Wisconsin State Parks Volunteer Jamboree 2016

Every year the park department sponsors an event called a Volunteer Jamboree. Through the hard efforts of the friends of Wisconsin State Parks and the Friends of Devil's Lake State Park, we enjoyed a wonderful 3 day getaway.  It is a Thank You to the volunteers who gave of time and effort all year long.

The location changes from park to park over the years, and this year it happened to be at Devil's Lake State Park near Baraboo, Wisconsin. We were treated to three days of paid up camping fees, programs, wonderful meals, prizes, and a lot of outside activities and tours to choose from.

We arrived early so we could get into our campsite if possible and tune in to the Packer game at noon. We could see that the people on our site were packing up and ready to leave early. They really didn't have to vacate until 4 p.m. But with the pending rainstorm they packed up as quick as they could.

While we waited patiently in the overflow parking area, it was just beginning to rain. Soon the skies opened up, the rain poured down. The site was already the lowest one of the campground loop, and the site got softer and softer with mud. As many of you know this part of the state has had record rainfalls over the last few weeks with a lot of flooded fields, overflowing river banks and very muddy low-lying areas.

We hung out in the Overflow parking lot while watching the start of the Packer game, until the other folks pulled out. We tried to back into our campsite but the back dually wheels of our heavy diesel rig sunk deeper and deeper into the mud!!! I told Steve NO WAY and to quickly get it out of there! So he managed to get the motorhome out of the site before doing any major damage to the muddy site or our rig.

(I snapped this pic two days later and it still had not dried up!)

The office gals kindly switched us to another camp site on high ground that could accommodate a 40-foot motorhome. They gave us the choice of 5 sites..  Ahhhhh that was much nicer.

Soon our other High Cliff volunteers began to arrive. We have seven volunteer couples that work for a month each throughout the spring, summer and fall at High Cliff.  Steve and I help out with camphosting as needed ---  in case of scheduling conflicts. Steve is also the Camp Host Coordinator for our park, in charge of training and setting the schedule for the camp hosts in our park. Each couple takes a one-month long stint. In return for a free electric/water campsite, the couple is required to put in 20 total hours of work per week. Their duties include cleaning fire pits and grills, and picking up trash whenever it is seen anywhere on the trails or in the park. Mainly, their job is to be an ambassador to the public, answer questions, hand out information and be goodnatured friendly faces to the patrons of our park.

Three of the seven couples were able to make it to this weekend event. It was also nice to see some other friendly faces from other volunteer camphosts that we have met over the years at past Jamborees.

After the Packer game was over, (which they won), we hopped in the tracker and found our way around the park.

Upon registration we were given a goody bag full of some wonderful items and souvenirs about Devil's Lake State Park. We had the park map and decided to drive around to become acclimated with the very large park. There are almost 500 campsites here and a 360 acre lake with 500 ft high bluffs.

I have camped here about 30 years ago with my kids, so it was nice to figure out again where to go and where certain events were being held.

The weather was kind of iffy but they had a welcoming social event down in one of the enclosed pavilions. These gorgeous buildings were constructed by the CCC workers during the Depression.  I think of all the young men who were learning skills and working with their hands, earning money to send home to their family.  Now our parks benefit from those long ago laborers.

I was admiring the lovey purple hues of the stones in the roof supports for this building. 

They almost looked like amethyst... I forgot the name of it.

The staff lit up a fire outside and had a buffet table of snacks and all of the makings for s'mores.  The rain had ended for the evening and we had a nice campfire circle.

About 80 of the volunteers arrived and we were also treated to an acapella group of singers from Milwaukee to furnish the evening entertainment.  Another 50 or so volunteers were due to arrive tomorrow.

