Monday, August 25, 2014

back at the Martin Manor RV park

Backed in a little before 2:00 this afternoon and really didn't enjoy the outside temperature between the trailer and the house as we unloaded dirty laundry and other things.  This was a very nice relaxing trip that included some very nice days of cool weather but it's always good to get back home.

We are here for a little over two weeks before heading eastward for some trailer maintenance work and a visit with our daughter and our two grand-cats.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

against the wind

Today was totally southbound and all against the wind which didn't do our fuel economy any good.  It is that wind that is bringing these high temperatures to the central USA and we probably should have turned around and "gone with the wind" back to the northern climate.  We are now in Newton, IA which is just a bit East of Des Moines and the temp is 92° but I see that at home it is 99°.  I believe that the forecast for tomorrow when we arrive back home it is supposed to be much cooler with a forecast only of 97°.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

mission accomplished

Our goal for this trip was to spend some time in much cooler temperatures than was happening in mid-Missouri.  It has been very pleasant the whole trip but several days in northern Wisconsin was without need for any AC and even the use of our heat pump kept it comfortable at nights and early mornings.  We (or I should say I) did sample Wisconsin cheese and Wisconsin beer with good experiences for both.  There weren't a lot of excursions but the relaxing cool days were great.  Today we crossed into Minnesota and tomorrow we head south through Iowa toward the old Martin Manor corral.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

fractional addresses

After reading our last post my sister sent me an email saying that she has a friend living in Chetek, WI with a fractional address.  I pulled up a close up of that area which was right where we saw the sign and there are many streets and avenues with fractional names.


relocated

A slight change in plans today as we have moved southerly out of the north-woods.  Where we were we didn't have any other tourist things to do.  The most favorite thing there was to take an ATV, or a snowmobile in certain seasons, and explore the back woods trails.  The biggest problem was that they were rented at $90/hour plus gas with a two hour minimum.  We were afraid that we would get lost and really wasn't interested in a bouncy ride over hill and dale although the scenery would have been great.  We could have just sat there and relaxed for two days but the town was so isolated that there wasn't any over-the-air television signals, the campground didn't have cable connections, and with all the trees no satellite TV.  Our RV is on wheels so we made use of them today.

We are now in Oakdale, WI and don't have any exciting thing to go see, but at least we have cable television to help pass the time.  One interesting thing today as we were driving along US-53, beside all the rain, was that they have all the crossroads named with highway signs giving their name.  That is not uncommon around the country but today we saw one sign that got our "Did you see that" comment.  It was a sign giving the cross street name as "29-3/4 Ave".

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

something fishy

Our outing this afternoon was to visit the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum, located in downtown Hayward, WI.  It was quite interesting as they had many collections of fishing lures, outboard motors, tackle, and boats as well as trophy mounted fish of all kinds.  They have posted the names and information about record catches of all kinds of freshwater fishing.  The grounds were very well kept with many flower beds and giant fish sculptures.

The extra large Muskellunge had stairs inside that we climbed to look out of its mouth.  Jo stayed up there while I came down to take her picture.

 view from the fish's mouth
 Jo about to be eaten



 we have Uncle Bills glass minnow trap like this one









 World record Muskie


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

relocated

Moved today just a little over 100 miles westward to Hayward, WI.  Still in Wisconsin, still in the north-woods, still surrounded by lakes, and still in cool climate.  Although a short drive it was a beautiful drive mostly through National Forest and on local roads with almost no other traffic besides us.  There were signs that warned of elk crossing and even lowered the speed limit down to 45 because of that event but none sighted by us.  We did see a couple of flocks of turkeys, one small flock just beside the roadway and the other larger flock crossed the road right in front of us.

Don't know what kind of mischief we can get into while here but we'll see, perhaps just loaf and enjoy the cool weather.  No AC required at all yesterday and so far looks like today is another without AC needed.  Here at 2:00 it is only 67°.

Monday, August 18, 2014

great day on the lakes

This area is covered with many lakes.  While today is forecast to be scattered showers all day, just like Saturday, yesterday was beautiful.  The afternoon was clear skies with temperatures in the low to mid 70s so we took a pontoon ride on two local lakes.  It was a little over two hour tour that included sights of many vacation mansions, eagles, and loons.  There were only four other passengers and one dog so it was a very personal tour.

After the boat ride we did a little bit of shopping and then found a very nice place for dinner.  It was the Minocqua Brewery and they had a nice selection of beers plus the food was very good.











