New Glarus Brewing Company

I hope all the fathers out there had a happy Father’s Day. Our son Eric was on call for the weekend, so he came out and visited with us last weekend to celebrate Father’s Day.

Yesterday was a beautiful summer day, so we decided to take a little road trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin to tour the New Glarus Brewing Company. They are most famous for their Spotted Cow beer.

The brewery was started in 1993 in an abandoned warehouse with used brewpub equipment. In 2006 they opened a $21 million new facility on a beautiful hillside location on the outskirts of New Glarus. The complex is designed to look like a Bavarian village. They are the 21st largest craft brewery in the country.

We arrived around noon and were surprised how packed the parking lot was. We looked around the gift shop which was doing a brisk business. We followed some signs to the self-guided tour. The facility was big and sparkling clean. There were, however, no signs explaining what we were seeing. Since it was the weekend, none of the machinery was operating. In the bottling area, there was a silent video showing the bottling process.

There was one employee to answer questions. I asked him why the beer was only sold in Wisconsin. He said they can barely keep up with demand for their Wisconsin customers, so there is no need to sell in other states. He was kind enough to take our picture in front of one of the three huge copper vats.

After we wandered around, we went out to the patio beer garden. There were three choices for sampling. Each included a beer glass. Kevin chose the $8 pint option and chose the Totally Naked beer. Refills were available for $5.50, but he didn’t try anything else. They also gave us a coupon for a small tap beer available at several pubs and restaurants in town.

The building had this clock tower. The bells played a song on the hour. It really reminded me of our trip to Germany. There was a beer depot store on site. Twelve packs of their standard beers were selling for $18. That definitely wasn’t any kind of a deal, so we didn’t buy anything. Our impression of the facility was that it is a very nice place, but the tour was disappointing. Some signage would have been very helpful.

The view from the beer garden reminded me of a typical Wisconsin countryside. Rolling hills with green pastures dotted with farms is what you see while driving through much of the state.

We left the brewery and drove back into the downtown area. There were lots of people wandering around the shops, pubs and restaurants. We looked around in some of the shops. New Glarus was founded in 1845 by a group of Swiss immigrants. Most of the buildings are in the Swiss style. I heard quite a bit of German being spoken.

We sampled some cheeses in the cheese shops. We found a pub that had some seating available and Kevin used his coupon to sample another New Glarus beer called Two Women. He enjoyed both beers he tried. After wandering around for a little longer, we headed home.

Strong storms are headed our way for today, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hunker down. We had planned on golfing this afternoon, but I think those plans will have to be cancelled.

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

Happy Anniversary To Us

Today is our 38th wedding anniversary. Wow, time sure does march on. We are certainly blessed to have had so many wonderful years together, and hope for many more so we can fulfill a long bucket list. Mostly mine :)

We have been pretty busy on weekends here at the campground. A few weeks ago, this tent was on the site next to us. Here was the view out of our side window.

They were part of a group here for a family reunion. They’ve been here before, and I finally asked them how they came to have such an unusual tent. It turns out they perform at renaissance fairs. Makes sense. It rained all weekend, so I’m sure they were happy they rented our Quonset shelter. Its not the greatest building as it is rather old and has a few leaks. But, with all the rain that day, they were glad to have it. For $60 a day it’s a great insurance against bad weather.

One of the ladies taking party supplies from their campsite to the shelter had an interesting method. I’m not sure if the dog was any faster than pulling the wagon herself, but it was fun to watch.

I sure was glad to be inside where it was dry and warm.

One of my responsibilities as the park attendant is cleaning bathrooms. We have a nice shower building with flush toilets. Since we only have 24 sites, it doesn’t get very dirty. Once a week I do a thorough cleaning. On weekends, we make sure that supplies don’t run out. I know there are a lot of workampers who don’t want to clean bathrooms, but it is not at all bad at this park.

I sure was surprised last week when I went into the men’s room to check supplies and found this little visitor in the urinal.