We met up with a nice couple named Annette and Tom from the Madison area. They camphost up at the Northern Highlands Park system. They were two sites away from us and we did some visiting back and forth throughout the three-day Jamboree.

~~~~~~~~

Monday morning we awoke to beautiful sunshine. It was a total surprise because it was supposed to be rainy and icky all day.

We were treated to a continental breakfast and got to visit with other folks from other parks. It is interesting to hear about the varying  job descriptions that camphosts take on in other parks. Our folks have it pretty easy!   We had some speeches with various State Park staff from Madison... and they gifted us with a variety of items. I got a nice state park T shirt and Steve got a thermal cooler for packing along bottles of wine.

 All of these great things were being sponsored by the Friends of the Park Organization.

We attended some discussions and meetings, and then we were treated to a wonderful box lunch. For the afternoon we were given seven or eight choices of things in the area to go and see. The whitecaps on the lake prevented us from kayaking, canoeing, or heck --- even stand up paddle boarding!

We went to go find a winery to tour, and I decided I needed to pop into the little town of Baraboo to a little quilt shop to check it out. It was called Ardyth's Sew n Vac Shoppe

The owner was so sweet and helpful and gave me some information about different sewing threads and also some different needles for my Janome machine when I do my quilting.

We roamed around the park and explored some areas on the South Shore. Devils Lake is a huge lake bordered on both sides by high cliffs and tumbling rocks along the shores.

The park winds around through swamp lands and high bluffs. 

During the summer months this place is jam-packed. Now that school has started, and being a weekday, it was pleasantly less busy.  Except for these guys....

We joined some of our other volunteer couples and toured the Nature Center in the park. Isn't this building absolutely adorable?

Inside they had some live animals and I got a kick out of this painted turtle. He just wanted to go somewhere. 

We got in some time to get back to the motor home to take the dogs for a walk but then had to rush back for our evening dinner.  This time we were in another building called The Chalet that looked out over the lake.

The friends of Wisconsin state parks hosted a wonderful meal of bluegill and chicken and all the fixens for a fine feast. We sat at a table by the window and watched the sun set.

They had evening entertainment of a blues / Rock / oldies band.  After our wonderful dinner and dessert of this great cake...  the leaves are not quite this color yet, but it is coming, for sure!~~

Adult beverages were available for the evening. Sipping wine and chatting with our new friends Annette and Tom, before we knew it, it was time to head on back to our campers. Annette and Tom came over to check out our motorhome, and we chatted well into the night. It was getting windy and cold out so we stayed inside. No campfires for us.

Our next door neighbor had this little guy who was hoping for a campfire for his marshmallow. He plugs in and lights up at night too. How cute is that?

Tuesday morning we finished up some final paperwork, said our goodbyes, and headed on back towards home. I managed to convince Steve that IF we could find a decent parking spot, I would like to stop at a little quilt shop in Portage, Wisconsin.

The Welcome Home Sew-N-Vac

The problem is when we are towing the Tracker we are about 55 feet long. I Google-Earthed this little quilt shop and it was right on the main drag in town.  Although we could have twisted around on some of the back streets to try and find a parking lot, I told Steve we would only stop IF we found an easy spot to park in front. Otherwise we could pass it by.

Lo and behold, as we got close to the store, here were about five vacant parallel parking spots! We pulled into the first four and pulled ahead. The last spot in front of us we needed for wiggle room to be able to leave. Steve put together two of our little orange emergency triangles and set them there.

What most non-rving people do not understand is that when you are towing a vehicle behind a motorhome with a tow bar, it is not made to back up. The tow bar can be severely damaged by shoving the rams backwards into themselves. They are only made to pull, and not be pushed back in a reverse position.  So it is not the lack of skill that prevents us from backing up...noooo  it is due to the limitations of the equipment.

We are not about to destroy an $800 tow bar just to try to back up if someone happens to park in front of us. Or go through the whole hassle of unhooking to move back ten feet to get out of a parking space. So we HOGGED the row of parking spots on the street!  LOL .. For a little bit, anyhow.

And sure enough, while I was in the quilt shop, some old codger came and drove right over Steve's orange triangles and cracked one! He did pull ahead to the next space beyond, but we don't think he even saw our orange triangles in the first place!!!

I was busy inside this shop: 

It was chock-full of beautiful things and I selected a variety of batik fabrics that I needed to finish the Log Cabin quilt that I am working on. The very knowledgeable owner took time to chat with me. She gave me some information on various things, and showed me around her store. She invited me to come back sometime on a Saturday and see their classroom on the lower level.

