Monday September 29th 2008

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We left about 6:30 AM this morning so that we could have breakfast in Ludington before we dropped Harley off at the ferry. When we got back to Hart we heard that the cannery had called and advised us that they were not going to be doing squash today, so that gave us some extra time to do a little more exploring

We spent most of the day driving along Lake Michigan through the small villages and taking in the sights.

Tomorrow we should be back in full swing again.

Red Lion Man

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Sunday September 28th 2008

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This morning Barb fixed some french toast with some strawberries that we picked up in Luddington for the whole crew. Thanks Barb!

Most of the rest of the day we let Barb do her own thing while Harley and I talked about old times, and then went for a walk to take a closer look at the historic district of Hart.

Red Lion Man

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Saturday September 27th 2008

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When Loran and I got off at 3 AM this morning, we had 11 bags of seeds on the floor, and by the time Fritz and Barb finished we had a little over 13 bags for the first week. Sometime next week we will be able to send our first truck load to Albany, Oregon. We made 15 trips to the cannery and picked up 44 totes of seeds this week.

Harley, my best friend through high school, is riding the ferry across Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI today. The ferry will arrive about 7 pm and and we will have to have him back by 8 AM Monday, as the ferry leaves at 9 AM.

A close inspection of our car reveled that it was covered with fluff and was going to require a good scrubbing. Next week it will get parked behind the coach so that hopefully it wont happen again.

We headed into Ludington a little before 2 PM so that we would have a chance to do some shopping and sight seeing before we pick up Harley. After stoping for some groceries and driving around a bit, we realized that the weeks work was catching up with us and that we were a little tired. We then went for a cup of coffee and a place to rest our feet for a bit.

The ferry docked right on time and we headed over to a restaurant to have dinner before we returned to Hart. It was about 9:30 when we got in. Since Harley was going to be sleeping in the apartment, we took him up to meet Loran and Fritz, and show him where his bed was. Barb retired shortly and Harley and I spent another hour or so talking before we headed off to bed.

Red Lion Man

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Friday September 26th 2008

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We are already finishing up our first week at Autumn Seed drying plant in Hart, Michigan. I think that I can make it to the cannery now without any wrong turns. Things tend to look a little different at midnight then they do when it is light out. Bag nine was sitting on the floor before 1 PM today, and bag ten was there before 4 PM.

This afternoon before starting to work, I made up a TV coax cable and attached it to the outside jack on the coach and ran it up into the apartment, so that Fritz and Loran could watch something more than the single channel that is available over the air here. Their TV is old enough that it only has a manual tuner that you have to rotate by hand. (only the older generation will remember these) By next year, when we lose the analog signals, we will have to find something else. I programed up the satellite to auto tune to the games that Loran and Fritz wanted to watch while we were going to be out tomorrow afternoon. The RF wireless remote will not tune it from up in the apartment.

Today's slide show has some detail on some of the equipment in it.

Red Lion Man

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Thursday September 25th 2008

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I think that we are starting to get the hang of things and maybe by next week we will be on our own. We have been making a run to the cannery at noon, 6 PM and midnight, give or take a half hour or so. We thought the cannery was going to be running 24 hrs a day, but they are shutting down between midnight and 6 AM at this point. We have been getting between 2 to 4 totes at a time this year where in the past there have been as many as 8. Maybe next week things will get moving a little faster.


I've been running the forklift a little bit more each day and am sort of getting used to it now. I posted a couple of videos that are less than a minute, but are very large if you decide to download it and see us in motion. They are located on the side bar on the left.


We already are seeing some of the trees starting to change colors. It's been almost 40 years since we have been in the Midwest during the Fall season, and you almost forget how beautiful it can be.


We not have 8 bags of seed waiting to be shipped and by Saturday PM should have close to another 6. The cannery shuts down at midnight on Friday and resumes again at 6 AM Monday morning. We should have the midnight pickup finished by early afternoon on Saturday, and will not pick up again till noon on Monday.


Harley Englel, one of my classmates in high school is riding the ferry over from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington MI Saturday evening, and we will pick him up about 7 PM. It is a 4 hour ride across Lake Michigan, and this time of the year, it only makes one trip a day. Since it leaves Ludington at 9 AM, we will have Harley back to the ferry on Monday morning. Harley and I were best friend in high school, and both went to the Wadena Area Technical Institute for a 2 year Electronics program. Since then, we have only seen each other half a dozen times, so I am looking foreword to this weekend


Red Lion Man


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Wednesday September 24th 2008

As it turns out, Loran sent me out by myself to the cannery at midnight, I think, just to see if I have been paying attention to all that he has been trying to teach me. I made it there and back with 4 totes of seeds and didn't see any deer to watch out for either.

