Suspended Canoes

I’d like to welcome new followers Happy Trails and N & J.  It’s so much fun meeting new people through this blog.

The powers that be have decided we cannot rent any canoes or kayaks until further notice.  The river is still quite high, and the current is zipping along.  This river normally has a very slow current so it’s pretty amazing to see the water moving so fast.  There is a dam across the river just outside of the park’s boundaries.  We sure wouldn’t want anyone going over the dam because the water is flowing too fast!

The waters in the campground are receding slowly.  The Point section of the campground is still closed.  There are still many flooded areas, but at least you can see where the banks of the river are again.  It was pretty quiet in the campground this weekend.  I think the weather and wet conditions kept people away.  About 20 sites were occupied.

There have been hundreds of little yellow butterflies flitting around lately.  It’s so pretty when a large group of them are flying around.  My mom says they’re the kind of butterflies that leave worms in her cabbage.  I don’t have any cabbage, so I like them!

Kevin and I played our weekly round of golf today.  It was a beautiful day with highs in the low 80s and finally, some lower dew points.  The course had been closed since the downpours last Thursday night.  Today was the first day they were open again, and only 9 holes were available for play.

The course was quite backed up and play was VERY slow.  For the third week in a row, I scored par on one hole.  The rest of the holes were not as good.  I had some good shots and some bad shots; same old story :)

For the first time this year, I kept score on every hole.  In previous weeks, I would end up with some holes that were so bad I just didn’t count.  Today I counted all strokes.  The total wasn’t very good, but I feel I am playing a little better every week.  If only I could find some consistency!

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our yesterday’s excursion.  Stay tuned!

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

Come Hell or High Water

We definitely got the high water, so I think we’re save from hell for now :)

This entry will contain many pictures.  We have had a tremendous amount of rain over the last 2 days with more expected.  Per the rain gauge in the park, we’re thinking we got somewhere between 6 and 8 inches yesterday. 

A couple of weeks ago we had some heavy rains, and I posted some pictures.  That was nothing compared to today, but I will post one of those pictures again for comparison.

There is a pier right across the road from our site.  This is where we launch the rental canoes and kayaks. 

The picture on the left is from July 15.  In the far upper left corner you can see the bridge support for the road outside of the park.  Take a look at today’s picture on the right.  The water is quite a bit higher on the support.  Also, in the picture on the right, the water is covering the first part of the dock and all of the asphalt path showing on the left.

Near the park entrance there are 13 sites along the river.  We are the first camper in this picture.  Although the river water is higher than normal in this area, it is not close to the campsites.  The river is behind the trees to the left of the road.

Just to the left of the road across from our truck is a parking area with a ditch behind it.  Last night during the height of the storm, water was rushing down this ditch.  It was over the park entrance road at the top of the picture and almost up to the concrete bumpers.  I was afraid that if it came across the road, we might be floating away :)

Along the back of these 13 river sites is a low lying area.  This picture is out of our back window during the storm.  You can see how this area was becoming a lake.  If you look closely, you can see the water rushing out of the culvert on the right.

  Beyond the sites at the entrance of the park is a road that takes you up a hill to a ridge.  There are about 30 total sites up on top of this ridge.  They’re safe from any flooding.

 

Further down the road is a camping area of the park called “The Point” with about 15 tent sites.  This area is now closed.  The majority of the sites are under water.  Garbage cans are floating and picnic tables have water over the seats.

You can see the site pole in the back and a knocked down garbage can on the right next to the tree.

 

 

 

There is a bend in the river so there is a 3rd campground along the water on the other end of the park.  This area has about 15 electric sites.  So far, they have not closed this area.  There is concern that the water will get up to the electric boxes.  If that happens, this area will also be closed.

Normally, the river flows to the right of this tree line.  It is now several feet to the left of the trees.  It is only a few feet from the electric box in the center of the picture.

You can see the water is several feet above the tree line.  Some of the fire pits are full of water.

