This post is the second half of the review for Shakey Lakes... the first half is here:
(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 winter---- sigh)
This campground is in the middle of six interconnected lakes.....
here is an arial photo from google earth:
We were camped this time along the bottommost one on the photo... last time we were out on the pointy finger betwee the two centermost lakes.
We came back here in July with some of our grown kids for the Fourth of July weekend in 2008. We called ahead for reservations and got in one of the last few remaining rustic primitive sites, number B11
Here is some more information on the park:
This is our campsite.. .a bit more open than the last time, but still nice and quiet over here on the side. The sites in this section are rustic tenting sites, (no hookups) but they allowed us to rent it even though we are a motorhome. As long as we don't run our generator we are fine with just the solar. Generators are prohibited in this park.
I must mention the interesting comment we got from the ranger as we were checking in. The gal behind the desk was handling our check-in procedure just fine. But the ranger walked in (puffed up with self-importance) and with no pleasantries or niceties he stated: "DON'T THINK YOU ARE GONNA DRIVE THAT SCOOTER AROUND THE PARK--- IT'S PROHIBITED INSIDE THE PARK"
I was taken aback. Under no circumstances did I think I would be admonished this way. Especially because No. 1: I never said I would be riding the scooter around in the park and No. 2: our scooter is a licensed legal road vehicle like any motorcycle and does 70 mph and is street legal with 2 up. So I smiled and replied: "Sir, that is not a toy or a minibike, it's a licensed street legal motorcycle" He snapped back at me: "IT IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE PARK" hmmmmmm he stomped out the door. What a way to deal with the public? So the gal behind the counter grimaced and said he is just a pain in the you-know-where. I said if we decided we wanted to drive to town for something and took our licensed motorcycle, I would bring a sheriff into the park via 911 on my cell phone if the ranger attempted to harass us in any way. Just in case she needed to know that. Heh heh. We bought the proper vehicle stickers for both the motorhome and scooter and she wished us a nice day.
We carefully read over the park policies before we took the scooter off the rack.
-park policies-
Doesn't say a word about scooters, and only says operators must be legally licensed. Fine, we are covered.
We never saw hide nor hair of that ranger again, so perhaps he was forewarned by the registration gal?
Anyhow, on to camping! We had the grown kids put up a tent, and they brought the grandpuppies (a.k.a. rat doggies) They like to sleep in the tent too!
These pups are very good camping dogs, and rarely leave the lawn chair--- as long as they have someone's sweatshirt to cuddle under!
There is a great view out of our campsite... this lake (Bass Lake) is not as busy as the other lakes are, mainly because the only open waterway into the lake from the others is underneath a small bridge. Here are our guys out there fishing ...
It was a peaceful morning along the lakeshore as we took a walk with the dogs.
Chef Steveio working on the sweet corn over the fire
Soninlaw Mark and daughter Erin relaxing with a few beverages
VERY pregnant daughter Heather (she had the baby 3 weeks later) and future soninlaw Jesse relaxing on a blanket in the sunshine.
Steveio working on bloody marys (none for Heather) and Heather making us her famous Biscuits and Gravey breakfast for us... yummmm What a treat!
We always eat very well when camping... and afterwards get in a few games of cribbage!
Erin's birthday was June 30, so we celebrated on the weekend.. (I baked the cake)
We rented two little boats, one with a motor. Erin and Mark got the second boat with oars, and we did a bit of towing. We explored the lakes surrounding the park and did a little fishing.
Packed picnic lunches and coolers of drinks... slathering on the sunscreen and enjoying the day
The Preggo Princess Belly, and Granmuddah-To-Be in the middle of the boat... Captain Steveio at the helm
Jesse enjoying a few brews and the sunshine (later he was quite sunburnt)
Grandfadder-To-Be Steveio scooped up a water lily flower for the Preggo Princess
The far side of the lake was so pretty with lily pads, flowers, frogs, turtles and weeds....
We saw a deer drinking along the shore line... this was taken from a ways away, but still can see the deer who wasn't bothered by our boat engine at all.
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Steveio got a little sunburnt
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What a peaceful tranquil afternoon ....
Ahhh nighttime campfire in a too-small fire ring, dontcha think?
We made pudgy pie pizzas, and pudgy pie cherry dessert pies too. Using "pie irons" we find the real cast iron Tonka Toasters work much better than the newer cast aluminum ones. They don't make em anymore, so if you see them at rummage sales, GRAB EM! Using butter flavored non-stick cooking spray really helps too.
Here are some good recipes: http://www.pudgypies.com/
On sunday, we decided it was getting so hot and humid, it was time to dunk the dogs in the lake.
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The boat access at Bass lake was an allowed place to let dogs in the water, not over by the swimming beach. We didn't want to run across that ranger, so we made sure we were in the proper place.
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All the doggers got in and got wet.... even the rat dogs (though they didn't like it one bit)
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What a peaceful place, don't you think? What we also liked about this campground was the rule about NO fireworks. Our dogs scramble up the walls and would go through a screen to get out if they heard fireworks going off. One year Duchess actually made her big collie body get through the tiny slider access on the motorhome screen door to get out! Once out, they run willy-nilly in a panic and would disappear if we were not there to catch them. A good reason to keep tags and collars on your pets with your current CELL phone number, not your home number when out camping. This park was nice and quiet for the Fourth of July. Any celebrations were held in the nearby towns, so folks left the park in droves to go there. Made it even nicer for us left behind!
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So ends a nice holiday weekend at a great campground...
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That sure is a beautiful place, and your two Collies are SO pretty! I have a special place in my heart for Collies!
ReplyDeleteThat is really a beautiful campground. Thanks for showing it to us. Looks like the entire family was having a great time together. The lake is especially beautiful. Nice pics.
ReplyDeleteBoy, what a great weekend,to bad you that that initial encouter with Mr Big. After 37 years in some form of law enforcement, I'm sorry to say that in all forms of authority, from the lowly walmart security greeter, to the State Patrol, you always manage to find someone who the minute you pin a badge on them they become what Sam used to say, "Legends in their own mind". He used to be so embarrassed when inevitable finding out wht he did for a living, people would relate some bad example of a contact with authorty to him, Donna would always save the day and say something,like "to bad Sam wasn't working you wouldn't have had to listen to the Cr-p. Sam when he was a Sgt and then Chief would tell the young ,new officers, It's only when you realize how unimportant you are versus your self importance, that this job becomes so much easier. Enough said, Keep up your great camping stories, we enjoy them and are getting talked into a visit to you area. Oh yeah Rigg's says to say hi to Duchess, and Ducky, he is getting to be a big boy, I hope he doesn't notice that ladies to soon. Be safe out there, Sam & Donna.
ReplyDeleteReplies here:
ReplyDeleteKaren ..thanks so much!~ Actually Duchess (Ducky) is a collie, but Duke is a Shetland Sheepdog, also known as a Sheltie. They are cousins in the breed world, not a minature collie as some folks say. They have a common ancenstor of a Toonie Dog from the Norsement ships that stopped at both islands of Ireland and the Shetland isles. More than you wanted to know, huh?
Thanks Margie, many of the lakes in Wisconsin and Michigan are nice and clean like this. Soon we might head over to Minnesota where they have even more!
And Sam n Donna, you betcha there are folks like that who need a badge to give them power. They are usually guys smaller in stature who were bullied in school, and now want to bully other folks to sooth their bruised egos. So sad. We just avoided any altercations with him for the rest of the weekend. Sigh.