Muggins Mountains Wilderness

We went on another hike with our "hiking club". This time we went to the Muggins Mountains Wilderness which is just a little north of our park. The scenery was fabulous. We got to see some "water tanks". These were natural water tanks. They are just deep holes in the rock along the bottom of a wash where water can collect. Miners that were in the area in the past also created some of their own tanks by making the holes deeper or wider.

I took a picture of Muggins Peak. If you look closely at the picture with people -- Jim is on the far right. We were looking down into one of the holes. The third picture is of an Ironwood Tree. The wood of this tree is what everyone tries to collect here but you have to find the pieces that have dried to almost stone or else they just rot and turn to dust.

We had a great Christmas Dinner at the park. Our table had four couples and we each brought our favorite recipe. It was all very good -- ate too much -- but thats part of Christmas!

Water and Mines

We've been busy doing more exploring around the Yuma area. We found water -- the lower Colorado River. There are a couple of "lakes" along the river. These are places where a dam backs up the water in the river a little bit. It's very nice to see palm trees around water.

We went with a hiking group into the Barry Goldwater Range. You need a permit from the Marines to go on the range because it is part of an active base. They do some sort of bomb testing there.

We went up to the Fortuna Mine area. It was very interesting -- huge deep hole where they mined gold and some other minerals. You needed a 4 wheel drive to get there so it was nice to go with a group and ride in one of their vehicles. Our truck has 4 wheel drive but its too wide to fit on the narrow little trails you have to follow.

The weather is holding -- its staying in the 70's during the day and 50's at night.

Castle Dome

We went to the KOFA Wilderness are on our first adventure in the Yuma area. Kofa stands for King of Arizona as in the King of Arizona mine. This widlerness area is full of old mines. Some had gold in them but most were mined for lead and silver. The most famous rock formation in the KOFA is Castle Dome rock.

Jim had to take a picture of the truck out on the dusty gravel roads. We couldn't go on most of the roads in the wilderness area because you need a high clearance four wheel drive. Our truck with dual wheels gets stuck in sand very easily and we had a bigger fuel tank put underneath that hangs a little low so we can't really do much "4 wheelin".

We were able to walk to the mine in the picture. It is the Hull mine and it closed down just back in the 90's. It supplied the U.S. army with lead for ammunition from the Civil War up through the first Iraq war.

We are enjoying exploring the desert areas around us and are amazed at the agriculture in the middle of it all. This area supplies almost all of the winter lettuce for the entire country. I'll have to try and get some pictures of the fields, irrigation canals and workers that make sure we have fresh lettuce throughout the winter.

Historic Tombstone, Az

When we were staying in Benson, Az we went to Tombstone. It is a very small town down in the desert. The main street has been kept the way it was in the 1800's. They reenact the shootout at the OK Corral everyday. I got a picture of the guys getting ready to do the shootout. There is a stagecoach that you can take a ride in for a tour of the town.

We also stopped at Boothill cemetary. Its a genuine old time cemetary. The graves have new stones over them and readable markers. Most of the "residents" of Boothill were shot, murdered or hanged.

We went to Casa Grande, Az for a few days and visited another couple we worked with this past summer. Didn't like the area -- way too dusty. Lots of signs on the freeway warning of possible blowing dust with zero visibility. Luckily all we saw was lots of dust swirling in the air but it didn't limit visibility.

We have now arrived at Wellton, Az which is our winter destination -- Pioneer Rv Park. It is very nice -- big about 350 sites and we have a nice size lot. There is an outdoor heated pool and spa and lots of activities. The weather is great -- its been in the 70's just right for shorts and t-shirts.

Airplanes and Cactus

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Benson, Arizona. Benson is just east of Tuscon. We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum. This museum is on 80 acres and holds 300 military aircraft. The picture is of the old blackbird spyplane that used to be the plane that flew the fastest and the highest. We also went to Saguaro National Park. The park is filled with these beautiful cactus.

We opted to have our own Thanksgiving turkey dinner instead of going to the large gathering at the campground. It was very good and for once we had leftovers to enjoy. The campground has a large telescope and an astronomer on staff. One evening we went to one of his shows. We got to see some star clusters, galaxies, nebulas, binary stars, and even Jupiter with four of its moons. All the objects we saw through the scope you cannot see with the naked eye.

