I’ve Arrived

Just a quick note to say that I arrived safely yesterday afternoon at Camp Emmaus in Menahga, Minnesota. It was a 7.5 hour uneventful drive. That’s always a good thing.

It was cool when I got here late yesterday afternoon. During the night we had thunderstorms and it’s overcast and cool again today. It’s supposed to clear up later today and be sunny and warm tomorrow. I’ll take some pictures when the weather is a bit nicer.

This week there are elementary and middle school groups at camp. I’d forgotten how noisy a bunch of kids can be. We eat with them in the dining hall, and its fun to watch them enjoying camp.

Korey’s girlfriend Cathryn will be here soon. I’ll post pictures later in the week. I’m so happy to be spending time with the two of them!

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

You Asked For It

Thanks for the anniversary wishes. Several of yesterdays comments asked for a picture of my new hairdo. You asked for it, you got it. As much as I bug others to take their picture, I don’t like having mine taken. But, here goes.

I had highlights put in which I really like. It now has that sun-kissed look. My hair had been short since I was ten years old. Two years ago when we started full-timing, I decided to grow it long so I could just put it in a ponytail and not have to worry about wind and humidity.

It has taken some getting used to. It was cut in a blunt style, but the back had this strange wave in it and it just wasn’t working. Yesterday she cut lots of layers into it. I like it much better. I think it will be much more manageable when its not in a ponytail. I plan to grow it even longer and have more layers cut into it. We’ll see how it goes.

Our weather last weekend was very hot and humid. Last night a cold front came through and this morning it was in the 50s again. It’s been like a yo-yo around here. We golfed this morning, but between the very slow group in front of us and the strong winds, it wasn’t the greatest round. Oh well, we still had a good time together.

I’m packing for my trip to Korey’s tomorrow. I’m so excited to see him!

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

Thirty-Five Wonderful Years

Today is our 35th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do anything much to celebrate because the cruise to Hawaii in January was our anniversary trip.

On Friday we did go out for a fish fry dinner at a place in Beaver Dam called Walkers. We had heard from several people that they have good food.

I thought the food was just average. They advertise their fresh baked pies, so I bought a piece of lemon meringue pie to take home for later. What a disappointment. I’ve never had such terrible meringue, it was like rubber. So, Walkers was a bust, and we won’t be eating there again.

Today I had my hair highlighted and cut. I really like how it turned out. Kevin worked and tonight we’re having leftovers for dinner. Tomorrow we’ll be golfing. Even though we aren’t doing anything special to celebrate, we are grateful for 35 wonderful years together.

On Wednesday I’m driving to Minnesota to visit our son Korey at the camp he works at. They are having staff family weekend again. I had a great time visiting him last year and am very much looking forward to this visit. I’ll be staying until Sunday and then driving back to have Father’s Day dinner with Kevin. Our son Eric will be visiting the week after Father’s Day because he’s on call that weekend.

Korey’s girlfriend Cathryn will also be at camp for a day. I haven’t seen her in two years so am very excited to see them both. 

My post yesterday on the cost of weddings brought some interesting comments. Sounds like most of you agree with my views. I really like Janie’s point stating “my big fear is they place so much importance on the wedding ceremony and not enough on the marriage itself”. After all, there wouldn’t be a TV show about Bridezillas if some people didn’t go overboard!

We had quite the pig out at the birdfeeder this morning. There were lots of sparrows all vying for a spot. It was a hoot to watch. Can you see the two on the right trying to get a spot at the feeder? The corn behind us is really growing fast. It seems like it grows a couple of inches a day.

 

I picked these pretty wildflowers on my walk last week. I pulled out the WonderVase I bought on eBay last year. I didn’t use it much over the winter since there aren’t many wildflowers to pick in the desert :) I like this little vase. It folds flat for storage, and is easy to set up for use.

 

 

 

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

A First For The Park

Yesterday there was a wedding in the park. As far as anyone connected with the parks can remember, there has never been a wedding in the park before.

