Finished Landscaping for 2011

Finally got all our plants bought for this year.



We add some Texas Sage to the front flower bed. To the right of the front steps.












And at the left of the front steps our Knockout rose bush is still in bloom. They bloom year round. The flower are different shades of pink some of the flowers are light and some are dark.

 We moved our large arborvitae from by the house. Planting it out in the yard as it was hiding the windows.








 Of course it also hid the LP tank.

Now we will need to make a arbor or small fence for  that area. to hid the tank. We planted
 a small arborvitae to replace the large one we moved to the yard and then we added a few mums to balance the space.













Two more small shrub were placed by the wheel chair ramp.

Fall Landscaping

The first week we were home, Jerry cleaned the weeds from the over run flower beds. All the flowers died out over the summer. With no one to water them for 5 months it is hard to expect them to surive. But the shrubs look great, they took the heat and lack of rain quite well.  Of course we don't have a lot of shrubs around our place. Out in the front there are a couple of palm bushes which have actual grown. one knockout rose by the side of the front steps, one very large arborvitae on the south side, a holly and a chinese fringe bush on the north side, two azalea at the edge of the yard which  blooms in early spring.
We will be adding shrubs.
Now the work begins:

Jerry tide up the palm branches so he could  remove the stones from the flower bed. Then he replace the black plastic that was under the stones and reset the boarder stones.









He washed the stones and returned them to the bed.
The lower branches of the palms still need to be trimmed back, as does the knock out rose..











                                                               
We need to add more stone.  Maybe a statue or fountain in the front flower bed. That would fill in the space nicely. We are trying to keep it simple.











The arborvitae on the south side of the house has done well over summer. It actual has grown to large for the spot. It is half up the window. We will be moving it later this season.                                  

                               So as you see we added a couple smaller arborvitae along that side. one to either side of the large one..                                                                      As soon as they are established we will transplant the large one, moving it out into the yard.






We need more shrubs, but this work will have to wait. As does the north side of the house and the space by the wheel chair ramp. This gives us something to so over winter.
The advantage of no snow.

Fall slowly comes to Starke Florida.

Now the trees haven't yet turned here at our winter home in the Starke KOA. And the weather is still very warm but the campground has closed the pool for the winter. That is always a sign that fall is here and winter is just around the corner. Many of the snow bird RV'ers have arrived and soon the park will be filled. Our monthly activities will soon start, with pool/billards, bingo, golf, cards, Saturday breakfasts, tours. holiday meals and cookie ex-changes.

As a surprise our friends, Sid and Jerry Bass decorated our park model's front porch. They filled our pots with bright flowers and little scare crows. The colors makes me fell a little more like fall in Wisconsin.

But nothing can compare to the maple tree at our former home in Silver Cliff Wisconsin. The leaves would turn a bright yellow and would last a full week or more.                                                   

Now our little maple here at our home in Starke which turns deep red in fall, and last for only a few days even that has not happened as of yet.

  So,

to brighten things up we have added some fall decorations to the inside of our little house. We put vines of maple leaves running along the tops of windows and cabinets. And a pumpkin that waits for halloween sit on a stand near the door. Although we only have a few little children here in the park, we pass out candy for trick or treat. So it is nice to decorate.  

Memorys Live On

A tribute to my oldest sister Jean who passed away early this morning.

Over the years she has been an inspiration to us all. Lived through hard times and came through with a smile.

Her baked beans became one dish most requested at all the family gatherings. And no matter how well we follow her recipe it will never quite be the same with out her loving touch.

She was the first of the family to own a motor home. A Winnebago to be exact,  she traveled from coast to coast much like we do today.

She knew her time was near but instead of being sad. She was there to comfort all who will miss her.

And.
We will all greatly miss her. She walks with God now.

Good Bye Jean, my sister, my friend, they say you had a good long life but no matter what is said there is never enough time. I will miss you.

Back in Florida

We made it back on Saturday and finally have time to write.

