Flamingo on a Stick

A Walk through the Woods

2012-02-28T18:21:00.000-06:00

Image from Amazon see link
but don't click until you get there. :)

Recently John and I both read a book that was recommended to us by our friends, Jim and Wendy in Houston. The book A Walk through the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail written by Bill Bryson. Jim said he thought this guy wrote a lot like John (when we get him to write) and interestingly enough to us, he grew up in Iowa. Bryson was actually a travel writer for many years in England and traveled all throughout Europe and has written columns and books about some of those adventures. This book was written after he had returned to the US and was living in New Hampshire, not far from the Appalachian trail.

I know many of my fellow RVers and bloggers like to hike and for that reason I think you will enjoy this book. Bryson decides to start at the southern end of the trail and hike it north. He starts early in the spring as the trail is approximately 2100 miles from Georgia to Maine. If you want to hike the whole trail it takes until fall and the snow is falling again.

One of the interesting things in reading this book is learning all the history of the trail and all its unique traits and changes over the years. I learned about the demise of the chestnut trees, the workings (or not workings) of the park service, and a lot of mountains that I had no idea about. I think, like Mr. Bryson, I find the idea of doing a hike like this a romantic idea and part of me sees doing something like this as a challenge. However, after reading the book I think hiking parts of it would be enough for me.

Mr. Bryson is a somewhat irreverent fella and I did enjoy some of his observations. Here is one that actually appeals to me about a long journey:

“Time ceases to have any meaning. When it is dark, you go to bed, when it is light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It’s quite wonderful really.”

One observation that really made me laugh was a result of his research on bears before he left and a story he’d read of a group of bears coming into a camp.

“What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why I would die of course. Literally shit myself lifeless. I would blow my sphincter out my backside like one of those unrolling paper streamers you get at children’s parties - I daresay it would even give a merry toot - and bleed to a messy death in my sleeping bag.” As you can see, he has a gift for description that can be both crass and funny at the same time. I found myself laughing out loud several times as I read.

So for those of you who enjoy a good hike and like a good book, you may find this a good read. I plan on reading a few of his other books as well. And to Jim and Wendy, thanks, Bill Bryson definitely has John’s sense of humor and his way with words too. :)

A beautiful Texas sunset

Happy Trails.......................

San Antonio and Luckenbach

2012-02-26T16:58:00.000-06:00

The Alamo

It has been a good week here in the Hill Country. The weather has been a little up and down. Hot for a couple days and then the last few have been cool and breezy. On one of those warm days (Wednesday) we decided to drive down to San Antonio for the day. I tried to get us to a place that our friend Gayle recommended for breakfast but between the traffic and a train we had to wait for, we decided to just take off walking on the on the River Walk. We have been to San Antonio twice before, once with kids and then on John’s 50th birthday. He turns 60 in a couple months so that means it’s been almost 10 years.

Zuni's cafe patio on the River Walk

We started looking for a place for lunch when we noticed one restaurant was still serving breakfast, John’s favorite, so we ate at the Zuni cafe. It is so wonderful to be able to sit outside and enjoy our meal. Their breakfast is excellent; they have wonderful pancakes with cinnamon. We continued our walk and headed up to Alamo Plaza. We’ve been inside the Alamo both times on our previous visits so this time we just walked around. We went back and finished up a nice long walk along the River Walk and then headed back. I know there are other things we could have done but knowing we had to drive back made us want to head out before rush hour.

We did get one more warm day on Thursday so we spent most of it outside getting our workouts in and just relaxing. We’ve gotten to know a few of the people here in the park so we invited two of the couples down for happy hour. It was fun to just sit around and talk. Both couples are from the Midwest, one from Missouri the other from Michigan. The couple from Michigan are snowbirds that have been coming to Texas for many years and have stayed many different areas. It was fun to hear about all the things they’ve done in the area over the years.

Alamo Plaza

Friday was a cold windy day so we used it to just catch up around the rig. Saturday started out looking the same but then the wind calmed down and we decided it would be a good day to check out Luckenbach and do a few errands on our way through Kerrville, so off we went.

Luckenbach was made famous by Willie Nelson and is still a place for great music. It really isn’t a town, just a bar, gift shop and dance hall. It was still a little cool so we looked for a nice spot in the sun to listen to the music. This is a big spot for bikers to stop. There were lots of great Harley’s and other assorted bikes in the lot and later a group of vintage muscle cars showed up. The music was hosted by Jimmy Lee Jones and it really is whoever shows up and joins in and it really was a group of talented country musicians.

We found a table out in the sun across from a very fun couple, Karen and John. They are retired and living in San Miguel, Mexico. John is from Texas so he is showing Karen Texas and then they are headed towards Taos to hopefully find a place there for the summer. It was fun talking about the different ways we’ve chosen to live. They gave us some sites to check into coming to Mexico for awhile. You never know, we just may.

Intersesting bike,how do like that trunk?

Luckenbach Dance Hall

Another great bike

the classic muscle cars

While the four of us were chatting, a family joined us at the table. What a small world, the father/grandfather in the group grew up on Iowa and the son Rick was a fraternity brother of John’s (same fraternity, different colleges). It all made for very lively conversation and kept us there until almost dinner time. Karen and John were staying in Fredericksburg so they asked us to join them at The Brewery for dinner. It was a fun meal with new friends and it just supports my belief that the best part of this life are the people you meet along the way.

Karen and John

Our time in the Hill Country is coming to a close; we still have this week but will be leaving on Friday or Saturday morning. We have enjoyed our time in Texas but I’m ready to head to areas that offer a little more in the way of hiking so our next stop will be New Mexico (with an overnight in Fort Stockton). I think we have decided on staying at Elephant Butte state park for a week. We were there last spring and it’s a beautiful park.

Happy Trails......................

Bandera, Texas

2012-02-21T18:31:00.001-06:00

Downtown Bandera, Texas

We had a couple days of heavy rains but Sunday it cleared up and the blue Texas sky returned. Can’t let a day like this go by so after our workouts, we cleaned up (necessary for any outing in public) and headed to Bandera. We talked to a few folks and they said there wasn’t a whole lot in Bandera so we figured and afternoon was plenty.

Bandera is about 20 miles south of us and is considered the cowboy capital of the world. I think that is a proper description. As we got to the downtown area there was a little bit of a back up as a group on horseback was going down the road. Leading the group was something I am sure you only see in Texas. I’ll let the photo do the talking.

Only in Texas!

After perusing the shops,not all were open, we decided to stop at the Chickin’ Coop for a beer as they had an outdoor area and it would be a shame to be inside on a day like today. Interestingly enough they had a big screen TV out on the porch area and as a special treat it was turned to hockey! We rarely get to see hockey anymore so we settled in to watch the Bruins and the Wild. We were so comfortable here we grabbed a menu and decided to order lunch. The waitress was great and explained that all there burgers were fresh meat from the butcher shop next door and that they make their own onion rings too so of course we ordered a burger and rings (just one as we are trying to cut down, so now we share). I have to say it was one of the best burgers we have had and the onion rings were also great. This bar also has live music and so we did get to listen to some local music too and it was pretty good. We’ve decided we may have to make another trip to Bandera for a burger before we leave.

I like this sign inside the Chickin Coop

Besides cowboys, there is another group that seems to congregate here and that is bikers, lots and lots of bikers. There were several bars that look like they cater to that crowd so if you have a bike this may be the place for you. John being a former biker (Harley guy) was enjoying checking out all the bikes.

So in spite of the fact there isn’t a lot to do in Bandera we really enjoyed our afternoon here. We definitely think it is worth the drive and maybe a weekend is the best when there is a little more going on. Tomorrow we are headed to San Antonio for the day. We have visited this city a couple times before in our pre-RV days. We’ve always enjoyed the Riverwalk and our friend Gayle has suggested another spot to check out so off we go. We will actually have to get a little earlier than usual (if you know us you know we are not morning people) but I think we can handle it.

Beautiful end to a beautiful day!

Happy Trails..........................................

Fun with New Friends

2012-02-17T13:07:00.000-06:00

Pretty sky over the Triple T Resort

Wednesday night we got together with the Brights. The lodge here is actually nicer than I first thought. The day I was up there I really didn’t explore enough but Sheryl showed me that there was also a library and kitchen area along with the pool table, ping pong table and big screen TV. We met up at the lodge for games. Now John and I don’t know a lot of card games but we are always open to learning. I know that seems odd to a lot of people but we didn’t grow up in card playing families and with our kids we played more board games than cards. So now we are learning.

John at the pool table in the lodge

Jeff and Sheryl are a lot of fun. The guys played some pool while Sheryl and I played an interesting game of ping pong. Out went the rules; we figured if we could just keep the ball on the table and going back and forth that was good enough for us. I mean who really cares how many times it bounces on the way there?! The we sat down to learn a few games. First up we played a game called golf, simple and fun. Next up we learned to play Skip Bo, I really enjoyed that one. Last up we played Left-Right-Center which is a dice game and great for winning (or losing) some laundry money. Luckily they took pity on us beginners and we just used chips instead of money. It was a good night for making new friends and lots of laughs. Laughing, I think, is one of the best and healthiest activities in life!

Thursday morning it was time for the Brights to move on so wished them well and safe travels. The truly best part of this lifestyle are the people you meet. Thanks Sheryl and Jeff!

Jeff and Sheryl, we actually were having more fun than it looks like in this photo.

Thursday was cloudy but decent weather, they keep forecasting rain but we’ve only had a little until today (Friday) and it looks like we will have scattered showers throughout the day. That’s ok as we need to do a few errands and I really need to do laundry. Yep, even in this lifestyle we have to do the chores.

We have about 2 weeks left here and we still want to go to Luckenbach, Bandera, and San Antonio. There also a few more wineries to check out. One of the nice things about staying a month is being able to spread the sightseeing out a little more, nice slow pace. The bad thing is at about 2 weeks I start getting hitch itch. I have tried to combat that by planning out our spring and fall trips. I did make reservations at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village for the last week of March and one for Custer State Park in South Dakota next August. I usually don’t make reservations that far ahead but these are both places that fill up early. I waited a little too long to do the Grand Canyon and instead of April I had to go with March. I went ahead and booked Custer, knowing that August is prime family vacation time and it gives us a time frame to leave Iowa and head to Washington State. I have both trips, spring and fall, loosely mapped out and I am still doing the research for campgrounds. I always know that these plans will probably change and evolve as we go but I like having a loose framework for our travels.

Happy Trails...........................

Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T10:49:00.000-06:00

Hope y’all (I’ve been in the south now for months so the language is wearing off on me) had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and were able to spend it with someone you love. Our day was excellent! The sun was shining, the temperature perfect, I don’t know if it gets much better than that.

The patio at Grape Juice

We got up and got our workouts in so we could spend Valentine’s Day having a late lunch in Kerrville. I had checked out a restaurant/bar/wine shop called the Grape Juice online and it looked like an interesting place for our lunch. I checked the menu online and one of the things that intrigued me were the selection of antelope burgers and quail that was local to Texas. I really like to patronize places that strive to use local products. We’ve been to other restaurants that use local produce, cheeses and local grass feed beef. I truly believe that keeping it local makes for fresher better tasting food and helps local economies. So off we went to the Grape Juice.

Jordan, our server.

We arrived around 2:30 so there were only a couple folks there and they serve lunch until 3. The other draw for John is they have about 20 unique beers on tap. As you may have figured out John is a beer guy and loves to try different crafted brews. An extra treat for both of us is the patio seating. On a beautiful day like today eating on the patio is the best. We each had a couple different beers and excellent meals. John tried the antelope sliders and I had a Mediterranean pasta. For wine lovers out there they also have a great wine list. Our server Jordan was a wealth of information and a very nice young man. We also chatted with the owner on the way out. I’m so glad we found this place.

So if you find yourself in Kerrville and want a slightly more upscale meal I would highly recommend Grape Juice. Finding these gems as we travel makes life a treat.

Happy Trails.....................

What a difference a day makes

2012-02-13T21:32:00.003-06:00

Yesterday it was high in the 40s with rain and sleet. Today sunny and high 60s. Wow is it beautiful. Got our workouts in, went grocery shopping and then stopped by to meet the Brights who are now in our park. So much fun to meet other full timers and fellow bloggers. Tomorrow is Valentine's day, hope you all get to spend it with the one you love!

Happy trails......................

LBJ Ranch and "Texas White House"

2012-02-12T14:35:00.001-06:00

Longhorn on the LBJ Ranch, these fellas are huge!

Yesterday turned out to be a very blustery day. Our original plan was to go to Luckenbach to listen to some music but it was just too cold for that so we changed it up and headed to the LBJ Ranch and historic site. We had heard it was mainly a car tour so we could stay nice and warm.

