Campground Review – Lake Emily Park Campground, near Florence, WI

 

 

(this is one of series of posts of various campgrounds we have been to over the years... I am going through my files in alphabetical order and posting past camping trips in my blog.... something to do over this long long upcoming winter---- sigh)

 

This is a nice county-run campground in the Florence County park system.  It’s about 100 miles north of us, very quiet, well-kept and has great fishing.  The campground was recently updated with newer 30amp electric and new water lines.  There are only 18 sites, and it’s $15 a night.  Steve and his brothers and father went here for their annual fishing trip last summer too.

We camped here a few times in 2008 and 2009

Here is the link to their website:

http://www.florencewisconsin.com/Accomodations/county_campgrounds.htm

 

 

We camped here in November 2008, for the last camping bash of the year…..  We were just about the only ones in the park.  There was a fifth wheel around the corner and a tenter on another site who left a few hours after we arrived.    The colors were great, the weather was cool at night (around 30 degrees F) and days were up in the 50’s and 60’s.

We took off a few days early and went up on a Wednesday night.  It was so peaceful.

 

The next day my folks arrived to join us in their Holiday Endeavor motorhome…..

We chose two sites that face each other….    and set up our stuff for the weekend.  The folks are always good for a camping weekend, though they were just getting ready to leave for the season down to Florida.  They try to leave before it snows.

 

 

Here’s my folks!    Lowell and my mom Rita, they have been married now for 6 or 7 years and sure enjoy their adventures.  (we don’t like the term *Step* in our family.  He is a parent just like my real father.   My mom is so lucky to have Lowell in her life.  We love him dearly and he treats mom like a Queen!   They are enjoying their Golden Years together.  They travel in the motorhome back and forth between Florida and Michigan.  They have a summer place in Michigan and a winter place in Florida, and stop in between to visit family in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin…   (those are matching sweatshirts I got them)

 

Steveio and Lowell can find so much mischief to get into.. they are ALWAYS working on projects.  Here is the first night, while they are planning out a list of TO DO projects to get done the next day…  They can gab and gab and gab for hours on end, and still have more to say. 

 

 

The next day dawned with bright colors, blue skies and great weather!

 

Walking around the park, with camera and coffee mug in hand, I could not stop taking pictures.  Everything seemed to be more vivid, brighter and sharper than the mid summer washed out greens of the months before.  It was FALL---  my favorite season of the year!~

 

 

Like I said, the guys had a Game Plan….  the awning over their large slide was ripped from when they first bought the rig at the dealer.  The seller included the new awning in the deal, and had dropped it off 2 weeks after they bought the rig.  So Lowell tossed it in the storage compartment till he had Steveio to help him put it on.  Not only is it a slide topper cover, but it also swings down on a set of arms to become an awning over the windows too.   So it was quite cumbersome and needed two and even three people to get it on.  I helped a bit when they needed a fifth and sixth hand to pull and shift and slide.  

 

 

A bit of boogie-ing is always necessary to make the job go better…. right?

 

 

By now the dogs are bored and wanna walk around .. so I grab my camera to capture the lovely colors and the bright blue skies….

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colors were so vivid and the woods were so quiet … it was so nice to wander around

 

The texture and contrast were so intriguing…  I snapped about 100 pics, but only put the best ones on here for you to enjoy.  (please bear with me)

  

 

 

It was time to get the fire going.  The guys finished up the awning project toot sweet, and then it was time to go get some firewood.  This park had cut a lot of trees during the work on the new power and water lines, and big chunks were left in a firewood corral by the bathroom for campers to take for free.  

 

Of course it was all left in large chunks (not really campfire size) what do those county workers think when cutting up firewood for campfires?

 

Even the folks dragged some chunks back to the campsite, with the dogs following along of course, helping them!  You can’t really tell in the pic, but the dogs kept grabbing the wood in their mouths to help drag it.  I think they were more hindrance than help!