Nancy cleaned the rig is inside. While Jerry washed and waxed the outside. There were so many love bug stuck to the front, tt took him a few washes to get them all. All this was done before moving the rig to the storage lot.

Jerry spent the next few days weeding around the house.  we assembled our wine rack that we brought back with us this time. But there still are a few things to unpack. Not that we are slow but there are a lot of extras to put away this time.

Now we have sometime to relax. Spent the last few day visiting with our Florida friends.
Had Sid and Jerry Bass over for cards.

Just relaxing and enjoy the warmth.

Trip back to Florida 2011

Our trip home:
September 21st. our first day.
Having said our good byes to Norm Gil the owner of Rainbows End campground in Reedsville and filling our LP for the last time, we head out by 9:45 AM. First gas fill was 9 miles down the road in Branch Wisconsin at the Cenex.  Gas price at the time for regular was $3.69.
So, Windy after only another 4 miles, we had to tape the bedroom window shut. The wind was so strong it stucked the bedroom window open.

Jerry fights the Wind

Jerry said he could do with out the cross wind.
We are riding a bit heavy this trip with all the extras remove from the old fifth wheel. We are not over weight just heavier than usual.
Still making good time even with the construction south of Milwaukee. Our I-Pass helps also, not having to stop at each toll in Illinois.

By 4:30 eastern time we pulled into the Caboose Lake campground. Our site was a nice level pull thru across the road from the lake. The lake sites remained empty so we had a great view of the lake.
We have stayed here before. The girl in the office said we would only get one TV channel. But that was not the case. Our HD TV's  pulled in 7 channels. But our channel of choice was 18.1 which is CBS so we were able to watch all the new season tv shows.

The next morning we filled her up before heading south on I-65 again. The wind is much less than yesterday but still we had a cross wind. By 3:40 PM we had to change a tire on the tow dolly. The tires on the dolly were new, but the force of the wind cause the tire to wear the tread down to the cord. Of course we don't have a jack for the dolly so we had to back the car off the dolly then Jerry proceeds to change the tire. He lifted the dolly by hand and I push a jack stand under the frame. Now this was bad enough but he forget to loosen the lugs first, so we end doing this more than once.
Haven't made much headway after changing the tire. The traffic in and around Nashville was pretty heavey a few accidents and some construction in areas , stop and start and at times came to a complete stand still for a few minutes.
At 5:30 PM we pulled into Texas T campground. An always and easy set up with nice pull thru sites. We watched TV over the air even thought the campground offers free cable TV.  The pictue was so good we didn't need to use the cable. We just relaxed for the night.

Sept 23  Getting late start this morning. Had to stopped at thre different gas stations before finding one that had air.  Jerry fills the tires at Tennessian Truck Stop.

 It rained over night, very cloudy today. Should make for a cooler days ride. There is rain in the forecast but maybe we will drive pass the storm.

 Nancy points out that fall is in the air the shoemack is turning burnt red and all the under brush is starting to die down.  Every so often a few trees show a burst of color, but most arestill green.
The view out the front window is awesome But the camera we brought this time was not quick enough to get the scene before it was gone.

Nancy is starting to miss the fall colors of upper Wisconsin.


Now we are entering Alabama and it is starting to drizzles a little. Maybe we will not miss the storm after all.

We are going to try a different travel park tonight. It 5:20 and we have arrived at the Ozark Travel Park in Alabama.
We checked in and the women from the office lead us to our site.
 It is very nice level pull thru site with a cement drive and patio. On the patio is a nice clean picnic table and a bench for sitting.

There is a nice grassy area between each camp site.



 The bath, shower house and laudromat was a short walk from our site. I found them to emaculate. There was also a nice in ground pool. But as we only were spending the night we didn't use the pool.

There was a pond with water fountain and a water wheel. A play ground was just over the foot bridge. All in all a nice camp ground.













It was a very nice camp ground we will come here again.

It was a nice stay very quiet night.

