One for September tenting

These pictures are from around Cornucopia WI.  There are sea caves alone the shore that you can walk to and look down or if you want to explore you can kayak to them and go in them.  Terry and I walked the 1.8 mile hike through the woods to the place where you look down about 100 feet.  Really you can not see much of them from up that high but it was a nice walk and fun watching the many kayaks down below. 
The camping picture is in the tenting area of the camp site.  It was difficult making a decision where to pitch the tent but I think we found the perfect spot!  Actually by the time dark descended there were 2 more tents in the site.
Yesterday was interesting, sad, informative and more.  In the morning Terry had a Dr. appt for her poison ivy.  She received some meds and that should take care of things in a few days we hope.  From there we drove to Cottage Grove to take in the memorial service for a first cousin whom I knew but had not spent any time with.  Richard Sampson was 82 and in fairly good physical health but suffered from dementia the last few years.  He was one of three brothers.  His brother Dean is the only living one and we had a nice time talking to him and his wife Dee.  Their parents Arnold and Molly farmed near Veblen SD which was about 10 miles or so from our farm in ND.  Dean remembered one time he spent a week with us but it was probably when I was 3 or 4.  He said he and Ronald had to pull a lot of weeds in the trees!  Those must have been slow growing trees as I remember too well pulling weeds in those long long rows of trees.  But the jest of the day was as we talked I wished we had more contact with him and his brothers over the years.  Now this is quite a big deal for me as I am kind of not too good at those contacts and social things but yesterday was fun and maybe in my "golden" years I have changed.  We exchanged cell phone numbers so maybe can keep in touch a bit.  They are in the process of selling their 20 acres near Brookings SD where they board horses.  They plan to move to Sioux Falls.  Dean said at the age of 74 there are more important things in life than money.  Their brother Donald died at the age of 52 many years ago and Dean said that was really hard for him.  As we arrived for the service we spent some time looking at pictures and of course those pictures of people that age are so fun to look at.  Most of them have people in service clothes, guys with guns, gals posing for pictures in those dresses of the 40's and 50's and yes there actually was a picture of an out house.  But you could guess it was only a 2 hole not a 3 hole like the one I grew up in. (not really in but with)  AS I look at that I did not grow up with it either as I grew up and it got old but did not grow up.
When I got up this morning I noticed September 30th.  I can not believe this month is history.  Wallace told me it is almost October too as after he ate he barked once.  That always means let me in I am cold, don't you know this fall weather is chilly??
I was able to get a few more window hooks off of the outside of the house.  The old windows had 2 metal hooks above each window so the storms and screens could be hooked on.  With 14 windows replaced that meant 28 hooks to take off, fill the holds, sand smooth, prime and paint.  The new windows look so nice and with the hooks gone and the paint on they even look nicer.  I have 4 left to do and then another job done.  Chalk one off my "honey do list" but the last time I looked Terry adds things faster than I can chalk them off.  Really I am so happy that I can work on the list as there may come a time that I am not able or do not have the interest.  Thank you Lord for energy and interest.
Speaking of energy and interest maybe I need to get my body in gear this morning.

Back into the swing

It has been a week since we returned from R&R.  Here is a picture of Terry standing near our Washburn camp site on Lake Superior.  You can tell the time of day as that is the moon in the sky!!
We have been  kind of on the go since we returned.  We motored onto Niles Ave last Wednesday at 5:50 PM.  Within the hour we had unpacked, put some of the things away and were sitting down to dinner.  By 6:55 I was off to Men's group for the evening.  Time has kind of gone that way since.  Before I go into some detail some highlights from R&R. 

