Photo Book

I had gotten a code from Coke for a free photo book using Shutterfly. I spent about ten hours creating it. I decided to do a book about our trips to National Parks. I didn't realize we've been to 30 National Parks. Only 28 to go. I'm sure we won't make it to all of them as some of them are only accessible by boat or are in the Alaskan Tundra. But, we sure have made a nice dent in them.

The book wasn't really free. I added some embellishments and had to pay for shipping, so it ended up costing me $12.60. The value of the book itself is $23.99, so it's still a nice deal. I think it turned out really nice, and I'm very excited to see what it will look like. It was fun making it and reliving some of the memories we've made.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Another Family Visit

Last Sunday Kevin’s sister Mary and her daughter’s family came for a visit. Our niece Terri is married to Rick and between them they have four children. We had a very nice visit. The kids are certainly growing up and were very well behaved.

Terri’s birthday is a week after mine, so Rick bought a cake and he put both of our names on it. Thanks Rick!

 

 

 

We supplied a picnic supper of burgers and hot dogs, and they brought the cake for dessert. It was a very nice afternoon.

Sunday night brought a gorgeous sunset. I sure do love beautiful sunsets.

We’ve had some interesting dogs in the park this week. A few years ago when we were in California we did see some dogs in strollers, but this is the first one we’ve seen in Wisconsin. What’s up with that?

A couple camped two sites from us have a Great Dane. It is one of the best behaved dogs I’ve seen. It doesn’t bark and is very calm. I’m sure it’s a great watch dog, though. If I saw that dog, I wouldn’t be messing with their stuff.

Today I went to a Salmon sale in the parking lot of the local grocery store. There was a truck in the lot selling Great Lakes Salmon for $2.99 a pound. They had a tent set up and were doing a brisk business. They would even filet it for you free of charge. You pay for the whole fish, but it was still a good deal. I got four meals for under $30. I did have to stand in line for 45 minutes. I guess I’m not the only person in Beaver Dam who likes Salmon and a good deal.

The last two weekends have been pretty quiet in the park. We’ve been a little less than half full. That’s fine with me. I’m getting antsy to get on the road again. We have about six weeks left, and I’m ready to be moving again.

Several of our friends are coming camping at our park for Labor Day Weekend, so that should be a good time. We are completely sold out next weekend. Between our friends and the other campers, we’ll be plenty busy.

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

Cleaning

Last year when we arrived back in Wisconsin, our RV home was covered in sand inside and out. We had spent a month during March and April traveling through New Mexico with lots of wind and blowing sand. I did a thorough spring cleaning including the inside of all cabinets and some very thorough vacuuming.

Although we didn’t have nearly as much blowing sand on our trip back to Wisconsin this year, I decided it was a good idea to do a thorough spring cleaning each year.

When we got back in April, it pretty much rained the first three weeks we were here. (Little did we know that when it stopped raining, it would stop for six weeks and we’d be in a severe drought.) Once the rain stopped, Kevin and I washed the outside of our home.

I went through all the cabinets, drawers and closets and cleaned all surfaces. While I was at it, I also got rid of stuff we no longer needed. It’s amazing how you can still accumulate stuff you don’t need in a smaller living space.

My next project was going to be cleaning all the wood surfaces inside with Orange Glo. This is such a great product. It cleans and polishes in one step. After months in the dry southwest, it keeps the wood from drying out too much, and it looks so fresh and clean when I’m done. By the time I was ready to start on the woodwork, the temps had gotten so hot. I didn’t feel like cleaning in the heat. I also wanted to have the doors and windows open. The product has a nice citrus scent, but I like to have ventilation when using cleaning products. So, I finally was able to get to this project this week. Our weather has been cooler. It’s actually raining again today. The next cleaning project will be a good deep vacuuming and then I’m done cleaning again until next spring. I wish :)

So, now that I’ve bored you to tears, I’ll finish up. There just isn’t too much to blog about when you’re parked in one spot for several months.

The corn behind us is attracting lots of birds. Dozens of sparrows sit atop the plants. I’m not sure why, but I wonder if they eat part of the corn tassels.

In my last blog, I mentioned that the Beaverland Must-Skis Water Ski Team were going to compete at the National Competition. Congratulations to them for finishing 10th in the nation. I also told you that they were only one of four teams in the nation that had been able to complete a five level pyramid. They did it in practice, and have a picture on their website to prove it. Take a look if you’re interested. I waterskied as a kid, so I really appreciate the talent and dedication required to achieve this accomplishment.

Tomorrow is my 55th birthday, and I haven’t been this happy to celebrate a birthday for some time. I become eligible to collect my pension, and will receive my first payment on October 1st. Yippee!!

Kevin and I plan to golf tomorrow morning and go out for a fish fry for dinner. We don’t do presents anymore. At this stage of our life, we have everything we need. And, if we want or need something we buy it. For us, time together is the best gift of all.

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

Visitors and Waterski Show

Kevin’s cousin Mark was in town two weekends ago for a wedding. I read his post on Facebook saying he and his son RJ were on their way to Wisconsin, so I invited them to come visit us if they had time. They got here on Sunday evening and pitched their tent on our site. We enjoyed a great visit around the campfire. The next morning we prepared breakfast and then they were on their way to the Apostle Islands and Lake Superior. You may remember we visited Mark and his family when we were in Colorado in September of 2010. It was great seeing them!
This past Saturday Kevin’s brother Joe and his wife Julie came from Iowa to visit us. They arrived Saturday afternoon. We sat outside for a while until some thunderstorms sent us inside. After dinner, the rains stopped and we enjoyed a campfire. They spent the night at a motel in Beaver Dam. We joined them for breakfast Sunday morning, and then they headed home. It was another great visit.
The rain brought some much needed cooler weather. All of last week was still hot and humid with highs every day in the 90s. Yesterday was an absolutely fantastic day. The high temperature was 78 degrees and the humidity was low. I sure hope the heat is over for this summer.
Last night we went to see the Beaver Dam Must-Skis waterski team perform on Beaver Dam Lake. Last week they placed 7th at the state competition and are competing at Nationals next weekend. The announcer told us that they were able to build a pyramid last Thursday during practice that was five levels high. There are only four teams in the country that have done that. They’re hoping to accomplish that stunt at the national competition. Apparently, the water was too rough last night to try it so we saw their normal pyramid. Still very impressive!


This doubles pair placed third in the state. Quite a few of the acts fell last night. They say that a poor dress rehearsal brings good luck. So, hopefully they’ll do very well at the national competition :)





They had a group of four guys who did jumps off a ramp. Pretty amazing stuff.

These twenty-two lovely ladies made up the ballet line.

Kevin and I went golfing today. We skipped last week because of the heat. I guess we were a bit rusty because we both had pretty poor scores. Kevin’s drives were awesome, but he struggled with his short game. I started slow, but my last three holes were pretty decent. Oh well, I knew my last round was too good to be true. I guess there’s always next time.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!