CAMPING - Holtwood in Oconto and Family Birthday Party

There are a couple of Motorhome Modifications and some Our Old House project posts that I want to write about. First I better catch up this blog from 2 weeks ago. Sorry I haven't blogged lately, but things just speeded up fast around here. How does that happen?

Two of our grandchildren were having birthdays the previous weekend.  Jameson was turning 9 and his little sister Whitney was turning 2 already. We travelled up to the area for the purpose of attending the double party on Sunday. On our way through the countryside, we stopped and picked up Jameson to spend the night with us at a campground.

He loves getting the chance to ride in the motorhome,

 even if it was only 5 miles into town.

We made reservations two weeks ago for the last weekend in July to go up to our old home stomping grounds. When we lived in Oconto, Wisconsin, we always drove through this city campground, called Holtwood.  Often just driving through and looking at rigs and seeing who was from where.  In the winter, local sponsors and civic groups decorate the campground with Christmas decorations and trees. Cars can drive through with holiday music tuned to a station on the radio. We really enjoyed this park and spent a few weeks living there, after our house sold in 2012 when becoming full-time RVers.

It is a nice city run park located right on the edge of town. It is situated on the banks of the Oconto River which loops right around the entire campground. Campsites are $28 a night for an interior site, and the ones right along the bank of the river are $30 a night. Some of the sites are seasonal but they are the interior sites. The prime best sites along the river are available for people who come and go and travelers through the area. Some long pull-through sites in the beginning of the park that make it easy for travellers to pull in and stop for the night.

Here is the link to the PDF file of all the information about the campground:

Holtwood Campground Information PDF file

This is the map of the park. We like staying on sites 11 through 18 which are close to the playground area. They do get packed in rather tight along the river but the people are all able to turn their RV sideways, so their rig is parallel with the river. That gets you the best view and stepping out your doorstep right onto the banks of the Oconto River. Rather nice.

This time we had site 18. We like the shaded trees and the green grass. Each campsite has water, sewer, and a post with both a 50 and 30 amp power hook up that you share with the neighboring site. So if someone comes first and they are hooked in the 50 amp you need the adapter to scale yourself down to 30 amp. We always carry an assortment of adaptors for that very situation. If you don't have the right adapters, they are available for a deposit from the office. When we first got there we had to take the 30 amp side of the post, but then our neighbors left, and we were able to switch over to the 50 amp side.  (that way the dogs could be comfortable in the AC while we were gone to the party on Sunday) 

Jameson helped us get set up on the site. He helped Grandpa with the leveling and the jacks with the boards underneath. He is now strong enough to help pull out the strap for the awning to set that up. 

Once our campsite was all together and we were situated and happy, it was time to do some fun stuff with our soon-to-be 9 year old grandson.

First outing on the agenda was to head over to the little mini golf center that is located right across from the campground in between McDonald's and Shopko. This was never here when we lived in Oconto so it was an adventure for all of us.

I honestly can say I have never played mini-golf before. I've played regular golf so this was a new adventure for me. Jameson actually beat me on a couple holes and we ended up with a fun afternoon and learned some new things.

Later that evening, our other daughter Erin and hubby Waylen stopped by with our youngest grandchild little baby Claire. So here is our oldest grandson and our youngest granddaughter together hanging out at the campfire. Just look at her idolizing her big cousin!

The next morning we decided to take Jameson out to what is known as the Breakwater. It's a harbor in Oconto with long arms that reach out into the Bay of Green Bay, which pours into Lake Michigan.

We have always enjoyed coming out here it's just on the outside edge of town. Sometimes even in the winter or early spring we would drive our motorhome out here to the point on a motorhome exercise day. When it's not busy we would park at the end of the point looking out at water in all three directions, make a little lunch in the motorhome and enjoying the view. In the summer months there are too many fishermen coming out here so you really don't want to block the turnaround at the end with a motorhome.

One time we even went out there as the ice shoves were happening, which is when all the ice is breaking up and rolling slowly into huge mountains near the shorelines. Very interesting!

Jameson had brought along his fishing pole and Grandpa got him all set up. He is a wonderful cast-er and pretty patient with the fishing. We tried for a while on his lures and baits, but no bites. A lady nearby gave us some nightcrawlers, and even that wasn't bringing in any big catches either. He finally resorted to eating his Swedish Fish candy, the only fish he caught that day!

