Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Not All Who Wander Are Lost
June, 2019 - Mount Denali, Alaska

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Half Way Point

It's the middle of July, so we're at about the half way point of another summer working at Derge Park. It has been another busy season with many new and returning campers visiting our small campground. Overall, things have been going well. There are always a few people who seem to be unwilling to follow the few simple rules to make it an enjoyable experience for everyone. Oh well, that's why we're here.

On July 6th I went to Eric's house to do a little more painting. We met up with my mom and her friend for dinner and then the four of us attended a Germantown Community Band concert in the park. The band is directed by Jim Barnes who was the band director for both of our boys during their high school band years. He retired this year, but is still leading the community band which is in its 17th year.

He started the community band in 1999 which was the year Eric graduated from high school. Both of our boys played in the summer program for a few years. It was so much fun to go to the concert and relive some of the great memories I have of those years our boys were in band. I think Eric really enjoyed it as well. Mr. Barnes was a wonderful teacher and band director. We wish him all the best in his retirement.


On July 7th we drove to Fountain Lake RV Park to visit our friends Dick and Wanda and Dave and Judy. This is a membership park where you buy/lease your lot. We had planned to golf, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead, we went our for a pizza buffet lunch at Weasels in Waupaca, did some shopping and enjoyed playing some cards. It was a great day with very good friends!

On July 10th we attended a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game with more friends. We enjoyed tailgating before the game. It was Bob Uecker Talking Alarm Clock giveaway day. Bob Uecker has been the radio announcer for the Brewers forever. He's in his 80s and still announces home games. He is a Milwaukee icon. One of his famous statements is "get up, get up, get out of here" when a home run is hit.  The clock talks and says "get up, get up, get out of bed". Pretty cool. We are giving our clocks to each of our boys.


Last weekend we had a couple camp in the park from New Zealand. There were riding bikes. His had a small trailer attached to the back where they kept their tent and supplies. I often wonder how people end up at our little park from all over the country and even the world.


On Thursday one of the arriving campers had a big mishap. He made a turn too sharp trying to take a shortcut to the water filling tower. He got too close to a tree and some sign posts and ended up dragging the entire front of his camper along the tree and running over both posts. I heard a noise and saw it happen out the window. Instead of stopping, he just kept going and damaged his entire awning. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here are the posts he ran over. The tree has scrape marks higher up.


Here's the front of his trailer. As you can see, the awning poles are all bent and out of place. The entire awning is hanging about a foot off of the back of the trailer. I don't know what he's going to do about getting it home, but I would be afraid it would unravel on the road if he doesn't secure it somehow.


He could have avoided the entire problem if he would have just driven through the campground and come back out to have his water fill on the proper side. Our fill area is fine if people have some common sense when coming into it. If, however, they end up in the wrong way, all they have to do is drive through the campground and come back at it from the other direction. Instead, many people just can't take that extra two minutes and try to take a shortcut through a small parking lot. I bet this guys wishes he would have used more common sense.

I was out walking the other day and thought I was in the movie "Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock. Hundreds of sparrows were flocking together and sitting on the power lines. I've seen this kind of bird behavior in the fall when I thought they were gathering to fly south. I'm not sure what prompted this behavior in July. It was a strange sight to be sure.


Yesterday Kevin's sister Mary and her daughter and family came for a picnic. We had a great visit with everyone. Our niece and her husband have three teenagers and an 8 year old. They sure have their hands full, but are doing a great job with their children.  Here's Kevin and Mary.


Today we're going to Eric's house. Kevin is helping him put in two new faucets in the kitchen and bathroom. Then we're going out to dinner. Should be another fun day!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Monday, July 4, 2016

Happy Fourth of July


 We have had a fantastic Fourth of July weekend. Our campground was fully booked, but on Friday we had two last minute cancellations. One had an axle break on their way here and the other had a family medical emergency. Everyone else showed up and behaved. The weather was perfect. Our friends Paul and Anne and their son Andrew came and camped, so we had a good time visiting with them, doing some bike riding and the guys went golfing.

I did have to tell a group that were shooting off fire crackers by the lake that it was not allowed. We have several signs up, but some people still need reminders. They complied immediately, and there were no other problems.

I've had a Panasonic camera for several years that I really liked. Unfortunately, some dust had gotten onto the lens inside the camera. The pictures were still good, but sometimes you could see the dust if the background was light. It would have cost more to have it fixed than a new camera would cost. I ended up ordering another Panasonic from Amazon. This one is a Lumix DMC-ZS40. My old one has 12x zoom; the new one has 30x zoom. I've been trying it out, and really like it. It is small enough to fit into my pocket, but takes much better pictures than my cell phone camera.

Here are a few pictures I took of birds at the feeder through my window. I'm still learning some of the functions, but I'm pleased with the quality.




We are definitely in the heart of the summer camping season. We've been quite busy with most weekends fully booked. We also have had quite a few campers here during the week. Reservations are strong for the rest of the summer, so it should be another profitable camping season for the county.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!