We will be at our destination on Wednesday the first of December -- Wellton, Az.

White Sands Missiles & the Spaceport?

We went rockhounding east of Elephant Butte and where we go overlooks the area where they are building the spaceport. This is Spaceport America that Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic is pouring his money into as well as the state and feds. They had the ten thousand foot runway put in -- concrete three feet thick but parts of it didn't pass compression tests. They are busy tearing up the bad concrete and redoing it. They haven't gotten very far on any buildings either but the road to the place is at least paved now.

We are now in Las Cruces, New Mexico which is very close to the White Sands Missile testing area. We went to see the museum they have on the military base there. They have an outside display of old missiles that all were put through their final testing -- being fired -- here at White Sands. The "trinity site" where the first atomic bomb was tested is at the far north section of White Sands.

We are staying in a campground that a couple we worked with in Door County are staying in for the winter. Our former boss/owner of Door County Camping Retreat and his wife surprised us all and showed up at the campground too for a few days. We have eaten some great, inexpensive Mexican food in a little restaurant nearby and enjoyed listening to a 7 piece mariachi band. The band was just some local talent that played for tips but they were very good.

We are saying goodbye to New Mexico on Tuesday and heading to Benson, Arizona.

EEEEK --we found snow

We spent two and half very long days in Chanute, Kansas. We had some warranty work done on our rig. There was a pretty little park there with the bridge that had been built in 1872 and the railroad car and engine. We met lots of very nice people also having work done so we all kind of hung out together. There really is nothing to do in Chanute.

We followed U.S. highway 54 through Kansas, the panhandle of Oklahoma and into New Mexico. It was south of Santa Rosa, New Mexico that we started seeing heavy frost. Pretty soon it was actually snow. They sand the roads with red dirt mixed with a salt. We are now in Elephant Butte, New Mexico where we spent our first winter. We are enjoying visiting with all the friends we made and kind of surprised to see most of them all come back here for the winter.

Our goal is Wellton, Arizona by the first of December.

Route 66 in Missouri

We traveled across Arkansas on I-40 and then up interstate 540 through northwest Arkansas. We went through the Boston Mountains -- part of the Ozarks. Very beautiful but no place to stop and take a picture. We ended up in Carthage, Missouri close to the old route 66 highway.

Carthage is west of Springfield so one day we had to go to the Bass Pro shop there. It is huge -several city blocks. We also went to Lamberts cafe just south of Springfield. Lamberts is famous for their "throwed rolls". The food is typical southern fried fare but the rolls are fresh baked and they go around with a cart of them and if you want one they just toss it to you. You can have some sorghum molasses spread on it -- sweet like jelly but lighter than dark molasses.

We visited friends -- a couple that were workampers with us in Door County. They bought the cute little house in the picture with the big Alfa motorhome next to it. The house isn't livable -- it's their moneypit - their fixer upper project for the next few years.

They know the area so they took us around Carthage which has an old fashioned square in the middle of downtown with a huge courthouse in the middle. We ate at LuckyJs Arena and Steakhouse. Its a horse arena that has a restaurant attached. You walk in the restaurant and smell horse, hay and leather. The restaurant has windows overlooking the indoor arena. It was entertaining to watch the cowboys work their horses while we sat and ate.

I also took a picture of our rig in our campground -- The Big Red Barn" here in Carthage. Next stop is Chanute, Kansas to have work done on our rig. After that we will be traveling on highway 54 down into New Mexico.

Other Big News! -- Our job offer in Minnesota fizzled so now we aren't sure if we will be in Minnesota next summer or not. Stay Tuned!

Along the Mississippi

We have really enjoyed ourselves spending time in Memphis at our campsite overlooking the mighty Mississippi. The sunrises over the river were beautiful. The weather has been warm and mostly sunny. We have eaten some great barbeque. Of course we had to eat at The Pig on Beale -- the best ribs! We also tried Leonards which is diner that was showcased on the Food Network. We had ribs there too and they let you order them half wet (with barbeque sauce ) and half dry (with a dry rub and no sauce). The ribs were very good both ways. What they are more famous for is their barbeque pork sandwich and southern recipe onion rings with a slice of lemon icebox pie for dessert. Oh well, we will just have to go back sometime.