Saturday night, we met up with our friends Gary and Roz over at our favorite restaurant in Oconto Falls. It's called The Penguin Again http://www.thepenguinagain.com/  which is known for their BBQ Ribs and also their Tenderloin Tips on Saturday night. They give such huge servings that Steve and Gary both only ordered half an order of tenderloin tips and it was still a huge platter full. Roz and I each ordered the ribs, and we each took a full rack to take the extras home for lunch the next two days (not kidding!)

Gary and Roz had come over to the restaurant in their old Model A Truck. The guys had a lot of fun going over it in the parking lot and checking out its features. Later they came over to our campground and hung out at the campfire with their dog Charlie.

Sunday morning Steve cooked us breakfast on our "new to us" propane stove we installed a few weeks ago. We now have four burners to cook on which means he can have 3 fry pans going at the same time. One with bacon, one with eggs, and one with sliced american fries. If we were camping without electricity, the fourth one would have the glass Pyrex coffee pot on it.  Since we had electric, we used the drip coffee maker.

Such a nice change from the two burner stovetop that we had before. We had to shuffle pans around into a holding spot on a wooden trivet to one side, and keep moving them back and forth to completely cook a meal.  Added benefit is the propane oven, so we can bake things without using the convection oven overhead. 

Sunday noon we headed over to our kids house for the double birthday party. Heather and Jesse live just 5 miles out of town, actually just down the road from the house we used to own. Lots of kids and relatives came to celebrate Whitney turning 2 and Jameson turning 9. Here is a little YouTube video clip of their Happy Birthday song:

Birthday cakes and blowing out candles, what fun!
The kids were all in swimsuits
because they were splashing in the little pool,
playing on the splash pad,
and playing with a bubble machine.

Once that part was all done, it was time to open the presents. Boy oh boy, these little kids sure are well loved. They had lots of wonderful things to open and smiles and thank yous and hugs to us all.

A couple of years back when we only had five grandchildren, I had given them all sleeping bags with their names embroidered on to them. So this year it was Whitney's turn to get one and she seemed quite pleased with her silky sleeping bag.

We headed on home 75 miles after such a busy weekend and got settled back into our house. Whew~ what a busy time, and it tuckered us out. It was so nice to spend time with everyone, and hang out in our old stomping grounds of Oconto Wisconsin.

Tonight we are heading out to LA LA LA LA LAAAA  Lambeau Field for the pre-season opener game of the Packers versus the Philadelphia Eagles. Our oldest daughter Erin and son-in-law Waylen got us tickets. It's supposed to rain so I am heading out now to buy some ponchos.

Sunny Saturday Stuff

Ahhhh it finally feels like SPRING is here in Wisconsin!   It started out dark and cloudy with a forecast of possible rain.  But later on in the day we had sunshine and wonderful temps in the 70's on Saturday.  Steve had work to do in Green Bay all morning, so I sorted stuff in my Loom Room and reorganized a few closets.  Things are now *presentable* for an Open House!

After we had a little lunch, we tackled a few more projects around here....  first up was replacing the head on the Jack Antenna system by King Controls.  Easy peasy, 2 pins, 2 little clips and screw on the coax.  Done!

On the other end of the cable down inside of the motorhome roof,

we needed to fix a connector end which wasn't so easy,

but Steve got it done...

The new tailpipe is on the generator now so it's all up to snuff for the season... and we fired it up again to run for a while and noooo big bangs! wheee heeeeeeee

Next up on our list of projects was to finish painting some trim around the house.  I did most of that while Steve was clearing out stuff in the garage and doing a dump haul.    Then we commenced pulling off all four sets of our double patio doors, sanding them down and restaining them and then replacing them again.  That took most of the afternoon----   It was easier to sand them flat out on the deck than getting all that sawdust inside of the house.  We worked on them one at a time, placing a screen door across any open expanse.  The wasps and bees were prevalent, searching for ways into the house or seeking out spots to build new nests.   Bit by bit we did all eight panels and secured them all back into place. 

When we were done with that it was time to relax

We fired up the grill and cooked some Klements bratwurst, and some wonderful bi-color sweet corn on the cob!  It was our first corn on the cob since last fall, and we thoroughly enjoyed it!  It was priced fairly at the local Piggly Wiggly store, 6 ears for $1.99      Steve is carefully watching his cholesterol levels, so the bratwurst was a real treat for him!

