June 4th 2013 thru July 9, 2013

I tried to get back on track and get my blog out every week, but it just hasn't happened yet. So just bear with me and it will happen.  We have been busy getting our yard work done and getting ready to head to Goshen, Indiana for Heartland's North American Rally and Pre-Rally..

I had gone and weeded some flower beds and then planted some flowers as Dan has cut the grass about 4 times since we have been home.  He has his new lawn mower that he has made adjustments to so our lawn looks so good when it is done.

We have filled all the hummingbird feeders as they all came back already and were looking for their food.

In between cutting the grass, he has washed and waxed the 5th wheel and truck and getting it ready to hit the road again.

On the 5th of June, I along with 2 others went to L'Anse Michigan to our friend Kathy for a fun party and an overnite.  She is a Red Hat Queen and she had a "Housewives of Baraga County" "Special Tea Party"  (There was no tea, just Wine) along with wonderful finger foods. What a HOOT.... 

Yummy Yummy

Tea Anyone

Our Lovely Hostess - Kathy Erickson

On Monday the 10th we headed for Elkhart IN, where we met up with Heartland friends and stayed the night.  Bob and Pat Curry were going out for dinner and I invited us to ride along so we did not have to unhook, or make any dinner.  We went to a place called Chubby Trout.  What great food and the best part was the carrot cake for dessert.  It was large enough to feed 4 people and had vanilla ice cream scooped high along side of it..  Yummy....

When we arrived we were parked in our permanent site and did not have to move. Unfortunately we were about 250 feet from the busiest train track in the state of Indiana I believe.  When the trains came, it sounded like it was right next to our rig.  Oh well...what more can I say...

The following pictures are some of the highlights of the week..  

4H - fairgrounds

Herbie  looking for his Mom...

Les and Janice Houser

Hoyt and Mary

Jay and Roy

Sally, Nellie and Stella

A mama Kildeer

Can you see the eggs

4-H RAISED GARDEN

It sure was a Party

Kelly and Micheal

The drink of choice (for some Heartlanders)

Our friends Hoyt and Mary arrived a few days later and they were parked right next to us.  None of the people that we knew were parked near us, they were all over in another section of the park.

Dan and I had made a few trips out to Amish Country and then when Hoyt and Mary came we went there also. The towns are full of colorful flowers and unique shops. 

The Heartland Rally went into full swing and everything was buzzing around.  Heartland Mfg of Recreational Vehicles are awesome.  They have it together with Great Customer Service and a Quality Product.   

We had a great time at the Rally and was sure happy to head home to the Northwoods.  We had a few days to get things in order before our friends Jim and Pat Doggett arrived.  They had been at the Rally and made a trek north to visit some of their Winter Texan friends in Illinois and Wisconsin and Minnesota.  We had 

Dan didn't have time to make his smoked ribs for them, but he did make delicious charcoal grilled chicken.  It was so yummy.  They didn't stay long as they had to be back in Kansas City on Sunday. It was sure nice to share our beautiful country with them..  We hope that they come back and stay a bit longer in the future.

After they left we had another few days and then our Heartland Friends Bob and Pat Curry arrived.  They took the  reservations of our friends Bruce and Joanne from Kentucky who were suppose to spend the 4th of July week in Munising camping on Lake Superior, but sadly they had to cancel.   Later our friends Ralph and Barb Chester from Valparaiso arrived for a pre-4th get together here at Halvorsen's Hideaway.On Saturday June 29th Jim and Lou DeVoe arrived from Tomah, Wisconsin. We had a nice dinner on Saturday evening.  Sunday morning, we all packed up and headed 25 miles to Munising to The Tourist Park, which is on the shores of Lake Superior.  to make this week happenings short, I will say that we had a couple of cool days, sunny ones, campfires, beautiful sunsets, stories, laughs and of course good food.  We went to the parade on the 4th and then to the Bayshore park for awhile afterwards.  We went back around 6:30 PM to the park and got settled in for the Fireworks. Why so early you think, well the park fills up so so full, that by the time it gets dark you can hardly find a bare spot to put your chair.  As always, the fireworks were superb.  All the Oue's and Awe's. On Saturday July 6th we packed up and headed back. DeVoes headed to Wisconsin, and Ralph and Barb went back to Indiana. the Curry's came  back to our house.  Our friends from Winnepeg, Manitoba came through earlier to go to Ontario to pickup a newer 5th wheel, and on the return run they came and stayed with us for a couple of days. We met them in Texas some years ago and the past few years they decided to go to Florida, but we have kept in touch and have met them a few times on our way South. It was so nice to have them spend some time with us.  I really enjoyed their Rusty (Fox Terrier)  Speaking of The Furry Friends, Herbie sure has had a variety of friends play with his toys.  Blackjack, Bentley, Bailey, Trevor, Wiley and Yoggie and Rusty. 