It was a pretty small affair. I would estimate there were maybe 60 to 70 people in attendance. They rented our Quonset hut for the day on Saturday and held the ceremony outside in the park.

On Friday evening they came and set up an arch and some chairs in the shade. What a beautiful location to have a wedding ceremony. You can’t see it from this angle, but the lake is behind the arch making for a beautiful view.

They also did some decorating in the hut on Friday evening. It’s not the most beautiful location for a reception, but the price is right. It costs $55 for the day to rent it and they were only charged for one day even though we let them in on Friday evening to set up and on Sunday morning to clean up. Can’t beat that price.

Saturday’s weather was fantastic. It got a little warm with highs near 90, but the dew point was low. There was a bit of a breeze to help keep you comfortable. We sat out in the shade and watched the festivities.

There were about 30 cars here. We don’t have parking for that many cars, but since it was so dry we let them park on the grass. Once the reception got underway, they opened the back garage door you can see above. They had a bunch of picnic tables outside and spent most of their time outside. Eating was done inside.

Do you see the lake behind them? A beautiful site for a beautiful wedding.

One of the attendees told us it would be an Indian wedding. We weren’t sure what to expect. I believe the groom was Native American. The music and the man who conducted the ceremony were Native American. Otherwise, it was pretty much a standard ceremony, although very short.

They had a sound system set up so there was music and dancing after they ate. The wedding was at 1 pm and then they went right on with the reception. Originally they had asked if they could use the building until 11 pm. Normally, the rental period ends at 8:30 pm. Kevin said sure, but with such an early start they were actually out of there by 8:30. Several of them had rented campsites, and those that remained enjoyed a campfire. This morning they’re out there cleaning up.

This event got me to thinking about how Americans spend money. I just happened to hear on the news last week that the average cost of a wedding is now $27,000. Yesterday showed that it can be done for much less money and still be a meaningful and wonderful event.

Neither of our boys are married yet, so we haven’t had the joy of a wedding for our children. I don’t know that I’d be happy with the Quonset hut for a reception, but I also don’t buy into the media and marketing people’s idea that the more you spend the happier you’ll be. Our lifestyle is an example of how that’s just not true.

So, kudos to these families for putting on a beautiful wedding for their children on a limited budget. I’m sure their memories will be just as wonderful as if they had had a huge, expensive event.

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

I’m Sore!

Yesterday I was back at Eric’s house doing some painting on his garage. Last summer he redid the siding on his garage. It looked so nice, but the trim around the doors, the window and the top needed to be painted. As you can see, the paint was peeling.

He left me a 12 foot ladder to get the job done. I had no idea how big a 12 foot ladder is. It was too heavy for me to lift so I managed to get it set up and then dragged it around the garage. The routine was drag the ladder a few feet to the next spot, climb up and scrape the old paint off, climb down and get the paint can, climb up and paint the section. Move ladder and repeat. That was a lot of climbing up and down the ladder which has me rather sore today. I guess I’m not as spry as I used to be :)

I got all of the trim painted with the primer paint. I will have to go back and do the top coat in a few weeks. Next time I told him to leave me a smaller ladder. The next coat should be much easier because I won’t have to do any scraping.

Eric is very appreciative of the work I’m doing for him. And while I’m there, I get to use his washer and dryer and do our laundry. So, everyone wins.

Last weekend was very nice here in the park. About half of our sites were occupied. We had a nice group of campers and the weather was great.

One day last week a large truck pulled up to the boat dock across the road. There was a large water tank on the back. Two guys got out of the truck and began scooping fish out of the tank. They filled a five gallon bucket and released the fish into the lake. All in all, they released five buckets of little fish into the lake. They told Kevin they were from the DNR and were releasing Northerns.

The birdfeeder continues to be a busy place. We have lots of little sparrows visit on a regular basis. They knock lots of the seeds onto the ground when they are at the feeder. I had some grape jelly on the ground under the feeder and some of the seeds got into the jelly. This oriole seemed to like it just fine.