Our woods are slow to green up... just a few buds of leaves opening up on the small shrubs, but the big trees have not leafed out yet at all.  Cooler temps the last few weeks have halted any new leaves appearing.

Soon the trilliums and wild roses will burst through, and the ground will be scattered with tiny flowers of johnny jump ups, columbine, arbutus, and buttercups.  After that comes the ferns and sumac.  Up around the house we have some lilacs that are just bursting out their leaves too.

We took a walk with the dogs down along the river.  We used to keep this area mowed along the bank to a lawn level like grass. (It's really weeds--- but short weeds can look like grass, right?)

We used to keep a long right-angled pier reaching into the river where we tied up our canoe and paddle boat.  We have since sold both of those, and the pier too. But keeping the lawn cut down here will look good for showings to prospective buyers.   Steve uses the push mower down here, but one year he tried to run down here with the riding lawnmower!   He got it down there alright and cut the lawn.... but could not get it back UP the bank again!   He tried and tried making a run for it, but each time he would bog out and roll backwards.  I tried to tow him up the hill, and tried using our ATV.  That didn't work so well either, so finally I had to drive our pickup truck down there, winding through the trees carefully until I could turn it around and pull him up with that!    He will never do THAT again, for sure!

We let the woods and ground covers grow naturally but do make a path down to the river.   Our river is only about waist deep in the middle, slow current, sandy bottom and not too many weeds till late fall.   The kids always waded and swam to cool off on hot sunny days and the dogs sure enjoy it too.

Many years ago, the Oconto River was used for logging.  Along each side of the river was a narrow gauge railroad... we still find the "ore clinkers" here and there sprouting up where the tracks were.  Upriver a ways, the logging companies would block up the river with a dam, and dump the newly cut logs into the water.  They let the logs gather ahead of the dam, let it all loose at once to rush all the logs down the river to the lumber mills in Oconto.  The Frenchmen were best well known for being river "pikers" to ride along on the logs and use pike poles to keep the logs from jamming up.   So the gathering of homes along the south side of the river in Oconto is nicknamed Frenchtown where the logjammers and pikers lived.  On the north side of the river are the huge homes that the Lumber Barons (the mill owners) lived.

To this day there are many old leftover stray logs still in the river along the bottom.  Every year they move downwards a few more feet, submerged in the sand or muck.   A number of years ago, an enterprising fella on the other side of the river was hauling them out at night, under cover, with a big crane.  Kept underwater for 100 years, they were just as good as when they were first cut!   They were pure virgin timber with no knots, clear white pines and red pines....  HUGE logs that brought him BIG BUCKS!   But he didn't have a salvaging license and got in trouble with the Army Corp of Engineers when someone squealed on him.... and he lost that fight in the courts.

Our land along the river has three levels or terraces to it... the first level along the river is the lowest and will flood over in the spring time some years.  Upriver is our little electric company with a dam that controls the water depth, so usually it's fine.  This level you would never build anything on anyhow.   The next level is the woods and the highest up level is where our house is located, beyond the flood plain.

These wooden steps are 15 years old now.  They had originally been in the house as temporary steps up to the loft when we were building the house.  We later replaced the temporary house steps with custom made log steps from Steve's brother, Mark, who also builds log homes.   So we took these temporary steps and painted them and put them down by the river. A good use for getting down to the last terraced level of our land to the river.

The woodticks are out in full force, but the doggers are all set using Frontline.  Steve and I checked for ticks when we were done with our walk, fortunately, none on either of us!  Just like Florida folks deal with gators and fire ants, or desert people deal with scorpions and rattlers... we deal with woodticks!

Our doggers are getting old now... see all the white on Ducky's face? (the collie)   She will be 12 in a couple months.  She is now on glucosomine for joint aches and stiffness.  Duke (the sheltie) is also showing his years, and will be 8 in October.  He is having some issues with his thyroid and also has a big tumor (hopefully just a fatty one) on his chest.  We know our fur kids won't last forever, but sure hope they make it for a few more years when we go fulltiming.  They both the love the motorhome so much, and even beg to come out in the rig if we are only working on things.  To go for a test drive without them in the rig makes them CRAZY!  They chew us out when we get home--- angry barks, whines and twirls in circles to make us understand that THEY BELONG IN THE RIG IF IT MOVES!    heh heh


As the sun was going down, I snapped a shot back up through the woods to the house.  Normally this is all covered in lush green groundcover, shrubbery and woods in the summer and you can barely see the house from here.  But at least, it IS springtime in Wisconsin!  All is calm now, but Sunday we are due for some severe storms and winds and awful weather.  Glad we got a lot done on Saturday.

