KOA Weekend - Sept. 18-21, 2009

Lucky me!! I got invited to go along on the KOA (Keep Old Active) weekend. Now this is an organization that has met I think for the past 6 years on a regular basis. I have been included in some of the activities around here but I am not sure they were the actual KOA stuff.

The people in this organization: Judy Deans, Jane George (these 2 happen to be sisters) and Liz Casper & Marnie McLevish (and these 2 are sisters.) One member could not make the weekend--Joan DeMars. She was missed more than once and the only thing that would have made the whole thing better is if she would have been there.

A beautiful fall afternoon on Friday when Judy picked me up at my house. Over to White Bear and Shoreview to pick up Liz and Marnie. Of course, the car was abuzz with all of us conversing and getting caught up. Very pleasant drive and the time went fast. Met up with Jan at MilleLacs. Decided to have dinner before going to cabin. Ate at a wonderful place on the deck overlooking a lake. In my mind--life could not have been better. I mean really--sippping wine on a beautiful fall afternoon overlooking a lake that looked like diamonds because the sun was shining brightly and being with all of these great women who make me laugh all the time. What is there not to like? Waitress did spill our appetizers as she tried to set them on our table. They went all over her white pants. Another took her place while she went home to change.

Onto the cabin. It is located on Lake Washburn which is in between Outing and Emily, Minnesota. It has been in the Deans family for many years. It is exactly what an old fashioned cabin should be--very quaint and cute and filled with antiques and history. It is located at the tip of a peninsula so every window you looked out you saw the lake. Unpacked car, picked our rooms, and toured "Harry's cabin" located just down a short path. That is where Jan & Liz bunked. We had a "ceremony" as the KOA flag was raised on the flagpole signifying the start of our time together at the cabin. I also made up a chant for us one night when I could not sleep. It goes like this: I would holler "I don't know but I've been told" the others would have to repeat it back--"Judy's cabin is the place to go." "All us ladies are spiffed and shine." "Gonna giggle & laugh and have some wine." "Sound off." "1, 2." "Sound off." "3, 4." --well you get the idea.

Friday night was spent talking and laughing. Popcorn was made but there was an issue with butter. I do not like greasy butter and needless to say it is not a good choice. Marnie melted a pound of it and poured it all over her and Jan's corn. They like butter.

Next morning--Judy made a wonderful breakfast of french toast and bacon. After clean up we piled into the car. Destination was the rangers tower. Judy had clues for geocaching. How fun!! Geocaching is where treasures are hidden by people and clues are given over the Internet for others to find. I had heard of this but never did it. I do know some can be very sophisticated and includes having a GPS and quadrants are published. Ours was simple. Go to ranger tower to the second level. Judy, Liz & I are pumped to find this. Jan & Marnie--not so much. They remained on the ground as we climbed. Judy found it right away. It was a little film canister stuck in the corner of the landing. It contained a dime, a rolled up piece of paper with a very tiny pencil to be able to sign names and dates. It was fun. Now the challenge. We want to climb to top. I am very afraid of heights and do not like how open this tower is. I played a mind game --convincing myself that it is a good thing to come out of your comfort zone and try new things. I want to do this and with the encouragement of Judy & Liz--I CAN DO THIS!! Up we go. Not bad until about the 5th level where we start getting above the trees. The further we go the more scared I am becoming. I can tell because I start to hyperventilate a little. Still doing OK even if heart is pumping faster. The others are feeling it also. The 3 of us are encouraging each other. 2 more flights and I am really not liking this but I am almost there. Judy goes first and reaches the top. I am next. Somewhat of a struggle to get off the stairs onto the platform. It was scary. I am hanging on tightly to the bars. Trying to enjoy the scenery but --Oh My!! we were high and it was kind of open (too open for me anyway.) Forgot to mention that there were huge piles of bird droppings that we were trying to avoid. Spent about 5-10 minutes up there. Caution going down especially when we were up high. As we got lower it was a piece of cake. Jan & Marnie are not where we left them. Walking back to the car there was a clue that they were there. A cute smiley face was made with rocks and sticks pointing the way that they were going. As we neared the end of the path they jumped out at us. They tried covering themselves with leaves to camouflage. Did not work.

Onto an auction. It was fun watching the clientele and seeing all the stuff (junk) that was being auctioned. I inadvertently made a bid on a piece of junk much to my surprise. Judy & I were not in the mix with the crowd but over to the side. I was explaining something to her and raised my arms to stress a point being made. They took that for a bid. Bidding had to stop until they got it straightened out. I then got very far away from the auctioneer and crowd so that would not happen again.

