On Vacation

Friday July 17th. Nugget Lake County Park WI

A gem of a campground and only 45 miles from the cities. $20.00 a night for a site with electricity.  Dump station and water are on premises.  All the sites are wooded and pretty private.  You would not get one of the big rigs in here but with our 32 foot MH we had no problem.  Probably 34 foot  is the max.  The main road is pretty narrow with low hanging branches.

 

Our campsite on the left, is really a large site.  Our son Rich and their spoiled dog Louie.  Louie is an Italian Greyhound, much smaller then the racing Greyhounds, but they can run just as fast.  He’s a very loveable dog. 

Rich and Marion’s campsite, also a nice size, plenty of room and privacy.  This is only the second time they have had their new travel trailer out.  They picked it up just before the 4th of July and went to Wisconsin Dells with friends.  Yes that is Louie all wrapped up in a blanket. 

For the middle of July it has been really cool.  Today it only got up to the high 60s, I’m not complaining I love the cooler weather. 

We had dinner together, Rich make pork Etta's on the grill, they were delicious.  They also brought some great wines to have with our meal.

We plan on doing some hiking in the morning after breakfast. 

 

  

 

Grandchildren For Dinner

Thursday July 16.  Maplewood. MN

Yum, little children so nice a nd tender.  I try so hard to be funny and most of the time it just sounds stupid, but never fear I will keep trying.

Our daughter Teresa and her family came for BBQ ribs, homemade Mac and cheese and baked beans.  Pretty good if you ask me.  I think this is the first meal I cooked since we got home Sunday night. 

Matt and Amanda and their dad Dave.  Amanda is  19 and will be starting her second year at the University of Minnesota.  Matt is 14 and will be a in 10 grade at Woodbury Senior High School.  Our son-in-law Dave works for Lockheed Martin.  Our Daughter Teresa work at Composting Concepts, the same place I worked for 5 years.

 

Amanda and Stormy.

Dad had another doctor appointment this morning, I should be as healthy as he is at 83.  He had to see the neurologist for a med check, he has Parkinson's disease, but is doing very well on the medication.  After the visit with the doctor he took me out to breakfast.  Thanks dad. 

We are going camping with our son Rich and his wife Marion this weekend.  We need a vacation before we head back up to the lake.  We are going to Plum City WI.  The name of the campground is Nugget Lake County Park.  We have never been there but it is only 45 miles from the house, nice short trip.  From the pictures on the net it is pretty wooded and has nice big spaces.  Of course I will take pictures and post them. 

    

Busy Busy Busy

Wednesday July 15th 2009.  Maplewood, MN

I have to finish with Tuesday evening.  We had dinner at Cassetta’s Restaurant with friends Sandy and Gary Weis. 

Cossetta’s is an Italian market and Pizzeria.  It was started in 1911 in a small house on the levee off West 7th Street in St. Paul.

They serve the best NY style pizza in Minnesota.  Also on the menu my favorite, mostaccioli yum.  Chicken cacciatore, veal parmigiana, lasagna, meatball sandwiches and tons of other items are prepared and served deli style.  But the big draw is the pizza thick cheesy and loaded with toppings. 

On Wednesdays we have breakfast with the Wednesday morning breakfast club, when we are in town.  Every week we meet, eat and have lots of laughs.  Sometimes there may only be 5 of us other times up to 10.  My Dad is one of the participants, he has not missed a Wed. in over  3 years.  

Starting on the left, Mike, Barb, Rose, Merlin (my dad).  On the right Bob, Kathy, Dar, Samantha and Joni.  Our daughter Sherry was a tad late so missed her in the picture.  Just a fun bunch of people.

The afternoon brought another appointment, the physical therapist who is trying to make my right arm stop throbbing with pain.  Well he is giving up on me and sending me back to my primary  doctor, who will send me onto an orthopedic surgeon.  To bad they couldn’t do both arms at the same time.  I see my primary doctor Friday for a pre surgery physical for the left arm which will be taken care of on Monday.

Wednesday evening friends Claire and Richard Eisinger called and wanted to know if we were free for dinner.  Oh boy we jumped at that, no cooking again.  You suppose I will be loosing the 5 pounds the doctor wanted gone by my next visit. 