This park is both a State Park and a National Park and the amazing thing is the only charge is $2 for the ranger led tour of the Johnson Texas White House. When he donated the house and land, President Johnson felt it belonged to the people and wanted to make it affordable for all. What a great concept.

John with statue of President Johnson

LBJ is really the first US president I remember much about. I was 8 years old when President Kennedy was assassinated and I remember that event but not much else. LBJ in my memory was a bigger than life character. When I would see him on TV or hear him talk he would remind me of my grandfather, but Texan style. Until going through this exhibit, I didn’t realize what a difficult hand he was dealt as president. He inherited a war he didn’t want but felt compelled to finish, and a civil rights movement in full swing that he felt passionate about. He also had a compassion for the plight of the poor and a compelling desire to improve education. Did you know he was a teacher before he became a politician? I was also impressed with the amount he accomplished in his presidency. I think he is remembered more for all that happened in Vietnam and forgotten are the strides made in civil rights and education.

Many books now have been written about what a difficult man he could be. He was known as the Great Persuader. The ranger on our tour was great about presenting both sides of the story and I appreciate that. Perhaps it was the powerful and stubborn will that led to him to accomplish so much in such a short time as president. I also didn’t remember that he was only 64 when he died. He died the day after then President Nixon called to tell him we had signed a peace accord with North Vietnam.

Our welcoming committee. :)

The farmhouse

Back to the tour, at the state park visitor center they give you a cd that will narrate your car tour and explain the places you can stop and visit. There is a living history farm that is part of the tour and you can drive to it or walk a trail to it. We decided we needed to get a little exercise in so even though it was chilly we walked over to the Saur-Beckman Living History farm. You are greeted in the farm yard with colorful chickens pecking the ground. This is a working farm and they use volunteers and work campers who dress in period costumes. We talked to several who were recruiting and they actually help tend the animals, milk the cows and demonstrate many activities on the farm. I was impressed with how well kept up the farm was. After enjoying the farm life we headed back to the truck, put the cd in and listened to the narration as we drove around. We did stop at the house where LBJ was born and the cemetery where he and Lady Bird are buried. Then it was on to the house and the tour.

The Texas White House

Air Force One at the hanger

House for the Secret Service detail

Adjacent to the house, there is a runway and hangar where a medium size jet was parked that acted as Air Force One back in the day to bring him to the ranch as they couldn’t land a larger jet here (any plane the president is on becomes Air Force One). I found the house to be very surprising. It was known as the “Texas white house” because LBJ used it for much more than just as a retreat. Though there is lots of land, the house is surprisingly modest in size. The interior has been restored to a 60s decor like it would have been during his presidency. I think many of us would remember some of that furniture and the color schemes; it really made me smile. You also get a sense of Lady Bird’s influence in the house too. It really has only been a few years since her passing (2007) and she lived here until that time. They don’t allow photos inside the house so I only have a few outside. This tour is well worth the $2 and I am so glad I visited this site. Thanks to everyone who recommended this tour to us.

Hi from the farm porch!

Well, today has turned cold and it has been sleeting on and off but they say it will be short lived and Valentine’s day is predicted to be sunny and in the 70s. This is a good excuse to cuddle up inside and spend a relaxing day.

Happy Trails..............................

Fredericksburg Texas

2012-02-08T23:25:00.000-06:00

Downtown Fredericksburg

On Monday we took our first foray into the Hill Country and headed to Fredericksburg. It was not the nicest of days, raining on and off. We wandered down the east end of the main street wandering through the various shops. I’ve been looking for a new purse which would be my Valentine’s gift. I found one I liked but when I checked the price tag I about had a heart attack -$228, yowza! I know some women might not have a problem with that but I couldn’t get myself to pay that even on my most extravagant day.

Down the street a ways we came to the Fredericksburg Brewing Company. I had read about this microbrewery so we were ready to have lunch and try one of their local brews. Fredericksburg, you may gather from the name was founded by German immigrants and embraces its German heritage. The brews here are also German type brews; John had their Porter and I tried their brown ale and we were happy with both selections. This is a very nice brew pub and the food was great. We noticed here as on Strand Street in Galveston that they allow you to take your drink outside to the sidewalk area. By the time we finished and worked our way back to the truck we decided to head back to the rig and leave the west half of main street for another day.

Today the sun was finally shinning and we decided to combine visiting the west side of main street Fredericksburg along with a couple of wine tastings. On our last visit I picked up the literature and map of the US 290 Wine Trail. There are 10 wineries along US 290 here in the Hill Country. One is west of the city, the Chisholm Trail Winery and the Fredericksburg Winery is on the west end of main street so these two were a good fit for today.

First up before tasting any wine was lunch. We found the German Bakery and Restaurant just down the street from our first winery. It was lunch time but we were pleased that they serve a breakfast menu all day and that is John’s favorite meal out. We have to give this place a nice recommendation. I had a huge omelette that came with homemade biscuits that were amazing and the server was very friendly. You can tell a lot of locals eat here which to us is always a good sign.

Fredericksburg Winery

Next up was the Fredericksburg Winery. We were the only ones there at the time and a very friendly and talkative fella greeted us. The only problem was he talked so much and so fast he was hard to understand at times (ed:which was any time he was talking). We tried three of the wines and really did not find anything to our liking (ed: they all sucked). This fella was kind of irritating in that when I told him my preference was dry red wines, he proceeded to tell me that I really didn’t know much and the fruit and sweet wines would be better (ed: this guy was pegging my BS meter on every topic, which can be entertaining). I actually think this was because they were sold out of both their Cab and Pinot Noir and most of what he had left were the sweeter fruity wines. The wines he had us try were all $30 a bottle, which in our estimate was way overpriced for the quality of the wine so for the first time that I can remember we left a winery without a purchase (ed: the samples were free and, fortunately, very small). Usually at these small wineries we always find at least one wine worth taking home. (by the way all the “ed:” comments are my editor’s comments, that would be John)

My new purse!

So we finished up our shopping and guess what I found? A purse that I really like and for a fraction of the price of the one the other day. So Happy Valentines Day to me! :)

Now it was time to find the Chisholm Trail Winery. The map and the GPS agreed and had us taking 290 west for about 9 miles and then south about 3 miles on a road that I think was very fitting for a winery named after the Chisholm trail. The road is only about one, maybe one and a half lanes wide along scrubby grazing land with cattle, goats and horses. It was a nice winding road and I tried to take a photo for you through the window. There in the middle of this wild Texas country side where I could easily picture cowboys riding along on their horses is a nice little winery.

Chisholm Trail winery

The tasting room was quite large and again we were the only ones there for quite awhile. We tried five dry reds and their port and I have to say it was much better than the one in town. The woman helping us was very knowledgeable about their wines and we found three to bring home. This was altogether a better experience. What made it even a better experience were the prices. Much more reasonable and when you bought 3 bottles you received a 10% discount (in Fredericksburg the discount for multiple bottles was only 5% for 6-11 bottles and 10% for over 12 bottles).

Fitting there would be horses by the Chisholm Trail Winery

The weather today was so pleasant too. It was such a joy to be out discovering new places when the sun is shining; it makes for a great day.

Happy Trails........................

Triple T Resort, Kerrville TX

2012-02-04T21:51:00.000-06:00

Our site

We arrived safely at the Triple T Resort in Kerrville where we will be staying for a month. This winter I have been making us month stays to save a little money which was good since we just spent a bundle to get the transmission replaced. That worked well coming here and I think John is almost in the mood to blog about that whole project. He actually got under the truck today to take photos of it. This resort is ok so far. There are two areas of sites and we are in an area with longer term rentals but all pretty nice rigs. There is also ann area for larger rigs with pull throughs that will fit your big rigs. There aren’t a lot of rigs here but unlike Port O’Connor the rigs that are here actually have people in them. We even sat and had a beer with a couple of folks who have the two rigs across from us. Both are from the Galveston area and now are full time residents here. They said they are tired of running from the hurricanes so sold their property bought trailers and moved them here. Terry and her husband who is a trucker live in one and her husbands best friend Donny owns the other trailer, he works off shore a month on and a month off working with the barges. Nice people.

The lodge

The Office

Pool to the left, fitness center & laundry behind

The “resort”, I’ll use that loosely does have a few amenities. There is a pool and hot tub but it is locked up even though it still has water in it. There is a lodge that has a pool table, ping pong table and big screen tv. This area also has rooms it looks like they rent out. It is ok but not great. Next to the pool is another building that has an exercise room with minimal weight equipment and several ellipticals and steppers. There will be no excuses for not getting my aerobics in. This building also houses the laundry room which appears adequate. One of the interesting things is that the office even though the sign says open, no one is there and the shelves for what looks like a small shop are empty. Someone came from a trailer next to it (permanent mobile home) to check us in but they don’t seem to keep regular hours. I found this out when I went to the office to ask a couple questions and no one was there. I may have to call to get my questions answered. So there is good and bad but this is about an hour from almost everywhere we want to visit maybe a little longer to a few. This middle ground will be a good base for discovering the hill country.

Newer area of pull throughs big enough for the bigger rigs

We will probably wait until Monday to start exploring the area but I am looking forward to it. I know some of you know this area. If you have any suggestions on things to do please share it.

Happy Trails................................

Good-bye Port O'Connor

2012-02-03T08:37:00.000-06:00

View from RV site at Port Lavaca Park

The truck has a new transmission and so today we are headed to Kerrville TX. John was excited to get his truck back and feels confident now that the transmission he has worried about for months is a rebuilt high performance one.

We had a really nice and relaxing stay in Port O’Connor but we are both ready to move on. It was a great place to regroup and get back to the way we want to live. Our vacation to Galveston and Houston was a refreshing break and we are ready for a move to a new area. The Hill Country of Texas is an area I’ve been looking at for along time and I am looking forward to discovering all it has to offer.

Another view of wildlife viewing area from RV sites, these are the sites we would choose.

While we were waiting for the truck to be finished we went to the Port Lavaca park and bird sanctuary. The park is right on the bay and they do have an RV park which we checked out. The sites are right on the bay and all have a very nice view but we found the park to be a little run down and there is a need for someone to pick up trash along the marshes. Most of the sites are a little tight. The ones on the beach have a shelter next to each and backing in and making sure you were in so your slides would open looked like a challenge. The hillside sites were very close together and then there were a few pull thru’s near the recreation center that were a little further away from the water but had a nice unobstructed view of the bay. These are the ones we would choose but not sure we would stay here.

We also went our on the boardwalk to view the birds and did see many among the marshes here. It costs $3 to get into this park and I’m not sure it is really worth it unless you were staying here but it was a nice little walk while we waited for the truck. I’ll share some photos of the birds we saw, not sure the names but fun to see and photograph.

On our way back to Port O’Connor I made John stop for me to take a photo of a sign that greets you to the town. This sign says it all, it is where TX 185 ends and to leave you must leave by the same route. We bid a fond farewell to a little out of the way place that refreshed us and renewed us. So good-bye Port O’Connor and hello Texas Hill Country!

Happy Trails.............................................

Houston and The Woodlands

2012-01-31T19:10:00.000-06:00

The Woodlands Waterway

One of the sculptures along the Waterway

Our trip to Houston was really a trip to The Woodlands, and un-incorporated suburb north of Houston. This is where John’s friend and frat brother lives. We had heard the Houston traffic is crazy and I will have to agree with that. Even though we weren’t going to arrive at his friends until 5, we decided it would be better to drive through the city in the middle of the day so I looked for something in The Woodlands to do. I found they have a large Mall as well as an area called the Woodlands Waterway that has Market Street, a more upscale shopping area just off it. All of these things looked to be in the same area so that is where we headed.

There is a reason they call this area “The Woodlands”, and yes it’s because it’s built into a large forested area. There are so many trees you have to look to find things, the trees obscure things from the road and that includes gas stations and shopping areas. I had a restaurant called Green Goose Acre in the GPS, it is a highly rated grill and pub. This worked out great as we found parking in a lot that is suppose to be pre-pay but no one was at the pay station so we paid nothing for a lot that usually charges $5 to park in. This was just a block from the pub and The Waterway. The waterway is an area that reminds me a little of San Antonio’s Riverwalk, but with more green space and fewer buildings. It is a very beautiful place to walk. After lunch and the pub we took off walking on the trail and found that we could get to both Market Street and the Woodlands Mall on the trail. It was a beautiful day and a great time for some window shopping. I did get a group of gripping cutting mats in different colors at Williams-Sonoma. They take up less space than what I have now and are color coded so you can use them for specific food. Otherwise it was just a meandering window shopping trip. I think we walked several miles by the time we got back to the truck and the timing was right to head to Jim and Wendy’s.