We toured the Mississippi River Musuem on Mud Island. We have been through it once before but its worth seeing more than once. After seeing this museum we would like to see the one in Dubuque, Iowa . This one showcases the lower Mississippi and the one in Iowa does the northern half of the river.

The pyramid is Memphis's conference center. It is very pretty when the sun shines on it but it doesn't have anything in it worth seeing as far as we could tell. Its built overlooking the river and they keep trying to develop the green space along the river -- to make it more welcoming. Beale street is still a pretty big draw for music and food. They've been adding "brass notes" to the sidewalk along Beale Street in honor of famous Blues muscians. Its a clever idea and I hope everything they are doing will boost the tourism in the area.

Next stop is Alma, Arkansas.

Camping with the Chickens

We only got a little south of Green Bay and lost a bearing cover off the boat trailer. We had to pull into a truck stop, unhitch the truck from the 5th wheel and go buy a new one. Of course we didn't have a big enough hammer to whack it in place. So we had to hitch up and go to a boat dealer down the road and have them do it. To top it off we hit a detour, major road construction and traffic at a dead crawl in Rockford, Il. We got to the campground just at dark and by the time we got to a restaurant to eat it was 7:30pm.

Our second day of traveling we stopped for the night in Whittington, IL. The campground we stayed at was called Whittington Woods. It did have beautiful woods but it also came with poultry running around loose. I took these pictures right outside our rig. There were also three turkeys but they stayed close to the coop.

Whittington is famous for Burton's Cafe. We had to go try it and see if we agreed that it was good home cooking. It was very good -- I had homemade ham and bean soup with cornbread and Jim had some fried catfish. What they are really famous for is their "white pie". I had a piece and it was very good, light and fluffy. They won't say what is in it but if I had to guess one of the ingredients is tapioca pudding.

We are now camped in West Memphis, AR probably for the next two weeks. Its very nice and warm!

Saying Goodbye

The owners of the campground are too the far left, John and Marty. The couple on the far right are Carol and Lewie. We have ended up meeting Carol and Lewie in our travels both going south and coming back up north. The couple next to them is Wade and Gail -- they were the mangers this year and in the very middle is Dorothy. She cleaned the cabins while we did the bathhouses.

One couple is missing - they already left to visit family in New York.

We will miss them all but more than likely meet up with many of them again during our travels. We will be heading to Memphis next -yeah its warm there!

We will be spending the winter close to Yuma, Az in a small town 20 miles east of Yuma called Wellton. We found a nice rv park -- at least it sounds nice and the picture we saw looked good called Pioneer Rv Park. We plan to be there sometime in December and stay until April.

Here Comes the Judge

We survived another pumpkin patch festival. The campground offered hay rides, a bonfire with singing, hot chocolate, cider and treats. Last year Jim got to tend the bonfire and I helped judge the pumpkin carving contest. This year Jim and I were the judges so Jim got to wear the judge costume. Some folks go all out carving pumpkins and decorating their campsites. Everyone had a lot of fun but it was a lot of work for us workampers. The campground was pretty much full except for some open basic tent sites. At least this year the weather was much better. It was in the 60's during the day and mid 40's at night. Last year there were snow flurries in the air.

We've said goodbye to one workamper couple who left to go visit some relations in New York and then they head back to southern Missouri until after Christmas. We may meet up with them when we head that way around the first part of November.

We are pretty much packed up and ready to leave ourselves. We head out Monday morning the 18th. Our first stop will be a little campground in Illinois close to the intersection of Interstate 39 and 80.

Big News!

Sorry, I have been trying to put a fall color picture on the blog. I have to give up and try next week. I did want to let everyone know that we have accepted a job for next summer in northern Minnesota. We will be working at Northern Lights Resort & Outfitters. The resort has 11 cabins of various sizes and a large dock area with assorted boats for rent. We will be cleaning cabins, working the dock, store, answering the phone and helping with some guest activities. It is a very nice resort. We will be working with 2 other workamping couples. The resort has 3 rv sites for us workers. Jim is very happy at the thought of having the boat on a dock again.

