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Monday, May 31, 2010

CAMPING - Part 4 - MEMORIAL DAY at Old Veterans Campground - Peshtigo State Forest

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(this post made by a solar powered laptop)


Ohhh what a hot hot hot Sunday we had!   It was getting hotter and more humid after breakfast, and we hunkered down and didn't do too much.   I had the sock machine cranking outside under the awning.  But as the day wore on, it was getting too hot to even sit out there.  

Once it hit 90, with almost matching humidity, I said enough was enough, and we went inside, closed all the windows and air vents, and we fired up the generator!   Steve walked just a bit down the road and you could not even hear it running.  We just don't like to bother folks with our generator noise, and barely ever use it.  But today was the day!

Wheeeeee we had both air conditioners on the roof going full tilt, and we were comfy in no time.    I am sure the other three tenters here in the campground were pretty jealous about our comfort, but heck, we earned it.   We paid our dues by all of our years of tents, popups, travel trailers and now we deserve the comfort of the motorhome and it's generator.

We holed up for most of the afternoon inside, reading, and resting.  I took out the game Bazaar, a trading game from Discovery Toys that my children used to LOVE to play with.    All the little cousins and friends used to learn to play it too.  Just look at all those pretty colored glass stones!  Kids can't resist.


It is a great game that consists of each player earning and holding onto various little colored stones in their hands, and sorting and playing and trading the right colors till they have the right combination to *buy* a certain card.  No real counting or reading is required, which makes it a great game to play along with the young ones.  Just so one person can keep score and add,  that is all you need to have all ages play along.   And the kids can WIN over the adults!!!    So I figured it is time to start teaching Steve the game, so he can be ready when the grandkids start to beat him at it.  LOL    Discovery Toys doesn't publish it anymore, but you can still find it in a few places, even used on Ebay or Amazon.  We have 2 sets, one for the camper and one for the house.




We decided not to cook anything outside, but seeing as we had the generator running, I could do a quick meal for supper in the microwave.   I whipped up two frozen servings of alfredo noodles, and layered them over some frozen shrimp.  Sprinkled on some mozzarella cheese, italian seasoning and parmesan to top it off.  Put them back in the microwave for a few minutes till bubbling cheese and they are done!  Add some italian bread and we have a meal.  I also made up a no-bake cherry cheesecake outta a box and a can for dessert.  Easy Peasy!


About 5pm Steveio said it was cooling off, so I turned off the air conditioners, turned off the generator, then opened all the windows and vents.  By the time I got outside, the temp had RISEN!   NO kidding!  It had gone up 5 more degrees to 94.5  and he thought it was COOLER?    He was nuts!  

So I went back in, closed it all up, and started up the generator again and cranked up both the AC units again.   Time to crank more socks.   Watched some stupid TV, and he came in to join me.  The dogs sure appreciated the cool hardwood floor in the kitchen area and sprawled out in comfort.

About 8:30 pm it finally cooled off enough to turn down the AC and shut off the generator.  We took one more walk with the doggers before bedtime, just down to the dumpsters with our trash and back again.   Talked to one set of tenters who were packing up, fearing the big thunder and lightening storms predicted for the middle of the night.   I don't blame them, being in a tent.

We sat out till 9:30 and then packed up all our outside gear in the event of the pending storms.   We even rolled up our ground tarp and rolled up the awning too.  No sense in putting away a wet awning on Monday if it was gonna rain all day.  Plus, rolling it up ensures it won't get either ripped off by high winds, or collapsed by pooling water (we do tilt it for storms, but if it's a torrential rain, we don't want to be replacing an awning!

Once all the gear was stowed, I caught up on reading a few blogs and then we headed to bed.  About 1 a.m. the storms started.  We had two shivvering shaking doggers who were panting and shuddering as each huge blast of thunder or flash of lightening lit the sky.  It lasted about an hour and then the rains hit.  Sure am glad we rolled things up and outta the way.


Now it's Monday morning.  Storms are done and it's starting to get nice out.  A bit hazy but drying up.  Steveio is up and making pancakes, and I just perked up the last of the coffee (forgot to refill the countainer with fresh ground after last weekend-oops!)  

I think we will hang around today longer, and then later head home.  We know back roads to get home from here, so we can avoid the major highway 141, a main connection between Up North and Green Bay.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY everyone!   

God Bless America and all of those men and women 
who have fought and are currently serving our great country. Hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend.

6 comments:

  1. Good morning Karen..it is weird we are having the same weather..temps..and humididty..miserable!!

    What size of gernerator do you have?

    I posted pictures of the reception.

    Hugs..Cindy and Walker

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  2. Hey Cindy... we have an Onan 6.3KW propane generator built into the motorhome compartment (original equipment) It is able to run both of our roof air conditioners, I think they are 13,000 and 11,500 BTU. But when I want to run the microwave at the same time, I shut down the back air conditioner just to be sure and not over-strain it. And flick it back on when done cooking. While on the generator, we leave the fridge on propane so it's not drawing either.

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  3. Great to see you had a nice weekend , and if it is going to rain, it's best when your sleeping anyway. Rigg's, isn't to much of a scardy cat when it thunders. He is really well behaved and taking to camping nicely. Looks like your two are veterans when it comes to camping. Have fun, Sam & Donna.

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  4. WOW. 94 degrees way up there! We have been dreaming of heading north and finding some cooler weather. We hate running the a/c too. It's so much nicer with the windows open and a nice breeze. Sometimes you just have to do it though.

    Come on down to south Georgia..its much cooler :)

    I never thought of freezing noodles. It sure made for an easy dinner for you. Any particular way you freeze them? In a vacuum bag, plastic container, plastic bag?? I'll try that for a future camping trip.

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  5. I love my generator, too! We have an 8KW and have been pleased with its performance.

    Can't believe how fast you whipped up that meal! I'm amazed at all you carry with you so you're ready for anything.

    Our dog, Zoe, hates thunder storms, too. We worry she'll have a heart attack she shakes so bad.

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  6. Good Morning Karen, I came across your blog while researching campsites near Governor Thompson State Park. I truly enjoyed your post and pictures of Old Veterans campground and plan on traveling there this week July 27, 2010. I will be tent camping and canoeing the area lakes. I would love to pick some fresh blueberries also, do you know of any good spots or should I stop and ask "The Yooper"? Thanks again for all the great info and sharing your family memories with the WWW...
    Peace and Blessing,
    Scott Lightfoot

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