It is 8 AM a sunny morning. Much warmer than yesterday. We are getting ready to leave Ozark Travel park. this will be the last day of our journey.
It has really gotten warm in the rig.  Sure can tell we are getting close to home. The Florida temperatures have been calling us the the last week that we were in Wisconsin.
It is late afternoon now. We are pulling into the the Starke KOA, that we call home.  Now the unpack will begin.

End to Summer

We are still at our summer camp site in a smaller campground called Rainbows End.  Which is just out side of Reedsville Wisconsin.     Sadly, Our summer stay here is almost over. Now that the weather is cooling, it is sure feels more like fall everyday. We always head back to our winter home late September.

But it sure seems like the summer just flew by this year. We spent time with family, friends, our children and grandchildren. 

Jerry helpped out at the campground building picnic tables and he also mowed down the big field.

And as we down sized this season, Nancy and her two daughters Lynn and Laurie had a rummage sale to get rid of all the extra items.

Fred and Rita, our good friends and card buddies have left Rainbows End for good this year. They sold their rig and bought a condo a few miles away. We plan on staying in touch, but we will miss our weekly card parties. 

Trip to Upper Wisconsin Part Two

It is Friday, the start of the second part of our trip and it is going to be a beautiful day, no rain in sight, just light puffy clouds but otherwise blue skies. 

By 10:30, everyone is pack up and ready to travel to our next campground in Chippewa Falls. It is only about 100 miles down the road. Our two rig caravan heads out. We arrived at O'Neal Creek Campground by one in the afternoon.

O'Neal Creek is quite a large campground. Our site numbers were in the four hundreds. The sites are pull thru, long but very narrow with only water and electric. Now, getting onto the road that lead to our site was a bit tricky, the turns are very tight. So we were instructed to make loops, first we looped around the playground, then we across the main entrance road, then had to take the far loop through the dump station and then again we had across the main entrance road, then a slight left then right and we were finally on the road to our camp sites.

 Jerry relaxes at O'Neal Creek campground
while we waited for Jim and Mary to get their directv dish aligned. Soon we will be heading out to Autumn Harvest Winery. While at the winery we tasted their wines.
Many are made with apple.

A few bottles of wine and a peck of apples later  and we were on the road again with just enough time left this afternoon that we could take the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery tour. 

Upon arriving at the brewery we each received four tickets for free 5oz beer samples.  Jerry got to try a lot more samples as Nancy doesn't drink beer. While we waited for our tour to start  Mary and Nancy checked out the souvenirs. Then they went to join Jim and Jerry who were relaxing by the fireplace, sipping their first sample of beer.

 Finally it was time for our tour. Our guide gathered our group at the rear door and lead us out of the building. We crossed the river by way of a walking bridge. On the other side of the river stood the brewery and warehouse buildings. Some were the original.  The tour was very interesting. After the tour, it was back to the tasting area where Jerry, Jim and Mary sampled more beers. Nancy wandered through the store again looking for a key chain to purchase as a souvenir.

Then back to the camp ground to relax for the night.

Saturday morning after breakfast we headed over to the town of Eau Claire, where the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and Museum are located. Inside the museum are artifacts and also displays of the myth of Paul Bunyan and Babe his blue ox.

Out the back of the museum is the entrance to the logging camp its self.
This large statue stands proudly along the path leading to the first logging camp build. We wandered through the building. Each of us wondering what it would be like to live in a log camp. Jerry imagined being the blacksmith in those times.
It sure seemed like a very hard life.

The building are filled with many artifacts from logging camps around the area. Some dated as far back as 1800.

A Truck Show
Jerry spotted a truck show on the way to the logging museum it is right in Eau Claire.

  We stopped to look at the trucks before going for lunch.
The show had quite a few Semi tractors with trailers and other large trucks. All with great paint jobs like the one on the truck in the picture.
After the truck show we stopped at a nice Italian restaurant for lunch.
Relaxing back at the campground. 
We enjoyed a late supper of grilled chicken then played a game stick rummy with Jim and Mary before turning in for the night.
Tomorrow we head back to Rainbows End our summer campground

 

Trip to Upper Wisconsin

 Early morning rain didn't stop us. Although we find it, much harder to load the Escape onto the dolly when the ramps are wet. Took Nancy three tries to get it to go up the ramp and stop on the platform. But finally we got the Escape loaded and secured to the dolly.

