Family Photos From The Reunion

Lake Delton, WI.
62 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 83 deg. mostly sunny, NW wind @ 5 to 10 mph.

The weather has definitely improved since I last posted. The humidity has dropped and even though they were forecasting rain for yesterday, it turned out to be a mostly sunny day with temps in the low 80's. Today, tomorrow and most of Sunday is supposed to be nice also, but then they're forecasting rain Sunday evening and into Monday.

Of course Monday is when we are leaving here to head up into Michigan. :-(  Oh well, that's a few days away yet, and they may change the forecast by then. :-)

Jim finally got some of the family photos copied onto this computer, so I'm going to bore you with a few today and some more when he gets around to taking photos of the rest of the family.

This first one is of Linda's brother, Glenn and his wife Jeanette.

Then we have Glenn and Jeanette's son Ed, his wife Michelle, and their son Thomas.

This final photo for the day is of Glenn and Jeanette's daughter, Mary, her husband Jeff, their daughter Addison and their little boy, Beckett.

Glenn and Jeanette and all of their family live in River Falls, WI. which is just South of I-94 and about 10 miles or so from the Mississippi River and the Minnesota state line.

Everyone at the reunion is having a great time. During the day they kind of split up and go to water parks or other attractions, but in the evening, everyone gets together for dinner and then they talk and play games until they start getting tired. That's when Jim and Linda come back here and the rest of the family goes to their apartments in the lodge.

Did you know that The Dells of the Wisconsin River (also called the Wisconsin Dells) is a 5 mile gorge on the Wisconsin River in southern Wisconsin noted for its scenic beauty, in particular for its unique sandstone rock formations and tributary canyons?

Really Quiet Here

Lake Delton, WI
70 deg. mostly cloudy, light fog, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 83 deg. mostly cloudy, 60% chance of rain, S. wind S. Wind @ 5 to 10 mph.

Yeah, I'm still here in Lake Delton. It's been really quiet here at the park since Monday when about 75% of the RVs left. I guess most of them were just here for the 4th of July weekend.

Anyway, I've just been sitting here while Jim and Linda go into town to the reunion, so I haven't had much to write about. And, I doubt if much else is going to be going on until maybe Friday when I'm expecting more week-end RVers to be coming in.

The weather hasn't been very good here. We've had rain off and on every day this week and they are forecasting more rain for today and tomorrow.Plus, when it's not raining, the temperatures have been in the 80's with very high humidity.

Jim has been taking a few photos at the reunion. When he gets a few more, I'll start posting some of them.

In the meantime, if you don't here from me, keep checking back. I'll post here as soon as I've got something interesting to write about.

Did you know that Green Bay is Wisconsin's oldest city?

Day One Of The Family Reunion

Lake Delton, WI.
69 deg. cloudy, light rain, S. wind @ 5 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 80 deg. mostly cloudy, showers and t-storms, S. wind @ 10 to 15 mph.

A good part of yesterday was spent getting everything ready for the family reunion. Linda put together and cooked a rice and broccoli casserole, cut up the 2 melons that they had bought at the produce stand, and baked a cake. Then, she and Jim got the corn-on-the-cob husked and ready to cook, gathered together paper plates, napkins, chips, and all the other stuff to take.

Jim cleaned up the cooler, bought some ice from the CG store and packed it full of corn, grapes, melon and cheese. Then, about 4:00 they loaded everything into the back of CLT and headed to the lodge where the rest of the family had gathered for the reunion.

On the way over there, they stopped at the Culver's Restaurant and picked up 32 pieces of chicken.

Once at the lodge, they found a luggage cart, loaded everything on it  and took it all inside. Then it was a matter of reheating the casserole, cooking the corn and putting all the rest of the food out on the counters. By this time, everyone else had gotten settled into their rooms and were ready to eat.

By all accounts, the meal was a great success. Almost everything was consumed and everyone said the meal was really good. :-)

After  eating, everyone helped clean up and then they all sat around and visited. Then, most of them  played a game of Trivial Pursuit. About the time the game was over, the fireworks started and most everyone went outside to watch the 2 different displays that were visible from the lodge.