We actually all 4 worked together from about 1 to 4 today. Sometimes it is just works out that way.

I made the 6 pm run also, and since Barb wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, she rode along with me. It probably was a good thing, as I headed down the wrong road and she had to straighten me out. When am I going to learn not to question her when she tells me I am on the wrong road?

We now have 5 bags ready to ship to Oregon.





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Red Lion Man


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Tuesday September 23rd 2008

To see a slide show of today's pictures, click on the above photo

I got to bed a little after 3 AM this morning and passed Barb as she was getting up. Barb and Fritz worked the 3 AM to 3 PM shift. I got up about 9 AM and drank some coffee and made a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast.


After showering, I decided to walk to the post office and see if our mail had arrived. It was mailed priority mail from Postal Express in Stayton, OR on Friday, and as it turned out, had actually arrived on Monday. I had three weeks of mail to go through.


Fritz headed out at noon to pick up a load of seed and seemed to be a little late getting back. He had a right front tire blow out and had to catch a ride back to Hart. By the time we got a spare installed by the only tire service company in town, it was after 2:30 PM when he finally got back. No one in town had the right size for our 1990 GMC 5 ton truck, so we had to order 2 new tires that should be here tomorrow and we will get them put on.


By the time Loran and I got started it was time to take the next load of seeds off the dryer, so I got an opportunity to try out the Vacuum. A little before 6 PM, Fritz agreed to watch the dryers so that I could go with Loran to pick up a load of seeds. This time I was driving the truck and trying to remember all that I had been taught. When we got back, I also got my first chance to unload the seed and dump on the dryers with the fork lift. Now it is time to sit and watch till Loran comes back with the 1 AM load.


Red Lion Man


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Monday September 22nd, 2008

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Today was the first day of our new adventure. Yesterday we went to church at the First Baptist Church, and when we found out that they were having a picnic in the afternoon, we decided that it might be a good way to meet some of the people there.


Loran and Fritz flew in from Oregon to Chicago late Sunday night, but didn't arrive here till mid morning. By the time we had gone through all the preliminary setup, it was time to head to the cannery for our first load of seed. It seems that they had some delays getting started so all we did was drop off eight totes and came back. By three PM we had most every thing in order for the arrival of the seeds


For the first week, Barb is going to work with Fritz, and I am going to work with Loaran. Then we will be on our own. Since we tend to be morning people, we will work the 3 AM to 3 PM shift, and Fritz and Loran will work the 3 PM to 3 AM shift.


We will be making 3 or 4 trips a day to the cannery to pick up seed. Both Barb and I rode along today so that we could get our orientation of where everything is. We dropped off five more totes but only came back with 3 full ones, which were all put in one dryer. Loran will make another run about midnight and hopefully there will be at least four more or possibly six. We still have three dryers left that can handle up to nine more totes. It takes about ten hours to dry a load, so the object is to always have a dryer available for what you pick up. If it gets too backed up we may have to fire up the dryers in the second building, but then you have to watch between two places.


Red Lion Man


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Saturday September 20th, 2008

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Today we moved from White Cloud, MI to Hart MI. Since we were only moving about 45 miles, We waited till after Barb had a chance to walk with Rose again, and were on the road before noon. Barb has found a favorite log to sit on and read down by the lake, so that is where she was when Rose stopped to see if she was going to walk.


Just before we left, a big greyhound type bus pulled in with a whole bunch of kids from one of the local churches that was having a camp out for their youth activities kick off for the school year.


After arriving in Hart, most of the rest of the day was spend getting set up and organized. Since we will be here for at least 6 weeks, we tend to do things a little different than when we are moving every few days.


Monday we will begin to find out what we will be doing for the next few weeks.


Red Lion Man (&Lady)


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Friday September 19th, 2008

Click on the above picture to see slide show of today's travels.

Tomorrow we are going to move to Hart, MI, where we will be working for the next six weeks or so. I have not been able to resolve the issue with my camera and need to send it back to a Canon Factory Service, so decided to kill two birds with one stone. Since I will need a physical address to have the camera returned to, and wanted to check with the post office about getting some of our mail from Oregon, we decided to drive over to Hart and check out where we will be for the next few weeks. We waited till after Barb had walked with Rose again before we left.