• Tenting for 13 nights was fun.  I have to admit that it was not as easy on my body as in the past.  I know it had been 4 years since the last time but really!!  I would have thought Terry was a pro as she did so well BUT don't really know if sleeping an inch off the ground on a thermo rest pad is in the cards for the future.
• Door County fish boils were great.  A fun sight (the second picture), a tasty fish meal and a wonderful evening.  We took in two of them and enjoyed too much and ate way too much.  Of course in Door county you always MUST finish off with a fresh cherry pie.
• It was so much fun to run into Terry's legislative aide, from the 90's, on Madeline Island where she and her husband were vacationing.  They had not seen each other for 15 years.  Then to make it even more fun she has her own law firm now and had just hired Katie, Jerry and Susan's daughter.  What a small small world. 
• We spent the last full day of vacation with Leo and Ruby in Madison.  Any time we can be with any of those grand children it is special.  Leo wanted so much to go to Zu Zu's which is a cafe near the Madison Zoo.  We did and it was great.
• We had a wonderful time camping in the American Legion National Forest in north central WI.  If anyone is looking for a great place to camp that is it.  I think it is 20+ miles square at least with many campgrounds and 900+ camp sites. 
• On our way from Door County to Madison we stopped in Milwaukee to tour the Harley museum.  They have so many cycles and the history part was great.  I was hoping they would have my 65 Harley Sprint but no luck.  Well they had a different year which was the same except mine was black (the best) and the one they had was red.
• Our favorite camp site was the west camp grounds in Washburn WI.  That is 12 miles south of Bayfield.  The sites were large and all grass.  We ended up spending more nights there than planned just because of the site.  We were 100 yards from the lake and at night the moon (full) and the stars would fill the sky as if to say heaven is not far away.
• Lastly in Door County we stayed at Peninsula State Park which is the busiest park in WI.  We gathered much wood and had a fire often.  When camping fires are the spark that makes life worth living.
• On the negative side Terry came home with a case of poison ivy and we may need to see a doctor. 

So much for R&R.  We have now had 7 days at home again.  We have accomplished some but of course not enough.  Some highlights are:

• We have gotten some painting done on the window sills outside.  I need/want to get the old hardware off of the 14 windows that were replaced and then get the sills painted.  It will get done this week.
• On the way down to the basement there had been a small hole in the wall (about the size of the fist of a small boy!).  The walls had never been painted either so now it looks nice and fresh with white paint.
• We also have gotten the hall and first floor bathroom primed and ready to paint.
• We had a business meeting yesterday that was long over due.
• One morning we went on a long walk and then as we neared home stopped at the Winds.  It was delightful to sit and chat for an hour or so.
• We sent for new passports and they came in 2+ weeks.  Mine was about to expire as it was purchased the spring that Cynthia was in Rome.
• I had to get a tune up on the lawn mower.  When I brought it in the lady looked at it and said she did not know if they would fix it as it is so old.  I said "old, no way I think I purchased it in about 1994 or so!"  Anyway they fixed it in short order for a tall sum and the lawn got mowed that evening. 
• Terry is in the process of making another batch of pickles from the garden.
• We had Jeri/Larry over for dinner Sunday evening.  It is always fun to have them as they are so supportive and uplifting.
• Travis went to church with us Sunday and then stayed for lunch.  We have another lunch date with him this Friday.
• We have made no movement on our vehicles.  Still too many but no decisions or actions.

Enough of that.  Some sad news last night.  Sister Joan called and said that a cousin, Richard,(Dick) Sampson died Monday.  He lived in St. Paul Park.  He was the eldest son of mother's brother Arnold.  When we were growing up we always spent much more time with dad's side of the family.  Because of that and also my mother was the youngest of many children so that cousins on that side were older.  Richard was 82 and really I did not know him except to say hi at a few family gatherings.  But Terry and I plan to go to the memorial service tomorrow.  Kind of in mother's place and also it may be fun to see relatives I do not know well or at all.  My siblings are much better at doing things like this but I will give it the old college try and see if I can be social.  It does bring back memories of those childhood days as we drove to Glenwood MN for the Sampson Sunday annual gathering.  I really think dad was not very fair with the Sampsons but then why look back on things from so long ago.  I do know that Olaf Sampson was one of my favorite uncles.  It is kind of fun to think back on Phil, Olaf, James, Richard, Ansel, Arnold and there must have been more too.  I guess as I sit and write this morning I may go back to Grandpa Sampson who would always offer us a bite of his "chew" when we came to visit.  He would always laugh when he did that.  Then he would sit in his spartan like living room in the old wooden rocking chair which sat in the corner with a brass spitune(sp) near by.  Oh I think there was a paper or rug under it in case he missed!!!!!!  As we would leave we walked past the black leather strap used to sharpen his razor.  It always hung on the edge of the sink.  I am not sure but it seemed to me that Grandpa and his son Jim lived in this house that was almost void of most homey things except it seemed clean, neat and kind of nice.
Here it is 6:35 and totally dark yet.  Come on fall!