Jim and Wendy

Jim was a fraternity brother of John’s and really the only college friend he has kept in touch with. It’s mainly just been Christmas cards and letters. The last time (and for me the only time) we had seen them was at their wedding over 26 years ago. We spent our 1st anniversary at the wedding in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was a fun wedding, Jim is from a very Armenian family and his mom and grandma kept us more than entertained. As a couple we have a few things in common as Wendy is also a dental hygienist so even though it had been many years it was a very fun and comfortable get together.

We learned from them that The Woodlands was a planned community and I think it really shows. There are bike and hiking trails throughout the community and it just has a cohesive feel and yet not in a cookie cutter kind of way. It would be a nice community to grow up in.

The Empire Cafe

On Saturday Wendy had to work so Jim and John decided we would tour the St. Arnold’s Brewery. Jim had always wanted to go and beer isn’t really Wendy’s thing so it worked out great. First he took us to a little cafe called the Empire Cafe in a very eclectic neighborhood of Houston, it has kind of a “hippie” feel to it. We loved it. They were serving brunch and it was one of the best meals we have had on this trip. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside to eat. Eating on patio in January, this is a great life.

Then we were off to the brewery. When we arrived, it was a challenge to find a parking space. It is an industrial area with street parking and you could tell this was a very popular place. We have been to several brewery tours but this was the craziest one we have ever experienced. We had to stand in line to get into the tasting room and where the tour begins. It cost $7 each and you got 4 tokens and a glass (which you keep) for four 8 oz. samples. In line we noticed people had lawn chairs, coolers, backpacks and the like. The tasting room was so packed they were only letting people in as others left. Reminded me of a college bar on a football weekend. Finally in, we worked our way to the bar area to get our first glass and then worked our way over to the doors where the tour would start from. Looking around the tasting room, all the tables they had were packed and then on the ends and sides there were groups in lawn chairs eating and drinking; kind of like an indoor tailgating party. This place was nuts.

The tasting room

Noticed these groups are using lawn chairs

We got in on the tour and the tour guide was worried we all didn’t have our glasses full enough to get through the tour. It was interesting and we did learn a few thing about the difference between beer and ales and what it takes to be considered a craft brewery. I’ll have to get John to blog sometime about that because I am sure I would mess it up.

We left the brewery and headed to meet Wendy for dinner. It was again a lovely night so we walked the Market Street area, stopped for wine at the Cru and then walked to a little tex-mex restaurant. It was an altogether enjoyable day and I was glad Jim was the DD.

We left Sunday promising we couldn’t let it go another 26 years or we’d all be too old to have this much fun.

So now we are back in Port O’Connor and today the truck went in for its new transmission and we hope to leave here Friday for Kerrville Texas and the hill country.

This little vacation was fun and reminded us that the best part of this life is the time we get to spend with old friends and all the new friends we are meeting along the way.

Happy Trails............................

Galveston

2012-01-30T14:40:00.000-06:00

We just returned from our little trip to Galveston and the Houston area. It was a fun little vacation visiting with old friends. I decided I would do two posts, one for each area so today is all about our time in Galveston.

Our very good friends from Iowa, Steph and Norm, let us know that they were going to be in Galveston for a few days on a road trip they were taking. Since we had never been to Galveston and it is only a few hours away we made plans to join them. One of the perks of this trip is having master planner Steph in charge of the “agenda” as Norm calls it. We have vacationed with them before and Steph does lots of research and comes up with a plan. When John and I travel that is usually my job so being able to let someone else handle that job was an extra perk for me.

We checked into the Springhill Suites which is just across the bridge on I45 as you enter Galveston Island. This was a great place to stay, a short drive to the harbor and Strand street and also to the seawall. They have a few extras too - breakfast and a happy hour with beer and chips is included in your stay. The first night (after happy hour) we headed to a local seafood restaurant on the Seawall that Steph had found and reviewed online. Gaidos has an excellent view of the water and excellent food. We splurged big time and had appetizers, wine, shrimp of various types and dessert. We all ate so much that we felt like we were waddling out of the restaurant, but what a wonderful treat!

Memorial to those who died in the hurricane of 1900

Wednesday was our day to tour together so off we went. Our first stop was on the harbor side at a theater that shows two short movies about Galveston. One is about the pirate, Jean Lafitte, and the colony he had on the island before being driven away by the American army. It was interesting but the acting was not that great. The second movie is about the hurricane of 1900. This was all done as a narrative with sketches and photos of the island before and after the storm. I had never read about this storm but it had the largest loss of life of any natural disaster in US history. They estimate that between 6,000 to 10,000 people lost their lives here. Very few buildings survived the storm and most of the dead were never identified and had to be burned to minimize the spread of illnesses like yellow fever. This movie is worth seeing to understand how amazing it is that Galveston even exists today. They built a seawall and raised the shoreline to help prevent this type of devastation from happening again. They have weather many hurricanes since them and in 2008 Hurricane Ike was particularly devastating, but nothing compared to the storm of 1900.

Our next stop was the Bishop’s Palace. This was a home built in the late 1800s (one of the few to survive the huricaine of 1900)by Walter Gresham. He was a railroad magnet and politician in Galveston. He built it as his dream home. After his death his wife sold it to the Catholic church as a home for the Bishop and so the name the Bishop’s Palace. It is an amazing home with beautiful woods and carving and stain glass windows in almost every room. They don’t allow photography so I can’t show you the inside but even John, who never gets into visiting places like this, felt this was well worth the entrance fee to see.

Norm and Steph at the Mosquito Cafe

Janie & John

Lunch was at the Mosquito cafe, another online find of Steph’s and another winner in our book. This is kind of a soup and sandwich shop. A fun atmosphere and excellent food.It started raining as we left the cafe and boy did it rain. We headed off to visit the Moody mansion (another prominent citizen) but the tours were all filled up. The lady at the entrance was less than friendly and it sounds like if you want to do this tour you need to call and check. This day all the tours were filled with groups. It was still raining when we left so we headed back to the hotel.

That seemed like enough touring for the day, so during happy hour we ordered a pizza delivered and enjoyed a pizza and beer dinner. It was so much fun getting together with friends. We caught up on the kids and friends etc. and laughed a lot.

the Carnival Triumph in dock

Thursday Steph and Norm were off to their next destination and John and I had another day in Galveston on our own. The sun came out so we checked out the historic downtown, Strand Street, lots of little shops and restaurants. It is a short walk from the where the cruise ships come into Galveston. The Carnival Triumph was loading when we were there and later we saw it from the seawall going out to sea. I think this would be a great place to sail from. We ate lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf and watched the boats in the harbor.

Our view at lunch

After lunch we headed to the seawall for a long walk. There is great parking along the seawall and it is a beautiful place to walk. Besides the ships there are people surfing and playing all along the beach. We walked probably about 5 miles and it was very refreshing. We stopped at Casey’s which is the casual dining attached to Gaidos and shared crab cakes and a beer before heading back to the hotel. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Friday morning it was off toward Houston and more friends to visit. This post has gotten pretty long so I’ll save those adventures for the next post.

Sufers along the seawall

The Carnival Triumph headed out to sea

View from the beach along the seawall

Happy Trails................................

On a little trip

2012-01-25T15:20:00.000-06:00

We are off on a little trip to Galveston and Houston. Since I forgot my cable to upload photos I will wait until we get back early next week to blog about our adventures. Hope everyone is having fun and enjoying life.
Happy trails..........................

Janie had a little goat..

2012-01-20T15:57:00.000-06:00

Remember the Mary had a little lamb nursery rhyme? I changed it to reflect an interesting day.

Janie had two little goats that followed her home from her run today and everywhere that Janie went the goats were sure to follow.......

Well you get the idea.

I went out for my run and suddenly I hear this noise behind me only to find these two little goats coming up behind me. They passed me and then stopped and waited for me. A gal in a golf cart slowed down and told me should though it was cute that I was walking my goats. I had other cars slow down to see such a site. I turned around to go back towards the RV park and they still followed me, there are a couple farms along the way and I figured if they belonged at one they would head on home but no they followed me all the way to the park. I went in to see if the camp hosts had any idea where they might belong and she said no but it wasn’t unusual for animals to be roaming around. Well they started chewing on the tree on the office patio so I had John shoo them towards me and sure enough they started following me again. I went back the way I’d come from hoping I would figure out who they belonged too. I got to the first farm that I thought might be theirs and by then they were looking pretty tired and sure enough off down the lane to the farm they went. I was glad they had found home. This farm has horses and a sign that says beware of dog but I think they need a sign that says beware of friendly goats!

Happy Trails.....................

Rockport visit and Amazon Friends

2012-01-19T21:16:00.000-06:00

The largest Live Oak in Texas they estimate it is over 1000 years old

John, Phil, Janie and Dawn

Last week I emailed some friends we met at Amazon that I thought were headed to Rockport. We wanted to check out this area for possible stays in the future and it is always fun to get together with friends so thought we’d combine the two. Phi and Dawn arrived in Rockport on Tuesday and called us this morning saying this would be a good day to visit so a quick breakfast and we were on the road.

Pelicans on the gulf

Rockport has a lot more to do than Port O’Connor and is definitely a lot busier. That has pro and cons but I think we could like this area. One of the places they took us was Goose Island State Park. This is a beautiful park right on the gulf and they have camping spots right along the beach, they also have a campground loop in an area forested with live oaks with a lot of privacy. The only disadvantage of this campground are the low hanging trees, you would definitely have to pay attention as you drove through this park with your rig. Like most state parks there are limited stays and only electric and water hook ups.

Fisherman at Goose Island State Park

We took a long walk out on the fishing pier at the park and it was beautiful. We also went for Mexican for lunch and checked out the park they are staying in. From what we can see there are a lot of choices for RVs here. We enjoyed the tour and the chance to reconnect with friends now that we’ve all recovered from the job.

Fishing Pier at Goose Island SP

Next week we are headed for a little vacation to Galveston and Houston, leaving the rig here under the watchful eye of our camp hosts, who have been great to us during our stay. We have had a little glitch in our travels, the truck is going to get a new transmission. We have been concerned about it for awhile and on our trip here it was registering some codes on the Banks monitor about the transmission slipping too much. It seemed to be ok unless we are towing. John checked into the Dodge dealer at Port Lavaca and after a check decided to do a new high performance transmission. It is going to be a bill but it looks like it is a very needed upgrade and since we want to go through mountain country on our travels back to Iowa this is a good time to get it done. I may get John to write about all this as it is way out of my area of understanding. We are hoping it will get built and get here as we return from our little vacation and then it will take a couple days to get it put in. We are suppose to leave here on February 2nd so it is cutting it close but we will just adjust as we need to. Just like life in a sticks and bricks home there are always things that have to be dealt with.

The only photo John took today. :)

Hope you enjoy some photos from Rockport and

Pelicans is a row.

Happy Trails.................................

A Shiny Rig

2012-01-15T12:38:00.000-06:00

John got he rig done yesterday and it looks so pretty! I’d like to say I helped but that would be lying so lets just say I supervised. Eveyln asked what we used to wash and wax the rig so I thought I’d show you. Here are the product John likes:

The waterless wash is Eco Touch Wash.

The wax is RejeX.

Thought I’d show you the ladder we use too. This was a great find on sale at a hardware store back in Iowa and we have used it many times.

The other question I got from Karen is where exactly are we. Well I mentioned it is off the beaten path and if you want to come here the only way here is Texas Highway 185. I thought I’d just show you on the map. This is not a place you would just happen upon. I’d say the only people here are the ones who want to be. It’s very quiet except for the boats sometimes and there aren’t many services but if you want some laid back quiet time in the winter it is a great place to land.

View Port O'Connor, TX 77982 in a larger map

Happy Trails.................

A Nice Leisurely Bike Ride

2012-01-14T10:19:00.000-06:00

It is always harder to write when there isn’t much going on. We had a couple cooler days but it is starting to warm up again. John has been waxing the rig. I helped with the washing but I’m just watching him do the waxing. The rig is starting to look pretty shinny! It may rain tomorrow so we need to get it finished today, that may mean I’ll have to start helping instead of watching. Bummer.

Before this little cold snap John and I went on a long leisurely bike ride around town. When we got to the pier the tide was out so we walked out on the sand to the waters edge. Thought I’d share a few of those photos.

I also took some photos of my favorite houses along the way. I love how people use really bright colors for their houses, you just don’t find that back in Iowa and it seems perfectly fitting here.

We also found these goats and donkey’s in someones back yard. The zoning is a lot looser here than where we are from. I’ve never seen goats with horns like these.

Happy Trails...........................

Getting back to it

2012-01-10T11:14:00.000-06:00

Do any of you make New years resolutions? I try not to but January is always a good time to reflect and get back to the road you want to travel. This is the time of year many start their New Years diets and exercise programs. Well, I try not to think of it as a resolution but instead think of it as getting back to living the way I want to and know I should. That includes watching what I eat and working out. So resolution? Maybe...probably...oh well, I’m still not going to think of that way (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).