 

 

Our two lumberjacks…awwwww

(backstory here)  I owned a cute little electric chainsaw for many years before I met Steveio… and it’s so nice to use when camping with a motorhome that has a generator.   Once I met Steveio, he said it was a mere toy, and said get rid of it.  He decided to only bring along our big gas chain saw if we thought we needed it.    Well, this weekend he didn’t think we needed it…..  so no chainsaw.   Sigh.

As it turns out,  I had given my little electric chainsaw to Lowell.  He loves it, and it’s great for a few little cuts here or there and is not heavy, and you don’t need to carry stinky gas cans in your motorhome compartments to run this little saw… just a little chain oil now and then.  

Lucky for us, it was along in Lowell’s motorhome, so we could quick plug in, and saw up the logs into more manageable lengths.  

 

(note the nice pile of logs cut up in the next pic)

Our campsites only have rings of stones for the firepits, no cooking grids supplied like in the National Forest Campgrounds we frequent.  Steveio had made this adjustable cooking grid a number of years ago.  The stake is pounded in the ground at an angle, and the rack is slid down over the stake… the angle makes it *grip* into place, and the handle is a good counterbalance.   We lay it flat, slid into a thick heavy garbage bag for storage in our compartments and it takes up very little room.  But nice to have in cases like this for cooking over the campfire.

 

 

I think the wood hauling took it’s toll on mom…. so she rested a bit with the sassy doggers.  Mom always has doggie treats in her pockets too.  And they know just which cabinet in their motorhome has the dog treat box in!   Seeing as there was nobody else around, we let our dogs run free off leash.  They stay right in our campsite and behave, always watching for a handout or a dropped piece of people food!   As soon as mom’s motorhome door is left open, they sneak on in and wait for more treats at that cabinet!

The other camping people over in the fifth wheel had let their big black lab run free too.  During the darkness around our campfire, we saw a big black shape wander into our campsite!   LOL it was their dog.  We played with him and scratched his ears and they came looking for him after a bit.  They apologized profusely for him being free, but we said that was fine with us, if ours being off leash was fine with them too.  So their dog came back a few more times to check on us and then wander back to his own campsite when he got bored with us.   That is nice to have dog-lovers nearby and agreeable.

 

The next day dawned a bit cloudier….    but still nice for a walk along the lake

 

 

 

I broke out the sockknitting machine and was cranking away the morning, with coffee cup nearby, and soft wool yarns to crank--- it was a good morning. 

 

 

The kids came up to visit, (and stay overnight!)  with little Jameson.. he was only 2 and a half months old here, and it was his third camping trip already!

Erin with the grandpuppies…. they are Rat Dogs (chihuahuas…. are plural chihuahuas called chihuahii ????   They are used to camping too, but we keep them close on leashes, due to hawks, owls and eagles who can easily swoop down and carry them off.

 

  Erin trying to walk all four dogs at once….   if she wasn’t so successful in her career, she could become a professional dog walker, huh?

 

Our siblings from Iron River (about 30 miles away) came to visit us, but didn’t bring campers…. it was too close to deer hunting season and they had to work on the camp preparations up in Michigan, so no time for camping.

 

But they did stay to enjoy the campfire with us.. who can resist a campfire?   Plus they all wanted to meet our grandson, Jameson.

 

 

He even got to help his Grandmuddah Pfun crank some wool socks! The machine makes adult sized socks, so all of his socks are special handknit on needles for his tiny feet.

 

Our company all left, just the folks and our kids and grandson left….  peaceful evening around the campfire… Steveio and I wandered down to the lake for a few sunset pics… 

The skies cleared up towards sunset and we had some wonderful colors to view

 

My Man

 

 

It sure was a great day….

 

 

It was time to get ready for beddy-bye…. Great Grandparents Lowell and Rita tried to steal the little guy to sleep inside of their motorhome… but no no  nooooooooo

 

 

This little guy was gonna sleep in OUR motorhome, right in between his Grandmuddah and Grandfaddah Pfun!   

  (just look at those smiles)

 

~~~that is one of my Favorite Photos~~~

 

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