later slightly modified, and a doorbell relocated to make room for the barn door.
Even with Bob and I working together this pretty much took most of the time we had up there with a few exceptions. We took a day to visit Len and Paula Gehrke at a restaurant in Lake Geneva. That was a blast! We also carved out two nights for dinner at ”The Village” Supper Club. It was great to see the owner Sue and her son Steve again. they serve the best food on the planet.
We expected to see a few other friends while we were here, but timing and schedules didn’t work out.
I got a lot of use out of my blackstone griddle. I’d cook up a whole package of bacon and then do a bunch of fried potatoes and then eggs. The extra bacon we would save and reheat for BLTs or other breakfasts. The little grill has been relegated to hot dogs, brats, steaks and chicken breast. We’ve had the little grill since 2015, and it’s really starting to show its age. No worries, I have a new one back home.
We had a great cookout with all the kids at Jennifer and Bobs place one weekend and started to plan a family trip to the black hills for next year. Everything hinges on when Bob can get vacation. Second to that plan is how the kids will go, separate or together, rent an RV or a cabin; still a lot to work out.
Meanwhile Bob had a ton of logs at the new house that he wanted to get rid of, so Tammy and I had quite a few fires.
Eva and I made quite a few trips to the overlook of Lake Michigan. The overlook is at the end of one of the campground trails. This is the same spot Hannah and I would go to at the park each year, so it was bittersweet.
As far as weather was concerned we got pretty lucky with just a few rain days. The day before we left, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for our area. We got about thirty minutes of rain, and a lot of wind but no hail; even though that was predicted to happen.
Before that storm rolled in we packed up the screen room, the Blackstone griddle, the large outdoor Matt, and the lawn chairs. So today as we get ready to leave Cliffside it’s just the power and water and satellite dish that need to be packed up. Then it’s off to the dump station. Next stop: the Double J Campground in Springfield Illinois.
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