The resort is on Lake Kabetogama which is part of the chain of lakes that make up Voyagueurs National Park. We couldn't ask for a better setting. If you want to check out the resort their web site is www.northernlightsoutfitters.com. We know the fishing is excellent there since we used to fish the area at least once a year. Now we get to spend a whole summer fishing it!! There are a few drawbacks -- groceries are a 60 mile round trip expedition. The nearest Walmart is 70 miles away. We may have to eat out more at the other resorts around the lake.

We start May 1st so we will be back in Minnesota in April. We will be praying that there isn't snow and the ice is out on the lakes, especially that far north. We will be working there u until the end of September which is much better than mid October here.

We will definitely enjoy Arizona this winter for as long as possible!

Potawatomi State Park

One of the many windy days lately we took a little drive around and ended up at Potawatomi State Park. It is on the south side of Sturgeon Bay. We were standing out on a fishing pier taking this picture out into the Sturgeon Bay channel that flows out into the waters of Green Bay in the background.

The brown trout and even some salmon are coming into the channel itself. You don't have to fish way out in the lake to catch them. These fish are coming into the shallow harbors and channels this time of year.

Fall colors are not very good yet. I'm not sure if they will be good this fall with it continuing to rain so much. We have three weeks left here --- getting "hitch itch"-- that is --itchy to hitch up and move out. Although we are busy hitting our favorite eating spots one last time.

Septemberrrrrrrr

I didn't have any adventures to report this week so I'm showing the picture of the U.S.S. Badger car ferry. This is the ship we watched dock in Manitowoc.

It's started to get very cool here -- no fishing for us. Jim took the boat in to get the motor tuned up. They wanted to winterize it for us but we said no thanks we don't need that done. We're heading south in less than a month!

Life on the road takes some planning. I am cramming in my doctor and dental appointments while here in door county. Also, getting haircuts done before leaving is important. Once we hit the road this time we will probably be moving every few days maybe staying as much as a week in some places until December.

We are planning to head to Memphis and then through Arkansas and then zig up to Chanute, Kansas for some warranty work on our 5th wheel trailer. After that -- at least at this point --we are planning to make our way over toward Yuma, Arizona unless some fabulous winter job pops up.

Manitowoc

We took a day trip down to Manitowoc -- along the Lake Michigan shore. They have a great maritime museum with a World War II submarine that you can actually tour. This is a picture of the U.S.S. Cobia. It was so interesting to go down into an actual submarine. The small little cots the men slept on and the tiny lockers for their personal possessions -- they had to be pretty small guys. The cots were suspended over the torpedos. The head (toilet) was a very complicated gadget to operate. There were about 12 steps involved in using/flushing it properly.

The tour guide did a good job of describing the heat -- in the 90's down there and the deafening noise of the engines and how thick the air would get if they couldn't surface and replenish it.

The museum had a few full size yachts and smaller sailing vessels as well as incredibly detailed miniatures of ore boats, steamships, paddleboats, etc.

We also saw the U.S. S. Badger come into dock. It is one of the few car ferries left on Lake Michigan. It transports people and vehicles from Manitowoc, Wi across Lake Michigan to Ludington, Mi. It takes about 4 hours to cross the lake. It is a huge ship and we could take our whole rig on it -no problem-- just a little expensive. Many people use it to avoid going through Chicago to get over to Michigan. Maybe we will take it sometime!

Wind & Waves

We went out fishing one day trolling the coastline south of Sturgeon Bay -- over half way to Green Bay. We didn't have any luck because fishing has slowed down with the cold fronts and wind.

Jim took this picture over on the Lake Michigan side of Door county peninsula on a typical windy day here. The waves were 7 and 8 footers. It was perfectly sunny a few miles inland but here the fog, haze, mist rolled in along the shoreline. The wind somehow whips it up and blows it ashore.

Labor Day weekend at the campground was very busy even though we had 4 inches of rain between Wednesday and Thursday. The boat was sitting in a newly created lake and almost started to float in the field where we store it. It was a miracle that by Friday afternoon most of the water had soaked into the ground. The ground here is a thin layer of soil covering a very porous limestone rock so it filters through pretty quickly.

