Thursday, July 24, 2014

July 21 - 27, 2014, WI

Monday, July 21.  I'm going camping!  First, I went to Madison this morning to meet up with my in-laws, Tom and Karen and Patty and Hobe for breakfast.  It was nice to get one more visit with Patty before she heads back to Florida and I got to get to know Hobe a little better.  He's a very nice guy who seems to care a lot about Patty and they are quite happy with living in Florida.

When I got back home, I proceeded to get the trailer hooked up to the car.  The ball on the hitch was lined up perfectly, but when I lowered the tongue, it just wouldn't go down on the ball.  I called Pat and he gave me some suggestions; so I tried raising the rear stabilizing jacks hoping it would drop the tongue - no, I emptied the fresh water tank - no, I took all of the heavy items out of the back of the car - no.  I called Pat again.  This time, he suggested that I start over and when I did, I realized that the locking pin on the trailer tongue was not open all of the way and the locking mechanism prevented the tongue from setting on the ball.  Duh!!  It all came together after that.  This is definitely a learning process for me.

Before I left town, I stopped and had the air in the tires checked and adjusted.  I got to the Kegonsa State Park and found my site - a double site for Pat and Rog and me.  They were already there and all set up and it worked out that I could just pull straight in and our doors would be facing each other.  It took just a few minutes to get settled and get the awning up and I was ready for a few days of camping.  


Later in the afternoon, Chris and Norm pulled in and got set up in the site next to us.  It was good to see them, it has been since April when we were all still in Mesa.  It wasn't long and it was happy hour followed by a yummy camp dinner of brats and hot dogs.  When the Mosquitos came out in droves (around 9:00), we all called it a night and headed for the comfort of our rigs.

We had a raccoon visit our site during the night - he was rustling through the recyclables and Roger got up and chased him away.  Pat said it was a big guy - much bigger than either of our dogs.  I slept right through it and didn't hear a thing, thanks to the hum of the air conditioner.

So far, I have no regrets in buying my trailer.  It fits me and Frisco well and I think I will have no problems with it.  It feels good!

Tuesday, July 22.  The day started with a nice, long walk through the park, down to the lake.  It was breezy there but hardly any at the campsite where we really needed it.  It's going to be a hot day - predictions are for 90s and high humidities.

Chris and Norm came over and we played Dirty Clubs and Euchre most of the afternoon.  It got really hit and humid - it's bad when the sweat rolls off your face when you are sitting still in the shade.  It finally broke in the evening when a front came through and brought us cooler temps and the humidity dropped considerably.

Thursday, July 24.  Yesterday was a perfect day for camping with temps in the mid 70s, a slight breeze that kept the Mosquitos at bay, and cool enough in the evening to enjoy some good old campfire therapy.  Dawn and her friend, Robin, came by in the afternoon and we had a very nice chat, a sip of wine, and some snacks.  


We walked to the beach this morning, a round trip of 2.5 miles.  Had a nice breakfast and then started to pack up for the trip back home.  Just as we were leaving, Pat's brother, Jim, stopped by - just had to show us the 26.5" walleye that he had just caught.  He was going to be having a delicious breakfast when he got home.  

This little guy thought my camper was a nice place to hang out.

I was back at Pat's and settled into my site by noon.  Thanks to Pat's neighbor, Rose, who guided me back in to my spot in the front yard.

I met up with Tom, Karen, Joan, Vicki, Louie, and Dave for dinner at Toby's tonight.  Their Old Fashioned and shrimp and lake perch combo was delicious, as usual and the company was great too!

Sunday, July 27.  I didn't do a lot the last few days other than some garage sales with Louie in Friday morning, I hooked up with my cousin, Jonnie that afternoon, hung out with Pat and Tracey, planted some Canna Lilies for Dawn, and attended a family gathering of cousins at Erin's new home on  Sunday.  It was well attended by lots of kids and adults, including Jonnie's new great grandson, Alexavier, who is 3 weeks old.  As usual, the food was great - thanks to Ken and Gerta for bringing fresh lake perch - yum, yum!