Back in the car. Destination - boat landing where there is another geocache. Clue: look for a tupperware container wrapped in duct tape left of the landing dock. We all start searching. I go into the lake and walk the shore. Others are in the woods. After about 10 minutes Jan hollers "I found it." We gather to see what is in this one--a small tile that says "Emily" a letter "E", paper and pencil to sign our names among the others on the list. I forgot to mention that in this one and the one on the ranger tower we added a pink tie that was part of Liz's headgear that day.

To the Holiday station where we buy lottery tickets. To the corn stand to buy corn for tonight's dinner. Then back to cabin for snacks, drinks, laughter and fun. Jan throws a line in the water to see if she can catch some fish. No luck. Dinner was made later in the evening--hot dogs, corn, and beans.

One thing that needs to be noted--these girls are very much practical jokers ( well 2 of them anyway) It gets to the point where you hate to turn your back on them not knowing what is going to happen.

To be continued...............

More Pictures From Up North

Pudge walking ahead on the cute, quaint, little road amongst the cute, quaint, little cottages. Talk about people seeing things differently. I saw all of this as very charming and lovely. Pudge saw it as a "dump."

Another cottage on Cottage Hill.

Cottage on Cottage Hill.

One of the cute cottages on Cottage Hill.

Walking around the Breezy Point complex we came across this development. All kinds of cute, quaint cottages. I think I read somewhere that it was once a CCC camp in the 1930's. They were close together but I thought that added to the charm.

Elvis (Chris Olson) singing the American Trilogy. It was great. Enjoyed this a lot.

OK--I wanted to post more pictures so I could experiment a bit and get more used to posting pictures. It did not work the way I wanted it to as far as getting them in chronological order. I know one way to do it but wanted to try another to see if it would work. It didn't but I still learned some other things.

# 10

I was tagged by my cousin Donna to do this.
Simple rules:
-Open your first photo folder
-Scroll down to the 10th photo
-Post that photo and story on your blog
-Tag five others to do the same.

This photo was taken in the Florida Keys. This was in February of 2008. We were waiting to eat at restaurant right along the water when this picture was taken. Also spent time in Miami. I remember liking South Beach a lot. People watching was the best. It truly is the land of beautiful people. Almost felt like a foreign country because of all the ethnic groups and languages. I really liked it. We drove to the Keys which was fascinating. Spent a couple of days there. Toured Truman White House and Hemingway's house. We were with our dear friends--Jim & Gloria. It was a great trip. Numerous memories were made on that trip.

Up North

OK--I know it has been awhile since I have blogged and about 5 people are questioning why there hasn't been anything--which BTW made me feel good.

Now it will be interesting to see if I can put the knowledge that Sarah taught me about posting pictures and other things about this blogging. I am hoping I do not get frustrated and I am also hoping that I will not be on this computer for 2-3 hours trying to figure out things.

First thing I want to do is put pictures in chronological order.

Here goes--Wish me luck!!




Friday morning, August 14, 2009--started preparing for a getaway weekend up north. Flowers and tomatoes are watered, bags are packed, coolers are stocked with food, snacks, and water, books and magazines that I want to look at are put in the van. Pudge goes over to hook up boat. Comes back and says "we can't go." Somebody stole both of the depth finders out of the boat. They also tried to get some of the rods and reels but they got tangled and they must have given up. OK--in my thoughts I start to rearrange my thought pattern for staying at home. A little while later Pudge comes back and says that we can use a portable depth finder that he happened to have in the garage. Not the best but it will do.

First stop--MilleLacs Lake. About noon we launch boat and off we went to the deep waters to catch walleye that the lake is famous for. Problems with boat. Back to dock. Not quite sure what was wrong and how it got solved but we are off again. Not able to go fast because of the issues with the boat. That is fine with me. I don't like fast. Get to the "fishing spot." I get myself settled at the bow of the boat with a book, padding for my back and head and a glass of wine at my side. Pudge is busy baiting rods with leeches. He gets mine done and props it. Now I can only hope that a fish doesn't bite so I have to get up from my cozy spot, put book down and deal with the stupid fish. I am in my glory. The sun is hot and it penetrates your bones so you finally feel warm. Book is good and sips of the cold wine is very refreshing. I am loving it!! Pudge not so much. He doesn't like the heat. I am hearing him mumble and grumble as he continuously wipes sweat from his head and brow.
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Spent a few hours on the lake. No bites (Hooray!! Hooray!!)