I bought a few more things and headed back on out to the motor home, where my husband and dogs were patiently waiting for me. With one broken emergency triangle. LOL

We ambled on the 100 miles back to home.  On the way, I snapped this pic of the heavy dark skies over a typical Wisconsin Farm scene.  I wanted to get a pic of a windmill but got some pretty stormy clouds that were more interesting.

 Yes, it was windy and blasting and stormy by the time we got home.  We had a tail wind pushing us most of the way, which was pretty nice.  Another Wisconsin State Parks Volunteer Jamboree is in the books.

Thank you Friends Groups and the State of Wisconsin.  We had fun!

Camphosting at High Cliff State Park, Sherwood, WI

This a rerun of a blog I wrote three years ago... 

It is about our campground hosting at High Cliff State Park.

Since this post, Steve and I became the Camphost Coordinators 

to assist with training, information and scheduling of the camphosts. 

Last spring, we signed up for a full month of hosting, filled out a contract and application, and then got assigned the month of August. (we had a choice of two different months, but chose August)

Once we were approved, we got to move out to the site on Aug 1 after the last hosts vacated.  Our site has the electricity furnished, but no water or sewer hookups.  (neither do the other sites)   So after about 2 weeks, we will have to drive over to the dump station and empty our tanks and take on new water.

We got training manuals, a tote of supplies, including a weather radio, keys and wonderful little Cub Cadet to run around the park in.   We get to wear vests with namebadges, identifying that we are hosts.

Our position here at the state park has duties of campfire pit cleaning, picnic area grill cleaning, and most important, being here on the site to answer questions and hand out literature for questions from the campers in the park.  We are to put in 20 hours a week. There are no wages.

Some hosting positions in other places entail bathroom cleaning, dealing with unruly campers, or collecting fees.  We don't have to do any of that.   It's a pretty posh position!   In return, we get a free campsite, worth $868.00 for the month.

8 a.m.
Since Steveio also works in the park, I usually drive him over in the morning to his maintenance building office.  With a kiss and a sip of coffee, he is off doing his normal 8 hour day.

I come back to the motorhome and either work on a blog, catch up on emails or do some routine housework about the rig.

9 a.m.
I don't like to start cleaning campfire pits too early because of the noise level of banging cans and shovels as I work my way around the campground.   I have a master list of who left, who is leaving and who is staying.   The campground has 112 campsites to clean, and also 8 group sites each capable of holding 40 people or so.

It seems I clean about 10-15 sites a day.  That takes me about an hour or so.   I shovel out the firepit, pick up any litter and write down any damages or repairs needed or dead trees I see.

My little Cub Cadet holds 2 large ash cans, 4 smaller buckets, a garbage can and a recycling can.  I have various rakes, shovels, and trash picking tools.  AND NICE LEATHER GLOVES!  (a necessity!~)

Little Duke sure likes riding along with me.  I know I put this pic in the other day, but it's so cute I put it in again!   He likes getting little pets from the kids, and he hops out and "helps" me clean the pits.  Mostly he is searching the ground for any tidbits left behind!  (and yes, I have him on a leash at all times)

After I get a full load of ashes, it's time to get them dumped.  We have a large dumpster up by the maintenance building specifically for campfire ashes.  That way if there are any glowing coals or embers, they are contained in a large open area.

I back it up carefully to the ledge, but Steve comes over and unloads my big cans for me. 

(I am on a 20 pound lifting limit from the docs) 

Sometimes I am making two or three trips to get rid of ashes from all the cans and buckets. 

11 a.m.

Once that is done, I log the hours on my paperwork and head back to my campsite.  Remember the big storm I said we had in my last blog post?  Well, the roadways were covered with leaves and twigs.   Marlin, a volunteer at the park here, drove through with a tractor and a big blower device.  It cleaned up the roads fast and makes them look good again in no time!   This unit is also used in the fall for clearing the leaves. 

12 p.m.
Our site is located in the middle of the campground.  There is a sign in front of our site, inviting people to come into our site to ask questions.  We have a full file box of information about everything in the area and lists of things we can use to answer questions.

The sign was a bit of a problem because trees have grown up since it had been placed near the driveway of the site.  Kinda blocks it from view until you are right in front of the site.  So Steve decided it should be moved!   He wanted it closer to the nice walkway of lined white rocks (that I painted) to better align it for greeting people into our campsite.

 here is where it was

But this is what Steveio showed up in at our campsite to take care of moving the sign!!!!

