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It's a Wrap!

5/26/2015

Another camping trip in the books. And I am back on line without finding a free wi-fi connection. The rain tried to put a damper on things but we didn't let it win. This picture was early Monday morning. The white spots were actually raindrops on this juniper looked like crystal beads.

We stopped at the Visitor's center, checked out the exhibits, used their wi-fi, and visited the unique Vietnam veteran's memorial.

But the rain held off for the rest of the day and we enjoyed some grilling Monday night along with everyone's leftovers and pineapple angel food with strawberries. Afterwards the weather continued to favor us for one last campfire.

Today we packed up after a big breakfast and headed home. Several bouts of hard rain and a strong west wind made the first two hours rather unpleasant for my driver. But we made it and unloaded, ignoring the laundry until tomorrow. We have one week before taking off for the south again--this time sans camper for our granddaughter Jessi's graduation.

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Pizza, Camping Style!

5/25/2015

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Our luck with the weather ran out. Sporadic rain Sunday morning made plans rather precarious but we did manage to get in a great burrito breakfast prepared by Marcie and decided to check out nearby Perry.

This is an antique and junk lovers haven with many interesting shops and a couple of mini malls featuring booths owned by artists or collectors. Some are a jumble of real antiques, silly stuff, and junk. Others are well organized and displayed featuring things I hadn’t seen before. One had a wonderful collection of old clothing from the turn of the twentieth century, men’s collars and midcentury linens.

The highlight of the day was, of course, supper. This time it was homemade pizza. Jeff and Annette brought their pizza oven and Annette had prepared all of the dough as well as sliced mushrooms, peppers, and cheeses while the rest of the group contributed meats, sauces, and other toppings. Each person got their own crust and chose the embellishments. Two pizzas could be cooked at once and took about six minutes. We were in pizza heaven.

But the rain, after soaking most of the lawn chairs and picnic benches in the late afternoon, returned before we were done and those who didn’t fit under the awning sheltered under golf umbrellas. None of our campers will comfortably seat twelve people. We were also under a tornado watch although the worst stuff went just south of us. We retreated to our camper and watched the Memorial Day concert from Washington, D.C. while the rain became more insistent. Finally about bedtime, it really let loose.

Because our campsites are so sheltered by trees, it is difficult to tell whether it is still raining or just blowing off the trees onto the camper roof. But it appears to have dwindled and the weather man last night promised us that most of today would be dry. We will see.

A word of tribute on this special day in honor of the men and women in our armed forces, including our grandson Ty, and those who have given their lives in the last 250 years in the name of freedom. We need to remember that Memorial Day was not started to kick off the barbecue or camping season.

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Mark Twain and Me

5/24/2015

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Yesterday was kind of a directionless day. By the time I had showered and dressed, Letha had eggs, bacon, and hash browns going for all takers. I’m not an egg fan and I’d had a bowl of oatmeal earlier, but I did sneak a few potatoes. Then much of the morning was spent cleaning up and deciding what to do. Letha and Annette went out on their horses for a four-hour ride while their husbands played golf in nearby Monroe. Two other couples went for a ride to check out the lake area. Ken and Harriet were keeping watch on the brisket he had started smoking at 6:00 AM.

The feeble internet connection I was able to get on Friday morning did not materialize on Saturday, so after lunch we decided to go in search of that elusive tether to the world. The Cannon Dam General Store advertised free wi-fi and we needed ice anyway so it seemed a good destination.

And it was. Basically a convenience store with more fishing lures and camper repair parts than the average such establishment, it has the added bonus in the back of a couple of washers and dryers plus tables where you can sit and take advantage of their wi-fi. I was able to upload the blog I had written that morning, check email and book sales, and take a brief look at the social media.

This type of service is not that surprising in this area. There are three Corps of Engineers campgrounds on Mark Twain Lake with almost 600 campsites, plus a state park campground and a plethora of private places. (Nice alliteration, huh?) If the other phone companies have as big a black hole as Verizon does, I imagine the free wi-fi gets quite a bit of use.

When we returned, I took a walk on one of the ‘Lake Access’ paths that cautioned Unstable Footing. The campground sits high above the lake and the shores are pretty steep. The unstable footing was created by a lot of loose rock on the descent to the lake edge. But it was very pretty and I wasn’t attacked by any critters. We were entertained overhearing some kids on bikes yelling to each other to “meet at the wi-fi place.” Whether or not they knew that the symbol on the sign they were talking about was actually for the small amphitheater, it certainly was a sign of the times.

Supper, as I said before, centered around an incredible smoked brisket, enhanced by six or seven pasta, rice and veggie salads and finished off with homemade ice cream. Although rain had made a brief appearance earlier in the morning and threatened off and on all day, we escaped that inconvenience and solved the world’s problems around a pleasant campfire.

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Shrimp Boats in Missouri?

5/23/2015

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We are at Mark Twain Lake, a large Corps of Engineers lake in Missouri with five other couples. We are surrounded by Mark Twain country. His birthplace is at the west end of the lake and boyhood home and haunts a few miles east in Hannibal. It should help the writer’s sluggishness I’ve been experiencing.

Our campsites are each very secluded with nice but narrow blacktop pads. Because of the holiday weekend, the campground is pretty full. For supper last night, the Ottaways had offered to do a shrimp boil. They had apparently picked up a truckload of shrimp when they were in Texas during the winter. They had borrowed a turkey fryer for the purpose and it was awesome to watch.

Basically, potatoes, onions, sausage, corn and shrimp are dumped in a beer broth with seasoning, the broth is drained off, and the results poured out on trays. We pigged out—no other word for it. I felt sorry for the other campers who weren’t included in the feast.