We had some scary storms go through last night.  There were a few crashes of thunder that made me jump!  The bad news is that 2 of our windows leaked again.  At least this time we were watching for it, so we were able to put down towels and keep the carpeting from getting soaked.  We will definitely have the dealer service department fix this when we take the camper in to have the awning fabric replaced.

More rain and storms are predicted for tonight.  I’ll let you know if we float away :)

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

This and That

That’s just what we’ve been doing the past few days.

We had a wonderful time last weekend with our camping club friends.  Each month 3 families volunteer to be the food committee.  They plan the main course, and everyone else brings a potluck item.  This month the committee had a Mexican themed meal.  We all brought appetizers in the afternoon and had blender drinks to go with them.  Then for dinner, they had tacos.  Everyone had signed up in advance to bring a fixing for the tacos.  They also had rice and refried beans.  Delicious!!  There were decorations and even a competition for the best dressed Mexican.  We had a blast.  It was hot so we also spent time each day in the pool.

On Monday we went golfing again.  Kevin had a very good round again.  I shot par on a par 3 hole.  The rest of the round was up and down for me.  Some very good shots and some awful ones.  We had a good time, though.

Yesterday my mom and her friend came for a visit.  We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon sitting outside although it was hot again.  Kevin cooked burgers on the grill for dinner.  This was the first time my mom has visited since we began fulltiming.  I think her mind was more at ease when she left.  She was impressed at how nicely we were living.  She also thought we looked so relaxed and stress-free and very healthy :)

Today was laundry day and then I did a little shopping.  I had been given a gift card to Kohls at my work going away party.  Since it has been so hot, I decided I needed some more sleeveless tops.  I was able to find a few; and, of course, being Kohls they were on sale :)

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

Raining Cats and Dogs

OK, it didn’t actually rain cats and dogs, but it did rain a crawfish.  Last night we had thunderstorm and tornado watches.  Luckily, we dodged any severe weather, but it rained very hard much of the night.  Here’s a picture of the sky.  I’ve never seen clouds like this. This morning when we walked out the front door, we saw a crawfish a few feet in front of us.  We are about 100 feet from the river. I’m thinking the only way he got this far from the river is that he fell from the sky :)  It’s fitting that it was a crawfish since we are camped along the Crawfish River.  I was able to put him on a piece of wood and carry him back to the water.  I forgot to take a picture :( 

Here’s a picture of the river from our site.  You can see the rental canoes and kayaks and the dock where people launch them.   People also frequently fish from this dock.

 

This morning the dock is partially submerged.  This is the highest the river has been all summer.  Normally, there is gravel up to the end of the first wooden section of the pier.  The connecting section to the floating dock is always above water.  I’d say the river is at least 10 feet higher at the shore. 

As we took our morning walk, we saw many campsites that are flooded.  Also, the mosquitoes are back with a vengeance.  I can’t recall a summer that has been this hot and humid.  All I can say is thank goodness for air conditioners. 

Today I’m driving into town to pick up our mail from Eric’s house.  He is a heating and air conditioning service technician.  Hopefully, he’ll get off of work early enough so I can take him out for a bite to eat.  As you can imagine, he’s been working many hours lately.

Tomorrow we are headed out to camp with our camping club for the weekend.  The weather forecast is for more of the same; hot and humid.  I’m sure we’ll be spending time in the pool with everyone else in the campground :)

Movies

Kevin and I really like to watch movies.  We’ve subscribed to the 3 movie package with Netflix for several years.  Many weekends we would watch 3 movies in one weekend; especially, on those cold Wisconsin weekends.

This summer we are having the movies sent to our son’s house.  About once a week one of us drives to his house to get our mail, including the movies.  It’s about an hour drive each way, but we figure we have to get our mail anyways so we continue to have the movies sent.

We plan to continue to use his address as our mailing address once we leave for the winter.  I don’t think it will be feasible to continue the Netflix.  From what I understand, most campgrounds don’t let you get personal mail delivered to the campground.

