August 2004

What a month! We ended last month with happy memories of Jeff and Marty's wedding and closed this month with another couple of pleasant visits. During the month, we resurveyed portions of Nebraska, Chippewa, Chequemagon, Daniel Boone, and Wayne National Forests and got some repairs done on the RV at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa.

But before we get into the details, here are some final observations made in Canada:

Canadian dollar and two dollar pieces are called "looney" and "tooney". Appropriate? :-)

A new oil, Canola, provides a beautiful sight - mile size blankets of brilliant yellow flowers draped over a rolling landscape.

The many "Important Intersection" signs always brought a grin and the question, "Are there Unimportant Intersection?"

The cost of smoking is painful over $48/cartoon! And a lot more smoking can be seen in the big towns vice the smaller hamlets.

Breakfasts aren't all that great. Well, actually it's the eggs causing the problems - they are always over-cooked.

Maybe there is a greater selection of television stations in the big cities but out where we were all television was like PBS with a funny accent. It was like having salad with every meal good for you but . . .

Every container, bottle, can, jar, whatever, has a deposit charge tacked onto the price. We never did figure out how one recovers the deposit but there are "recycle" (we call them trash cans)stations all over the place.

Although during a good bit of our time in Canada the weather was on the chilly side, the Canadian people were very warm.

Now back to our month's adventures. Just to refresh your memory we decided not to do any new National Forest (NF) research this year but to revisit some of the places we had done years ago and bring those places up to our current level of research. The Nebraska NF was one of those places. It was good to see the difference between than and now. For our first stay Nebraska NF there were few campers around and rainfall had been below average so things were very dry. This time Spring rain had been abundant so everything was green and perky and the Nebraska Bowhunters Association were having their annual gathering (about 500 people in attendance!). We worked but, also, it had fun. Even the Dismal River appeared less dismal.

Our next destination was the Winnebago factory in Iowa - the company provided a campsite on a windswept, treeless field called the Rally Grounds. We had never camped in such a location and hope we won't have to again. It is a bit scary to be someplace where there is a warning siren and bathrooms double as storm shelters. But storm shelters are all over the place. Even our latest favorite eating place, the Cow Palace's Chuckwagon (which was a nice way of say the stockyard's caf‚) boasted of one.

After our repairs were completed, we headed of Minnesota's Chippewa NF. Now this is one of those forests we didn't care for to first time around but this visit has changed our mind. Why? We aren't sure but think it has something to do with the weather. We stayed in a campsite right on the shores of Cass Lake. Now we should explain the lakes in this Forest are huge. How big? The resident sea gulls think they are living on a sea coast! We couldn't pass up the opportunity and took "the yacht" (our inflatable raft) out for a turn. We stayed near the protected shoreline next our campground. Now, it has been a year since Fred played with the yacht and it does take awhile to relearn how to be a sailor, particularly deboarding. Fred's exit landed him in the lake, right on his dignity. However, by the next day Fred was his old sea-going self and had no problem getting in or out of the yacht.

Next it was a few days in Chemequagon NF before heading for Suzi's son, Douglas, and his family in Goshen near Louisville, KY. It was a much too brief a visit to their lovely new home in the rolling Kentucky countryside. The girls are getting so big and beautiful, Doug's business is being well, and Julie is a great lady.

One problem we are having with our travels is that the rain has got things growing all around and when plants grow they produce pollen which causes Fred's allergies to act up and that means he starts snoring with great gusto. Suzi has learned to sleep through such events but now we have Ralf. Each time Fred snores, Ralf feels a threat and growls. So the RV echos with the sounds of Z-Z-Z-Z-Z and GR-GR-GR-GR, Z-Z-Z-Z-Z and GR-GR-GR-GR, Z-Z-Z-Z-Z and GR-GR-GR-GR.

Fred and Ralf have not been the only source for grins. Oh no, the graceful Suzi managed one notable moment. During a pleasant visit with Nancy and Jon Helmrick at their "cottage" (a very humble label for the beautiful home on the banks of Lake Pymatuning in Pennsylvania) and after a pleasant ride on the lake on Jon boat, Suzi thought to try out the backyard's hammock. She gently lowered herself and stretched out. As she got comfortable, Nancy came out of the house. At her greeting Suzi turned around and immediately fell to the ground, landing on her dignity. Nothing hurt except for a few "stitches" from all bystander's laughter. Well, it was a very graceful move.

Yep, its has been a month of grins and giggles, pleasant but too brief visits, long drives with wondrous sights, renewed friendships and some new. For many the summer is over but for us it is only half done and we expect more of the same. As usual, we'll keep you posted.

Suzi and Fred