A blue jay also visited under the feeder. I’ve heard that they are very aggressive and mean birds. I think this must be true. Usually there are lots of birds around the feeder. But when the blue jay was there, no other birds came to the feeder.

Yesterday there were two birds at the feeder that I’ve never seen before. At first glance I thought they were orioles. Then I realized that they had yellow heads instead of yellow chests. I did a little research, and I believe they are yellow headed blackbirds. Very cool. As you can see, the sparrows were right there next to them.

On Monday we golfed. We both had decent rounds. I am definitely playing better this year. I guess the saying that practice makes perfect is true. I’m far from perfect, but playing more than a few times a year seems to be helping my game. We had a great time.

I’m not a very political person, but I must say that I’m very happy with the results of yesterday’s recall election in Wisconsin. Regardless of your political affiliation, I was very disturbed by this entire recall process. I believe the laws regarding a recall were meant to be for someone who was guilty of moral misconduct in office. I don’t believe a recall should be allowed because a group of people didn’t like a policy that was enacted.

It’s great to see that the democratic process is still alive and well. The people have spoken. Hopefully, this type of foolishness is over once and for all!

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

*Safety Sign*

Have you ever needed a special sign? Whether you are an individual or a business, safetysign.com may have exactly what you need.
They have a large selection of traffic and road signs. These can be ordered from their stock supply or customized. Their site has a live chat feature so you can get immediate answers. You can also contact them at their toll free number.
I can definitely think of several signs a campground could use such as “Slow Children Playing” or just signs saying “Slow” or “Stop”.
If you need a street sign, they have those as well. Wouldn’t it be fun to order a custom street sign with your family name or a special slogan. They have aluminum novelty signs just for that purpose.
There products are made in the USA. If you are in need of any signs, you might want to check them out.

Back to Peace and Quiet

The busy weekend is behind us, and we’re back to our wonderful quiet and peaceful park.

All 24 of our sites were booked for the long weekend. On Friday morning we played 9 holes of golf. We had a great time. Kevin had an excellent round. I felt like I was hitting the ball much better.

By the time we returned around noon, several campers were already here and they kept on coming until it was almost dark. Although there were many people around here all weekend, we had no problems. Everyone behaved very well.

Most of our sites were booked by four separate groups. Because each group only had one campfire, we didn’t sell as much wood as we expected to for a long weekend.

Our friends Jim and Wendy had the site next to us booked. They arrived late Saturday afternoon. We played some games, enjoyed a few meals together and visited around the campfire.

The weather was quite a mixed bag. We had rain both Friday and Saturday evening which put a literal damper on campfires. Sunday had temperatures in the low 90s and high humidity. Monday was very windy with storms predicted.

The exodus Monday began pretty early and by noon almost everyone was gone. Storms did come through Wisconsin late Monday afternoon, but we were spared anything serious. Just a little rain and some distant thunder and lightning. Other areas weren’t so lucky. Not too far from us there was large hail and some building fires caused by lightning.

The boat dock across the road was also very busy all weekend. Because of the off and on rain showers, boats were in and out all weekend long. I don’t think that boating would be for us.

The orioles have discovered the food I’ve put out for them. This guy is enjoying one of the oranges I stuck to the top of my shepherd hook.

I also put some grape jelly out for them. I have seen some orioles eating the jelly, but this little bunny was checking it out as well. He must not have liked it because he didn’t stay long.

This is our second summer at this park. Park visitors have told us they’ve seen deer, but we never have. That is until last week. These three deer were running through the field right behind us. I hope they don’t discover my garden.

Sunday night was the last episode of Harry’s Law. We’ve really enjoyed this show for the two years it was on. I was sure bummed when I read that it has been cancelled. According to what I read online, it was the second most watched show on NBC, but they cancelled it anyway. Apparently, it doesn’t fit the demographics they’re looking to attract. Not enough young people watched it. I guess we old folks don’t matter.

We don’t have any big plans for this week. Kevin will be working his 24 hours in the park. I plan to wash my car and go through the bedroom closet to get rid of some stuff we haven’t used.

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