Leaves are starting to change, fall is in the air and we are getting the itch to head south. We will stay here until around the 13th of October and then make a beeline south.

Washington Island

I had family come to visit so we took our truck over to Washington Island. We were shocked when they motioned for us to come on board. We got the last space on the ferry and we swore we wouldn't fit. They know how to pack them in and wedged us on board. You can see in the picture that the back ramp/gate isn't closed all the way up to 90 degrees. They couldn't close it all the way because the back end of the truck hung over.

There are a few things to see on the island. One of them is this church built as a replica of an old Norwegian church. It is made out of timbers -- no nails were used on the outside or the inside which is all tongue and groove wood. The only place they cheated and used nails is for the shingles on the roof.

We once again were the last one's on the ferry for the return trip. They squeezed the truck on again and this time they had to close the back all the way because the wind had kicked up and the waves were higher. As it was the truck got a little bit of a wash from the waves splashing.

The fishing has been slow unless you count huge catfish and sheepshead if so then we are doing great.

Sturgeon Bay Channel

We tried going fishing but the waves were 3 and 4 feet high so we took a little cruise through the channel. The Sturgeon Bay channel links the waters of Green Bay with Lake Michigan. It actually makes northern Door County an island. We cruised by all the marinas with the yachts and sailboats. We went under several bridges that have to open to let sailboats go through such as the Tall Ships. We ended up at the lighthouse and coast guard station where the channel dumps into Lake Michigan. We couldn't really go out into Lake Michigan because the waves were too much for our boat. We saw a lot of boats in the channel fishing around the sailboats trying to catch perch. The perch run kind of small -- 7 to 10 inches --but there are lots of fishermen that just love to try to catch them here.

We went out to eat on Friday night with some people we made friends with last year that come to the campground and stay for about a month. Of course we went to a Friday night fish fry - just about every restaurant in the area has to offer a fish fry -- its just expected.

Our fellow workampers as well as ourselves are starting to get the itch to move on -- it's been a busy summer. We are getting jealous of all the folks out there traveling. We wouldn't really want to travel until after Labor Day but its nice to start planning our next adventure. Arizona is our winter destination -- not sure where yet but we'll know when we get there!

The Tall Ships

The tall ships came to Sturgeon Bay. They came down the Lake Michigan shore and then came into the Sturgeon Bay channel on their way to Green Bay for the weekend. A huge crowd of people came out to see them sail through Sturgeon Bay. The ships were beautiful and even fired off some cannon. There were all kinds of boats in the water trying to get close up looks at the ships. The number of people lined up along the miles of shoreline just to see them as they sailed by was amazing.

The heat is finally breaking and it has made us realize how sweaty it could be to work farther south in the summer. We have been helping lots of campers enjoy their vacations. Most of the time it doesn't take much to enhance their stay. We never ask for anything in return but have gotten many small tokens of appreciation. Jim has received expensive cigars and I have gotten locally made candies such as cherry caramels (only in Door County can you find cherry). Jim also was given a small polished piece of jasper in the shape of a heart for helping a man who ended up in the hospital for a couple of days while he was here with his family. We helped the family while Dad was in the hospital. Jim also got their trailer hooked up for them so they could get home without Dad having to exert himself after being treated for a heart ailment.

It is so nice to work somewhere where everyone is just trying to have a good time and relax.

It's Hot in Door County

I can't seem to download more than one picture on the blog anymore. So, I can only show one picture from the airshow. This picture is one of the planes used in the Berlin Airlift.

I'm sure its hot everywhere but its not supposed to be hot in Door County because its surrounded by water. The water is supposed to keep the temps more moderate -- thats why cherries like to grow here. The cherries are pretty much done -- they were ripe really early this year.

There are miles of mowed trails in the campground and there are ripe raspberries and blackberries everywhere. Yum -- I've been so busy just eating them off the bush that I haven't made any desserts out of them yet. Another nice thing about the campground is the pool. We've been using it this year with it being so hot. It's nice to take a dip -especially after a few hours sweating while cleaning bathhouses.

