CAMPING - Part 2 - Old Veterans Campground - Peshtigo State Forest

(this post made by a solar powered laptop!) 

Second day here at the Old Veteran's Campground...

 see yesterday's post for links to campground information and maps.

On Friday afternoon, the temps climbed up to the 90's and it sure got hot!  We decided to take a scooter ride down the road a ways to a tiny general store.  We forgot to replenish our holding tank chemical supply this spring, and we were OUT of anything else to use, and the tank was starting to stink.  Normally we use the liquid RidX for septic tanks, but right now even the blue chemical would suffice.   Well, let me tell you, this little general store had EVERYTHING!   Crammed in floor to ceiling, don't ya love places like that?  Hardware, sporting goods, groceries, and a closet area was opened up and lined with shelves for liquor bottles.   And it was complete with a big old fat lazy beagle dog who was laying in front of the counter on the floor.  I asked her if she was the mean ferocious guard dog?  She just sighed and closed her eyes.  LOL

After getting our toilet chemical pouches, and a big bag of cheese curds to snack on, we hopped back on the scooter, seeing a few rummage sale signs around the cottages by the lakes.   So we hit a few.   Steve got a brand new pair of size 12 Minnetonka moccasins, never worn with the tags still on for $5.   (new they are $37.95)   and I found 2 new Tshirts that a lady had leftover from an embroidery business, a book on snakes for the grandkids, and some hanging bags for planting flowers next year.  Also a beaded purse and a cheese container made by Kraft for a stack of american cheese slices once you unwrap them.  I have one already that I keep taking from the house to the camper to the house again, now I have one for each!  Wheeeeee

After the rummages, we stopped at the main Peshtigo State Forest office as the ranger who came through the park on friday had told us that once we paid for the annual sticker for our motorhome, we could get a free complementary one for the scooter.  All we had to do was ask  So we did and got the free one.  Otherwise the vehicle permit for a day is $7 .. yearly is $25.   So being here 4 days at $7 --- well, it makes sense to buy the annual.   But we hadn't bought one for the scooter because we didn't know we would be using it.   The ranger was so nice to tell us about the complimentary ones, only allowed if you already have a main one on your first vehicle.  Nice!

Got back to the motorhome and took a nice nap.. it was getting hotter and hotter, over 90 so we set up the 12 volt fan to blow a breeze, and we didn't want to start up the generator for the air conditioning.   Although, by weather reports for Saturday, it's going to be hotter, so we just may do that in the afternoon.

It was time to cook supper, so we splurged and let Steveio had one bratwurst--- due to his high cholesterol problem, he had to cut wayyy  down on bratwurst, probably his favorite summertime meal... second to BBQ ribs that is.   So out came his newest grill.....

He used to be able to put away 2 or 3 bratwurst at one sitting, now he is done to one, and he cuts it open to let any grease drain out before eating it.  Good Boy!   His cholesterol numbers are now back in the normal range after a rigorous diet change over 6 months.

We also had salads, german style potato salad and some wine... ahhhh a meal fit for a king!  (but we forgot the brat buns so ate them like a sausage)

After supper, we decided to take a walk around ... we can hear boats through the woods to the NE of our site, and know the flowage is somewhere close by on that side.   So we started down a path and went off the beaten path on an angle to see where we could hear them.  Oops forgot our can of bear spray, so Steve went back to get it.   Not that it would really stop a bear, but good to have along when alone in the woods, for coyotes or even a stray dog.  It shoots 30 feet  and is much stronger than mace.

 Cross country through the brush and over logs and under branches, we finally found the river water.

(click on the pics if you want to enlarge them) 

Dukie was lagging behind.. so we circled back and brought him to the camper.  It was so hot, and he carries a much heavier coat that Ducky.   Also his little legs are going three times as fast to keep up with her long ones.      Once we put him in the camper, we left again and struck out the other way, to the SE on a marked path called the Fern Trail....

We walked through some interesting tree plantations, probably a test area by the State Forest staff to see which trees fare best in this soil.... because they lost a LOT of oak trees over the past 20 years due to the tent caterpillars which eat off all the foliage on the oaks, year after year.  Then the trees die off because they never got proper foliage.   My dad lost nearly 70 oak trees on his land from the same thing.  There were all different varieties of trees, some planted in rows, all in one area that may have been a clearing at one time.

Stopped and did a flower pic... not as nice as Al's on the   Bayfield Bunch blog, but still a tiny bit of prettiness:

At the end of the trail, we reached the flowage waters.... and found a nice bench seat along the shoreline.  Ducky had to check out the water.  We saw a few boats go past, some fishermen, and interesting craggy rocks along the opposite shore.   This is a wide part of the river, that is below the hydro dam.

On our way back to the camper, we were dragging ....  turns out we walked almost three miles!   Here is a google map we made after we got back, just to see where we went.

We came into the camper and cleaned up, took showers and headed to bed.  Little did we realize that Ducky was FULL of woodticks in her long fur from our walk!!!   Because she has Frontline drops on her skin, the ticks will cling to her fur as she walks by, but then drop off once they realize they don't wanna bite onto her.   Well, those ticks were falling off all over the carpeting in our bedroom alongside the bed!  We turned on the lights 3 or 4 times finding ticks crawling up the sides of the bed!!!  I bet we threw 8 or 9 ticks into the toilet, flushing them down!!   We sprayed around the bed and the dog again too... and checked her over good for any more ticks.  We found 5 more just in her fur, just not attached to her skin.  Once we got rid of all the ticks, I still felt itchy all over.  We did our Buddy System Tick Check on each other a few times before we were sure to be tick free. ACK!     Today she will get totally brushed before coming indoors after being outside.  NO MORE TICKS ALLOWED!

Woke up Saturday morning, with coffee brewing... and made a roll of cinnamon rolls in the Easy Bake Oven...

Once those were done, I also mixed up a batch of brownies to bake yet in the morning hours while it was still cool.   I think today the agenda is to sit and relax, knit some socks, and take it easy.... or maybe hop on the scooter and take a ride over to my dad's little log cabin, it's about 15 miles from here.....