So last week once we got settled I mapped out my weight workouts and an interval training program using a heart rate monitor. Three days of weights and 3 days of interval and a day off. I can double up on weights and intervals if we have something going on. I made it all 6 days last week, I’ve had my day off and today I need to get out there and do intervals again. Its really windy so it should be a challenging run.

So what is John doing? He’s begun some pilates workout and gets most of his exercise washing and waxing the rig. I’ve been helping with the washing part but I let him do the waxing. It is always a big job but the rig looks so pretty when its done.

Life here is Port O’Connor is pretty quiet. There are about 16 rigs parked here but only 5 that have people in them. We thought there wold be a few more people on the weekend but that didn’t happen. The whole town is the same way, lots of houses with no one home. It is definitely the off season here.

I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite properties with RVs on them. There are quite a few lots that are for RVs rather than houses. When you think about it makes sense. This is an area that has hurricanes. At least then you could get here and drive your house out of danger.

This lot has two RV’s on it, I love the thatched roof patio and if you look closely you’ll see an outdoor shower behind the small metal enclosure.

This one you can tell is someone’s fishing cabin. Many RV lots like this have a cover over them protecting them from the sun, great idea.

There are others I will try to get photos of next time we are out on our bikes. I think I’ll let the wind die down a little before we do that.

Happy Trails.....................

Off the Beaten Path

2012-01-04T16:44:00.000-06:00

Photo from the pier in Port O'Connor

I think the title is a good description of Port O’Connor, where we will be for the month of January. We arrived Monday and the weather was a little cool with a brisk wind but Tuesday was warmer and today is just about perfect. I choose this place because I was looking for somewhere that was a little quieter but nice and I found this spot on rvparkreviews.com. It was given very good reviews and looked like it fit the bill for what we wanted. Speaking of bills, the price was right too: $250 + electric for the month.

Port O’Connor is really a little fishing village and this time of year there isn’t much fishing, though it is duck season and that has brought some hunters to the area. The town is an interesting mix of houses that have seen better days and very high end homes particularly on the shore line. There is a post office but no delivery so we will be getting our mail general delivery. One large gas station/ convenience store, a couple restaurants and a few bar/bait shops. That is really about it. It has a very laid back feel and we can bike or walk just about anywhere we want to go.

The pool and hot tub

The Port O’Connor RV park is very clean and well kept. They have a great wi-fi, a small pool and spa and a small laundromat. They have a connection for satellite TV but that is awful and we found we could get stations from the Houston, Victoria, and Austin area on the antenna with a much better picture. Cell service is marginal; a Verizon extended network 1X with a couple of bars. I called my son last night and it kept dropping me so I went to email instead.

The office and laundry room and a rally room.

Already we have found ourselves relaxing and enjoying it. It may not be a place I would want to stay all winter but I think a month will be great. We do have a couple of excursions planned too. John has a college friend near Houston so I think we will head there for a weekend. We will probably drive to Rockport and Port Aransas too just to check it out. I know a lot of RVers choose that location for the winter.

A heron enjoying a marshy area on the gulf shore.

I’m so relaxed I can’t think of a single thing more to write. Ahhhhhh....

Happy Trails........................

It's a Beautiful Day

2011-12-31T11:28:00.000-06:00

Well, according to John’s thermometer you can see it’s a warm day.

It is but aren’t you a little skeptical? I mean really.

Some unusual ducks on the San Gabriel River

It has been a great week with sunny warm days for us to enjoy. Wednesday we spent another day here in Georgetown. We went and had the oil changed in the truck then walked the trail around San Gabriel Park and ate at Dos Salsa. Dos Salsa was very good and if you are here and looking for Mexican it is definitely worth the stop. Their parking lot is small and busy but the public parking for the downtown area is just a couple blocks away and if you have your truck it is a safer choice.

Town Lake Trail Ladybird Lake Austin

Texas State Capital

Thursday we headed to Austin to see the sites. We had read about the Town Lake trail along Ladybird Lake so we headed there first which turned out to be an excellent decision. Town Lake Park is just off I35 and it has free parking (downtown parking was $7, free is better). We grabbed a site on the street and headed off on the trail. We walked the trail to the Congress Street Bridge.This bridge is known for its bat colony, the largest urban bat colony in North America, but of course they aren’t around this time of year so we didn’t have to try and stay until dark to watch them. Congress street takes you into the downtown area and if you keep going it leads to the Texas State Capital. The capital area has several buildings and a beautiful park area in front. It was a busy place on this sunny day. We didn’t do the tour as being outside was a more appealing idea. We headed back downtown to a little Irish Pub called Fados and enjoyed a brew and sliders, very good but a little pricey. Then off on the trail again.

Downtown Austin

We had checked online for brewpubs and there was one called Uncle Billy’s that wasn’t too far off the trail. On the way there we walked through the largest urban dog park I’ve ever seen, tons of dogs having a good time and right by the Stevie Ray Vaughn Memorial. John is a huge fan of his so I got his photo with Stevie. A little further and with the help of the google map I printed we arrived at Uncle Billy’s. This is a find. We each tried one of the brews made in house and they were excellent. We were still hungry so we order their pulled pork Sliders. They bring the sliders with a group of bbq sauces so I took the one call Uncle Billys-Que. I realized quickly I was going to need some water - my mouth was on fire. It was tasty but definitely the hottest bbq sauce I have ever had. John helped me eat that one. He can handle it a lot hotter than I can and even he needed that glass of water.

John and Stevie Ray Vaughn

We headed back to the truck and of course it was just in time for rush hour traffic. We have enjoyed many things about this area but not the traffic; it is crazy. In fact from Dallas/Fort Worth south I35 is incredibly busy. I have gotten to the point where I really hate driving in cities. I have plotted a course out of here that takes a little further west and on US highways instead of the interstate. It will take just a little longer but I think it is worth it. Our next stop is Port O’Connor TX, a little fishing village on the gulf. Should be a quiet retreat and we are looking forward to it.

It was a nice day for rowing on Lady Bird Lake

We have just a couple more days here and today may be the last really nice day so we may try to get back on the trail here in Georgetown but this time actually on our bikes. We hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and stay safe.

Happy Trails...............................

On the move again-Yeah!!!!!

2011-12-27T21:22:00.000-06:00

Winstar Casino RV Park

Free shuttle to the casino

Laundry anyone?

We finally left Kansas and it was certainly time. Our first stop was Thackerville, Oklahoma at the Winstar Casino’s RV park. This is a very nice park and if you sign up for their Players Card it is a great deal. The card gives you the first night free and the subsequent nights at $20 (regularly $25). That is for FHU with 50 amp, paved sites and patios, very nice laundry facilities and a free shuttle service to the casino. It is amazing that we have spent the last two Christmases at casinos and we are not big gamblers. Maybe next year we’ll break the streak. We were here 4 nights for $60, and that was a bargin.

Eastview Ranch RV Park

Yesterday we were off again to our next stop, Georgetown TX. We will be here for a week before heading to Port O’Connor. We are parked at the Eastview Ranch RV Park. This was recommended to us by a fellow work camper who stays here when visiting family. It is very reasonably priced and a very clean little park. The sites though are pretty tight; I miss the state and county parks but we are trying to save a little on our trip south. The people here also are very friendly and have given us lots of ideas for things to do.

Outside the local winery

A great coffee shop

Today we checked out Georgetown’s downtown and enjoyed their local Winery and a local coffee shop. We did some shopping but the only purchase was wine. It is a beautiful downtown that revolves around the town square with the courthouse on it. It was so nice to have the time and energy to be out discovering new places again. I was in heaven. We also hit their very nice shopping mall and the Target store. Target is one of my favorites so I was able to stock up on all kinds of things. The fridge and freezer are once again stocked.

Got the coffee guy to take our photo

Not bad for an amateur

Our Christmas gift to each other this year was a small camera, a Canon Powershot. Today’s photos are taken with the new camera. Sometimes there are places I don’t want to take my big Canon SLR and I wanted to get John taking a few photos. I figure it is the only way I’ll actually get in a few photos along the way. I’ve tried to give John some tips on photography and he usually ignores me but today he actually took a decent photo of me. I was pleasantly surprised, maybe he’ll get the hang of this yet.

One other item John purchased was a thermometer to put outdoors so we’d know the temp. He went very old school and mounted it to the outside ladder. There is one flaw in his plan: it seems it is always in the sun so today when I looked out it registered almost 100 degrees. If it is 100 out why did I need a coat and why was the furnace still running??? I think he does these things just to make me laugh, and laugh I do. :)

Wow, its hot outside-----maybe

We have plans to head into Austin which is just a few miles to the south. We have already found a couple brewpubs and maybe even a bike trail. The weather is suppose to get warmer and may even hit the 70’s later this week (which should be about 120 on John’s thermometer). Oh yea, bring it on.

Happy Trails............................

Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-25T12:44:00.000-06:00

Our wish is that this Christmas finds you well and counting all the blessings that come your way. We truly feel blessed this Christmas season. Safe travels to all our RV friends.
Janie & John

Would we do it again?

2011-12-23T18:14:00.000-06:00

Several of you asked this question so I felt it would be good if both John and I answered this question. So today you get to here from both of us.

Janie:

My first reaction would be “not if I could help it”. What I mean is I would rather do some camp hosting or volunteering along the way instead of 2 months of this type of work. However if we found that we just really needed the funds I know I can do this and it definitely has some financial benefits. The pros are the money, the free rent and the people you get to know, and the weight loss from all the walking. The cons are the sore feet, the long hours, and at least in Coffeyville the lack of anything to do other than work and sleep. That last one though is almost a pro. You are so tired from the work that you wouldn’t feel up to doing much anyway. If we decided to do it again, I would definitely be more prepared. I’m not sure it is possible to get your feet totally ready for 10 hours on cement floors. It is not like hiking, even if I hiked ten miles there would be chances to stop and sit from time to time and at this job there are two short breaks where you maybe get 10 minutes off your feet and a lunch that is maybe 20-25 minutes off your feet. It took almost a month before the throbbing at night when I got off my feet quit and I didn’t expect that. John and I have always been active, we hike and bike and sometimes I run but it is just not the same. I still would try to come in in better shape and hope it made a difference. The weight loss has been nice. This is usually a time of the year that we gain about 5 lbs and in the end I lost about 10-12 lbs so I am happy about that. So my answer to the question is maybe but if I could find another way to have this lifestyle without this stretch I would do it. Sometimes I wonder if it’s like childbirth; right after I had my first son I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through that again but with time and perspective I changed my mind so maybe you should ask me again in about 6 months.

John:

Sure, if Janie wanted to. It also helps to do it with friends who can save you a seat at breaks and lunch. If you can talk someone into doing this with you and they stick it out for a few weeks you can also get $50 a person in your paycheck from Amazon. I think it also helps to show up in October so you can get a few 40 hour weeks in before you start with the 50 hour weeks around Thanksgiving. We also put off getting better shoes from the local shoe store that was recommended to us but after we did, our feet finally started to get better. Shoes and orthodic inserts were about $200 for each of us. Well worth it.

Our work was very repetitive; almost mindless. I liked it that way. More walking, less stress. I talked to one gentleman who described himself as “a little ADD” who preferred picking to packing since he didn’t have to stand in one place (we’re sometimes farmed out to packing or shipping when they need help). The environment can be noisy, but Amazon provides earplugs if you want them. I used them maybe twice in eight weeks. Most people wear gloves. I had a reaction to the provided rubber coated gloves but after I bought a leather pair I was fine (and I used lots of hand lotion). We both went eight weeks without missing a work day. No injuries or sick days.

Of course, we did it for the money. If we can keep the credit cards paid off we probably won’t be back but you never know. I would like to think I would be able to do this if I wanted to in the future. Lots of campers were older than we were, but the job is physically taxing. Some of the veterans were trained for other jobs also that might help break up the day.

I hope that answers some of your questions. We are now in a very nice RV park at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville OK. Just kickin' back enjoying not working. I hope to do a Christmas post but just in case I don't get it done. Merry Christmas to everyone. :)

Captain's log: Goodbye Amazon

2011-12-20T06:02:00.000-06:00

“We’re not in Kansas anymore.” I’m looking forward to saying Dorthy’s classic line as we head into Texas for the next couple of months. Our working for Amazon is coming to a close along with the Christmas season, so it won’t be long. After working here for seven weeks, things have actually gotten easier, I think, as we’ve lost some weight and gained some strength. The final push before Christmas is next week, so we still have some eleven hour days left, but then we’re done and out of here. Merry Christmas indeed.

Our jobs as pickers for Amazon are driven by the commands on our handheld scanners from the sometimes capricious computer. It doesn’t always make sense, but you must obey. Resistance is futile, and if you slack off the computer will always rat you out.