The Score is Tied

I finally caught a big walleye! Mine was also 29 inches and about 9 pounds. I caught mine up by Chambers Island where I caught the salmon.

so now we are tied -- both of us having caught 9 pound walleyes. We have also caught some very large small mouth bass. We hope to continue this run of good fishing.

We spent a day at the EEA. The big airshow in Oshkosh. It was really something to see. You can't see it all in one day. We got to tour inside an old B-17 bomber. The spaces inside were so small its hard to believe a whole crew was inside for hours flying missions. It was only $1500 to take a half hour ride in a P-51 Mustang -- the fighter jet of WWII in the Pacific.

There are planes landing and taking off constantly. They even have planes landing two at a time on the same runway. One plane would have to land on the front half of the runway and another would be landing on the back half. There is so much acreage to the show that they have free buses to take you from the parking to the show. Once at the show there were trams you could ride around to try and see everything. One thing that struck me -- they didn't allow alcohol to be sold until after 5PM. This is quite something for Wisconsin -- the land of taverns on every corner of every town or crossroads out in the woods. It makes sense though because the value of all the aircraft sitting on the ground there is astronomical.

Eat, Fish and be Merry

We were invited to a retired couple's house overlooking the waters of Green Bay. The house was beautiful with a sunroom, a screened in porch and large patio. It was built to take advantage of the water view. They also had quite a bit of shoreline with a very long dock because the water is so low in their bay. Of course they have a boat and the owner loves to go perch fishing -- but it has been very slow.



We have been out to eat at two places that have nice water views. One was called the Sunset Grill -- good Friday night fish fry. The other was the Alpine Resort. It is an old fashioned resort with a very good restaurant. They are noted for a few german dishes on their menu. The food was a little more expensive but very good.



We have been catching some beautiful small mouth bass lately. We catch them, take their picture and put them back in the water. They are so frisky, running and diving and shaking their heads -- so much fight for their size makes them fun to catch.

Fishing and trying to communicate

I still can't download pictures -- and my fish was so pretty! Jim caught a really nice small mouth bass the other day. I lost a nice fish -- didn't see it but I had a huge fish scale on my hook. The fish it belonged to must have been very large.

We have not been able to get a signal to use our cell phone lately. All the usual spots where we used to get a signal don't work. Cellcom has the area monopolized for cell service. They have very limited coverage so it's not worth changing to their service. We bought a verizon phone thinking it should work but are having "technical difficulties" with it also. So for now we are in cell phone hell.

We continue to fish and enjoy the warm water. Last year it was too cold to swim in but this year its good. We have found a sandy beach off of Chambers Island where we can beach and enjoy the water. Hopefully, we will continue to enjoy the fishing and swimming in between rain storms.

Algoma & salmon fishing

Sorry, I can't download any pictures at the moment. The WIFI service here at the campground is being upgraded -- hope it gets better soon!

We went to Algoma the salmon fishing mecca here in Door County. It's on the Lake Michigan side of the county. Lots of big charter boats that take folks out for some fishing and the tackle they use is huge and very flashy.

Algoma also has a small lighthouse and is a very cute little town on the waters edge.

We were walleye fishing over by Chambers Island in the waters of Green Bay and I caught a 10 pound salmon. What a Shock! Jim caught one that had to be close to 30 pounds but it jumped about 5 feet out of the water and broke his 20lb test line. We never expected to catch salmon -- we were fishing in only 20 feet of water. We had been hearing they were catching salmon over on the Lake Michigan side in 120 feet of water. We're not sure why they were so shallow but it was a lot of fun.
Hope to be able to show pictures soon!

Sinking a Boat - It's not a Lund!

When we launched our boat at Stone Quarry boat launch in Sturgeon Bay the local fire department and law enforcement personnel from Menominee, Wi were practicing water rescues and recoveries. They were sinking a boat on purpose and then diving down to it. We didn't really understand what sinking the boat was all about since they typically don't bring boats back up -- just bodies --but we didn't ask.

We had to take a picture of our pretty boat when we were beached again at Horseshoe Island. The water is such a pretty color and so clear you can see 10 or 12 ft down in most areas of the bay. They say the zebra mussels really cleared up the water. We talked to a guy from the DNR and he said the zebra mussels have just about died out but now the Quagga mussels are taking over --another exotic species. Its a never ending battle with exotic species on the Great Lakes.