(these are the patio doors we worked on, 

two sets on the main level and two sets on the lower level) 

Sunday morning as I write this, we woke up to rain and clouds.  Supposed to get high winds later on, and thunderstorms by evening.  I guess it's a good time to get more inside projects done.

I think we are about ready to do an Open House next weekend.  We have the signs, the Offer to Purchase forms,  and I am just finishing up the flyers to put in the tube on top of the sign.  Who knows, by next week I might be blogging about a sale?????

Wish us luck!


.

Happy Fourth of July!!!! and suffering from L.O.C. Disease

We have been suffering the dreaded disease known as L.O.C.------ a.k.a. the Lack Of Camping ----- by staying home and staying busy on the house...  We had decided to NOT camp this weekend as the parks are very crowded and noisy and the dogs don't do well with the fireworks going off all weekend either.  They have been shuddering and clinging and shaking and quaking like leaves.

With the three day weekend, there have been fireworks going off up and down the river all Sat, Sun and I am sure tonight there will be more.  Also, the city of Oconto is having their fireworks display this evening too.

Last night, we did drive by the city campground along the Oconto River, called Holtwood.  Just to see what is going on.  My oh my the campfires smelled soooooooo good, the place is just jammed to the max and everyone looks to be having a great time.  It's only 4 miles from our house, so no, we have never camped here. But we do drive through it from time to time, just to see different campers and set-ups and I guess just being plain ole nosy!

http://www.cityofoconto.com/page38.html

Camping is $23 along the river or $21 interior sites - tenting $15

Even the tenting area is full to the brim... all in a row along the river.  Usually we only see one or two tents in this area any other weekend.  With the nice weather and no rain in the forcast, they have flocked to the campgrounds to make the most of it.

This is the same river that goes by our house... if we popped in here at our bank and floated down, we could cruise right by the campground and end up at the old Dairy Queen... now called Katie A's in Oconto.

I am feeling that terrible "Lack of Camping" because the last two weekends we didn't go--- so I am living vicariously through reading other blogs and driving past campgrounds.

• *”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆
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║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ 4th of July ☆ 2011
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆

Tragic loss of fellow RV bloggers, Margie and Bruce

As I was preparing my blog this morning, I got news of the tragic death of a wonderful RVing couple, Margie and Bruce.  Though we had never met in "real life" yet, her words of encouragement and support of all RVers out there on the road was uplifting and interesting.  They were senselessly mowed down by a suicide-intended driver of a car as they were walking yesterday morning.  Their family is in shock and we are all feeling their pain and loss at this tragic event---   http://bruceandmargiesfulltimejourney.blogspot.com/    May God bless them and keep them safe. 

Flooding---- How High's The Water, Mama? NINE feet high and risin

I recall a Johnny Cash song from my childhood....

How high's the water, mama?  

Five feet high and risin

Yes, after many inches of rain in our state of Wisconsin, much of the water from north and west of us flow on by our house... on their way into the Green Bay and Lake Michigan.   Our rive is now almost at flood stage at 8.78,

The web site also states:
At flood stage...widespread flooding occurs in a public campground in the city of Oconto. Water approaches the back yards of several homes along the river in Oconto...and there is widespread lowland flooding

It has gone as high at 14+feet in the past and we have been fine and high and dry, so not really worried.  Our house is build up on high ground, and we are not even located in the 100 year flood plain.

But IF ... and that is a huge IF the dam upriver were to fail, then we would have to get outta here.

Our plan is that if it gets halfway to the house, which is built up very high away from the river, that I pop the grandkid and dogs in the motorhome and take off to higher ground...  who cares about the house.  That is replaceable, we are not.    We have a friend up on higher ground with a large parking lot by his rental storage units to hole up at if we need to. 

The winds are really whipping up now, and the television reports are that because of the over saturated ground, the trees are easily blown over.  A few are down already on our road as Erin came out this morning.  At least the rains stopped, though the river is still flowing from the runoff up in the NW areas of us upriver.

Chelsea and I are singing:

How High's the Water Gramma?   Nine Feet High and Risin.....