I didn’t want to touch him, so I got a plastic cup and scooped him up. He didn’t move, so I think he was dead, but I dropped him outside in the grass just in case he had some life left in him. You can see the other frequent visitor to the urinal. Every week there is at least one of these creepy crawlers in there. I have no idea how these visitors got into the building.

Last night we had a single lady pull in for one night. She said she was on her third day into this, and didn’t seem to know very much at all about her small unit. She asked us where her water tank fill was. She didn’t unhook and never plugged in. This morning this truck pulled in.

He pulled out a battery and jumper cables and went over to her car. Turns out she drained her battery by running her camper off the car all night. I’m often amazed how uninformed many people are about their units. We’ve seen and heard lots of interesting stories. Sometimes the lessons are quite costly.

Speaking of RV problems, we had an unpleasant surprise today. Kevin and I were both working this morning. I was putting out reservations slips on sites. As I walked past our site, I noticed LOTS of water pouring out of the bottom. That’s not good. I called for Kevin and turned off the outside water. Our basement floor was quite wet by this time. As we started pulling out all of our stuff, it started raining. Great!!

Luckily, the Quonset building is not rented this weekend, so we were able to take all of our stuff in there to dry out. Once we got everything out, Kevin removed a side panel in the basement and found the problem rather quickly.  A hose clamp failed and let loose on one of the water lines. He put a new clamp on, and we’re back in business.

During my spare time, I’ve been working on some quilting projects. Here’s one I just finished. It’s about the size of a placemat, but took a long time to finish with all the little details. Its hanging on the wall in our kitchen area, and it makes me smile.

I also made this poppy piece for my mom for Christmas. She can use it as a wall hanging or maybe over the back of a chair or the couch. She doesn’t have a computer, so this won’t be ruining the surprise.

My next project will be some placemats for us.

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

Happy Memorial Day

We hope everyone has enjoyed this Memorial Day weekend. Our campground was completely full, and so we were kept pretty busy. We sold a record amount of firewood. The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday it rained all day and night. It is still rainy this morning, so I’m sure the dump station parade will begin soon.

Overall, everyone was well behaved. We had one person make a big mess in the men’s bathroom. It seems there is always one idiot in the bunch. I am looking forward to the peace and quiet we have during the week.

Our friends Jim and Wendy camped at the site next to us for the weekend. We enjoyed visiting, happy hours, meals, campfires and playing games.

We continue to enjoy watching the hawks in the nest here in the park. Here is one of the adults on a beautiful clear day.

We’ve been able to see one baby. The nest is at least 40 or 50 feet up in a huge tree, so its hard to get a good look. Here’s the baby we have been able to see. It is on the right and is all white. Kevin said it looks like a poodle.

The birdfeeders have also had quite a few visitors. I put some grape jelly and oranges on top of a crate on the ground, and the orioles have been visiting.

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

A Happy Mother’s Day

I hope all the mothers out there had a very happy Mother’s Day. My day was wonderful. The weather was cool and drizzly so the first part of the day was spent just lounging around inside watching some TV, surfing the web and doing some reading. I didn’t even get dressed until the afternoon :)

We met my mom, my brother and his wife, and our son Eric for dinner at The Mineshaft Restaurant in Hartford, Wisconsin. The prices are reasonable and the food is good. Along with good company, it is always a good place to eat. It was great seeing my mom as I haven’t seen her since Christmas. I know she really enjoyed having us all together again.

I love to read, and I just finished a book that I really enjoyed. It was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. This book takes place during WWII and tells the story of a young German boy and a French girl. I really enjoyed their story.

Last year we had a pair of red-tailed hawks build a nest in the park. I was hoping they would be back this year, and sure enough, they are. We’ve seen both of them sitting on the nest and flying around the area. Sometimes on windy days it looks like they are just enjoying soaring along the wind currents.