It's a little over 40 miles to Hart from White Cloud, and as the crow flies, Hart is about 6 miles from Lake Michigan. When we arrived in Hart, and finally found where we were going to be working, it was nearly noon. The warehouse was busy with the folks who use it during the 10 months that seeds are not being dried, moving their thing out of the way so that it would be ready to go for seed drying on Monday.

Tri-berry's, Jim, who uses the warehouse for storage directed us to the secretary, Judy, who helped me pack up the camera for UPS to pick up. We were able to get some keys, so that Barb could get into the washer and dryer on Saturday when we get there.

We took a different road part of the way back to White Cloud, and drove by a home that had made a memorial in front of their house for aborted babies. It was very thought provoking. We then went down to the dam that is about 6 miles from the campground. It is interesting to see the difference between what we know as a dam on a mountain river and what we see here.

Sometime shortly after dusk, Barb noticed everyone looking up into the air, and being the curious person that she is, went to check it out. There were a couple of raccoons in the area that were up in a tree and then on the awning of one of the trailers. It was really too dark to get a good picture, but you can sort of make them out.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)

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Thursday September 18th, 2008

Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of the camping area.

We decided that today was to be a little less strenious, so we used it mostly as a catchup day. Again, my wireless card was not giving too much preformance, due to the distance we were from any populated area. The park does have WiFi, but the only place to access it is at the clubhouse area so I went up to the culbhouse to try and upload some pictures and text. It turns out that the service was just OK, as I typically get about 3 to 4 times the preformance with my Verizon Wireless card as I was getting at the club house.

As we were sitting in the coach looking out, Barb spotted another gal walking with her dog, and told me she was going to go and see if she was looking for a walking companion. I didn't see her for the next 45 minutes or so, as she walked around the lake that we are camped on which is probably a mile and a half or so.

Barb was able to get some pictures of a pair of swans that seem to like the lake, and when she was out early this morning she got some pictures of a muskrat having fun, but due to the earliness of it, the pictures were rather dark.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)

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Wednesday September 17th 2008

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It is time to move on to our next stop, but first we must have breakfast at “The Sugar Bowl” that everyone keeps telling us we need to check out. They have a long hall full of pictures dating way back to the beginning of Gaylord, even before the restaurant was built. They have many of the menus from the beginning till now. Full meals were only 25cents.
We stopped across the street at the farmer’s market and got some peaches and sweet corn.

Our neighbors across the road from us were leaving also. They will be at Mears, which is just below Hart, when we get to Hart.

We get to Woodlands on the Lake, just out of White Cloud. This is a Western Horizon Resort. It is the kind of resort I love. We are in the woods and just behind us is the lake we can see through the trees. They also have a swimming pool, mini golf, tennis courts, basketball court, sand volley ball, but it is away from the camping site we chose. I walked down to the lakes edge and saw many frogs. I heard them “plop” into the water also. It sure is peaceful here.

Red Lion Lady (& Man)

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Tuesay September 16th 2008

Click on the above photo to see slideshow of Boyne Mountain Ski Resort.



Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of Cross Village, MI



Click on the above picture to see a slideshow of todays adventure.




Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of Castle Farms.



Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of the train layout at Castle Farms.



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Happy 50th Rob!

I’ve wanted to see what a ski resort in Michigan looks like, so today our first stop is near Boyne City at The Boyne Mountain Ski Resort. It is all inclusive. It has its own airport, golf course, indoor water park, and of course the restaurants, shops and sales offices. They keep with the Swiss theme for all the buildings. There were several lifts and runs. It sure wouldn’t take long to get to the bottom! But when you live in flat country any hill will do!

From there we followed along the bottom of Lake Charlevoix. Here again it is all lined with gorgeous homes. Dick is watching his GPS and says “ I show no more road and we are in the water.” Sure enough there is a ferry just in front of us. I had tried to call Rob, but my phone didn’t have good service, so I set it on my lap to try later. While on the ferry I asked if I could get out and take a picture and the operator gave me permission. This ferry had cables on both sides and no current, so it felt a lot more secure than the Buena Vista ferry. We departed and headed down the road. I went to check to see if I had better reception and could not find my phone, so we turn around to check out the ferry. Sure enough it was all in one piece next to the edge.