Now on to Brainerd. The drive is scenic and interesting. Had a wonderful dinner at a steak house. Took a long ride around Gull Lake. We plan to spend the night in the van. The back makes into a very comfortable bed and we also planned on spending it in the WalMart parking lot. Now I can just hear some of you thinking "oh boy! that sounds like a good time." Actually it is. There is something about the simplicity of this that I really enjoy. Now it is something I would not want to do for 3 or 4 nights in a row but 1 or 2 nights is just fine with me. There are other motor homes doing this also and there is a kind of camaraderie with them. We get ourselves settled in. I am quite comfortable. It is nice to not have to use covers. Once again this is not so for Pudge. He is warm and slept fitfully through the night. I slept well. Even had to pull covers up in middle of the night. It was chilly.

Up the next morning very early which is usual for us. Used WalMart restrooms. Got a newspaper. Went to Caribou. Sat there drinking coffee, reading paper and getting on the internet for about 2 hours. I thought they were going to start charging us rent.

Next destination is Breezy Point on Pelican Lake. We did stop at a few garage sales on the way. Also it was chokecherry days in one of the little towns so we walked through there. Got to see Paul Bunyan's fishing bobber which is their water tower and his big chair that he would sit in. Had breakfast in a little cafe.

We had tried to get motel reservations at Breezy Point resort earlier in the week but there was nothing available so we were going to look for a motel close by. We did pull into Breezy Point compound just to look around. I said "let's go in and just see if there was a cancelation." There was. We got a very nice room and we were able to get in right away. It is only about 11:30 am. We both took showers and put on clean clothes and went exploring the area by foot. I like it. Lots of people, lots of water activity, restaurants, golf course, several different housing options, & a gift shop. Pudge is wanting to watch the PGA so he went back to room. I continue to explore and check out the menus for dinner that night.

Later in the afternoon we took a ride. Stopped at a flea market. Not a good one but I did have my picture taken with Babe the Blue Ox.
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We also went to the town of Nisswa where they were having sidewalk days. It was crowded. Lots of gift shops. I do have problems with gift shop prices. I am used to Savers, Goodwill and garage sales. And I swear to all of you I have seen some of the exact same things in the thrift shops that were in those gift shops. The only reason I like to go in the gift shops is to get ideas and realize what a bargain I get when I buy at "my shopping places."

Back to motel where more of the PGA and the twins are watched. There is a gentle rain coming down. I read my book and also keep an eye on the TV when the PGA is on.

Our plan for the evening was to have dinner at the Dockside restaurant because that is where the Elvis show was going to be. It is usually outside on the beach but because of the rain it was to be inside. We knew we had to get there early to get a good seat. Show started anywhere from 8-9:00. We got there about 6:30. It was already crowded and noisy--2 things Pudge does not like. Found a table but no chairs. I decided to walk around to see if there was anything else. Pudge is not too happy. Lo and behold I saw 2 chairs at this very small bar near the front. I asked bartender if anybody was sitting there and no there was not. I could hardly believe it. Quickly went back to get Pudge thinking this might make him happier. It did. We discovered that the stage was about 5 feet from us. They were the best seats in the place. As a matter of fact, I would rub shoulders with Elvis when he would come to bar during performance to drink water and wipe his face. BTW Elvis is Chris (forgot last name) who does an incredible impersonation of Elvis. We have seen him about 4 other times and really enjoyed him. He did not disappoint us this time either. He was great!!! It was so much fun. He sought me out 2 or 3 times--reached for my hand and held it during one song, put a lei around my neck while singing Blue Hawaii into my eyes, pointed at me during one song to make a point. I am sure it had to do with my proximity to him. But whatever it was he was great and I loved it.

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Didn't Quite Work

Well--maybe I am moving ahead somewhat. I at least got the pictures that I wanted posted but no luck with writing the text. Also seems like a lot of back & forth, searching & hunting for each picture. This is what happened when I tried what Sarah told me--load pics first and click to right of top picture, press return to type above. Well when I pressed return it posted. Tried to edit and did not get any where with that. Readers, you will just have to bear with me while I try to learn.
Now I'm tired and want to get off this computer. Maybe tomorrow I will post details about the tea party and then again -- maybe not. We will see.

Tea Party

Mad & Frustrated

Damn!! This posting pictures is not going well. My problems and frustrations are as follows:
-I keep forgetting to click "add another image" when I want to do more than one.
-Can hardly see my pictures in the file--too small. When I make them bigger then I scroll down and it seems that I haven't clicked anything and before I know it picture had been uploaded. It is like it has a mind of its own sometimes. Thus the duplication of pictures
-I want my pictures to appear at end of blog not at the beginning. Don't have a clue how to do that. I thought maybe if the curser was where I want the picture that is where it would appear--NOT.
I envy and covet the computer skills many of you have.