On Friday I was sitting outside, and suddenly there was a lot of commotion in the sky. I thought it was just the hawks, but then I saw an eagle fly over. I had heard there were eagles in the area, but had not seen one. In fact, I had never seen an eagle in the wild. I was sure excited to have my first eagle sighting. I hope it comes by again!!

Spring is definitely in the air. The dandelions are in full bloom as are some of the flowering trees. It’s funny, but when we had a home, we spent lots of energy getting rid of dandelions. Here in the park, I find them quite pretty. Along with the dandelions, there are tiny purple wild violets blooming in the grass on our site. They are so pretty.

Half of our campsites were occupied this weekend. The weather has been pretty mild this month, and it seems to me that we’ve had more sites occupied this May than in the past. Of course, we are fully booked for Memorial Day weekend, and after that I’m sure we’ll be pretty busy for the rest of the summer.

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

Five Years and a Fish Story

Today is our five year anniversary of full time RVing. Those five years seem to have flown by. As I look back, we have done some travelling to new places, and revisited some favorite places. We’ve spent wonderful quality time with family and friends. Our stress levels have gone way down, and we feel healthier than when we were in the full time work world.

When we started this adventure, we were ten years younger than the average retirement age. We’re now at the half way mark of those ten years, and are so happy we made this decision. For us, it has been a fantastic time. I can’t wait to see what the next five years bring.

This past week was very interesting in a fishy sort of way. You may recall, that I mentioned in last year’s posts that there was a company that was hauling carp out of Beaver Dam Lake, where our park is located. They estimated that they harvested over two million pounds of carp last year.

This week the big flat boats with the nets were back. They came to the bay where our park is located. The first day they dropped their huge net into the lake. One side of the net is anchored to the shore, and then they drag the net out into the lake in a half circle. Once it has been let all the way out, they start pulling it back in, and the fish are pulled closer to shore.  Clicking on the picture will enlarge it. You can then see a boat way out in the lake. That’s how far out the net was, and they had already started hauling it back in.

They kept pulling the net in until they had all the fish rounded up into this cage type structure. You could see the fish jumping around in there.

The next day they came back and started pulling fish out of the cage. Two guys were in the water with large nets and two guys in the boat were pulling them in. One of the guys told me they pulled about 15,000 pounds out that day. Any fish caught in the cage that are not carp, are thrown back into the lake.

Its amazing how much weight those boats can hold. These guys sure work hard. Air temperature that day was around 60 degrees, but that water is still quite cold. I wonder how you find a job harvesting carp.

Here are some of the fish they harvested. Carp are a real problem in many area lakes, and the DNR and local fishermen are thrilled to have them taken out of the lakes. These fish are put on ice and shipped by truck to Chinatown in New York where they are eaten. Funny how a fish that is a blight to us is a treat to others.

Kevin and I are getting into the routine of our jobs here at the park. This is Kevin’s fifth year as park caretaker. He works mainly during the week. I’m learning the ropes of my new job as park attendant. The majority of my hours are on the weekend being available to help people register and selling wood. It’s a pretty easy job, but we are pretty tied down on the weekends.

We really like it here at this quiet and peaceful park. We’d much rather both work here during the summer than go back to Amazon. Although Amazon was a great way to make some quick cash, our work here is much easier.

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

Back in Wisconsin

Our nine day visit in Lincoln with Korey and Cathryn went by all too quickly. We were able to spend some time with the kids, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The weather during the week after Easter was rainy and chilly, so we didn’t get out much. Korey had Wednesday afternoon off, so he came and spent a few hours hanging with his parents. On Thursday, they both came over for dinner. On Friday we took them out to Granite City, one of Kevin’s favorite spots, for dinner.

Saturday was beautiful with a high of 73. It was a bit windy, but still a nice day for a round of golf. The four of us played nine holes. I wasn’t sure how my ankle would hold out, but I wanted to go. We had a riding cart, and my ankle did okay. By the eighth hole, I was limping a bit, but by the next day it was fine again.