Back on the road as we were approaching Charlevoix we saw a beautiful castle. Dick turned around so we could get a better look. It was called Castle Farms and a sign said they gave tours starting at 10 o’clock. Since it was just 10 we headed in to scope it out. The buildings were built in 1918 by Albert Loeb, president of Sears and Roebuck Catalog to operate a model farm. We had a great time, check it out at www.castlefarms.com if you would like to know more about its history and restoration. The lady there suggested we may enjoy the stone houses designed by Earl A. Young in town. They were very unusual and well worth the drive by!

We followed Lake Michigan up to Bay Harbor and we could hardly believe the resorts, condo, homes and yacht clubs here! This is where the rich people from Detroit and Chicago come!

In Petoskey there was a bridge loaded with guys trying to catch salmon.
We continued on through Harbor Springs and “The Tunnel of Trees Drive.” At Good Hart we visited another Old Mission and came out at Cross Village. We ate at the “Legs End,” which is a famous Polish restaurant (http://www.legsinn.com/).

We’re tired again and it’s time to head home! Yup, home is where our coach is! “Is that Gaylord tonight, honey? I still have my phone!”

Red Lion Lady (& Man)

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Monday September 15th 2008

Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of our adventure.



Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of Old Mission, MI.



Click on the above photo to see a slideshow of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Today was predicted to only have 30% of showers so we decided this was the day to see what the Traverse City area was like. Dick programmed his GPS and started out following it and I carried my trusty paper AAA map on my lap. Well, his GPS doesn’t seem to know the difference between skinny line roads and dark line roads, but after many funny turns we got to a major road. At Kalkaska there was a large produce stand we stopped at and I purchased a lot of fresh produce since we had finished off all I brought and the sweet corn Marilyn had given us.

When we got to the Traverse City area the bay was lined with large condos, resorts and Yacht clubs. There are very few places the public can access the water or beach, so if you see one you had better take advantage of it. It makes you appreciate Oregon!

We traveled up a very scenic drive on Old Mission Peninsula to the Old Mission. We also stopped into the Old Mission Store and Post office than traveled on to the light house. All along the way we traveled the west coast with very large homes on the one side of the road and their docks and gazebos etc. on the other side, so of course there is no place to pull over. On our way back we traveled down the middle and it was full of orchards, wineries, and a few more average homes. Many had little fruit stands out. This is a very large cherry producing area.

From there we went on over to see The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive with 12 stopping points. It’s been a long day and we were tired, so Dick took my advice and followed my AAA map home.

Red Lion Lady

Boy! I didn’t know how much I liked my digital SLR.

Red Lion Man

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Sunday September 14th 2008

Click on the above picture to see a slideshow of Gaylord, MI.



Click on the above picture to to see a slideshow of Beaver Creek Park.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The day started out raining again quit hard, not an Oregon drizzle! We spent the day exploring Gaylord. They have the largest herd of Elk east of the Mississippi that we checked out.

A local restaurant called the Gobbler was recommended to us so we stopped and had lunch there. Most of the rest of the day we spent keeping dry in our coach catching up on odd jobs that still have to be done while traveling.

Red Lion Lady

This was a bad day for the Red Lion Man, as while he was taking pictures of the Elk, the Canon 1D Mark II crashed, and it looks like it will have to go to the factory for repairs. I tried everything I know to try and get it working, but to no avail. I had to dig out the old Nikon 5000, 5 MP camera, and forget about good close up pictures with the 500 MM lens for a while.

Red Lion Man

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Saturday September 13th 2008

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Today we traveled 330 miles to Gaylord, Michigan. The first view of Lake Michigan was the bay at Escanaba. The shore was lined with reeds waving in the wind. We stopped at a few overlooks and ate our lunch at one of them close to the Mackinac Bridge. The toll going over the bridge for our coach and car was $10.00.

Beaver Creek campground (http://www.visitgaylord.com/beavercreek/) at Gaylord, Michigan was once a ski resort. The swimming pool area was very beautiful and well ventilated. The campsites for the 50 amp hookups were all long, paved and flat overlooking a pond.

It seems every place we go, we bring along the Oregon rains and this was no exception.

Red Lion Lady (& Man)

This is a ROD campground – Very nice.




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Friday September 12th, 2008

Friday, September 12, 2008

It was a short trip from Ladysmith to Eagle River. The drive was pleasant and uneventful. After staying in the dumpy little park at Ladysmith, we were prepared to drive a little more if “The Chain O’ Lakes” park (www.colcamp.com ) was not up to par. The park was off the main road about 3miles in the woods. The one lake it was on was just a little more than a swamp, but the other was one of the lakes in a chain of over twenty was nice. Not bad at all for $10.00!

