Karen's Blog

Flying v. Camping

4/15/2021

So here I am in West Virginia at my daughter's--a trip I've been waiting to make for over two years. First my husband's treatment schedule didn't allow us to make the trip. Then Covid hit. A planned visit for Thanksgiving was cancelled due to the fall surge. At last yesterday, I flew from Cedar Rapids to Dulles in DC, with a layover in Chicago.

To me, flying isn't the last word in convenience or comfort. First there's the challenge of determining what you can pack and how you can downsize to fit the requirements. Is my shampoo too big? Is my suitcase too heavy? I decided to check my bag because I wasn't sure I could lift it into an overhead. It didn't matter on the first leg because they announced that the overheads weren't big enough for carryons or duffel bags.

I arrived in Chicago and asked where my next gate was. "Just down the hall to left until you get to security and take another left." So is Gate B10 right there when you turn at security? Of course not. Down several more loooong halls and too many turns to count. I reach my gate with about 20 minutes to spare before boarding. No food is being served even though the flight is over the supper hour, but there is a MacDonald's a few steps away. I have never been a fan of MacDonald's and that chicken sandwich didn't do anything to change my mind.

The plane engines are at least as loud as the motor in my camper. I was cramped and uncomfortable. I found myself thinking too often that if I was driving my camper, I could pull over and get up and walk around. I could make myself a good sandwich, and I could even go back and take a nap. Whe we reached DC, I think they actually landed us in Tennessee, judging from the walk from the plane to the baggage claim. I miss Agatha.

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Preparing for the Season

4/11/2021

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It took a lot of snacks and coffee, a couple of bottles of wine, two raclettes, several laptops, a puzzle, food and a couple of days for six members of the Midwest Glampers to plan the upcoming season events in Iowa. The site was Tall Oaks Lodge at Quaker Heights Camp near Eldora. Raclettes, in case you're wondering (I certainly was) are two tiered table-top grills to enable very sociable cooking of delectable meals.

The lodge has a well equipped kitchen, spacious dining room, TV room with 17 or 18 recliners and nine bedrooms with private baths. It is well suited to such heavy and world altering planning sessions. The camp is located on a bluff above the Iowa River and provides some great (up and down) hiking.

The planning resulted in an event each month in various Iowa State parks, working around RAGBRAI, family responsibilities, and possible pandemic changes. Themes for each event were bandied around a bit. During the down time, numerous stories were told (some possibly even true) and a member generated version of the game "Things" generated almost heart-stopping laughter. It was a good time.

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Spring Training

3/30/2021

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To most of you, this is a sports term, but for me it describes another season of widow's training. In the past year, I have faced quite a learning curve. I have learned to drive a small motor home along with tasks such as dumping the tanks; how to change the furnace filters in the house; how to prepare the outside faucet for winter; where the outside Christmas lights were stored and how to hook them up; how to check tire pressure; and other similar jobs. Some of this knowledge came the hard way; pictured are results when the outside faucet starts to leak in sub-zero temperatures. And I now know that when the furnace filters don't get changed, the furnace can overheat and shut down during the coldest week of the year.

Then there's my motor home, Agatha. I had backed her in last fall as usual, but that leaves her nose pointing north on the exposed alley. The heavy snow and ice storms earlier this year did a number on one of her windshield wipers, requiring a trip to the mechanic after the spring thaw. I think a different arrangement and some sort of cover is in order for next winter. Or just go south.

But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the worst of the winter is over and it's time to DE-WINTERIZE! Agatha is excited. I'm excited. First I decided to make up the beds. I hauled four totes and two garbage bags of bedding from the attic to the camper. I made up one bed--a feat for which being on the US gymnastics team would be useful--only to realize I had forgotten to put the foam pad on first. So, do-overs. Fortunately, before I did the second one, I remembered that the drain valve for the freshwater tank is under that bed, so best wait until the dewinterizing was done.

Suffice it to say that Google and I have become very good friends as I have spent hours researching the process on line. There are instructions for dewinterizing most RVs but Thors might be a little different than other RVs and Vegases might be a little different from other Thors and 24.1s different from other Vegases and 2014s--well, you get the idea. Today my big accomplishment was step 1: Finding the water heater drain plug and replacing it. The rest of the process can wait until the weekend when it's supposed to be about 35 degrees warmer than today.

