[vacation]

I was so busy prior to leaving for vacation that I didn’t have time to hop on and write that we were leaving! We got home yesterday from our favorite camping spot in northern Michigan, after having spent eleven days there. It was fantastic (except for one part, which I will get to later).

We left early in the morning on July 1st to make the 3.5 hour drive, set up camp, and launched the boat (it stays beached at our campsite while we are there, they have a nice area at each site for this purpose). We spent the 1st through the 6th just the two of us (and Blue), boating and swimming, going to the beach, taking long walks, eating ice cream, off-roading in the truck, sitting around the camp fire, and just generally relaxing. Greg’s sister and her family arrive the 7th, so we spent a portion of each day with them until we all left on the 11th.

The only bad thing that happened was that we had some truck issues. Greg broke one of the skid plates underneath the engine compartment while we were off-roading one day, and then we had some transmission problems. We were nervous to drive it home (towing the boat) with transmission issues, so we took it to a dealership up there to have it looked at. Turns out the torque converter was toast, and it was going to take 6 days to order the part, have it arrive (48 hours), fix the truck. With the weekend in the middle of all that, they wouldn’t have been able to get us on the road until Monday 15th. That didn’t work, because Greg had to be back to work today, and I do tomorrow. Not to mention the fact that the truck is a 2011 and having transmission issues, which isn’t cool. So we ended up just turning the truck in (it was a lease) and purchasing a new one! We had planned to do this in about six months anyway, because the lease would be ending, and he wanted a truck with more towing capability. So we purchased a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD (Heavy Duty).

We decided to purchase this time instead of leasing. We have leased his last three trucks, but he was using them for work when he was doing construction, and needed to have a newer, reliable vehicle. But now that he doesn’t do that any more, we wanted to get out of the leasing game and get a truck we could pay off and keep for a while. Plus, we would love to get a fifth wheel/travel trailer sometime in the near future, and this will be able to tow one easily.

Other than that, our trip was great! I am glad to be back home, though – living in a tent for almost two weeks wears on you! Tomorrow is back to work for me, though, which I am not glad about!