We were able to use a pull through and not have to unhook our car. We went for a walk and met another couple, the Reinemann’s, they had a lease on one of the lots. They walked with us and showed us around. It was a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

Red Lion Lady

One of our camping systems that we belong to is called “Resorts of Distinction”. There are about 100 parks in this system across the United States, and our cost is FREE to use these parks. If we don’t have a Western Horizon Resort available in the area, then the ROD park is the next place we look for spending a night or a couple of weeks. To be eligible to join ROD or AOR or RPI, you must first have purchased a membership in a camping parks system such as Western Horizon Resorts (www.westernhorizresorts.com), Thousand Trails, or one of the other systems. As part of the ROD (www.resortsofdistinction.com) system, you have available another 100 or so parks in North American Camping Club (www.campnacc.com). Again, these parks are discounted and may be as low as $10 a night. The “Chain O’ Lakes” park is a NACC park and again it was our first time to use this system. What a difference from last night! The couple we talked with said that the regular camping fee was $30 a night for this park.

Red Lion Man


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Wednesday September 11th, 2008

Thursday September 11th, 2008

Today was another moving day as we head into Wisconsin for a park in Lady Smith. We were packed up and ready to go by 7:30 AM. We had made plans to meet our friends Dan and Barb Almquist at the McDonalds in Foley, MN. Barb works there in the mornings, and Dan was going to drive in from Milaca to meet us at 10:00 AM to have a cup of coffee while we visited.

Last night, Dan’s father-in-law, called and wanted us to transport some song books to Dan, for the small church that Dan and Barb work with the music in. We met him a little after 8:00 AM at the Pillager Baptist Church to pick up the song books, and were then on our way. After a couple of hours of visiting Dan and Barb we were on our way to uncharted territories in Wisconsin.

Westcove Campground in Lady Smith, Wisconsin, is part of the Adventure Camping Network which is tied in to the Adventure Outdoor Resorts membership that we have. AOR resorts cost us $6 a night, while ACN resorts are discounted and may be as low as $10. This was our first stay at an ACN resort, so we weren’t just sure what we would find, and we had been quoted a price of $18.

When we arrived there was not a person in sight, but the fine print on the sign said that the office would open at 5 PM in the adjacent bowling alley complex. There were no other campers on location, so we just picked a spot and set up. The showers and bathrooms were behind locked doors, and we were not able to access them till we registered and than they were unlocked. It’s a good thing we arrived at 3:00 PM and not noon. There must have been a dollars tax, as the bill came to $19. I think that Wal-Mart would have been as good a choice and a lot cheaper.

We took a drive through the town of Lady Smith, but didn’t see anything that stood out. Isn’t this what camping is all about?

Red Lion Man (& Lady)



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Wednesday September 10th, 2008

Wednesday September 10th, 2008

This morning I had made arrangement to meet with three of my high school classmates for breakfast in Pillager. We got there at 8 AM and it just seemed a short time and it was already 11 AM so we probably should have stayed and just had lunch also.

Lowell Scearcy , although retired, is working part time as the football coach at Pillager High School. He had also had a stint at Verndale High School as a coach, so he and Barb were able to compare some stories about some of the staff that she had known while she was attending school there.

Stan and Frank Mudgett were also there and retired. Stan has a lot of maple trees and processes maple syrup. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

Barb walked around Marilyn’s flower garden and snapped a few pictures while I tried to get some more pictures from the upstairs porches.
This evening Aunt Lucile, Ellie and Denis, and Carol came over for dinner. We had a good time of visiting and eating.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)



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Tuesday September 9th, 2008

Tuesday September 9th, 2008

We got up early again this morning and went for another walk. We went on a side road, a little off the beaten path, and again the poison ivy was everywhere, but I was watching for it this time and avoided it. So much of the land here is private, and you see deer stands in just about every ones field.

After we got back, we checked to see if Marilyn and Don were up and would like to go out to breakfast with us. They were more than willing. We ended up in more of a deli type establishment, the breakfast burritos and coffee was excellent.

Most of the rest of the day was spent visiting and trying to get some wildlife pictures. Don is extremely handy with tool, and everywhere you look you see his handiwork, bird feeders, flower holders, etc. It is an ideal place to try and get a few pictures.