Meanwhile, I have started to make reservations and several trips are planned with the Midwest Glampers and our old camping group. I've made my lists and am checking them twice--don't want to forget a veggie or spice. I know, pretty bad. But I think a little giddiness can be forgiven in light of the past long, pandemic winter. I know the pandemic isn't over but camping has been rated one of the safest activities and I intend to take advantage of it.

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Words, Weather, and Wrapping Up.

12/31/2020

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In less than 24 hours, this memorable year will come to an end. Because it has been so traumatic, many of us have assigned an unprecedented amount of power to the turnover of the calendar. Deep down, we know that tomorrow the pandemic won't disappear, the economy bounce back, and all of things and people we have lost won't be restored, but there's a tiny corner of our minds that hopes that at least one of those things might happen.

What a year! I'm sure someone keeps track of new words or new uses for old words introduced to the language; if so they had to be busy this year. Most have been pandemic related: social distancing, coronavirus, zoom meeting, quarantining, virtual learning, masking up, online classes, herd immunity, to name a few.

And the weather. There was the derecho in the Midwest in August. Winds of over 100 miles an hour raced through the Midwest, particularly devastating the city of Cedar Rapids but also twisting corn bins like corkscrews, flattening cornfields, and uprooting trees throughout the area. Hurricanes and wildfires wreaked havoc elsewhere.

I can imagine a zoom meeting earlier this week with Mother Nature and several of the gods. (A little cross-cultural imagining here.)
Mother Nature: I don't think we want the year to expire without one more flourish. How about a snow storm on Tuesday?
North Wind: Definitely. I can whip something up.
Mercury (side-note: The God of Travelers but by virtue of his name, I'm giving him control over temperature) Everything's so upside down this year, let's have the temperature go up in the night and down during the day so everything will refreeze.
Thor (brandishing his hammer) And some thunder snow! I'll get to work on some lightning flourishes.
Poseidon: And we could make the Mississippi run backwards! Hasn't done that for a couple of hundred years! Some flooding will really put the cherry on top.
Mother Nature raises her hands. Wait! That's overkill. Six to ten inches of snow, some rain, freezing rain, and thunder will be fine. Let's not overdo it.
She gets up. See you next week.

I can't imagine that anyone will be sad to see this year go. There has been so much profound loss. In my own life, the personal losses have not been as a result of Coronavirus but the virus has made dealing with those losses much more difficult. The stories on the media about people lost from the virus and the first responders working around the clock are heartbreaking. We will be a long time recovering from all of the devastation and need each other more than ever.

May we all have learned something and may 2021 be better for all of us because of what we have learned.

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Flitting About

10/11/2020

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It's been a busy week since my return from the Michigan UP. A whirlwind weekend doing laundry and removing mud and pine needles from the camper and repacking. This time for a trip to the Lake Darling cabins with three very long-time friends. We were scheduled for this annual sojourn in May but Covid cancelled that. Normally, we eat out several times but decided to take all of our meals and share cooking. The problem was that the parks have removed all dishes and utensils from the cabins--again due to Covid--so we had to take all of that in addition to clothes, bedding, games, puzzles and lawn chairs.

But we had a great time. We have been through a lot together and it's always a great sharing time. We made one short shopping trip on Tuesday but spent the rest of the time hiking and working on a puzzle. We didn't even get any games in. But we had beautiful weather, yummy food, and a couple of nice campfires. Fall color was starting and we spent a lot of pleasant time on the cabin decks.

We returned home Thursday morning and I had 24 hours for more laundry, a much needed haircut, and to return the dishes and clothes to the camper. I arrived at Fishermen's Corners campground in East Moline to join friend and former coworker, Marcia, and her husband Harlan for a few days. Yesterday we visited the Quad Cities Botannical Garden--a place I had never been. It's a beautiful place and currently decorated for Halloween. We also stopped at an apple orchard and picked up some goodies. The afternoon brought a long nap and some reading followed by steak and salmon, grilled potatoes, veggies, pumpkin bars and s'mores. I had no trouble getting to sleep.

Tomorrow I return home, and lest you thing my life is all play and no work, Tuesday I am working a satellite election site and then must dive into yard work before the city condemns my property. And more laundry.