By the time they were over, everyone was tired, so Jim and Linda came back here to the CG and watched a little TV until bedtime.

Did you know that held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States?
I hope all of you had a great 4th of July. :-)

Happy 4th of July

Lake Delton, WI
72 Deg. clear, S. wind @ 10 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 79 deg. becoming cloudy with a 75% chance of strong t-storms this afternoon, SW winds @ 15 mph with 30 mph gusts expected.

Happy 4th of July!!!!!

I hope all of you are having a great and safe Holiday. Please take a moment to think about the men who put their futures and lives on the line and were brave enough to declare our independence.

If you have a little time, click on this link. It's Why I Love America narrated by John Wayne. I think most of you Full-timers who have been out here on the road for awhile can really identify with it, and probably have seen many of the places he talks about.

Yesterday afternoon, Jim and Linda took CLT and went to the Market Square Cheese store, located over on the other side of Lake Delton, where they bought a bunch of cheese and some sausage to take to the reunion. Then when they got back they took naps, talked to the neighbors and watched a little TV.

For dinner, Jim cooked a couple of small steaks on the grill while Linda sliced up some tomatoes and boiled some potatoes. Then it was TV again until bedtime.

Oh, and another thing. With all the people here in the Dells area for the weekend, the Internet completely shut down yesterday afternoon and evening. Jim talked to a couple of people here in the park, and they couldn't get on either.

Today, the rest of the family will be getting here for the family reunion. It'll be about 4:00 before they can get into their rooms, so Jim and Linda will be here for a good part of the day, and then they'll go over there and finish preparing dinner while the rest of the family gets unpacked.

Did you know that July 4th was not a federal legal holiday until 1941?
If you still have a little more time check this link. it's Red Skelton's version of the Pledge of Allegiance

Have a great day.

Hunkered Down For The Holiday

Lake Delton, WI
63 deg. clear, S. wind @ 12 mph.
Forecast today = high temp. 86 deg. mostly sunny, SW winds @ 10 to 15 mph. with 33 mph gusts.

About the only thing of note that happened here yesterday was that Jim and Linda took CLT and headed down to Baraboo, and to Pierce's Marketplace. On the way there, they stopped at that fruit stand that I told you about, and bought some sweet corn, a cucumber, 2 melons, a tomato, and a jar of home canned cherries.

They didn't end up buying a huge amount of groceries at Pierce's but a lot of things that they did get required refrigeration, and with my small refrigerator, that created a problem when they got back here and tried to get everything put away. Linda wanted to get the sweet corn in my refrigerator too, but quite a bit of it wouldn't fit, so I hope it'll still be OK for the meal on Sunday.

The CG here is really filling up now. Most of the sites are already filled and I understand that every site will be filled by tonight. This park advertises that they cater to Adults, so there aren't many kids here, and that's OK by me. I like kids, but too many of them on a holiday weekend can get pretty crazy. 

If you don't believe it, head to your favorite State Park on a Holiday weekend and check it out.

Today, Jim and Linda are planning on heading over to a cheese store to buy some different kinds of cheese to take to the reunion. That could lead to more problems when they try to get the cheese into my refrigerator when they get back. :-(

And what am I going to be doing, you ask? I'll just be sitting here and watching all the RVs come and go. ;-)  I'm just happy to be hunkered down here in this CG and not be out on the road with all of the crazy drivers that are in a hurry to get to their holiday destination, or, if they get too crazy, a hospital. :-(  

Did you know that the word ‘patriotism’ comes from the Latin patria, which means ‘homeland’ or ‘fatherland.’?

Have a great Holiday weekend. 

IL To WI and Country Roads MH And RV Park

Lake Delton, WI
59 Deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp.84 deg, SW winds @ 10 mph with 25 mph gusts.

