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A Fancy Dress Finale

10/17/2023

I mentioned in my last post that Harry and Jackie invited the Glampers to a fish fry on Saturday night--sort of a wrap up to our 2023 camping season. In the pre-camping posts, Jackie suggested Halloween decorations and costumes. I forgot, but I don't think I could compete with these entries. Jackie said she found her outfit at Goodwill and Shelly, a diehard gardener and plant person chose a sunflower in a pot--very fitting. Betty settled for just a purple wig. And of course, there's Harry's 'pumpkin pi' outfit.

Don and Harry had spent several hours fishing that day, but it was a good thing Harry had brought plenty to feed the group. The fish was excellent, with plenty of sides and followed by warm apple crisp. Since we were still battling winds, we opted for a propane fire in a partially enclosed tent.

We had used the tent also in the afternoon for a painting session. Several Glamper artists used their talents to adapt thrift shop paintings to the Halloween season.

Sunday morning, the rest of the group headed home--I guess some of them still have jobs. The weather was improving, so Don and I went out on the river but with no better luck than the men had on Friday. The scenery was beautiful but the wind was still determined so we surrendered about noon and decided on a road trip in the afternoon to a nearby apple orchard. We snagged a couple of bags of apples, some jam and syrup, plus a few apple cider donuts. We finished off the day with some excellent steaks and sweet corn.

Because of some pressing appointments, we headed home on Monday morning on a beautiful drive. The wind had died down and the bluffs were beginning to show color. It would have been a good day to stay but all in all, a fine, fun weekend.

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Into Each Life. . .

10/14/2023

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A little rain must fall. At least that's what we hoped all summer long without much luck. So as we looked forward to our last Midwest Glampers' camp out of the year, we expected blue skies and a riot of fall color at Wisconsin's Black Hawk Park along the Mississippi. Don hooked up his boat behind his camper and I alerted Harry, one of the groups diehard 'manpers' and an avid fisherman, to be ready.

So of course it rained. Yesterday, the downpour lasted almost all day. When it wasn't raining, gusts of wind threatened every campsite and black clouds roamed all around. We made field trips to Cabelas, orchards and cheese outlets. Some went to Lansing for supper, but I had beef stew in the crockpot so we returned to camp. Afterwards, we took advantage of a brief dry spell to celebrate Ann's birthday with a fire and cupcakes. It was a little chilly. Lydia was the last to arrive and brought a bucket of mums, some thing you are likely to only see at a Glampers' fireside.

Today, the black clouds still threaten and the wind gusts are persistent, but there have only been a few sprinkles. Don and Harry are out pursuing the wiley walleye. Later, Harry is going to do a fish fry for the group, not dependent on today's catch. I think he brought a freezer full. Meanwhile, I'm doing some writing and some of the Glampers are modifying thrist store paintings for their own use.

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From Summer to Fall in Three Days

10/6/2023

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You may not be able to tell there is thirty degrees difference in the two above photos. We arrived at Lake Darling State Park Tuesday evening to high eighties and bright sun for our annual Sew and Blow outing. We normally rent two cabins but were late off the mark this year and only able to reserve one. Therefore I got a campsite and drove Agatha down to provide extra lodging. It was a beautiful drive, although Mother Nature saw fit to whomp me alongside the head with buffeting winds most of the trip. As soon as I set up, I cranked up the AC. We enjoyed a wiener roast for supper but didn't gather too closely around the fire.

By Thursday night, temps had dropped to the high fifties and this morning I tore down my campsite and packed up in cold wet winds and 45 degrees. And on the way home the winds were worse.

But we had a great time. As I wrote in my blog last year, we have been friends for fifty years and never run out of things to talk about. We solved most of the world's problems and are expecting calls any time from most of the world leaders, asking our advice. We always do a jigsaw puzzle but had to admit defeat on this years Agatha Christie puzzle. We enjoyed a variety of yummy foods and snacks.

We always love the trails at Lake Darling. The trees are just beginning to turn and the geese and vultures were active. It is a little concerning to walk out of the cabin and see twenty or thirty vultures circling high above our campfire.

Lake Darling has always been a Verizon Black Hole. This is usually just an annoyance, but this year I hadn't looked at the calendar closely enough when I scheduled the release of my latest book, Siblings and Sneakiness. That date was Wednesday. I can't order the paperback cover until until I have the book completely formatted and an exact number of pages. I did receive the cover Wednesday afternoon and downloaded it but was unable to upload it and the manuscript to Amazon until we drove into Brighton Thursday morning and found a signal in the Dollar General parking lot. Thank you, Ginge!

I am happy to report that Agatha experienced no problems--everything worked. But now she is facing being winterized and probably isn't happy about that. Next week, Don and I will journey north with his camper to Black Hawk Campground in Wisconsin on the Mississippi for the Final Fall Fling with the Midwest Glampers. We will fancy the fall foliage, feast at a fish fry, and frolic in other fanciful feats that the Glampers are so great at dreaming up.

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A Fancy Dress Finale

Into Each Life. . .

From Summer to Fall in Three Days

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