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Winding Down

10/1/2020

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We are on the last leg of our trip. We pulled in to Pulpit Rock, a city campground in Decorah, yesterday afternoon under blustery skies. By the time we set up, the clouds were gone and bright blue skies seemed promising. A half hour later, the clouds were back, the wind picked up, and driving rain commenced. Another half hour later, clear skies were back. As the saying goes, "if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes..." As we were all tired of our own cooking, we visited Mabe's Pizza in Decorah for supper--excellent choice.

One of the things we noticed here is a lack of leaves on the ground. At Brunet Island because of all the trees, the ground was covered, making it difficult to even differentiate the campground road. By the time we left, after a bit of rain, leaves were plastered to the sides and roofs of our campers. There were leaves on the rugs, the steps, the awnings, the insides, and in our hair. The road trip to Decorah, however was very windy and removed most of the leaves trying to make their escape.

We did make a road trip on Tuesday through the area around Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire. We toured the campgrounds at Wissota State Park for future reference and visited the Leinenkugel Brewery but found the only food offered for lunch was pretzels. So we found one of those neighborhood bars where everyone knows your name and they offered good food. We also got in a nice walk back at the park, We spotted what we first thought was a dog near the beach, but then decided it was a coyote. However, our sharp observation powers soon revealed that it was just a little statue. We did spot a young buck for real in the woods.

So we'll do a little exploring of Decorah today. I hope to snag some lefse--a Norwegian treat my mother used to make. And tomorrow it's time to head home. I'm about out of clean clothes and my laundry bag is literally overflowing. And I need a haircut.

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Agatha Escapes!

9/29/2020

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...from the muddy clutches of Lake Gogebic campground! All it took was five people pushing, some long metal tracks provided by the ranger, Ken driving, and a couple of hours. The pushers were the ranger, a retired Michigan state cop, a nice couple from across the road, and Harriet. If my little motorhome did this, you can imagine what some of the sites with big motorhomes look like after their departure. And of course it rained, even though there was nothing on the radar. We were mighty glad that we only had a three hour drive ahead of us by the time we left.

Now we are in a lovely campground at Brunet Island State Park in Wisconsin. There are no ruts and the sites are quite level. The park actually is an island in the middle of the Chippewa River near the town of Cornell. The trees posed a bit of a challenge in parking but nothing like our last few campgrounds. We got settled and enjoyed a little cocktail hour in our muddy clothes before retiring to our rigs and supper. I was delighted to find that I have some TV reception after a week without. I know--some of you diehard tent campers are rolling your eyes, but I do enjoy my evening news.

A pretty sunset finished the day. Plans for today are up in the air, especially with the raindrops I hear on the roof right now. But we will think of something.

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Pretty Porkies

9/28/2020

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We spent the last two days checking out nearby waterfalls and exploring the Porkies--the Porcupine Mountains in the northwest part of the UP. Saturday we went to Bond Falls and Agate Falls, both located on the other side of Lake Gogebic. Bond Falls is especially dramatic, consisting of a 50-foot drop over huge boulders on the Ontonagon River and a boardwalk makes viewing easy. Agate Falls is further north on the same river and viewing is not as accessible but still pretty. The walks to each of these falls are splashed with beautiful fall color.

Sunday we drove north to the Porkies along the shore of Lake Superior. We started at the west end and checked out the campgrounds. Then we parked and walked to one of the three falls in the area. Many, many steps led down to the viewing platform but it was worth it.

Finally we took a drive through gorgeous color to the east end of the area and after waiting a while in a long line of vehicles, reached a short walk to the viewing area for the Lake of the Clouds. It also afforded great views of the surrounding hills, or 'mountains.' By this time we needed sustenance and found it in the lakeside town of Ontanagon at Syl's Cafe where we enjoyed black forest sandwiches and turkey, cranberry, and wild rice sandwiches and sweet potato fries. That was a late lunch in the Eastern time zone and we still weren't very hungry when we got back to camp in the Central time zone. So it was a light supper and a few games of Back Up 8.

Today our challenge, hopefully between rain showers, is to get our rigs out of the muddy ruts and back on the road. Our destination is Brunet Island State Park near Cornell, Wisconsin. So we go from being Yoopers to Cheeseheads.