We are gearing up for the onslaught of campers coming for the 4th of July holiday. The campground is almost totally booked so its guaranteed to be very, very busy.

Giant Walleye!

Jim finally caught a giant walleye out of the waters of Green Bay. The walleye-- not the greatest picture-- was 29 inches long making it around 9 pounds. We were trolling around a reef outside the mouth of Sturgeon Bay. Jim was using a large purple lure that I had just purchased. The fishing report had said that purple and green were the colors that were catching walleye. I went and bought another purple one so I can try it too. Jim was so excited -- it's his first walleye in two years -- since we fished up in Rainy Lake before we left Minnesota. I was the one that caught walleye down in New Mexico our first winter south. We didn't catch any walleye last summer here in Door County. It took us all summer to learn how to fish here. Hopefully we will have more luck and we will both catch some really nice walleye.

I had to take a picture of the giant orange fungus I spied in the campground. It was so pretty it looked like a giant flower. We don't know what kind it is and now its faded to a normal mushroom beige color.

Even though we live in our "camper" year round sometimes we forget to just enjoy "camping". The other night we had a nice campfire and we roasted some weiners and I even made smores. Life just doesn't get any better!

Sightseeing around the "Door"

We launch our boat out of two different launches. One is up in Fish Creek at Peninsula State Park. As you drive into the park at the north entrance the first thing you see is the state park golf course. It is a very beautiful golf course -- many of the holes overlook the waters of Green Bay. We've heard it is a little on the spendy side to play the course but you get quite a view while you golf. Jim also noted that they have every piece of golf course equipment ParAide sells. Having worked at ParAide he wants to try and get a picture of a ball washer with a beautiful scene behind it and send it to the owner of the company.

The other launch we use is the Stone Quarry launch down by Sturgeon Bay. I took a picture of one of the mansions along the water. This place had its own marina, boathouse, greenhouse, etc. We fished a lot by this place because the bass liked all of the boulders around it. Bass fishing is still good. We also are hearing that the salmon fishing on Lake Michigan is doing very well. We don't really like salmon and don't really want to fish on the big lake.

Lady Slippers

We went to Ellison Bay Bluffs County Park and along the road at the entrance to the park was a mass of blooming yellow lady slippers. They were so huge they looked like I could slip one on my feet. If you haven't ever seen them they really do have a hollowed out center just like a real slipper.

I have only seen pink lady slippers twice in the wild and that was up along the Canadian border.

We had more great fishing although this fish was smaller than the last. I caught two this size -- about 3lb fish but Jim caught the most fish. We actually lost count and I almost ran out of bait. The bass are still in spawning mode and they were biting like mad. It's strange because back in March we were fishing during the bass spawn and now we are at it again. It's great to enjoy the spring season twice without having to go through a winter!

Raising the Flagpole

Getting the campground ready for Memorial Day weekend is a big deal. It's the first busy weekend of the summer and all the campsites have to be mowed, firepits cleaned out, gravel added to the roads, etc. Everyone is very busy and then at the last minute the owner decides the new flagpole has to be put up so the flag can be flown. Jim and I stained and varnished the pole last fall. It took five guys and the tractor with some engineering to get it raised up but they did it. All of us ladies stood by and took photos -- thought we should have some pictures for the insurance if something bad happened.

We've been fishing all the bays for smallmouth bass. The bass are getting ready to spawn so they are in shallow water. I caught a very nice fish and had many fish chase after my bait. We had a great time fishing during the week right before the busy weekend, the weather was perfect and we had most of the fishing spots to ourselves. We got hungry while fishing and decided to pull into a marina in Ephraim. I walked to Wilson's restaurant -- its close to the water and has good burgers and ice cream. Wilson's is a landmark in the area and you can eat in their covered patio and see the water. When I walked in there I was surprised to see how well staffed it was. They have four people just working the ice cream counter and then each section of the restaurant had an army of servers waiting for customers. Since it was the middle of the week and before the big weekend there was almost no one there. I had food in no time flat. I know the next time we try to get food there it won't be so easy.