This is a major vacation area for folks from Chicago.  One of the mansions on the lake is owned by the Anheuser Bush family.  The third picture is the Minocqua Country Club and a former member was Ike Eisenhower who liked to vacation here. 

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Sunday exodus

 This morning we have been watching all the weekenders pack up and move out.  We are now the only unit in our loop of the campground so now we have an uninterrupted view of Patricia Lake.  The sites aren't too close together but I think the campground was full the past two nights.




Saturday, August 16, 2014

nice rain

It has been raining off and on all day but no storm or winds so it's a nice shower.  The area around our trailer doesn't have much grass but it is sandy so the rain just soaks in and it's not muddy.  The campground is quiet without any RR tracks nearby and nice spacing between sites so not too much people noise even tho the campground is full.  The campground is on a small lake with a swimming beach and has boat rentals for fishing, neither of which will get much use by us.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Into the trees we go

Today we moved northerly from farming land into the tall timber.  We're about an hour and a half north of Wausau and our campsite is in the deep woods so no satellite television.  We do have a cable connection with a ton of channels so don't have to just twiddle our thumbs.  This area is in heavy timber with lots of small lakes everywhere.  We'll look in out information and see what kind of mischief we can get into these next few days.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

calm day

Today has been a restful day with just a brief trip to the grocery store for a few restocking items.  We did stop at a post office on the way back for some stamps and a fuel stop to fill the tank for tomorrows drive.  Tomorrow we head north toward north central Wisconsin.  I apologize to the tourist attractions here as we just couldn't decide on which ones we wanted to spend our dollars on so passed them all by.  It really was an easy decision and we just drove past them on our way to the store and PO.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

decisions, decisions

The town of Wisconsin Dells is a total tourist trap area.  The only thing that we might have been interested in is the boat rides on the Wisconsin River through the Dells (rock formations along the river) but we did that a few years ago on a previous trip to this area.  Some of our other options are Ripley's believe it or not, the museum of torture devices, horseback trail rides, or one of the many amusement parks.  Since Jo is just now over her dizzy spell, thank goodness, I don't think a ride on the tilt-a-whirl would be advisable.

By a vote of 2 to 0 we are just going to relax and enjoy this beautiful weather and listen to the trains going by every so often.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Quiet day

Since we have been driving for the past two days we decided that today was  going to be a fairly quiet day.  We did drive to near-by Oxford, WI for lunch at Maggie Mae's Cafe.

Our satellite TV is connected through Dish Network and one channel they provide that we like is RFD-TV.  They have a lot of rural programming and also quite a few country music programs.  One of those programs is Midwest Country from Sandstone, MN.  Last year we made that a stop on our Minnesota trip and enjoyed the show from the theater.  Quite often on their show they have Maggie Mae as a guest performer and she does a good job with old time country tunes with some yodeling thrown in.  She sometimes is in her Cafe singing but not today.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Wisconsin Dells

Arrived in our campground a little before 2pm this afternoon.  It's a nice level site just outside the main part of downtown Wisconsin Dells.  We drove up here on a previous trip and took a boat ride on the river so we'll see this time what we might find to do.  The boat ride was good then so may just do that again.

Here are a few pictures that Jo took this morning as we were leaving our campsite below the dam at Coralville Lake near Iowa City, IA.




Sunday, August 10, 2014

Wisconsin bound

Headed out this morning on our way northerly toward Wisconsin.  We don't have anything in specific that we are looking for except for some cool weather, tree shaded campsites, cheese shopping, and relaxing.  Tonight we are near Iowa City, IA at a Corps of Engineers campground just below the dam on Coralville Lake.  We found our site without passing a check in station.  The post at our site confirmed our reservation so we pulled in and set up.  I walked to the restroom/shower  building and there was a bulletin board telling me that I needed to go to the check-in station at another campground in this complex.  I hadn't unhooked the truck from the trailer so now I needed to, not a big deal.  I drove to the necessary check-in station and then came back and hooked up again so tomorrow it will be an easy exit.

Here is a picture of our rig hitched up and ready to go this morning.


And here is a picture of Jo's chorus line of naked lady lilies.  It's hard to see but there are many just now pushing through because of the rain we have had the past few days.  The few already up and blooming started to rise after Jo watered the area last week.  This whole line across the full picture will be very pretty this week.