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A Walk in the Woods

9/25/2020

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Or several, actually. Wednesday, I opted out of another road trip at the insistence of my hip/leg which tends to lock up on long rides. So Ken and Harriet took off for the Munising area while I guarded our campsites. Actually, I took another trail over to the Falls, more photos, and a short nap in that order. I also did a little writing. When Ken and Harriet returned, we drove to the Upper Falls. They are much larger than the Lower Falls--in fact the second largest falls east of the Mississippi. But the viewing areas are not as good, unless you climb down 94 steps (and back up 94 steps.)

So after our viewing, we returned to the visitor's area and had supper at the Camp 33 restaurant and brew pub. It's an interesting place decorated with both taxidermies of real animals and an assortment of stuffed animals. For example a life-sized moose sits on a plush stump with an arrangement of Beanie Babies on his antlers. People were social distanced and the wait staff were masked. And the food and the beer were good.

Thursday, we all took an R and R day. After all, we're on vacation. Rain was predicted but never materialized, so Harriet and I took one more walk to the Falls. We began packing up for our Friday drive to Lake Gobegic on the western part of the UP. One of the things we have learned is that nothing is pronounced like it looks and second grade phonics is no help. Mackinac is pronounced Mackinaw and what else could Sault be but 'Soo'? Tahquamenon is easy if you remember it rhymes with phenomenon but spelling it is always a challenge. I still don't know how to say Gobegic.

But that's where we are. On top of the spelling and pronunciation issues, there's the time question. The line between Central and Eastern time zones wanders around the western part of the UP like a drunk moose. It actually cuts right across the middle of Lake Gobegic and the state park is on Central time but a couple miles north is Eastern. We plan to visit a couple of waterfalls today to the east and maybe some spots to the north so our phones will probably be dizzy by the time we're done.

This campground is a sharp contrast to Tahquamenon Falls. Instead of being surrounded by tall pines, cedars, and hemlocks, here the trees are predominantly deciduous. And the color is spectacular, as it has been all across the peninsula. Our campsites look and are spacious but what you can't see are the deep ruts that make parking and leveling a task worthy of a NASA engineer. Which I'm not. Michigan does not put any kind of gravel or paved parking pads in their campground sites so people park wherever they want and I bet even tenters have trouble getting their heads above their feet. There are two hooks in the showers as opposed to only one at Tahquamenon. Well, it's either 7:00 or 8:00 so time to think about breakfast.

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Falls in the Fall

9/23/2020

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Tuesday on our UP sojourn we took advantage of some sights in our immediate area. There are two Tahquamenon Falls: the Lower Falls located a reasonable walking distance from our campground, and the Upper Falls four miles up the road. There is a beautiful trail through the woods to the boardwalk which leads to the Lower Falls viewing platform. The trail is hilly but hard packed and the worst slopes have almost natural steps formed by tree roots. Fall color is emerging nicely and it was a perfect day for a hike.

The falls are really beautiful, especially this time of year. After our viewing, I suggested we visit the visitor area where I thought there was a restaurant, several shops and an ice cream store. Turns out that is at the Upper Falls. At the Lower Falls, there is a souvenir shop but not very well stocked, and a lunch counter that was closed. The concessions at both locations are owned and maintained by the Barrett family, who donated the rest of the land for a state park. They required that any roads into the park would end 3/4 of a mile from the falls so that visitors would approach on foot and the forest would be preserved as much as possible.

In the afternoon, we drove about thirty minutes north to Whitefish Point and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The 80 mile coast from Whitefish west to Munising is called the graveyard of the Great Lakes since over 300 shipwrecks occurred in this area, including the Edmund Fitzgerald. It is impossible to spend time in the museum without having that song run through your head about 50 times. The information about the Lifesaving Service is also pretty incredible.

Today, Ken and Harriet are off to view some of the waterfalls between here and Munising. I opted to forego that much riding and do some hiking, writing, and perhaps napping. When they return, we plan to have supper at the restaurant, now that we know where it is.

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Flying v. Camping

Preparing for the Season

Spring Training

Words, Weather, and Wrapping Up.

Flitting About

Winding Down

Agatha Escapes!

Pretty Porkies

A Walk in the Woods

Falls in the Fall

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