 We headed out on Wednesday morning right after the rain. And with in a few hours we met up with Nancy's brother Jim and his wife Mary in the town of Antigo. From there we planned to travel farther north. Our destination is Hayward for a few days  to see the attractions in the area.  The second part of our trip we will traveling on to Chippewa Falls for some of the same.

Shortly after getting on hwy 8,  our two rig caravan stop at the wayside. Which made our three little chihuahua's very happy.

We had a bite to eat before heading back on the road.
Northward bound again, it was right around the town of Prentise that Nancy noticed that the trees are starting to turn. There are swatches of bright reds and oranges peaking out from their foliage. 

Nancy just loves the colors of fall.  But is sad to think what these early colors mean, soon  summer will be over and we will head south to our winter home.  Don't get us wrong, we love our winter home, our friends there and all that Florida has to offer, but we will be leaving our families behind once again.

Sorry back to the subject at hand. We have just pulled into our first campground for this trip. A place called River Road Campground.  Well if you are coming to Hayward Wisconsin for the northwoods camping, fishing and water fun, this is not the place for you. But now if you are like us. Looking for  a place with 50/30 amp service, nice and flat pull through camp sites, great tasting water, friendly owners and close to attractions this is the place to stay. And as Nancy's brother Jim likes his directv it was easy for him to set up their portable dish.

Wednesday afternoon in down town Hayward.

Nancy's brother Jim and his wife Mary

Wedneday afternoon plan is to first stop at the Hook Stone Winery for a little wine tasting.     While in downtown Hayward  we found ourselves clowning around once we spotted this crazy moose chair out front of one of the shops. What a great place for a few snap shots . Then off we went to find Coop's Italian Restaurant for pizza.

Thursday morning we awoke to sunshine, looks like it is going to be a beautiful day for sightseeing. Mary prepares BBQ in the crock pot for tonights meal. 

Musky statue is over 3 storys high

                                       First stop of the day is the Fishing Hall of Fame. Through out the Museum grounds, there are huge cement statues of different species of fish, and off in the distance we see the main statue which is more than 3 storys tall. It is really a building shaped like a huge Musky.

                                                                                                   

Jerry holds his arm up to show the size of the fish statues

Inside the museum itself there are many old lures, roda, reels mounted fish, motors and many great photos of prize winning fish and their fishman. At the base of the large musky statue there is a fishing pool.  Where the guys tried their hand at fishing.

Nancy at entrance to musky statue

And Mary snapped a picture when I stopped on the stairs before entering the Musky Statue.

Funny as I was taking the picture of the guys fish in the pool.

Inside the Musky statue there are three flights of stairs to the mouth.  Wow what a climb.  

But the view makes it well worth all the huffing and puffing that Mary, Jim and Nancy made during the climb. 

 Oh yeah we are all out of shape.

After leaving the fishing museum we stopped at roadside stand to get some sweet corn and tomatoes  for tonights meal. Time to relax a little have some lunch before heading back into Hayward for the lumberjack show this afternoon.

two man saw contest

log rolling contest

log bridge race

2PM and we are heading to the Lumberjack show. We arrive a bit early but the stands sure filled up fast. I took so many pictures it was hard to pick which to load to the blog. The four lumberjacks were very entertaining. They were not what we expected. Everyone always seem to think lumberjack are much older and big burly men. Not so here, young men who have won in the national lumberjack contest. Each has their own specialty of course. It was nice to see them compete against each other.

After the show.

We head back to camp for our even meal of the BBQ and sweet corn.

Good Wine, Good Food, Good Friends

What a nice end to the day!

A Day Trip to Door County - 2011

Nancy's brother Jim and his wife Mary are down at Rainbows End Camping for a week.
The four of us are going to Door County for the day. It is such a nice day for a ride and picnic.

       Mary looks up from checking the directions.  

