Solo Teardrop Camping with a Frozen Lake View in my Runaway CoolCamp

Well, we got about four inches of snow last night, which means it's camping time. Well, we stopped at my favorite place for wood again to get a couple bundles so we have something to burn tonight. And yes, I brought my lighter this time. Big bundles for four dollars. We're gonna get them on the runaway. All right, we have the two bundles on. We're ready to go. Well, we're just leaving the gas station and I was thinking about how much a small camper helps in terms of pumping gas. Both because you don't go there as often because it's light and it's easy to tow. And it tucks behind my car so there's very little wind resistance. And the other, because it's so small, you can get into just about every gas station that there is. So I'm very grateful for a small camper in those times. Slow going on this trail. About nine miles an hour. It's pretty bumpy and slick underneath this snow. But it is absolutely beautiful. Well, we made it. Here is our spot. It's a beautiful spot. It's pretty big and it overlooks the lake. So first of all, I wanted to make sure the bed wasn't moving when I drove. So I put boards across. It was moving a lot when I drove before so now it's staying put. I also bought myself a refrigerator that plugs into both AC and DC. And just a small little 23 quart so it doesn't require ice. I purchased the Bougie RV brand not because they sponsor me in any way. Just because it was on sale and it fit the spot. So I'm going to see how it works. I don't know if it's going to work any better or worse than the other ones. I just know it was a good price. I also built up a little table for the heater there. And if it's really bad outside, I can sit inside and eat there or cook there or whatever. So I think it's time to go check out the lake. Coming up to the lake now. So quiet, so peaceful. Another part of winter camping that I really enjoy is just the quietness. Not just of people, but there's a quietness in the forest. And even when wind sweeps through the forest, it's just so, it's just so calming. I really like it. Not sure if you can see it, but there's a huge flock of geese making a move. You can certainly hear them. Let's see if the ice is any thicker here. Looks like deer are walking across it. So let's take a couple steps and see. I can hear it cracking, but I don't want to go too far. It is along the Mian Lake. You can see the ice. Step back, I can hear it cracking. It's getting there. Well, we're back at camp from the walk. It was about an eight mile hike. So that was great. It was just about perfect. And the weather is awesome. It's about 32 degrees. And for a Michigander, that is warm weather. So we're going to start some lunch because I'm getting kind of hungry. So we're going to get out the Coleman because this time I remembered my lighter. I'm going to get the soup out of the fridge. Soup is almost ready and we can eat. So we're headed over the other side of the lake because I can see through the trees a small line of orange and yellow because the sun's going down. But I can't see it very well because of the trees. And I think it's going to look beautiful. So I'm going to walk over there and see it. You can just see the sun setting in the horizon. It's making the sky look like it's on fire. It's day better than a campfire. It's probably around seven o'clock. We've got a nice raging fire going here, which can only mean one thing. It's time for Polish sausage. Those are going to be good. The key I found to cooking Polish sausage over a fire is one, you want to get it away from the fire, but next to the coals and you want it to cook slowly. The second is to cut slits in the sausage itself and that allows some of the fat to render out and it makes the casing really nice and crispy. So that is how I cook them. Well, we pulled the sausage off the fire and there it is. We have some stone ground mustard to go along with it. What a dinner. What a dinner. Wish you could smell it. It smells so good. Okay, first bite. So good. Over the fire is the best. Well, we threw in the last log into the fire. It's pitch black out and quiet. I think there's a pretty much full moon tonight. It comes and goes in the clouds. So cool. Casts a really nice light through the woods. Camper looks nice and cozy. Let's go ahead and get in, get warm. We're going to call it a night. It's about 1am here and the fire is out. So we're going to go to bed. This new heater is working great. It's just an Amazon Basics. It's a 500 watt so it doesn't pull too much power. The only thing that really annoys me with it is it said that it has a thermostat on it and it does not. Which isn't a huge deal because it works really good. But I have to turn it on and off manually. So at night I think I'm just going to turn it off because it's really warm in here and I have enough covers to keep me warm until the morning. So we'll see you in the morning. Good morning everybody. It's about 8am and it's gonna be a beautiful morning. The light is starting to come up and the heater worked great. The cool camp was nice and comfy. I did turn it on a few times last night and it just got this small little space nice and warm. All right let's check out what's going on outside. Gonna make some coffee. Little camp in the morning looks great. Coffee's brewing on the camper wheel well. Chair set out for a nice morning view with the coffee. Well I think I'm gonna enjoy this cup of coffee and this view and then I'm gonna head up to the other trail that's on the wood side and see what we can come up with there. The dusting of snow last night paints these beautiful branches, the small branches in the woods. I don't know if you can hear the woodpecker. It's obviously looking for some breakfast. Well at some point our woodpecker was working on this tree here and this one. We just made it back from our hike this morning. It was about a five mile hike. It was really beautiful out and the wind is a little windier today so the wind show is a little cooler. I think we're at about 14 degrees or so. Well the snow is back so it's starting to snow. Well I want to thank you for joining me on this adventure. This was a good one. The runaway cool camp is really getting me into some cool spots and I really enjoy it. Lots of cool trails and the lake. A lot to see. Just enjoying nature and relaxing. It was just a good weekend but it being late Sunday I should probably get going home. I do work during the week so I should probably get ready for the week. Thank you again for joining me. I hope to see you guys up the road.