We catch up with our friends in packing at breaks and lunch. Their jobs are more driven by an assembly line type of operation with lots of opportunities for any one component shutting the whole thing down. That thing is often the vast system of conveyors that span this million square foot facility. You can go from no work to too much work in the blink of an eye as some upstream tote jam is resolved and the backlog suddenly appears at your station. Things may go from busy to much worse if your little side conveyor working, but the main conveyor keeps feeding it. It’s like “I Love Lucy” when Lucy is trying to pack the cakes, only in this case Evelyn gets to be Lucy. Maintenance shows up. Usually several times (you can imagine the pressure to get it fixed). Sometimes it gets resolved or you might get to watch an episode of “Huey, Dewey and Louie Fix the Conveyor” or maybe The Three Stooges. Colonel Sanders or Mr. Moneybags may even show up to supervise.

So we lost some weight, gained some money and even had some laughs. Not a bad deal, but I’m ready to retire again.

What's in my tote?

2011-12-05T14:25:00.000-06:00

We are starting week number 6 and it is getting a little better. The feet are better than they were and now that we are back to 10 hour shifts it seems easier. One of the most fascinating things about working for Amazon is finding out what all is available and what people order from them. As pickers we go around the warehouse finding various items that have been ordered and putting them in a tote to be sent on to the sorters and packers. The things I pick are usually for different orders which is good to know because sometimes I would hate to think that tote is going to the same person. Some of them are strange combinations.

So what is in my tote? Well it may be groceries, like soups, tomatoes, pasta sauce, noodles, dried mushrooms, lots of coffees and teas, basically any grocery item that is dried or canned, and I pick a lot of them. Next toys, Legos, Kinex, Plan, tons of toys from a company called Melissa and Doug, video games, and then there are adult toys many of which I don’t care to list. The first time I came across a sex toy called the Latin King, it was definitely an education for me - can they really be that big? John enjoys picking all the costumes for women, like a naughty nurse, girl scout, dream girl, sexy pirate, and others, but you get the drift. Clothes from Bebe, Lacoste, Calvin Cline, Nike, Columbia, Asics, Puma,and about any other brand name you can think of. Next is books, cds, and DVDs, there are whole floors dedicated to these. Everyone says that paper books are on the way out but you wouldn’t know it from this warehouse. Electronics is next, all kinds of portable devises from laptops to GPS to game systems. All of the extra things needed for our electronics too, cables, hardware, software, peripherals. I do believe after doing this job if there is something you want Amazon has it. They don’t discriminate either. I find things that would interest Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Feminists, Racists, and any other group you can think of. I think Amazon is the example of free market economy - if you want it and have the money you can order it from Amazon.

So this week what was the strangest tote I had? A case of Campbell’s Soup at Hand, 2 large boxes of condoms, a wooden toddlers puzzle, a Battlefield 3 video game, an Angry Bird stuffed animal, and a lego Star Wars set. Now aren’t you glad I told you those are probably for different orders?

I’ve been trying to keep up on my blog reading but some days I’m just too exhausted. Other days I read about all the places you are at so I can remember the light at the end of the tunnel and that soon we will be out there too. Until later.

Happy Trails................................

Only 3 1/2 weeks to go!

2011-11-30T21:47:00.000-06:00

Yep, I’m counting them down. Evelyn who is also here even has the days counted now (28). It was a long week and I think they will all be that way now until Christmas. My feet still have not adapted to the punishing hours on the concrete floors. We even went and got new shoes and inserts to see if that would help, I think they may be a little better but they still throb by the time I get home. The first day of a stretch they don’t hurt until late in the shift, the second day they hurt by noon and the third day by the first break it gets bad and by the time we head home all I want to do is get off my feet. Johns are a little better than mine but he feels it too, for him it is more his back. This is just a very physical job and I can honestly say I have never worked this physically hard at any job before. It does make me appreciate all those folks out there that do these jobs full time. That experience alone has made this job worthwhile and catching up financially is the other real positive.

We have been getting to know a few more of the other work campers here. Dave is a fella we are always talking with at our stand up meetings. He is working but his wife Joann stays back at the rig. They are parked in Independence where we go to do laundry and go out to eat so today we met up with them for dinner at Uncle Jack’s bar and grill (not to be confused with Jack’s bar in Liberty that we have also been to). They have been on the road since 2008 and are from Olathe KS. We discovered that we both have family working for Cerner in Kansas City- small world.

Our son Gabe and his fiance Melissa have set a date for the wedding, it will be July 28th. We are excited for them. They are keeping it as small as possible with a guest list of only about 100 close friends and immediate family. Melissa found her dress and sent me a photo her trying it on, camera phones are great! Now that we have a date we can better plan our spring. I think we will shoot for being back in Iowa around July 1st so that gives us lots of time to do some exploring. I’ve been daydreaming of all the places I want to go. Two that are on “must dos” this year are the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, after that maybe Yellowstone and back through the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore but as I learned last year you never really know and being flexible is good.

Hope you are all enjoying yourself somewhere warm and if you shop at Amazon and it comes from Coffeyville, you never know John or I may have picked and Evelyn and Kevin may have packed it.:)

Happy Trails.............................

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2011-11-23T13:44:00.000-06:00

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~Thornton Wilder

You know what I am Thankful for? A day off!!. We survived a week with mandatory overtime and it made me glad that we are only doing this for a short time. This week was a normal one except for tomorrow. Thanksgiving day we don’t have to go in until 10:30pm and work only 5 hours. Next week is a different matter. Friday through Monday they are working 11 hour shifts and our shift has mandatory overtime on Sunday. Right now we are the only shift with mandatory overtime, several others have voluntary OT. There is a potential for actually working 52 hours but they can only work us 50 hours unless we agree to more (I guess that’s the law). I think 50 ours is plenty so if we reach that then I’ll let them know I am going home early. The work is not so hard it is just a long time to be on your feet.

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving with Kevin and Evelyn. I’ve got a pie to bake and some potatoes and stuffing to prepare. Looking forward to some nice relaxing time together. This time of year always makes me a little nostalgic and I do miss my kids. They are plenty busy and will have Thanksgiving dinner with my brothers family tomorrow. It is the holidays that are the hardest to be away. We had the boys join us for Christmas last year but this year it will just be the two of us. I am thankful that they both have someone in their lives to share the special times with.
Good news this week too. Gabe and Melissa have set the wedding date - July 28th! They will be getting married in the same park that John and I were married. They want to keep it a small intimate wedding with family and close friends. I am so happy for them and excited to finally have a daughter. She makes my son happy and that is the best gift of all.
I was thinking of all the things I have to be thankful for and the list is very long. John and I have been blessed in this life and we are thankful for all of those blessings, family, friends, our life on the road and each other. So Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you and thank you for being a part of our lives. Happy Trails........

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. ~Native American Saying

Starting Week 3 & Mandatory Overtime

2011-11-13T13:06:00.000-06:00

Just a short update. We are going into our third week and our first week with mandatory overtime. That means a 50 hour week! I’m not sure I am ready for this but bring it on. It is getting a little easier, my feet don’t hurt now until the last hour or so of the shift. My back is giving me a little trouble but time will tell on that. We have seen several people quit. Some were unhappy with the jobs they were given (told they we have a different job before they came), some have found it just too physically taxing, and some were frustrated because outside of work there is very little to do in Coffeyville. While it is very physical we were told that before coming by the recruiter so I do feel we were warned about that and make no mistake it is a lot of walking and standing for long hours. Yes, there is very little to do in Coffeyville but we are so exhausted, doing nothing on our days off is all right with us. So we are hanging in there till the end (Dec. 23). This job is definitely not for everyone but for seasonal work it pays very well and that is what we were looking for, two weeks down and six to go. I think it will make us appreciate the rest of the winter even more.

On a more fun note, we went to a local bar/restaurant, Jack’s, for dinner last night with Kevin and Evelyn. The food was good and the company great. It has been fun to get to know them better. We went back to their place and learned a new card game “Wizard” and played Sequence. We hashed over work, learning about each other’s jobs (they are packers) and laughed over all the crazy things people buy from Amazon. It was a nice way to spend out evening off.

No photos today but not much to take photos of around here. I am going to try and post once a week at least while we are here but we will see how much energy I have after working 50 hours a week. I’m also trying to keep up reading all the blogs of my friends but somedays I only get to a few. On my days off I try to get caught back up so if you don’t hear much from me know that I am thinking of you all and checking in when I can.

Happy trails.....................................

Captain's log: On site at Amazon

2011-11-07T00:33:00.001-06:00

We've landed in Coffeyville to help Amazon with their seasonal work. This is one of Amazon's largest distribution centers, or what Amazon calls a fulfillment center. Let the fun begin.

The first day on the job was an orientation day, which included a quick tour of the facility. I'm not sure what's going on exactly, but here's what I think is happening. Lots of trucks arrive here with stuff Amazon hopes someone will buy on their online site. This stuff is stored in locations based roughly on how big each item is; most of the big stuff stays on pallets but the smaller stuff gets put in green totes along with other stuff so that everything is all mixed up. These green totes then get delivered in mass by big pallet trucks to where this stuff will get stored in row after row of shelves sectioned off into bins. Stowers will then hide the tote's contents in whatever space is available in any bin. Pickers will then try to find this stuff and put it into yellow totes that get put on to the nearest conveyor and hauled off to get sorted into specific orders that are then packed, labeled and shipped.

We were selected to be pickers on the night shift. Four, ten hour days a week with another ten hour day added after Thanksgiving if required.
At the start of each shift, you pick up the handheld scanner that connects you with the Amazon over mind that makes all this possible. Every time a stower puts an item into a bin, the bar codes for the bin and the item are scanned. The Amazon computer can then match customer requests with product locations that are sent to the handheld screens of the pickers. That will give us the bin it's in and a product description. You take your best guess and scan it; if it's correct you get your next location, otherwise you get to try again. Pretty mindless, but you get a cross section of what people are buying and occasionally stumble on something interesting in the bins. Lots of walking and some stairs, so I'm hoping to lose some weight by Christmas.

Coffeyville isn't far from Oklahoma, so we got to experience the effects of the recent earthquake there. It wasn't much different that being rocked by the strong winds that are common here, which probably masked the original earth quake, but the aftershock was even stronger and there wasn't any wind then. Sometimes it's good to have a home on springs.

One Week Down and a Surprise Visit

2011-11-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

We survived our first week on the job. Taking the example of Evelyn who is on week three, we left this morning thinking one week down and seven to go. We were hired to be pickers and are doing the night shift on M,T,Th, & Fri. This week, however, it was Sunday orientation and then M, T, & W. So we are off now until next monday at 5pm. We work 10 hours with a 30 minute lunch so our hours are 5 pm until 3:30 am. It is a long shift and you are on your feet for all but about 45 min. Ten hours on your feet is definitely a challenge and by the end of the shift all you want to do is get off your feet for awhile. We also have to get into bins at floor level to retrieve items and so we are doing squats all night long. I’m guessing this week I’ve done several hundred squats. Between walking and squats I am getting back into shape. The other work campers say it takes a couple weeks before some of that gets easier.

This place is pretty amazing. It is over a million square feet and some of the areas have 3 levels. Eveyln did a great job on her blog of explaining the job that she and Kevin do in packaging. We got to see the Crisplant packaging area and got to see the packers in action. We are pickers and I’ll try to give you an idea of how this works. When you order something from Amazon.com it goes into the system and if it comes to Coffeyville then the items show up on a pickers handheld scanner. If there are multiple items they actually may get picked by multiple people. Our scanner tells us to go to an area in the plant and scan a tote (big yellow plastic box) which we put on a cart that we push around. Then it tells us an item to find by giving us a row and bin identifier. We go there and then scan the bin, find the item, scan the item and put it in the tote. After so many items, so much weight it tells us the tote is finished and we take the tote to the nearest conveyer belt and off it goes to sorting, then packing and finally to shipping and then arrives at your door The scanners prompt you for everything you do so that makes it easier to keep from making mistakes and it even tells you when its break time, lunch time and time to leave. Even seeing how it all works I am amazed at how they make it all work so smoothly, it is truly impressive. The people we work with and for have been great so far. This is not a difficult job to learn but make no mistake it is physically a challenge.

Lu and Terry

Now for the surprise. I got an email yesterday from the friends we met in Wisconsin, Lu and Terry, saying they were on the way to Tulsa and realized how close it would be to Coffeyville and were thinking of stopping here for a night. It couldn’t have been better timing. Normally we would be working on Thursday but not this week, how perfect. We had been told there was a good little place to eat in Liberty, just a few miles north of town, so that is where we went for dinner. It was so good to see them. Sometimes you meet people that you just click with and that is how we feel about this couple. We are already looking at some ways we can spend some time together, maybe some work camping jobs along the way. I have to say it was the perfect way to end a long week.