 First stop on this day trip will be the Parellel 44 Winery. Even though the four us have toured wineries all over the state of Wisconsin,  we've never stopped here.  The building and grounds are really beautiful, so we stopped to take a few pictures. 

                                        
   Nancy stopped by the rose arbor, before following the pathway to the winery's show room and stone patio which is framed with rose bushes.

There wasn't a tour but we could sample their wine, which is very good.

After exiting the winery we stood on it porch. Looking out passed the rose framed patio. We can see acres and acres of grapes.

Then, off to Algoma to buy some smoked fish.

But before getting to Algoma. We stopped to stretch our legs, at a wayside along lake Michigan. From there you could hear the sound of the waves lapping against the shore.  A few sea gulls crying out as they swoop down over the water. Off in the distance you can see a sail boat.  And just below us there is guy playing with his dog in the water. We sat a while and ate a snack before continuing on to Algoma. 

We finally found the Fish Monger Store. Bought some fish and cheese curds. Now that the fish is in the cooler we are heading up the coast.

Where we stop at Reinharts and Winkys. They both carry a great selection of items made right in door county.  We bought bread and cheeses. Jerry bought some really stinky farmers cheese. But it smells more like limburger to rest of us.

After that we drove on to the Oilery in Fish Creek, where Mary bought some spices for making dips. They also carry favored oils, spices for mixing in oils and a great olive salad but we didn't purchase any of these this time.

Nexted stop is Orchard Country Winery and Vinegards.  Where we got to taste 6 different wines each. We found some favorites to purchase. Mary always buys a corn salsa here. So she purchased that also.

We stopped at the Door Peninsula Winery nexted. Jim and Mary tasted some wine. The four of us got to taste the balsamic vineager favors.
After leaving the winery we realized just how late it has become. So, we all agreed no picnic today instead we would  just head back to camp.

Back at camp, we sat around talking and enjoying our great fines from the wineries and stores.
A nice end to a relaxing day

Our Almost Vintage RV's First Trip North - Day Four

After a light breakfast we are on the road again. This is the fourth and last day of this trip north. We are left Indiana and now on the Illinois Toll road.  First toll booth coming up. Our I- Pass is new so we must go through this first booth.

I-Pass work okay. so no more toll booth stops for us. There isn't any road work to slow us down. so we breeze right through Illinois.

Once we got into Wisconsin, we ran into some constructions so it has been slow going from the state line right through Milwaukee.  We continue to head north now on I-43.  We stop at Culver's in Mantiwoc for bite to eat, then head to Walmart to restock the refrigerator before driving the last 14 miles to Reedsville.

Back on the road again, Jerry hears a clunking noise coming from the front tire. He thinks a belt broke in the tire.  Now the rain starts. The wipers can barely remove all that water. Suddenly the passenger side wiper turns side ways, then breaks and stops all together. Making it impossible to see out that side. At least the driver side wiper still works.  Just 10 more miles now. There it is Rainbows End Campground on the left. We will be here for the next few months.

Our Almost Vintage RV 's First Trip North - Day Three

Back on the road again, heading north on I-65. Jerry says it won't belong before we get to Nashville.There is no plans for sight seeing today though, as we are hoping to get to the northern part of Indiana before night fall. We usually don't like to travel for more than 305 - 350 miles per day. 




We stopped at a wayside to have a little lunch.
Fancy watches Jerry hoping he drops something.
She doesn't know he is only making something to drink.









                                             Mandy and Daisy waiting for their turn.

 The pups are so ready for their walk. They like to run and play but are scared of the noise from the 18 wheelers. They have gotten better at least they will come out of the coach.

                                          Jerry puts the last pup in and we are off again.

We are going through Louisville Kentucky the traffic is not so bad.  I sure would like to sight see here but maybe next trip. So on to Indianapolis we go. Indiana seems to go on forever. It is a very flat state and a little boring too. But at least the coach is getting better gas mileage. Luckly cause the price of gas is higher.