Yesterday we arrived back at Derge park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. We got set up, and then drove to the Dodge County Parks office to get the paperwork for our drug screenings. This year Kevin and I are both park employees. I have been hired as the Park Attendant and Kevin is the Park Caretaker again. We will both be working 24 hours a week. The drug screening results take a few days, so by the end of the week we should be cleared to begin working.

Today we’ll be meeting with our new boss, Dan. The previous park foreman retired, so we’ll see if Dan makes any changes in how things are done. We’re very happy to both have a paying job here at Derge Park. We love this park and the peaceful setting.

One thing I do wish we had is 50 amp electric. As with many state and county parks, we only have a 30 amp plug. It’s really not that big of a deal, except that I forgot and already blew the breaker this morning. Yup, running the heat pump and then turning on the fireplace was too much. I just have to get used to being a bit conservative with electrical items again.

This week’s weather is forecast to be sunny in the high 60s all week. Perfect weather to get out and start a walking routine again. Since I sprained my ankle two months ago, I have not been doing much exercising. The scale has reflected that fact, so its time to get serious about getting rid of those dreaded extra pounds.

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

A Joyous Easter

We hope all of you had a joyous Easter day. We sure did!

Its been several years since we’ve been able to spend Easter with Korey, so it was a real treat to spend the day with Korey and Cathryn. Of course, we missed the rest of our family; but did call them and had a nice conversation with everyone in Wisconsin.

We started the day by attending church where Cathryn sings in the Celebration Choir. She’s the one in the middle behind the little girl. They sang two beautiful songs including the Hallelujah Chorus, which is one of my favorites.

Then we headed back to their apartment where we were treated to a delicious ham dinner. After dinner, we took a walk around their neighborhood on a sunny 70 degree day. Some of the trees are starting to bloom in Lincoln. Sure was a beautiful day.

After the walk, it was time for dessert. I brought poppy seed cake. This is one of Kevin and Korey’s favorites. The recipe is from Kevin’s mom and has lots of steps, so I usually only make it once or twice a year.

We sure appreciate that we were able to spend the day with our kids. In order to be here in time, we did three long travel days getting from Phoenix to Lincoln.

Both of us were ready to get out of the Arizona heat, but because we didn’t do a gradual trek north; we were in for a bit of a weather shock.

The first night we stayed at Enchanted Trails RV Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s a Passport America park and a great place for a one night stop. It was quite windy, but we were glad we weren’t there a day later. They were expecting 60 mph wind gusts the next day.

Originally, we planned to stop the next night in the Denver area. The weather forecast was for snow and below freezing temps that night in the Denver area, so we made a motel reservation at the Super 8 in Fort Morgan, Colorado rather than mess around with setting the RV up in cold and snow.

I learned an important lesson about believing what you read on websites. The Super 8 in Fort Morgan claimed to have parking for semis and RVs. The last hour drive before we arrived was in sleet, so we were ready to call it a day. When we got there, Kevin had to weave through an Arby’s parking lot to get to the hotel. The parking lot was not at all large. Luckily, we were there early enough so there weren’t that many cars. The office lady told us to park along the perimeter, taking up a whole row of parking spaces. By morning, the lot was full, and Kevin had to again weave through the lot to get out. I’ll definitely be calling ahead if we ever do this again.

It ended up snowing about an inch overnight, but the roads were just wet in the morning. It sure was cold out; only 27 degrees when we left. As we continued our drive through Colorado, there was some snow and ice in the fields; a very pretty site. By the time we reached Nebraska, the snow was gone.

Today is a super special day for Wisconsin sports fans. It is opening day for the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. Our son Eric is lucky enough to be attending. Tonight the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team is playing in the final game of the NCAA March Madness tournament. They haven’t won it since 1941, so I’m sure all of Wisconsin has high hopes. The semi-final game against Kentucky was very exciting. After some of the poor sportsmanship shown by a few Kentucky players, I’m glad Wisconsin beat them.

We'll be seeing Korey and Cathryn a few more times this week. Our plan is to leave here next Sunday and arrive in Wisconsin on Monday.

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