 

We ate at Barker’s Bar and Grill, in Hudson WI.  Hudson is another historic river town, located on the St. Croix River.  They have the best hand cut home made french fries. 

The atmosphere at Barker’s is amazing, built in the early 1900’s and renovated in 1988.  It still has the original tin ceiling, English brick facade and beautiful red oak woodwork. 

 

Annie, waitress with an attitude.  After she took our picture she took one of herself.  Just the best waitress in the place and fun. 

 

Lunch With Family

Tuesday July 14th

Mike had lunch with his two sisters and Brother-in-law Leroy in Hastings, MN today.  They ate at a restaurant called the Bierstub, a great place to grab a beer, steak or a bratwurst.  I was not able to attend, I had another appointment, but I did have a pleasant visit with his sister Donna and her husband Leroy when they dropped Mike off at the MN. 

 

Mike, Leroy, Donna and Dyanne.  Good looking family.

Hastings is near the meeting of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers.  The town was named for the first governor of the State of Minnesota, Henry Hasting Sibley.

A spiral bridge was built in Hastings over the Mississippi River in 1895. It was built as a spiral to slow down the horse-drawn wagons from the opposite side of the river as it entered the downtown area. It was demolished in 1951, it just could not handle the heaver vehicles.  To bad they had to take the bridge down, but I guess in the 50s they were not into preserving history.  Progress was the name of the game.

 

The bridge that is used today.

 

This used to be the Court House, now is City Hall.

 Hastings has many historical buildings in the downtown area.  We have in the past spent the day just walking thru town and along the river. 

 

I Drowned The Mouse

Monday July 13, 2009.  Big Balsam Camp and Resort

I was soaking my feet while working (mostly playing) on the computer and the mouse jumped off the table into the water.  I tried to save it, plucked it right out of the water, dried it off and let it set for 12 hours.   There was nothing else I could do, it was gone. 

I had my first doctor appointment, I will be having surgery next Monday the 20th to remove a lump on my left arm. It is just a plain old lump no chance of any problems with it.   We had planned to go back to the lake Thursday, but I guess we will be here just a little longer.

Mike and I did some running around today, went to Best Buy to pick up a new mouse.  Then onto the used book store to turn some books in and pick up a few new ones.  Sam’s Club was on the list, paper plates, paper towels, toilet paper and a few other items.  We never leave Sam’s Club without spending a ton of money. 

We stopped in to visit our son Rich and daughter-in-law Marion.  They just bought a new 19 foot travel trailer, a Puma.  Rich is doing a few modifications to make it work better for them. Hopefully we will be able to do some camping together this summer or fall. 

In the evening we brought dinner to my dad’s and spent an enjoyable night with him.

It was a long day and I was pretty wiped out when we got home.  Sure I will be in bed pretty early tonight.  Another busy day tomorrow.

 

Back At The House

Sunday July 12, 2009.  Big Balsam Camp and Resort

It really is different being home and not able to go in the house.  We have renters which is a good thing.  We still have a place on the property for us to park the MH.

On the way home we stopped in the small town of Cloquet for lunch at Gordy’s Hi Hat.  The food is amazing and the atmosphere is like no other.  The burgers are delicious and the fish burgers are huge. It’s no wonder they have been in business since 1960. 

Gordy’s started out as a small drive-in owned and operated by Gordy and Marilyn Lundquist in 1960.  They are in their 80s and still run the business.

We try to stop here on our way to and from the lake. 

Stormy was not a happy kitty she had to wait in the MH for us. 

The Last Night Of Fishing

Friday night was the last night for the Sherry and Ryan, they are leaving Saturday morning.  They caught a few crappie and one nice northern.  Mike, Gary and Sandy also caught a few fish.

Sherry does a pretty good job of cleaning the northern, she can get the y bones out with no problem. 

Saturday evening Al caught a nice bass 3 lbs. 8oz. 

Saturday was cabin cleaning day for me and Mike worked on the storage area.  Gordy and Mike made a pretty good dent in it, lots more to do.

We will be leaving the lake on Sunday for a few days. We have doc appointments for ourselves and I will be going with my dad to two of his doc appointments. 

Friends Sandy and Gary will also be leaving Sunday, they live close so we will see them again soon.  We had a blast with them for the four days they were there.  Sandy really enjoys fishing, so she went out with Mike every evening.  They always caught something.