Photo by The Joneses Hidden Ridge in western Michigan is a "resort" in every way, Gisela Jones reports. Check back for more photos and an updated map soon.
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

For the first time in over two months today it was raining — not much fun while traveling. The last rain we experienced was in Rapid City, Wyoming in June. From there on it was sunshine all the time; I didn’t realize how much I got used to seeing the sun every day.

I don’t really like this rain, especially when on the road. However, it makes everything grow nice and green in contrast to the West where many areas are bare and brown.

We sure can tell we are back in the East — lots of traffic in every direction and crowded highways. Ralph misses the wide open roads in the West — he felt like ‘the king of the road’ and driving was much less stressful.

Before coming to the Monaco Service Center we spent several days with friends — Verna and Allan — at the Hidden Ridge RV Resort. When we arrived there Verna and Allan had dinner for us and were our tour guides for the next three days.

Hidden Ridge is a "resort" in every way and is even nicer than Hart Ranch in Wyoming, that had been — until now — No. 1 of all the campgrounds/resorts we ever stayed at. Besides all the usual amenities (swimming pool, hot tub, community center etc), the layout was unique. Hidden Ridge had "motor-home sites" around a small lake where you drive in – normally you back in or pull through. The benefit of this set-up is that we faced the lake and had a beautiful view from our big window. Most other times we face the road or other RVs.

The sites were an all-concrete slab with large green areas between each site. The community center was a gorgeous house with library, media room, kitchen, playroom for the kids, work-out room etc.,, etc. It was the summer residence of the former owner of the property.

This resort is most definitely on our list to consider for work-camping. I could see us spending three summer months here earning our stay by being camp hosts.

One of the days we took a tour of a nearby vineyard — Fennville Valley Vineyards and Wine Cellar, a small family-owned winery. It was a tour of the facility as well as wine tasting. We seem to have done a lot of ‘tasting wine’ in the past few months.

This tour, however, was different. On a wagon pulled by a tractor we were driven through the vineyards. The driver, also the tour guide, stopped at various grape vines, explained how they were grown and what wine they produce and then we had a small sample to taste. Their vineyards, so he told us, are planted to traditional European wine varieties. One of the vines had been imported from Johannisberg, Germany, a small town along the river Rhine, about 15 miles from where I grew up. This developed into an interesting conversation among the guests and the tour guide about Germany and German wines.

The next day we drove to Saugatuck located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Saugatuck is a quaint tourist town with your typical little stores, some offering very unique local gifts and others "tourist junk." We had a lot of fun walking around, had dinner in a restaurant near the lake and for dessert stopped at an ice cream place for homemade ice cream. It was a relaxing, enjoyable day with good friends.

While in the area we drove to Kalamazoo to buy a new holder for our flags. We have a tall telescopic flag pole and always fly the American and German flag. When we were at the Escapees rally in Wyoming we purchased a new and upgraded towing system and stone safeguards to protect our towing vehicle. With the new system we no longer can attach the flag pole to the back of the RV. We now have a stand that fits under a wheel and can fly our flags again.

We were sorry to leave Verna and Allan, but we know our paths will cross again somewhere.