Oh,  it feels so great when we find a station that is selling regular unleaded for $3.82 per gallon. But  having to put the credit card in at least twice to fill the tank really hurts.  We always fill at a quarter of a tank now.  Gone are the days when $100 would fill the tank with enough left over for a snack or two.

Just went through Indianapolis. Sometime I wish we could by pass the big cities there is so much traffic. And today is one of thoses day. The back up camera doesn't work, so we  use the shadows from the Escape and tow dolly when changing lane. It is really scary when there is no shadows. And then there is the traffic merging from the on ramp. When some car trys to merge behind the coach and then realizes there is another 30 ft or more of vehicle.
But, All the traffic and changing lanes stuff doesn't phase Jerry at all. Well at least that is what he says.

Pulling into Caboose Lake Campground in Remington Indiana.  Really nice campground wish we weren't just spending the night. Our site is a pull through across from the 20 acre Pond.

The pups are excited as there are ducks on the pond. They have never seen a duck before. They didn't bark but I thought they might jump in the water if they weren't on a leash. Fancy and Daisy kind of danced on the rocks taking great care not to get their feet wet. While Mandy lays on the grass at my feet, waiting for them to come back to play catch me if you can.

After dinner, Jerry chats with a couple from the area who camps here alot. While I take the pups for their last walk before turning in for the night. One more day and we will be in Wisconsin.

Our Almost Vinetage RV and Her first Trip North - Day Two

Jerry and Nancy had a leisurely breakfast before heading out from Ozark Alabama. Now that they are back on the road and heading north they hope this day will go by with out a hitch.  But, About mid morning the radio decides to go all static. Now the radio is dead. Nancy gets out her pen and little fix it notebook, she adds dash radio. Already, On the list is a new back up camera.
 
Travel north on hwy 65 seems like all we do is go up and down hill, not sure why we are getting better gas mileage than yesterday. Now the trees look more like those in Wisconsin. Wow Alabama is a long state. Looking out the window. There is damage all around. Buildings in rubble, roofs torn from a theater or may be that was a hotel. You could just see the tornado's path of a few weeks ago.

 Stopped for the night at Texas "T" campground. Located at Hwy I-65 and Exit 27 in Cornersville Tennesse. Seems like a nice campground. Each pull through site has grass and a shade tree and newer picnic table. Makes it easy to relax outside.

Our Almost Vintage Coach and Her First Trip North

                                                                                      Bought our 1994 Winnebago Vectra in November 2010. We looked at many a coach before we choose ours. Looking for a coach with out slides became a challenge. She is a gasser on a Ford chassis. We haven't named her yet but we know our coach is a girl. After, replacing the refrig and furnace and top of the stove.and adding two new HD tv's. She was set and ready to roll. As this is our maiden trip with her, we took her to church and had her Blessed.

Jerry hooked up the dolly, loaded on the Escape. Jerry, Nancy and their three little dogs climbed on board and traveled north from Florida to Wisconsin.

Day one:

Our Garim ran out of power, oops the 12v plug socket on the dash doesn't work. Then, Nancy reads the map wrong so we took the two hour scenic route. Florida to Alabama to Georgia to Alabama, finally back on route.

We pulled into a Rv travel park about 5:30pm. I little place called Mr. D's RV Park. It was just pass Ozark Alabama. Nice clean park, has 50amp service, cable tv and all pull through sites.

Gayle the owner ran out to greet us and direct us to our site. She told us of places we could shop, visit in the area and recommend our nexted campground. After hooking up the coach to power, cable and sewer, Jerry talked with her for quite a while. They talked about nascar and how he used to drive stock cars but that is another story.

Jerry and Nancy plan to make a lot of memorys traveling with their Vectra

Our Park Model

It has been a while since my last post. During our travels as fulltim Rv'ers, we landed at the Starke KOA a few winters back. We made some great friends and decided it would be the place to spend our winters. We spend sometime looking around for places to buy in the area. Low and behold a park model came available right in the KOA. It was love at first site. Sure it wasn't a new one but had a great kitchen and an attached sun room. That was just our kind of place. So we bought it in 2008 and have spent every winter there since.