Back from the wilderness

Terry and I arrived at Aaron/Amy's last night after spending 13 nights in our Alpine 7X8 tent.  We had wonderful weather until Sunday night when it rained from 8:00 PM until we pulled out of our camp site at 8:30 AM in the rain.  It appeared that we had about 3/4" over night but our tent kept us 98% dry!!
We have plans to leave Madison Wednesday and then arrive home on Thursday. 
Our tenting vacation has been successful beyond expectations.  From Bayfield, to Ashand, to American Legion National Forest camp grounds to Door County and then to Madison it has been exciting, fun and full of memories.  From the ferry rides, to the bike rides, to the full moon to the campfires to the fish boils and the list is almost endless each day has been filled with new experiences and fun times.  Terry had limited experiences camping in the past but one would think she came into the vacation as a pro with her ideas, her skills and her excitment.  I did fail camping 101 and left our cooler out one night.  We found that racoons do not need anything on their hot dogs and they like boiled eggs over fresh eggs.  Other than that things went so well.  Some of the highlights were the fish boils, the perfect weather, the wonderful meals, the full moon nights and so many many nice people we met.  Were there any bumps?  Of course as this is real life, not any fairy tale story.  BUT the bumps were just that, little tiny ones that a person meets, go over and move on to new and wonderfull things.  It may be difficult to get back to reality but we will do that on Thursday and in the morning of that day we will begin to check off a long list that needs to be taken care of before we head to FL for some time.
As I write Terry is making the evening meal as Aaron is at work, Leo is watching a movie, Ruby is sleeping and Amy is out of town for a couple of days.  I think the menu is Swedish mealballs with fixings to go with them. 
We were able to dream a bit as we saw wonderful campers at some of the sites we were at.  One of them, T@B camper, seemed so perfect---but then we do not live in a perfect world!!!!
One last thing.  I think some of the clothes we brought along with us that seemed a bit large now seem to fit quite well :(   That may mean some change of eating habits when we arrive home on Thursday.

The new new and the old new

Of course the windows are different in size etc. but the top is the new new and the bottom is the old new.  Of the windows we did not replace I want to redo them with storms I make and then paint them the same paint as the new Marvin windows.  The bottom picture is the first I was able to complete.  It looks very much like the new ones which was the goal.
The kitchen project has come to an end except for a few small things.  The old metal cabinets are now old newly painted ones.  They look nice and Terry and I like the wall color with the cabinet color.  The thing is in spite of all the work Terry did and the great job she did on the painting I am in the same place I was 30+ years ago.  I just plain hate the metal cabinets.  They just do not make a good kitchen.  But for now it is what it is and we hope in the not too distance future we can remake the kitchen into something that is nice. 
I really like like our new french press coffee maker.  It is a thermos and stainless steel which mean it looks nice, it keeps the coffee hot and it will not break like the glass ones.  I maybe should say that a coffee maker is only a coffee maker and not that important and of course that is true but-----that morning french press cup of good java is actually important.
This week marks the 5th year that I have been able to drive past Highland Junior School and see all the cars there for the week of workshops and SMILE.  The four years since I worked in the St. Paul Schools have been so full, have gone so fast and have been so life changing it makes me dizzy to think of it.  To think of the 7 week camping trip, the 3 weeks in Hawaii, the 1100 shakes on the house, working 12 hour shifts at night at the fair, Gail's recurring cancer, the 7 months of caring for Gail, her death, learning to live without her, working on the house so so so much and then regaining life again as I married Terry I can almost not catch my breath when I think of it.  Some of the things I have taken away from these last four years are:

• It is not a matter of will life change but rather how fast will it happen
• Retirement has been very good
• Travel is fun
• Kids and grand kids just are so important and such a blessing
• I have found that I love to rehab things and make the house look better
• I have found that money does not bring happiness but of course one needs to pay the bills
• I have found out again that it is IMPOSSIBLE to know the heart of anyone else and it is often difficult to know your own heart.  For sure when difficulties come new insights emerge concerning friends, family and things.  I found that out in a startling way many many years ago and it has surfaced again.
• I have found that one needs to stay active, stay engaged in things but even with that effort a person can see that age comes and comes and comes and you can not stop it.
• I have found in a new way that I need to make decisions for myself but of course with input from family and friends.  I have found that it is so so important to keep conversation going as to what a person is doing.  In that area I have not done as well as I should have but still the bottom line is as life goes on families change and often that is difficult to adjust to.
• The last thing I will share is I found out that I did not know some things about myself.  I found that so many things I do I desire to do it with/for others.  I thought I was a loner because when I grew up I often was alone making toys, doing things alone and just "being" but I did not realize that in doing that it was mostly the farm life and not who I was.  The new view on who I was came as a huge surprise to me, go figure.

Enough for now.  Terry and I have 2 more tickets for the fair and we may go today.  We would rather not go on the weekend as there usually is more people there.  As I write it is rainy so will see what the day brings.