In the evening, Barb went with Marilyn to a Rubber Stamping party. Marilyn’s daughter, Carol, was there as well as Ellie and her Mother. We then enjoyed some dessert together before retiring for the night.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)






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Monday September 8th, 2008

Monday September 8th, 2008

We’re starting to get acclimated to the time change and were up early, so Barb and I went for a morning walk. Things are different here and rather than walking in the dirt, we got to walk on the sandy road instead. I was noticing some nice flowers that I wanted to take some pictures of, and as I headed onto the edge of the road, Barb yelled at me to stop. The poison ivy was everywhere and I had already taken a step or two into it. When we got back, I carefully removed my clothes and shoes, which Barb then took into Marilyn’s and put in the washing machine.

Marilyn, her daughter Carol, her sister Ellie and her mother Lucile, (as well as my sister Galilee) are all into stamping. Marilyn’s husband Don has made lots of nice things to go along with her hobby for storage as well as some mechanical devices to give her a hand. Barb snapped a few photos of her work area.

Since we hadn’t made any specific plans for the day, I made arrangement to stop and see one of my classmates living in the Baxter area, Sandy Bergstrom. We had a very nice visit and then continued on to the Riverside area, where my Brother , Jerry, had been buried when he was killed in 1961. Having never been there since the burial, I wanted to get a picture of his burial marker.

Returning through Brainerd I snapped a picture of the old water tower, which was already a landmark when we lived there in the 50’s and 60’s. It always reminds me of one of the “Sugar Creek Gang” stories that took place in the Brainerd area and talks about the water tower.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)




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Sunday September 7th, 2008

Sunday September 7th, 2008

This morning it was time to head back to the Pillager area to spend a few nights at my cousin’s place. Barb and I went for a last walk around the park and out the boardwalk to the lake. While walking through the park we noticed a trailer just like we had been seeing here in Minnesota, so I took a closer look. As it turns out, these trailers can be used as ice fish houses. After the trailer is pulled out onto the lake, the axel is cranked up into the frame, so that the frame can sit directly onto the ice. Then all you have to do is open a trap door and drill the hole through the ice. They a equipped with kitchen cupboards and stove in the front and bunk beds on the sides. Nothing like the ice houses we grew up with.

After getting everything ready to go, I headed to the dump station while Barb said her last goodbyes to Penny and family. Then it was time to connect the Suzuki and make our way north.

I have not seen my cousin Robin for several years, nor had I ever met her husband, John. Since we would be going right by their place, we made arrangements to meet them at a truck stop in Clearwater, MN. We met at about 10:30 and had a late breakfast and then went to our motor home to look at some pictures. Three hours went by quickly, and by 1:30 we were on our way to my Cousin Marilyn’s place in Pillager.

After getting set up and visiting for a while, Don and Marilyn joined us for dinner in our coach. Later on, Marilyn and I went over the operation of her new camera.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)




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Saturday September 6th, 2008

Saturday, September 6, 2008

We made coffee and enjoyed it until Ron, Penny and the kids got up. Ron fried the eggs and bacon and I brought fried potatoes over to their coach for breakfast. Penny and I took another walk and of course Dick did something on the computer. Penny went into town to do some shopping and washing of clothes and I did some baking.

That evening Penny’s son, Jim, comes over with his oldest son, Zake. We have our dinner together and sat around talking until it’s time to start getting ready for bed. Where does the time go!


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Cousins

Cousins

Friday, September 5th, 2008

I made a pot of coffee and we had a light breakfast. Penny and I went shopping while Dick stayed in the coach working on the computer. We had lunch with Penny and Ron. They left to pick up 2 of their grand kids and we left to visit my cousin Chuck and his wife, Margo, in Apple Valley. They made arrangements for their daughter, Laura and her husband ,Scott and son, John, Aunt Deloris, Cousin Jerry and his wife, Linda, to join in a meal with us. They all pitched in and it was wonderful. We shared stories and pictures and before you knew it 9 o’clock rolled around. Our faithful GPS guided us back through light traffic to our coach by 10 o’clock.



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Baylor Regional Park

Baylor Regional Park

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

We got up this morning and Dick plays around with the GPS and decides on a route to take to get to Baylor Park, in Norwood Young America, MN. We will be camping for 3 days with my best friend, Penny Zaphel, while going to school in Minnesota. We are on the road around 8 am and arrive about 11:30 am. It was a very uneventful trip, we drove past lots of fields, small towns and lakes.