I’m going to see if I can get John to write a Captain’s log on out first week at Amazon too, but until then.......

Happy Trails..........................

Smith Center to Coffeyville

2011-10-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

Our camping spot for 3 nights. Excel service center.

This week found us parked in the parking lot of the Excel Service Center in Smith Center KS. Next month our Excel will be 2 years old and our warranty will be up. We have had a few minor things and a couple not so minor issues that needed to be address and we haven’t been happy with the repairs we have gotten at the dealer and since we were headed this way it just made sense to head to Smith Center. It took about 2 1/2 days to get it all done. About a week ago John found a small crack in the fiberglass on the front cap. He cleans that area often so we are pretty sure it is new in the last couple weeks so it went to the head of the list. The other major item was the eternabond taping of the two larger slides. They got the fiberglass fixed the 1st day but the eternabond tape proved to be a job. The dealer had taped over it to try to fix it so Jim (our tech) had to scrap off all that eternabond to start over. He said if he knew how difficult it would be he probably would have tried to talk Excel into just replacing the rubber roofs. It took him 13 hours for just that job. Jim and Darren did all the work and they did an excellent job. The eternabond seal looks better than the rig was delivered. Yeah!! What we appreciate about Excel is that they do back up their product and try their best to do right for you. So we are now ship shape and have moved on to Coffeyville.

Ours and 2 other rigs in for service.

We did stop at Winfield City Lake on Wednesday night. I knew the park in Coffeyville would not be great but the location is right so we decided to stay somewhere else for one night and this was on the way. This is a good sized lake and has lots of sites with a good number of FHU sites and the cost is $14 a night for either FHU/W&E or just electric. That is a good price so we took one of the FHU so we didn’t have to go to the dump station tomorrow. The park is ok but the roads in are awful. They are gravel and lots of washboard surface. Take it really slow, speed limit is 20mph but it should be 5mph. It was good for one night. At these prices I am sure this place is packed in the summer.

We are now at the Big Chief RV park in Coffeyville KS. We will be here 2 months working for Amazon at heir warehouse. The park is just a big parking lot with pull thrus but it is directly across the street from the warehouse and many of the work campers either walk or ride their bikes to work. We got a call this week and found out we will be pickers on the night shift and will work what is called the donut shift. The days are M,T,Th and Fri. They are 10 hour days. Tomorrow is our orientation day so we will learn what a picker really does. We do know that this job requires lots of walking. One of the bonus points is our friends Evelyn and Kevin are also working here and on the same shift. Just nice to already know a coworker.

So for the next 8 weeks we will be in the same place, I’ll try to fill you in on our jobs but probably won’t be posting more than a couple times a week (kind of like lately). Happy Halloween to everyone!

Happy Trails..................................

So long Glen Elder

2011-10-22T19:11:00.001-05:00

There is nothing like a sunset, no matter whether you are in the desert, by the ocean, the North Woods, Lake Superior, the Midwest including here in Kansas. So tonight I will let the sunset we had last night speak for itself.

Changing it up

2011-10-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

GlenElder State Park

We are at Glen Elder State Park in northern Kansas and when you look around we are definitely on the prairie and it made me remember reading the books about Laura Ingles Wilder when I was young. So this is our “Little House on the Prairie”. It has been very windy here until yesterday and the wind calmed, the sun was out, it was an incredibly beautiful fall day. John worked on cleaning the rig and I went for a long walk with my camera.

Our Little House on the Prairie

Little Church on the Prairie

There really isn’t a lot for us to do here unless you are a fisherman. They have a couple short hiking trails but that is about it. There are 3 campgrounds for RVs and a marina. This week not having much to do has been great. We were looking forward to some down time before we head to our jobs with Amazon. The first few days were cold and very windy so stayed warn inside, read books and watched some TV. We can’t get much on the antenna but we have a wi-fi hot spot right next to us and since we are the only ones in this campground it is screamin’ fast so we have been watching shows on Hulu and our son is letting us use his Netflix account to watch a couple movies. Our aircard is limited to 5G and usually isn’t fast enough to do any streaming so this has been a real treat. Now that the weather has improved we are out the door and enjoying the fall days.

Monday we have an appointment at the factory in Smith Center for some warranty work. It is all small stuff but we want it all taken care of before our warranty is up. We will head there on Sunday and park in the lot so we can start early, I think I’ve heard they want you ready to move the trailer in at around 6:30 am. We are using this week to give the trailer a good cleaning too. John is working on the outside and today I will start on the inside.

Now for the “changing it up”. When John retired he decided to grow his hair out and since that time (August 27th, 2010) all he has had done is the ends trimmed twice. He looks great with his long hair but thinks it is too much work so before we head to work he thought short would be better. We have a clipper so he decided to have me cut it buzzing it with a guard on the clippers. I was pretty nervous about doing this but I figure if it doesn’t turn out it will grow and he can go to the professionals. So here are a few photos from retirement day to today.

John at his retirement party

John before his haircut

John now!

What do you think? John hasn’t decided yet. I’m ok with it but I love him no matter what he looks like. I’m glad he decided to keep the beard for the time being.

I’ll leave you with some fall photos from my walk.

Happy Trails......................................

Dilemma

2011-10-17T15:56:00.000-05:00

Audra at Stuhr Museum of the Prairie

Have you ever felt like you had so many choices you couldn’t make a decision? Lately that is how I have been feeling even though I know there is no right answer. We’ve begun to think about what we want to do this winter and I can’t make up my mind and John has no preference. We are working November and December so that is taken care of. We were thinking about the Gulf coast and I have found a spot in Port O’Connor that I made a reservation for the month of January but I’m not entirely sure that is where we want to go. So maybe go there and then head to Florida? But Florida is pricey and we are trying to get caught up financially from an expensive summer. So now we are thinking about returning to the Southwest.

We really enjoyed last winter and there is a lot that we still haven’t done yet. We loved New Mexico State parks and they have a season park pass for their parks that is $225 for out of staters. The pass then makes campsites $4 a night. If we take advantage of the New mexico Parks for about a month or more that might be a good option. There is a lot we would like to do in Northern New Mexico and Arizona but would have to wait until early spring for those areas. We still have not seen the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell and they are all on my list. I would like to spend time in Santa Fe and Taos as well as the Four Corners area and southern Colorado. So many possibilities.

Originally we thought we were headed to the Northwest next summer but now with our son’s wedding this summer we will need to be back in Iowa at some point next summer. They are working on setting a date and that will help us know how much time we have next spring and summer we have until we need to be there. It is funny for me, I don’t need to have a hard and fast schedule and I think that rarely works in this lifestyle but I do like to have a general direction. We may still see if we can find a work camping for the winter spring but because we are committed until January it may be a little more difficult to find.

John making time with a cute mummy

Sorry for how disjointed this post is but I think it reflects my disjointed thinking. I have so many places I want to see and things I want to do that sometimes my brain is just reeling. We are having a quiet week at Glen Elder State park in Kansas and I am hoping it will calm my brain. We have the area we are in to ourselves and it is a nice break after all the business of visiting with family. We love our family but we also love a little solitude. This will be a good break before a couple months of work. I hope you don’t mind me thinking out loud. This is a good problem to have as problems go so I am certainly not complaining just trying to figure it out.

Happy Trails.........................

More Friends and Family :)

2011-10-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

View off Al and Judi's deck

The last week or so has been full of visits with friends and family. We arrived at Two Rivers State Park near Waterloo, Nebraska. John had a good friend near here that we made plans so meet. This is part of the group that calls him “Doc” and we did get together with them at a wedding in St. Louis this summer. Al and Judi live on a Lake about 20 minutes from this park. I also have friends that live close to this park, Teri and Alan, but Terri is in Florida on business and Alan was out of town too, so I struck out. I did get to see them last year on our way through so will try to catch them next time through the area. One of the benefits of this lifestyle is getting a chance to visit with old friends.

Al and Judi

Tuesday afternoon we drove to Al and Judi’s for dinner. They have a great house on a lake with a beautiful view. We also took a boat ride around the lake. We really enjoyed the visit. John has enjoyed reconnecting with Al and Judi. They had already left Cedar Rapids before I met John so for me the joy is getting to know these friends of Johns that I have heard so much about. Thanks Al and Judi for a great dinner and boat ride!

Gary, John, Audra, and Sharon

On Wednesday we moved to Grand Island Nebraska and Hall County Park. My youngest brother lives hear with his family and we always enjoy our time with them. Gary and his wife Sharon have 4 children. The three boys are 25, 22, and 19 and then there is Audra at 9 years old. They also are hosting a foreign exchange student from Austria, Finn. Alex their middle son just graduated from Briar Cliff College and is living at home while he checks out his next step. Aaron the oldest lives in Souix City and is working as an insurance underwriter. Austin the youngest is the kicker for the Southern Missouri State football team and working on an accounting degree.

Finn kicks off

Gary, Finn, Sharon on Parent's Night

All of Gary’s boys have been talented kickers and soccer players. Aaron and Alex played college soccer for Briar Cliff College. Austin decided to go with football and kicking instead of soccer in college though he was recruited for both. Alex was also recruited for football but chose the soccer route. Now however he has decided to pursue kicking and is trying out for several Arena Football teams. He has a tryout today with the Des Moines Barnstormers. He and his brother Austin hold several Nebraska kicking records. I wish him well as he follows his dream.

Playing bags with Alex

We went to the Grand Island Central Catholic football game on Friday night as their exchange student, Finn, is playing football as guess what? Yep that would be the kicker. It was parent night so I tried to get a couple photos of the parent recognition and the game. It was a cool night but we lasted into the 3rd quarter before heading back to the house for hot chocolate.

This morning Gary and Finn took off for Fargo ND to watch Austin’s game. This afternoon we joined Audra and mom Sharon at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie and Pioneers. The museum is actually right next to the park where we are staying. They have preserved the buildings of a small railroad town, several farms, churches, a one room school house and an earth lodge and teepee of the Pawnee Indian tribe. When we paid our entrance fee they failed to mention that none of the buildings were open. Sharon and Audra had visited this before so we were all surprised to find all the buildings locked up for the season. You think they would have mentioned that. They were getting ready for a Halloween celebration tonight so we did get to see all the halloween decorations. It is a very well done preservation and educational museum but I would visit when the buildings are actually open.

Turkeys were hanging out in the campground.

Tomorrow we head to Kansas, the park here is closing for the season so it is time to move. We are starting our journey southward towards our job with Amazon in Coffeyville KS. We have a week to ourselves and then a visit to Smith Center and the Excel factory. We have several issues for them to look at and our warranty is up in November so we want them to check things over. We are looking forward to our next stop and some down time before our job starts. We are going to have to start getting up a little earlier. I think one of my favorite parts about retirement is getting up when I’m ready and not to an alarm clock. Working November and December will be a rude awakening.

Happy Trails..........................

A Windy Week in Storm Lake

2011-10-08T10:31:00.000-05:00

Another Beautiful sunset on Storm Lake

The sun has been shining and the weather’s warm but the wind has been crazy. Since Tuesday we have had sustained winds above 20 mph. The first couple nights the wind died down at night a little but Thursday night there was no let up an by Friday morning the sustained winds along the lake were now 30-35 mph with gusts up to 50. I think these are the worst sustained winds we’ve had since living in the trailer. Makes me glad we are as heavy and compact as we are.

Lake Trail

Thursday, despite the wind, John and I went for a bike ride on the Lake Trail (it runs along the lake front). On the way out the wind was at our back, so not too bad. It is a very wide sidewalk part of the time then city streets and then back to the trail; all in all a very beautiful trail about 5.5 miles long. When we turned around to ride back is when we realized how strong the wind was. It was a long ride back and there were a few times along the lake that the wind was actually pushing us sideways. Arriving home my arms were as tired as my legs from trying to keep the bike upright in the wind. I’d say it was a good core workout. :)

Friday we decided to walk instead since the wind was so bad. Once again on the way into town the wind was at our back. Instead of staying just on the trail we veered off and went through town making a loop back to the trail. Away from the lake it was a pleasant walk. Storm Lake has many beautiful older homes and a nice downtown area. When we got to the last section we were back along the lake and it was like hitting a brick wall. I don’t think I have ever taken a walk on flat terrain where I had to work so hard. We walked about 4-5 miles all together but when we finished it felt more like 10.