What a Big Boy Sandbox Toy!!!!

He carefully hooked a chain to the top loop over the sign post, and lifted it off the ground!   The base was poured into a large concrete square that was really above the ground, but grown into the dirt and moss.

He carried it over about 30 feet to the better position near the nice walkway entrance to our campsite. 

Much nicer than having people entering at the drive around our cars and maintenance vehicles.

1 p.m. 
After lunch, I headed on down to the picnic area.  I had cleaned all the grills well last week, every single one in the park (I think there are about 60?)  But over the weekend some had been used.  So I wanted them all clean again for the upcoming picnickers this weekend.  Within an hour, I had them all done and picked up some trash around the park along the way.

2 p.m. 
I stopped at the main office building to turn in some paperwork, and what did I see????  Hmmmm a cute workman's butt?   I am the only one who can say that without accruing sexual harassment charges!~   Tee heee..... Steveio was working on some light fixtures over the kiosk at the main entrance lot.

3 p.m.
I came back to the motorhome now to catch up on some internet, emails and facebook.  I gathered the laundry because we were heading back to our house for the evening to do some projects and cut the grass and catch up the laundry.  We do have a washer/dryer in the motorhome, but since we don't have a water hookup, it would be using up 12 gallons of our water supply with each load.  We only have 100 gallons of water on board and want to make that last for 2 weeks.    We do have a portable water bladder and pumping device if we do run short, and can haul water that way to put into our motorhome if needed.

4 p.m.
Steve is done with his work for the day, and so am I.  We hop in the car with Dukie Palooki and head on home to Chilton, only 14 miles away.  I got the laundry going while Steve was cutting lawn.  Soon I watered all my flowers and bushes, and Duke made the rounds of his yard sniffing duties to see what has been in our yard during the week.  I cooked up a supper with odds and ends left in the fridge and freezer.  Most of our food is at the campground.

5 p.m. 
Steve started up the saw and air compressor to put up the rest of the trim in the bathroom while we were waiting for the last load of the dryer to finish up.   I will do a blog post about our bathroom remodel later on with all the pics in one post.   We hopped in the shower too while at home, to enjoy a longer one without limiting the water usage.

I loaded up my sockknitting machine to take back to the park and work on some orders....  and we picked up a few groceries to replenish for the weekend at the motorhome.

8 p.m. 
We are back in our campsite, and sitting in our lawn chairs enjoying the darkening woods and listening to a bit of rowdy kids making the rounds and definitely using their "outdoor voices"  ....   by 9 p.m. I shined a flashlight on them as they passed our site, and nicely, but firmly said "it's time to turn down the volume now kids"    and they did.

We answered a few questions from passing campers:
Why are the dumpsters located so far from the campground sites?
--- to keep the smells away and the nighttime raiding varmints and critters out of the campsites.

Why are only some sites electric and not others?
--- state law about ratio of electric (improved) sites to the total amount of sites overall.

Where can my dog swim?
---  there is an area down by the marina specific for doggies to enjoy the water, as well as a separate picnic area set aside for the use of picnickers with doggies. 

The night was pleasant, and we sat out in our chairs.  I think we had 9 or 10 different folks stop by our site. We touched base with the ranger on duty and then turned in for the night by 10 p.m.

.....and that is a day in the life of a Campground Host at High Cliff State Park! 

BABY GOES HOME~!!! and CampHosting at High Cliff State Park

Wheeeheeee!  Littlest grandtot Whitney Wonder Wade has stabilized and was released from the NICU after five days.  Thank you everyone for your prayers, good wishes and kind thoughts.

Our daughter Heather and husband Jesse have been staying in the top floor "hotel" rooms at the hospital to be close to her while in the NICU.  Aurora in Green Bay has a wonderful set-up for the new parents to stay upstairs nearby while their children are hospitalized.

I got to spend some time with her in the NICU too... which is a wonderful opportunity to get in good doses of "Grandmuddah Love"  and snuggles and songs.

Her blood sugar, blood platelets and jaundice are all under control and will be watched like a hawk.  But the greatest news is that the little tyke gets to GO HOME!!!  Now she can finally meet her big brother Jameson, who was not allowed in the NICU. Here she is all dolled up and ready to roll----

My heart is so full of joy and love for this tiny little being... and knowing she will grow and gain strength, health and vitality now under the good care of her parents.  Be well, my little Whitney!



In the midst of all this new grandbaby crisis, we were also doing our stint as camphosts.  We volunteer at High Cliff State Park, doing our camphosting gig for the month of August.  Our campsite is free, along with electric and water, for the month, with doing 20 hours total work a week between us.  The value of the campsite is now over $860 a month, so that is a pretty good bargain.