We left the CG in Utica at 5 minutes before 10:00, and instead of getting back on I-80, we turned North on 8th Rd instead of South, and followed it for about 5 miles until we came to US 52, where we tuned West for about 2 miles. That brought us to I-39 where we turned North and followed 39 up to and around Rockford and up into Wisconsin. 39 joins up with I-90 at Rockford, so we followed those 2 routes up to Portage, WI. where 39 went North and 90 tuned NW and brought us here to Lake Delton and the Country Roads Motorhome and RV Park.

I was 1:10 when we pulled up to the registration building, so it took us just 3 hours and 15 minutes to travel 181 miles.

For the most part, the roads weren't in too bad shape, except for I-39/I-90 from the Illinois / Wisconsin State line up to Madison, WI. Almost all of that section was very rough with some areas in need of immediate attention. :-(  The traffic was very heavy from Rockford all the way up here to the Wisconsin Dells area, but it moved along at a good pace.

I'm sure glad we didn't wait until this weekend to travel. I can only imagine what the traffic will be like. :-(

The Country Roads RV Park is a very nice park. I stayed here 2 years ago and it is still very well maintained and the staff is as friendly as I remembered. Karen checked me in and then led me to site #53, where I'll be staying until the 12th.

As you can see by the photo above, the sites are fairly large and my site has 50Amp electric and a water hook-up, but no sewer, so Jim and Linda will have to be a little conservative.

For dinner yesterday, Jim and Linda took CLT (Cute Little Truck) and went to a Culver's Restaurant where they both had a burger. They had never been to a Culver's before and Linda has been wanting to try one for ages. Both said the food was good, but I don't thing either of them were overly impressed.


Today, Jim and Linda are planning to go grocery shopping. There's a grocery store down in Baraboot that they like and in the past, there has also been a produce stand along the road heading down there that has had some very nice vegetables.  The reason they need to get groceries  is that since we're the first ones here, and the rest of the family will not be getting here until late afternoon on Sunday, Linda and Jim will prepare a meal for all of the family to have on Sunday evening. That way, the rest of the family can unpack and get settled into their rooms and not have to worry about something to eat after a long travel day.


Did you know that Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells is the nation's largest water-themed park?

Rantoul To Utica and No More Itch!

Utica, IL.
54 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast today = high temp. 80 deg. sunny, SE winds @ 5 to 10 mph.

After hugs and handshakes, we finally left the Prairie Pines CG in Rantoul about 9:40. I really thought that we should have been on our way much earlier than that, but Jim and Linda ended up talking and having coffee with Paul and Louise. But, I was patient, and because I was so patient, when we left the CG, Jim drove me over to the FS Station (which is on the North side of Rantoul), and bought me a nice big drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel!!! :-)

After my drink, we headed West out of Rantoul on US 136 and took it over to I-74 where we turned NW on it and took it up to the Bloomington area. There, we took I-55 around to the west and then turned North on I-39. 39 then brought us up to I-80, where we turned East and followed it to the first exit and then to the Hickory Hollow CG here in Utica.

We've been to this CG before. In fact almost every year that they've had the family reunion up in Wisconsin, we've stayed here. It's a nice park with level open or shaded sites. Most of them are pull-thru and quite long, so Jim doesn't have to unhook CLT from the back of me, and the sites I've been in, have full hook-ups with 50 amp service. The only real problem is that it's quite expensive and If they didn't honor the Passport America discount, I doubt very much if we would stay here.

Anyway, it was just 12:20 when we pulled up in front of the office, so it took us 2 hours and 40 minutes to stop and get my drink, and travel 122 miles.  And, you know what?? My tires aren't itching anymore!!!!!! :-)

Today, we'll be heading up into Wisconsin and to Lake Delton, where I'll be staying for about a week and a half while Jim and Linda go to the family reunion. Oh, I'll see them every night, but they'll be gone during the days. That's OK though, the CG I'll be staying in is very nice, and I'll be quite comfy. ;-) 

Did you know that July is "National Ice Cream Month"?