Gabe and Melissa

The wind finally let up last night and we headed down to Early where Gabe was making us dinner. Gabe has worked in various restaurants and is a very good cook so it was a treat. We had fish tacos with a cajun twist and they were excellent. We have enjoyed spending time with Gabe and Melissa. They are enjoying their first home and adjusting to small town life. Having grown up in a more metropolitan area it has been a bit of a culture shock to live in a town of 900. John and I having both grown up in small towns encouraged them to give it time and soon the young kids from the city won’t seem so strange to their neighbors. Melissa is enjoying teaching but she has her hands full. She is the art teacher for grades K-8. Since it is her first year she is developing curriculum for all those grades and that is a challenging task. Next year will be much easier, I think, when she can take what she has and just make modifications or add new things. I know my first year teaching was an incredible amount of work.

We will spend one more day here with Gabe and Melisa and then it will be off to Nebraska. We are going to stop near Waterloo NE to visit some friends and then head to Grand Island to spend a little time with my youngest brother Gary and his family.

I did want to end with this quote:

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs

R.I.P. Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Happy Trails..............................

Busy, busy, busy

2011-10-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

Gabe fishing at sunset on Storm Lake, in front of our camping site

I have been remiss in my blogging as of late. We spent last week in Cedar Rapids (former home) and were out visiting almost every night as well as running errands every day. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, that’s not a pace I really like but sometime it has to be done. It was a good week of seeing family and tying up loose ends.

We spent time with Mitch several nights and I never feel like I have enough time with him but I know as a grown up he is always ready for mom and her hovering to end. We really did have fun this visit.

Corbin

Autumn and Kolton

We also wanted to see my niece Autumn and her family as we had yet to meet their newest addition Corbin. They delivered Corbin in Virginia just and a week later were moving back to Iowa. Corbin was having a bit of a fussy night when we were there but we know that babies do that so we took it all in stride. His brother Kolten took up the slack and entertained us. He likes to show off his muscles and watch OOoo (or otherwise known as Curious George--I like OOoo better). It is nice to have them back in Iowa and where we will at least get to see them when we are back visiting.

Kelvin, now that's how to relax!

Our next stop was my nephew Jordan’s, not to be outdone by his sister, he and his wife Rachel have a little one born in August too. We did see them before we left but was good to see how this little guy was doing. Kelvin was born 5 weeks early, luckily he weighed in at a little over 6 lbs, he was still considered a preemie. You would never guess that if you see him now. He is bigger than his cousin Corbin who came right on time. He seems to be a pretty mellow fella. When he falls asleep it is a study in total relaxation.

Our last stop was to spend time with the Woods family. Trudy had Friday off so we got in a long coffee time at Paneras in the morning. Trudy is the one I miss the most so catching up on girl talk is a priority. Saturday we spent the evening with the whole Woods family and with another friend Judy, husband Ed and son Michael. Trudy, Judy and I spent a lot of time together pre-husband days. There were ski trips, Iowa Hawkeye games, camping trips and general craziness of the young and single days. It was so good to catch up on her life too.

Sunday was moving day. Now it was off to see the oldest son, Gabe and his girlfriend Melissa. They live in Early IA, which only a town of about 600. It is just 10 miles south of Storm Lake. When we moved them into their house we checked out the campgrounds on Storm Lake. There are two, one is Sunrise park, a nice park across the street from the lake. It still has a pretty nice view. The other park is part of Lakeside Marina which is actually in Lakeside, another small town on the lake. The two towns actually run together and the two campgrounds are only a few blocks apart. Being fall we really had our pick and we chose the Marina which has sites right on the shore. as you can see from the header photo it is a great site. Beautiful sunsets and the weather, though a little windy, has been beautiful. This is getting long so I will try to post again later about Storm Lake. So until then..

Happy Trails............................

Lanesboro, Minnesota

2011-09-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

Family of deer in the campground.

The weather deteriorated while we were at Wakefield. We stayed 3 nights hoping it would clear up but that was not to be so on Wednesday we took off. We wanted to do some biking and our first idea was the Elroy-Sparta trail in Wisconsin but with the rain we decided to make it a long diving day and go to Lanesboro MN. The difference is a limestone trail versus a paved trail. The Elroy-Sparta trail is a great trail but it also has some long and wet train tunnels, they are great on warm sunny days but with potential rain in the forecast it didn’t sound so nice. We broke all our driving rules and drove 320 miles to Lanesboro. We left by 8 am and even with a couple short stops arrived around 3 o’clock.

Fall is coming

Lanesboro has a small city park, Sylvan park, that has water-electric sites. We have tent camped here but never brought the RV here. We usually stay south of here in Decorah IA and then drive here to get on the trail. This park is pretty tight but we got a site on the end next to the hill. There were only 3 rigs in the park when we arrived but by Friday night this park was packed. It is amazing how quiet this town is during the week and then the crowds descend on this little burg and there are people and bikes everywhere. If you want to see all the different types of bikes there are this is the place to do it. Unique tandems and recumbent along with road bikes, hybrid bikes are everywhere. There are old folks, young families, and serious bikers.

We tried to get our bike rides in before the crowds arrived. Thursday we rode about 14 miles toward Whalen and back. Whalen has a great pie shop so we rode past it and then back to split a great piece of apple pie. Friday we headed the other direction and rode to Preston and back for a total of about 22 miles. The Root River trail system is 60 miles of paved trail. We have probably ridden about 30 mies of it at one time or another. Most of it is a rail trail so fairly easy riding but if you want a challenge go west out of Lanesboro and take the trail to Fountain. There is an intersection at about 5 miles where you can choose to go to Preston or onto Fountain. From the intersection to Fountain is 6 miles and it is all up hill. This section is not rail trail so steeper grades prevail. The good part is you get to coast most of the way back. We have ridden this section before but this trip we just couldn’t convince ourselves to work that hard.

Amish selling their wares at the Preston trailhead

If you like to bike the rail trails we highly recommend this trail, it follows the river and is a beautiful trail. The town is a nice little village with a couple restaurants, little shops, a winery, a live theater group, and a bike store that rents bikes and also arranges tours of the surrounding Amish country. Yes, this is another Amish area. They come into town and sell their baskets, quilts, baked goods and produce. There was a stand at Preston that we picked up some bread and there was a farmers’ market on Saturday where we added some veggies to the fridge. There are a couple alternatives to the campground at city park too. The city also has a Riverside campground by the dam, Eagle Cliff is not far away and The Old Barn is near that Preston-Fountain intersection on the trail. I think the Old Barn would be our choice after the city parks. The city parks are just more convenient to town.

Captain’s Log: Wakefield MI

2011-09-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

When I retired last fall, we headed to the Southwest and warmer temperatures. Our travels took us through Carlsbad New Mexico where we bought our first National Park Pass when we visited the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad was also where I was born so, armed with the address from my older brother, we were able to find the house my dad built and where I lived for my first four years. Or at least I think we did. I don’t remember much from then, so it could’ve been some other house.

House in Wakefield 2011

House in Wakefield 1958

But I remember living in Wakefield. I was five and had a great time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Once again, my older bother remembered the street address of a house he hasn’t lived in for over 50 years. I also had some pictures my Dad had taken of the house and, sure enough, there it was. Someone had added some siding, and the yard was smaller than I remember, but it was the same house. I remembered playing on Tank Hill and it was still there also. In addition to the town’s water tank, it also had a cell phone tower. We get a good cell phone signal here.

John sledding down tank hill 1958

John standing in front of tank hill 2011

House in Bessemer today

After a year in Wakefield, my dad moved the family about five miles down the road to Bessemer. I remember our house in Bessemer being much larger than the house in Wakefield. With four children, including a new baby, I’m sure my mother was lobbying for the move. (Our house in Wakefield was so small that my dad put up the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and took it down on Christmas day because it blocked the front door.) I didn’t have an address for our house in Bessemer, but my brother was sure we lived on the highway. I did remember playing under some bleachers that I could walk to from our house. When I looked at a map of Bessemer, there was a high school football field a few blocks from the highway so I thought I would start there. We found the football field and it looked like it had been there longer than 50 years. It had some bleachers that were completely enclosed, like I remembered. I drove back to the highway and there was the house. Big mature trees, with the detached garage that I remembered. That was easy.

Detached garage today

Looking down the street from the house

Family photo in driveway, look down the street and you can see the same house in background today

Mary(John's mom) and brother Mike on steps of Bessemer house

John and Mike next to Bessemer house

Ball field John remembers playing at, Opened in 1954

Bleachers he remembers playing under

Baseball field actually helped us locate the house

I attended first grade in a Catholic school while in Bessemer, but we didn’t find anything like that. After another winter in the UP, the family moved to Colorado. But I used to be a Yooper.

Michigan's Upper Peninusla

2011-09-17T14:44:00.000-05:00

Beautiful Lake Superior

Our site, nice view!

We moved here to the U. P. last Tuesday. At first we were going to Wakefield and then on to Houghton and Copper Harbor but in talking around the campfire our new friends Terry and Lu were headed up to Houghton. Wakefield is a must as this is one of the may places John lived when he was young and we eventually want to see all those areas. Our route is pretty flexible and Wakefield is actually on the way to and from Houghton on our route so we just switched the route and tomorrow we will head to Wakefield.

Fort Wilkins

We landed in the City RV Park of Houghton right next to Terry and Lu. This is a very small park but is right on the canal that splits this part the peninsula and it is a beautiful view from the RV. Houghton, the home of Michigan Tech is on one side of the canal and Hancock is on the other. Tuesday was very warm and we had a nice drive here then Wednesday and Thursday fall arrived. The temps dropped into the 40-50s during the day and into the 30’s at night. It rained some and was very windy. Brrrrrrr. So we did a little car touring, not too much as the roads here are very confusing, twisting turning, easy to get lost. We met Terry and Lu for dinner at the Library, a local brew pub. We had a great meal and John really likes their stout (as usual) and I enjoyed their brown beer. Earlier in the day John and I and stopped at another local brewer down the street called Keweena Brew House and tried their sampler. They have a nice red and brown but John says you should pass on their stout. After two breweries the good thing was we walked from the RV park, it is an easy mile. Terry and Lu offered us a ride back but we decided to brave the cold and walk. The wind had died down so it actually was a nice walk.

Friday it was a very chilly morning but the sun was out and it was forecast to get into the 60’s. The four of us jumped into our truck and headed to see the Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor areas. This is the most northerly point in Michigan. Our first stop was Fort Wilkens State Park. The campground here gets great reviews so we definitely wanted to check it out. The park is at the site of a restored Army Fort. They have done an amazing restoration job and it is definitely worth the tour. The fort was built to help maintain order in the mining boom but after two years when the army needed more personal for the war with Mexico the soldiers left. I personally think they survived two winters and decided to “get out of Dodge” as the saying goes. This outpost was cut off from the rest of civilization for almost 6 months of the year. That would truly be a difficult assignment. The rest of the year this place would be gorgeous.

Duck nap??

There are two campground here, East and West. The east campground the sites are small and the there was one electrical post for 4 sites. If you don’t get a site close to the post you would need a very long cord. This area would not work for us at all. The West campground however would be great. Each electrical site has it’s own post. The first loop the sites are gravel but wide and many longer then the east campground. At the end is a new loop that has the largest pull throughs we have ever seen. They are wide enough and long enough for even the biggest rigs. There also are some back ins that are very nice. All of this last loop are asphalt sites What appealed to us is the how quite and beautiful this park is. We love to really get away from civilization once in awhile and this would be a great place to do it. Don’t count on a cell signal or TV reception though. It would be a great place to fish, read a book and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Terry and Lu at the top of Mt. Brockway

Lighthouse at Copper Harbor from Mt. Brockway

After the park we continued on our loop through Copper Harbor where we stopped at a little shop to sample the homemade fudge. You can see the lighthouse from here but to visit it would mean a boat ride and we decided to pass and wait to see the lighthouse in Eagle Harbor. Next we took the Brockway Mountain Drive. The lady at the shop recommended driving up to the scenic outlook and back the same way as the road is not that great. So up we went, this is a very steep drive and the road is indeed in need of some maintenance but the views were beautiful, looked more like Colorado than Michigan at the top and you could see the colors beginning to change. On the way down we stopped at an overlook that was was stunning, you could see the bay & and Lake Fannie Hooe. It is definitely worth the drive.

Lake Superior left, Lake Fannie Hooe right

I should mention Fannie Hooe. She was the sister of the wife of one of the officers at Fort Wilkens. Were not sure why but she was very popular and they named a lake after her. We did a lot of speculation on how to pronounce her name, and wondered why she was so popular. Hmmmm, what do you think?

Lighthouse at Eagle Harbor

Next it was on to Eagle Harbor. This little town has a lighthouse right in town and so that is where we headed. It is a beautiful little lighthouse that also has been restored. It is still a functioning light so we the only thing we couldn’t do was go up the tower to the light. The fella manning the lighthouse was interesting, well actually not that interesting, just ask Lu. I didn’t think he was ever going to stop talking to her long enough for her to actually see the house. We just kept walking and she was kind enough to listen to the guy, sorry Lu.