I drove our rig out to the park on Aug 1, and we got all settled into our hosting campsite. Steve also works at the park M-F full time as the Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Advanced position, so we did this at the end of his 4pm shift. He didn't even have to drive home to Chilton after work!  What a commute!

Since we have done camphosting for a couple years now, we already know the drill and just sign the new camphost volunteer agreements. If it's the first time, hosts are asked to go through training, doing certification on driving the John Deere Gator, and doing a background check.  Hosts are supplied with vests, weather radio, cell phone, literature and a first aid kit.

Steve also holds the position of Camphost Coordinator and I assist as a volunteer.  We gather applications, select each year's hosts, and conduct an orientation and training each spring.  It's a good way to give back to the parks, because without the hosts, there are such limited man-hours in the park budget to do the things that the hosts help with.  The main task of our hosts is being at the campsite and giving out information.  Being a "Park Ambassador" as we call it!

If we are away from our campsite, Steve erected this nice kiosk with information right by the camphost site.  Centrally located for the patrons to find out what is going on in the park.

We also clean the firepits in 112 campsites, and 8 group campsites, as needed, plus clean up the grills in the picnic areas. We pick up trash wherever we see it. We use the term "If you SEE it, you OWN it" and pick it up. 

Unlike other camphost positions in other places, our job does NOT include bathroom cleaning, collecting fees, selling firewood or confronting unruly guests.  That is all taken care of by park staff and rangers. It's a pretty nice gig! 

Our dogs are welcome hosts too, as they are well-behaved and are quiet on the campsite.  We often walk around the park just to meet-n-greet with folks, and our dogs are easy ice-breakers.  Everyone wants to pet the "Little Lassies"  and it's good for their socialization skills too, especially rescue dog Binney who needs all the interaction she can get. 

While we were hosting this past week, we also had a couple grandtots come to join us!  Our oldest daughter had an out-of-state work conference, so we gave our son-in-law a break for a few days and took the kids to the campground. Chelsea is 5 and Clayton is 3, just the right age to enjoy camping with their grandparents.

Of course, we put them to work too!  They LOVE to carry around the trash picking pincher sticks looking for "GARBICH" as they call it.  

Chelsea announced all on her own, from her own little mind, that we are quote "Helping The Earth" to pick up the trash. awwwwwwww....  so proud. A Little Conservationist in the making.   

Because they are not allowed in the Gator, we found another alternative to helping us clean the campfire pits.  We used our red Radio Flyer wagon and a couple buckets and a shovel.  They eagerly went to work with us, helping along the way.  We could only do a few firepits at a time, with the limited bucket space, but we managed.  

Also, little Chelsea was cussing out the

 "bad people"

 who throw their

 "garbich" 

all over the park!   

Having grandtots along is a great help with the raccoon problem.  Non-aware campers leave their trash out at night, and the coons drag it off into the woods.  Having small people around means us sending them into the underbrush to clamp on and retrieve the trash that dragged away! LOL 

On Thursday, we had several camphosting applicants contact us, of which two couples were wishing to come and "try out" camphosting each for a week stint, in preparation of committing to a full month for the year of 2016.  Being flexible, we decided that we could toss our things into the rig, get road-worthy, and let one couple take over the host site.  The other couple will then take it over on the 20th. They completed the interview process with Steve and the park superintendent, and got some training and information and equipment. 

Since we were pretty busy with various grandtot situations, it was a good thing to let them take over and learn about hosting for a short period.  (Understandably, I have been on edge and not sleeping well and running back and forth to Green Bay several times a day anyhow) ...

If things change, we can just toss our things back in the motorhome and head back out to the park again if need be. 

Although we do stock our motorhome with dog toys and grandtot toys, little Chelsea and Clayton were happy to come to our house and play with the grandtot toys here, and the dogs were happy to be back home and playing with their house doggie toys too!  

They used the little red wagon to help unload the motorhome with trips back and forth to the house and really were good transporters!  Our own private moving crew.  Hey, child labor laws don't apply when they are family members.  LOL

On Friday morning it was time for them to go back home... and our poor doggies are just LOST without "Those Childrenz" to cuddle and play with.  

I went upstairs to get something in the afternoon, and found both of them waiting in the bedroom we have set aside for the grandtot visits.... waiting... waiting...  

I guess, I am waiting too! 

In two weeks it's grandtots Allegra and Mason's turn!!!