Winding down the month as Camp Hosts at High Cliff State Park

This is our last week as hosts!  

It has really flown by, and we have enjoyed the process and chores that go along with being a camp host for the State of Wisconsin.  We do realize that some other hosting positions in county, municipal, and even federal national forests have different job descriptions, and more duties to perform.  For the Wisconsin State campgrounds, this hosting position has been a pleasure.  We are also attending a Volunteer Jamboree next month at Point Beach State Park which is put on by the DNR park system as a "thank you" for all the volunteers around the state.

We made it 24 days on our holding tanks!   We had hoped to make it to the end of the month, but 24 days is pretty danged good, so we furled up the awning and drove over to the dump station and did the deed.  

I decided to snap a few pics around the park as I did a clean up run the other morning.  The park is home to a flock of Turkey Vultures.  They hang out and roost on the roof of one of the picnic shelters.  They are kinda ugly, but I thought it was cool to see them all in a group.  Sometimes they soar in circles all along the cliffs and look pretty awesome!

Every Thursday morning I drive my Polaris down along by the Marina to clean the grills and firepits down there for the boaters.  It's such a pretty scene as you look out across the harbor...

But if you go up close to the water's edge, you see the "blue green algae" that is blooming about this time of year.  The winds from southwest blow it all up into the harbor and it's not too pretty....

 plus it kinda *stinks*  .... ewwwwwwww

Anyone want a sail boat?   

It was "abandoned" here in the marina's parking lot, and they are unable to reach it's owners.  

Now they have to go through all the proper channels to get it moved out of their parking lot! 

At least this sail boat has a happy owner, taking across the big Lake Winnebago.  

One day I took a ride around the "Butterfly Ponds" which were a lovely volunteer effort from the Friends of High Cliff who created it on the north side of the park.

Handicapped accessible trails round the ponds and wind through the woods. 

A lot of wildlife is habitating by these ponds this year, they were dug out and created last year.

Besides being campground hosts, we have had the honor of family and friends coming to visit us here at the park.  Although we don't get any "deals" on campsite fees, we do get a certain amount of firewood from leftovers on campsites that we can burn.  So our company can join us around a few free campfires?

On Sunday afternoon our good friends Mel and Paula pulled into their reserved site for four nights next to us.  (same site as Pa Pfundtner was on last week)   It's always fun to get together with them... Steve and Mel love to fiddle and futz and finagle on our Safari Motorhomes (we both have the same year)  then Paula and I get to do some quilting or go thrift store shopping!   Matches made in Heaven!  LOL

We had a dinner out at the same High Cliff Country Club as last Sunday with Pa Pfundtner.  Mel and Paula treated us to a fine dinner (they stole the check!)

Monday we took a run to the quilt store in Plymouth, WI called The Sewing Basket.  Here is their website:  http://www.sewingbasket.biz/    or you can follow them on Facebook  if you search their name.

I think it's the nicest quilting shop I have been in so far.  I saw two different interesting table toppers that I am going to try to make (branching out from just hot pads)  and I bought all the fabrics to piece together to make these.... I am going to change them a little bit, but will be interesting to work on.

(Paula held them up for me to photograph --with the shop's permission) 

We had a "stalker" in the store with us.  Mel grew too hot and uncomfortable waiting in the car, so he came in and wandered around.  He said the ONLY thing he found in the quilt store that was for a man was a CHAIR!   LOL LOL ..... 

We enjoy cooking together too, so another meal was tenderloin steaks on the grill.  There is a little meat market in Wausau that has excellent meats, so we beg Paula each time before they visit to pick up tenderloins to fill our freezer again.  We laugh that it's "imported meat"---

They had to run back to Wausau for their son's anniversary dinner tonight, but will be back later tonight or else tomorrow morning.

We had a huge storm just pass through here tonight... not a single warning on the weather radio, nor anything on any of the four Green Bay tv stations?   The Park Naturalist Cindy texted me from her home to warn me it was coming, as she lives west of the park and it hit by her first.  We rushed out and removed the awning lights, and rolled up the awning fast.  Whew....  just as we finished and got back in the motorhome, the big drops started falling.  Then the sky got very dark, and rains came down in buckets!   Not much wind which was a good thing, since we are surrounded by trees.  But the rain and rumbles and flashes of light were pretty exciting.  When it seemed to be settling down, oh no... Cindy texted again, Round Number TWO was on it's way.... sure enough... a Double Storm Whammy!


Now all is calm as I write this, and I am heading to bed.  It's Tuesday night.  Thursday noon will be the "CHANGING OF THE GUARD" as the next camp hosts, Rosie and Luke take over our site. Sadly, I will turn over my badge, my vest, my keys and my clipboard.

I will drive the motorhome back to our house about noon, and Steveio is going to spread a little more gravel on the site and level it out a bit more before Rosie and Luke put their RV in it's site in the afternoon.   Then it's back to Life as Normal again.