I’m wondering what other fulltimers do about movies.  We do have DirecTV and can watch movies on TV.  We don’t subscribe to any of the movie channels because it doesn’t seem they have that many good movies.  We’re not much into going to the theater due to the cost and convenience of watching at home.  I’m thinking we will try out Redbox as we travel.  I also frequently check out movies at the library.  I’ll have to see how accessible libraries are as we move around.

Two recent movies I’ve enjoyed have been Extraordinary Measures and Valentine’s Day.  We also watched Wolfman which I thought was far too gruesome and Remember Me which was a sad drama with a surprise twist at the end.

It’s not a big deal, but one of those things we enjoyed in our old life and are trying to figure out how to incorporate into our new life.

Yesterday we played another round of golf.  Kevin shot a 47 which was one of his best rounds ever.  I’m still not keeping score.  I did have 4 decent holes with a par on the last hole.  It’s rare for me to get a par, so I was excited about that.  Little by little, I’m improving.  Even though I’m not very good, we have a good time playing together.

Wishing you all a great day!

What Were They Thinking

Yesterday we had an unusual situation with canoe rentals.

Four couples in their 40s rented canoes for the entire day.  It costs $25 per canoe for the day, and the canoes have to be back by 8 pm at the latest.  I explained the rules to them.  They seemed to understand completely.  They told me how they had a handheld GPS and they planned to paddle to a park in Columbus which is 4 miles driving distance from here.  We didn’t know how far it was by canoe, but you’d think with a GPS they could figure that out.  They told me they had a vehicle parked at the park with a picnic lunch waiting for them.  It sounded like fun.  They left a 11 am.

At 4 pm, two of the guys drive up in a truck.  They told us they had a problem.  Apparently, some in the group were too tired and sore to paddle the canoes back.  They wanted us to pick up the canoes at the park or let them use the park’s trailer to get them. 

We weren’t sure what to say.  I went and asked the full-time park attendant what she thought.  She said there was no way we could pick up the canoes or let them use the trailer.  The trailer is used to store the canoes next to the river.  It is not equipped to be on the road.  She said they had never had this situation in the 10 years she’s been here.  People know they have to bring the canoes and kayaks back to us.  We do not transport them.

I told this to the two guys.  They got quite snippy and rude about it.  They had the attitude that since they paid money to rent the canoes, we had to do whatever they wanted.  They went to talk to the park attendant themselves.  Still no go.  The bottom line is they signed a release stating they would return the canoes.

They went off in a huff and said they would figure out a way to drive them back.  One of the couples was camping in a horse trailer.  They hooked up that trailer and brought back all 4 canoes. 

They had a better attitude when they got back.  When they asked us to pick up the canoes, they still had 4 hours to get them back.  They would have been paddling downstream all the way back.  I really think they had just gotten tired and didn’t want to do it anymore. 

Another new camp hosting experience.  Sometimes you just have to wonder what are people thinking!

Unplanned Blood Donation

This small bowl of raspberries cost me about a quart of blood! 

There are many wild raspberry vines growing in the park.  For the past few weeks, I’ve been picking and eating a few each day on our walks.  Yesterday I decided to pick a bowl full. 

As I mentioned earlier, the mosquitoes are ferocious right now.  I covered myself in Deep Woods Off.  I was sure I would be protected enough to pick berries.  As you can see, I didn’t get many. 

I was literally surrounded by those pesky little bugs.  They were buzzing in my ears and swarming all around me.  I gave up rather quickly, but not before they got me several times.  There were some plump mosquitoes after they were finished with me :)

Hopefully, there will still be some berries left by the time the mosquitoes go away!

The weather has turned beautiful this weekend.  The humidity is down and temps are in the mid 80s.  The campground is more than half full and people are enjoying themselves on the river.  We rented all eight of the canoes and kayaks today.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!