Our last stop was Calumet. This little town has many really old interesting buildings. We’d read about their local brew pub so we stopped at the Michigan Inn and Red Jacket Brewery for a bite to eat. We were disappointed in this one. They only had their stout on tap and though the menu had lots of Michigan brews on it every time we picked one they didn’t have it. We had a couple appetizers and John had some chilli. It was ok but we’d pass this one up next time. The only cool part was the building itself. It is very old and there is a great mural painted on the bar back.

This has been a great stop. Of course there is always more to do so we hope we get back this way and I think we will as we still want to do the whole circle tour of Lake Superior, we will just have to leave earlier in the season next time. Today we are off to the International Parade and food fest here in Houghton but I will leave that until the next post.

Happy trails....................

Lakeshore Hike with Friends

2011-09-12T15:25:00.000-05:00

Sea caves along the Apostle Island National Lakeshore

Lu and Terry

Sunday Terry and Lu invited us to hike with them. This hike goes along the lakeshore in the Apostle Island National Lakeshore Park. It was a beautiful, heavily wooded trail that leads you out along the sea caves. We weren’t sure from here how much we would really see of the caves but there were several great views. This actually was a fairly good hike. Lots of up and down, and for this vertically challenged person I was glad I’d brought my hiking stick. Not sure how far we hiked but it was going on four hours by the time we got back, so I am thinking about 10 mi., taking into consideration the varied terrain and our stops to snack and take photos.

Kayaking is a big attraction in this area. There are lots of outfitters and guide services in the area to get you out to the sea caves. We didn’t do this adventure this time but I think our next visit it will be on the agenda. We would probably choose to go with a guide. Lake Superior can be unpredictable and I would feel more comfortable with someone who really knows what they are doing.

Kayakers on Lake Superior

This morningTerry and Lu took off for Houghton MI. The fun part is we will be right behind them as that is also where we are headed tomorrow. I really want to get up to Copper Harbor and John wants to stay in Wakefield where he lived when he was young so we decided it made more sense to see Copper Harbor first and then come back through to Wakefield. Our weather here in Wisconsin has been about as perfect as you can get but tonight we are expecting a storm to come through and cool things off into the 50-60s. The sun is suppose to be back out so even though it will be cooler it sounds like we still have some nice weather ahead. People around here tell us to expect a lot of color already in the Copper Harbor and Houghton area. Bring it on.

Happy Trails.........

Madeline Island & the Apostle Island National Lakeshore

2011-09-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

Madeline Island

Our ferry ride

Wednesday we began our adventures here near Bayfield, Wisconsin. My friend Trudy and her family have come here every summer for quite a few years and one of the things she suggested we do was to take our bikes out to Madeline Island (the largest of the Apostle Islands) on the ferry and bike the island. So that was the first thing on our agenda. Since we knew we be putting in a few miles we decided to fortify ourselves with breakfast at the Egg Toss cafe (also a Trudy suggestion). It reminds me of an old fashion dinner but it only serves breakfast. It was excellent. Then we headed down the street to the ferry terminal, round trip for each of us and our bikes was $18, that sounded reasonable. The ferry ride is relatively short and the bikes were parked on the deck next to the cars, trucks, motorcycles. They will even ferry you and your RV over so you can camp on the island. That is actually something we would consider doing.

A doe and her young one next to the road

A little red squirrel on the boardwalk

Once on the island we decided to take the road out to the Big Sand Bay State Park, about 7 miles from La Point and the ferry terminal. It was a picture perfect day and the island is relatively flat so a pretty easy ride. You are riding a bike lane on the 2 lane road out to the park but there is relatively little traffic to worry about. The park itself is beautiful. We road through the campground, like most state parks it is has electric only sites as well as tent sites. It is heavily wooded and I wouldn’t call it big rig friendly but if we took it slow we feel certain we could fit our rig out here on quite a few sites. Next we road to the point for a scenic view and then on to the beach. Along the beach is a boardwalk trail that takes you through a bog and by a lagoon. They have worked to get this area back to its natural state so the only walking is on the board walk. All along the walk there were little access trails to the beach so if you wanted a little beach all to yourself you could find it easily. We enjoyed the hike and the bike ride but after about 3 miles of hiking and 18 miles on the bikes we were ready to head back. I have to say it was almost a perfect day.

Sea Caves on Devil's Island

Thursday we took the Grand Tour boat ride of the Apostle Islands. It is amazing how large Lake Superior is and many of the islands are good sized. There are quite a few light houses but we only went by two of them, the furthest one out is on Devil’s Island. This one is interesting because its shoreline is a series of sea caves. They say it was the noise of the water in these caves that gave the island its name. The other light house is on Raspberry Island and it has been restored and there is another guided trip that will take you to it and give you a tour. Next visit here I think that is the tour we would choose. That lighthouse has the light keeper and assistant light keepers quarters on either side of the light house like a duplex. The building in front is where the foghorn was housed. This trip takes 3 hours and seemed a little long, most of the time you are just looking at the various islands and after awhile they kind of all look alike. It was another beautiful day on the lake.

Light house on Raspberry Island

Back at the campground we have been spending some time with Lu and Terry, they are new full timers and a lot of fun to be around. We have sat around the campfire a couple nights and today we all went for a long hike but I’ll save that adventure for another post. It is the people we meet and the friends we make along this journey that makes it so worthwhile.

I know it has been a trying week for many people out east. Fellow bloggers Laurie and George have a house that is seriously flooded and my heart goes out to them and others in the flooded areas. We have seen what flood waters can do and it can be devastating. I hope for them and the others that this next week will be better.

Happy trails..........

Captain’s Log: Somewhere in Wisconsin

2011-09-10T21:31:00.000-05:00

Sailboat at harbor in Bayfield WI

Actually I think I know where we are. We’re in Washburn, a little south of Bayfield in a park on Lake Superior. We have a great view of the lake and the weather is perfect. So why am I typing on this computer? Because I can.

When we were at Two Harbors, I remember thinking we had a great view of the lake and the weather was perfect. There was one evening when Janie and I were sitting around the fire enjoying the view when things became almost surreal. The sunset was actually to our backs, but it was illuminating the sky and the reflections from the lake magnified it beyond anything I recall ever seeing. Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly get any better, a partial rainbow appeared. There were some small boats on the lake, and I was wondering what it looked like from where they were at.

Then I looked over at our neighbors across the street: they were watching an NFL game on their outdoor TV (I believe it was the first NFL game of the season). Probably Packer fans. Their backs were to the lake, so they were missing the whole reverse sunset thing, but they were obviously having fun. The Packers must’ve been winning. Despite my initial feeling that I had the better view, I couldn’t help but wonder what the score was. I need an outdoor TV.

Happy Trails...............................

Tetagoochi State Park

2011-09-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

Big Falls

Some of the stairs

I’m a little behind in blogging our travels. Having so much fun I just haven’t had time to write so I will do several posts in the next couple of days.

Last Monday we decided to hike again and after looking online we chose Tetagooche State Park north of Silver Bay MN. It was a beautiful day and perfect for a hike. There are two falls in the park to hike to. The first is the “Big Falls”. On this part of the hike there were quite a few people, not as many as Saturday but the it was Memorial Day. Big Falls was less than one mile in and the only challenge to it are all the stairs you have to hike to get to it and then to get back up to the trail. I’ll let the photos speak to that. Beautiful falls.

Taking a break, John actually took a decent photo of me, Yea!

Next we headed to Two Step Falls about another mile or so down the trail, after you climb up all those stairs you just climbed down to get to the falls. It was a beautiful hike through the woods, then a whole lot more stairs down to Two Step Falls. The crowds had thinned out and there were only a few of us here. I enjoyed this area the most. The falls are not as high but I thought they were prettier. We sat here for quite a while having a snack and enjoying the view. The hike back put us at 3-4 miles for the day, not too long, not too short. It was just about a perfect day.

On the way back is a place called Betty’s Pies. Friends of ours (Ralph and Cheryl) recommended it to us but every time we had passed it, it was packed. Well today the parking lot was busy but not jammed so we decided to stop. We had burgers and of course, pie. The burgers were good and the pie excellent. So much for burning calories, I think we ate more calories at Betty’s then we burned on the hike.

We definitely enjoyed our time on Minnesota’s North shore and we left with so many things that we didn’t get to do. I know we will be back. There is more hiking, more biking and more to see.

Tuesday we were back on the road and off to Wisconsin. We arrived at the Thompson West End campground in Washburn. This is a city campground with electric and cable TV. The TV hookup is a treat we rarely get. Just ahead of us into the park was a nice Mobile Suites, they were struggling with the parking a little and boy could we understand that, after a year we still have times it is a challenge. We met the couple, Terry and Lu out on a walk. They are new full timers. We have developed a friendship with them over the last few days. I’ll talk more about that later. Enough for now.

Two Step Falls

Happy Trails............................

A funny thing happened on the way to the campfire....

2011-09-06T19:46:00.000-05:00

Our last campfire at Two Harbors, John and I were sitting there and suddenly we here a little rip, then all of a sudden riiiiiiiiiiiippppppppp. And this is what it looked like.

In East Grand Forks at Cabelas I bought a new chair for the campfire, our chairs were almost worn out. John wasn’t sure the new one would fit in our lawn chair compartment so we only bought one. Well I love my new chair, and it does fit in the compartment but John said he’d wait until we until we really needed a new one. He did throw out the one that he thought was the worst. Well, he may not have chosen wisely. Sure made me laugh when I had to help him out of that chair. Isn’t he cute?!

Now we really need a new chair. :)

Happy Trails.................

Captain’s Log: Fred’s (no longer) riding Fred

2011-09-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

Some of you may have suspected that naming our hitch hiking snake Fred was inspired by the Rodney Carrington song “Fred’s riding Fred”, and you would be correct. You can find several versions of the song on Youtube. It would make more sense if our truck was named Fred. Which it could be, since I don’t know what the truck’s name was. At any rate, we’ve had some inquiries about the snake and it’s been long enough since the last time we’ve seen him to say that Fred’s no longer riding Fred. Not sure where he went, but I’m glad he’s gone.

Lake Superior

2011-09-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

Little light house in Two Harbors, MN

This trip is about following the shores of Lake Superior. We really wanted to do the whole circle of the lake but due to my work we weren’t able to leave soon enough to get that done. So we chose to do as much of the U.S. side as we can until we have to head south. Our first stop on the lake is Two Harbors, Minnesota. This is known as Minnesota’s North Shore and it is beautiful.

Our site at Burlington Bay

Our home base for the holiday weekend is Burlington Bay Campground on the north end of Two Harbors. It is a city run campground and most of the sites are for smaller RVs and pop-ups. We are in site 90 which we were lucky to get because of a cancellation. The picnic table and fire ring are actually behind the rig and it made it so we have a view of the lake. There is a newer loop just beyond us that has 5 sites that back up to the lake that are spectacular and if you came in a larger rig this is the area you would want to be in. It certainly is the area we would try for next time. In general this is a busy and pretty tight campground with quite a bit of road noise but the view of Lake Superior makes up for any negatives.

view from our picnic table

The first night a couple we had corresponded with from the Excel owners forum, Tom and Cathy, came by. Tom is researching 5th wheels and wanted to see an Excel. We did the tour, which in a 30 ft 5th wheel doesn’t take that long and then they treated us to DQ. We meet the nicest people here on the road, makes it all worth it.

Cathy and Tom

Gooseberry Falls

The first couple days the weather was so-so, warm but rain on and off and a bit windy. We did a little hiking into Two Harbors and chilled here at the rig. Yesterday we visited Gooseberry Falls State Park just north of here and did a short hike to all the falls, we intended to do more but John has a muscle or tendon (I think it is his ITB) that gives him trouble ever since he injured it when we were in California and it was bothering him so we cut our hike short and headed back to the rig. After taking some ibuprofen and rolling it out on the foam roller he was ready to go again so we hiked into town and had a beer and DQ. Beer and ice cream what a great combination. Today we may head even further north to Tettagoche State Park and do some hiking there. This time I’ll make him take ibuprofen before we leave. It is a beautiful day out there but is suppose to be cool with highs only about 60.

There is a lot to do here on the North Shore so I am sure we will return some day. Tomorrow we will follow along the shore to the Bayfield area of Wisconsin. The campground we are headed to is actually in Washburn just south of Bayfield. It looks like we are going to have great weather so hope to visit the Apostle Islands and do some biking,hiking and maybe get the kayak out. Life is good.

Here are a few more shots of Two Harbors and Gooseberry falls.

Main Lighthouse at Two Harbors

Ore hauler being filled

walk out to the little light house on the pier

Lower Gooseberry Falls

Beautiful boardwalk trail at Gooseberry Falls

Don't know what kind of bird.

Interesting technique!

Happy Trails.........................