While waiting to register, Larry and Judy Wagner pull in. Judy is Penny Zaphel‘s older sister. Ron was down at the lake fishing and Penny was waiting for us in her coach. We put together a lunch and spent the afternoon having a good old time talking and laughing. Penny pulls out a couple pair of caprices and gets Judy and my advice on how to alter them, but we’re having way too much fun to let work get in the way. After all we are retired. Larry and Judy had to leave and pick up their 5th wheel that was in the shop being repaired, Ron heads to the lake again and Dick to his computer. Penny and I go for a walk on a boardwalk through a swamp full of cattails and frogs that lead us to the lake where Ron was fishing. The rest of the evening we just relaxed (between phone calls). Since I have my sewing machine with us, I did bring Penny’s caprices back to our coach and started working on them before I went to bed.



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More Friends and Family

More Friends and Family

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

I slept good last night as it dropped into the upper 40’s and was not so humid. The sun came out nice this morning and warmed up to the upper 60‘s. We went into Verndale and meet Rosemary, another of my classmates. After a great visit, I ran over to see Mr. Schultz, one of my former hi-school teachers. Then back to Wadena to meet Marladene for lunch at the Boondocks while Dick went to the library. I think the waitress thinks I’m moving in.

After lunch we got set up for a potluck with my relatives and old, friends and neighbors. Larry Clark, the only classmate that went through all 12 grades with me, joined us. We had an enjoyable afternoon and evening with lots of good food and conversation.



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Friendships

Friendships

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

It only cooled off to 70 degrees overnight, so we woke up to a warm rain. I hadn’t been getting my walks in since it has been so warn so I told Dick I would walk into town and buy some brown sugar for my blackberry crisp I was making. He wanted to go along and have some breakfast, so we took off in the rain. We discovered a Cyber Café and stopped in to check out, since we aren’t able to upload on our connection at the coach. As long as you buy coffee you could use it, so Dick was going to come back later with the computer. We had breakfast (dripping wet) across the street at Boondocks Café and than walked home.

We head back down town in the car and Dick goes into the Cyber Café and I go to Super One for my brown sugar. Marladene, a former classmate, works at the bank across from Super One, so I went in for a visit. From there I headed back to the Cyber Café but ran into Ave, Margret and Don going into the Boondocks Café. I go in with them and call Dick to tell him to join us for a bowl of soup. We had a good visit, than headed to our coach. By this time the temperature had dropped into the low 60’s or high 50’s.

It wasn’t long and it was time to head for Underwood to have dinner with Virgil and Myrna. When Dick was in the Army, based at Fort Monmouth, I met Virgil while we were pulling fatigues out of the washer next to each other. We started talking and discovered we were both Minnesotans and the next thing you know the four of us were getting together for picnics, cards, camping, swimming in the ocean and Twins games at Yankee Stadium. We had a great time reminiscing and eating! I won’t mention we were having so much fun, Myrna forgot to put the meat on. Really, it was only an excuse to have a 4 course meal (better than any restaurant)! We got back to our coach around 11 pm, seems we need more sleep now.

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Labor Day - 2008

Labor Day 2008

I suppose in the early days, every one labored on Labor Day, but now everyone takes it off. Our Verizon cell phones work OK here, but there is no enhanced Verizon, so the wireless internet card is worse than Dial UP. About all you want to do is download mail, as anything on the internet takes forever to get. Will have to run to the Library tomorrow and see if we can’t get a better connection.

We had made arrangement to stop and see Dora Mae at 10AM today, as Linda, her daughter from California was leaving for the airport to head home, and we wanted to see her before she left.

While we were there Rob, her brother, came over. When Rob and Linda we small, Barb would babysit them. We spent considerable time talking about the property that he had purchased a few miles out of White Sulphur Springs, MT. This was quite interesting, as this is the second time we have stayed in White Sulphur Springs, and we really enjoy it there. White Sulphur Springs is over 5000 feet elevation, and the 40 acres that Rob’s family has developed is over 6000 feet. It is about an eleven hour drive for them to get there and most of the time they only go after they have heard that a big storm has dumped lots of snow. They like to go snow mobiling! Maybe on one of our trips out we can stop and see the place.

Most of the rest of the day was just spent relaxing and Barb put a chicken in the rotisserie for dinner. It was yummy.

Red Lion Man (& Lady)

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