Today, brother-in-law Ken will smoke a brisket for tonight’s feast. Everyone will provide sides to accompany it. I plan to fix roasted cauliflower in lemon and garlic. I’d better do a lot of walking today. We may also take in some of the Mark Twain sites, as well as the fun shops in nearby Perry.

At some point, I will need to find a sweet spot where my Verizon Hotspot actually works so I can upload this blog and check email. That may be the biggest challenge of the day.

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Can You Gain Weight from Plans?

5/18/2015

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A Memorial weekend trip to Mark Twain Lake in Missouri has been in the works for some time. We are now up to six couples, several dogs, and a couple of horses. Emails started flying this week about food plans. As I've said before, I don't know about armies, but campers definitely travel on their stomachs.

On the menu so far are smoked brisket, shrimp boil, homemade pizza, and homemade ice cream. Plus toppings of course. And rhubarb dream bars. I am supposed to be cutting my weight and cholesterol. See anything on this menu I should have? Our food triangle might be a little top heavy. Better take the Cheerios.

We are taking bikes and I plan a lot of walking. I wouldn't mind a return to the Mark Twain Museum and the nearby town of Perry has lots of cool shops. I'd better get on the treadmill anyway; just reading the emails is making me feel chubby.

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Whew!

5/4/2015

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After dire predictions the last five days for yesterday's weather, we had another great spring day. The storms hit shortly after midnight, with one crack of thunder so loud that I thought we were under attack. But I went back to sleep immediately and woke briefly around 3:00 to no rain at all. This morning looks beautiful although the radar indicates that we won't be so fortunate on our journey back to Iowa today.

But the great weather yesterday made possible a lot of walking and a couple of geocache hunts--a great way to see more of this beautiful park. Niece Amy and 7-year-old Kate returned in the late afternoon and joined us on the second hunt. Both of the caches we found had lots of toys and trinkets in them but you shouldn't take anything out unless you put something back in. Fortunately, Amy had some bacon bandaids in her car that we could put in, but then who doesn't?

And if you're seven, a walk in the woods involves a lot of exploring and swinging from dead trees. Oh, to have the energy. We finished the day with what we call an Encore Buffet--more of same sides plus barbecue from our judges' grueling day of tasting.

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Paying the Piper?

5/3/2015

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So far, the weather on this trip has been excellent. Sunny skies, not too much wind, and cool enough to have a fire at night. But our luck may be running out. It is another beautiful morning but the weather mavens are promising storms this afternoon or evening, possibly with strong winds or hail." Yippee. The barbecue contest went well yesterday and there is a second one today. We met my youngest cousin, Andy, and his daughter for lunch at the restaurant beside the venue and then did a walkaround. The variety and extent of rigs and equipment never fails to amaze me.

On the way back to the park, we had to stop and take pictures in the giant chair on a corner by a restaurant. Remember Edith Ann on Laugh-in?

Supper included leftover sides and barbecued chicken, pork, ribs and brisket, polished off with rhubarb crisp and frozen yogurt. Today I hope to look for a couple of geocaches that are in the park before the monsoons arrive.

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Wildflowers and Wild Jinks

5/2/2015

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After another rib-smashing ride, we arrived at High Cliff State Park overlooking the east side of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. This is a beautiful park with lots of trails and things to do. When we arrived at noon, there were few campers but by suppertime most of the sites were full.

We have only taken short hikes but have found delightful spring wildflowers and one bear track. Maybe it wasn't a bear; maybe it was a yeti. But there are clumps of trillium everywhere around the campground.

Niece Amy and family came up from Oshkosh to join us for supper. The two girls, Ella, 13, and Kate, 7, are delightful to have around because they are interested in everything. Kate wanted to know what we had on hand to make a special dessert . We came up with blueberries, chocolate chips, frozen yogurt and some cookies. She produced a delicacy worth of the cover of Bon Appetit. It was a fine finish to the day.

This morning Ken and Harriet will head in to Appleton to start their judging gig and we will check it out later. It's always fun to wander around and check out the elaborate smokers and grills. Besides, it's safer than hanging around the yeti.

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North to Wisconsin

5/1/2015

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We are headed to Appleton, Wisconsin where Ken and Harriet will be judging a BBQ contest. It could have been a one-day trip but we decided to break it up with a stop at Blue Mounds State Park near Madison. Considering the jouncing the roads gave us on the first leg, I was glad to stop.

This is a lovely park. Spring is about a week behind home so trees are just starting to leaf out. But the campground is quite old and sites are not terribly level. The trees surrounding every site make backing in more of a challenge than usual. And Wisconsin parks are expensive compared to Iowa. Out-of-state campers pay more than in-state, plus there is a $10 a day vehicle fee or $35 annual fee. We won't be hiking in this park so it won't be necessary to purchase the $4 trail pass.

One of the reasons for stopping here was to make a visit to New Glarus and the brewery there. It is very picturesque and has a beautiful patio overlooking the surrounding valleys. We also checked out a few stores in town. A disappointment was that the Maple Leaf Chocolate and Cheese Haus wasn't open but the nearby bakery made up for that.

There was a chilly wind from the northwest that kept us from short sleeves. Coming back we passed through Mt. Horeb, the "Troll Capital of the World," and I would have liked to look around there more because of the town's (and mine) Norwegian roots. But it was getting late and we were ready to kick back and get some supper going. Today we will head on to High Cliff Park near Appleton. We hope to link up with a niece and a cousin and of course anticipate some great barbecue. Oh, the puppy at the top of the page? He was on the patio at the brewery and who can resist a picture of a puppy?

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