This morning, Ian and Mary left to go back to Canada,  Bob and Pat Curry are leaving and heading to The Copper Country of Michigan and then on to their travels for the summer before heading back to Dallas, TX.  

Dan and I are going to rest up for a few days and then head to Wisconsin and bring my mother home with us for a while.     Come August the 5th wheel and truck gets washed and cleaned up and we head out for a some campouts with our Heartland friends.   

Halvorsen's Hideaway

Heading for Tourist Park

Our Campsite

Herbie's Resting

One of Many Campfires

One of Many Lake Superior Sunsets

Let's have Breakfast

Concert in Park on Tuesday July 2nd

Cool Morning for a pontoon ride

Campsite from Lake Superior

One of many dinners

Karen and the babies

Love this sunset picture

 Herbie and Trevor

 Early in the evening, waiting for dark

 Ready to leave for home

 US 3

Ian and Mary and Rusty

May 6th thru June 3rd 2013

Well Hello there.. Yes, I have been behind in my blog, I had started it after we got home and then I got involved in alot of things around the house, that I kept putting it on the back burner..  So, what I am going to give you a re-cap for this past month and hopefully get back on track....

We arrived home safely on Monday May 6th  around 4:30 PM.. So happy to see our driveway.  Herbie was so happy also.  He ran around and then went and laid on the drive and rolled around...  

We walked in our home and it still smelled like new. I just love that smell.   On the way home I got a call from my brother who lives in Florida and shared some good news with us.  It was personal family and I was happy to hear it.  Our friend Ron came on down and turned on the heat so at least the home was warm when we arrived.

The following morning we woke up to a nice warm day..  There was no snow except in the woods.  Eileen called and asked if I wanted to go on a Waterfall Road trip.  Sure I said.  So, I got my camera and i-Pad and went up to her house and picked her up.  We hit alot of the waterfalls and they were flowing awesomely.

 AuTrain Falls Lower

 Upper AuTrain Falls

 Munising Falls

Found this among the forest and the tree bases

After we were done we stopped and visited our friend Jackie, she had back surgery and was recovering and it was nice seeing her.    We went to The Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore for lunch.  Afterwards we headed home as I had some chores to do..   We were invited to Ron and Eileen's for dinner so I did not have to worry about dinner.  Oh so nice for the invite..

The cooler mornings are arriving and that is a good thing as it gives me the opportunity to clean closets and empty out the 5th wheel.  I spent many days going through closets and filling many many big bags with clothes that are way to big for me and Dan seen what I was doing and he decided that he needed to go thru his side of the closet.  I am just guesstimating that we had over 100 lbs of clothes that went to Salvation Army.. The trunk of my car was packed full..   

 I sure hope that there is someone out there that will enjoy our donations.  I would of felt better giving clothes to someone who I knew that really needed them vs. having someone having to pay for them.  I had alot of nice clothing in those bags.

I also, had my first Red Hat luncheon and it was in Michigamme,,,  I was surprised to see ice on lake Michigamme,, I had a great time

I was promised a new bed when we got home, but there was conditions.  Yes, conditions, I had to empty out my woman cave and get rid of some of my treasured stuff.  So, I spent a few days throwing out stuff and repacking stuff that I wanted to keep.  We decided that we wanted to have 2 guest bedrooms and so when we got my cave cleaned we moved the bedroom from the other room in to the new guest room.

It just didn't seem like it was getting warmer out.. Misty rain and grey skies,  just kept me inside putzing going through stuff and throwing stuff out.    One Saturday morning the rain turned to snow..  and I just was amazed that I got to see snow.   LOL   

The snow left and it started to warm up some.  Dan spent some time cleaning out the waterfall pond,

 Dan Cleaning Waterfall

and I went and pulled some weeds, and we talked about the yard work that we need to do..

In the meantime I made some Dr. appointments and kept them.  I had some testing done to see how I did over the winter.  I was so happy to hear from my Dr. that I had done really well and kept my weight under control. 

We decided that we were going to put our 92 Chev p/up for sale.  He parked it up at the end of the drive and 4 hours later we had a number of calls on it.   2 days later it was sold and on it's way to a new home.  It was a beauty.  It never seen salt or snow roads and it was always garage kept.  We just did not need a vehicle that we hardly drove.  

Then we decided that our 24 ft. cutty cabin boat needs to be sold, as we are hardly home in the summer to use it..  It is all fitted out for Big Lake fishing and there are lots of goodies that go with it.  We just hope that it will sell as fast as the truck did.

Dan and I also bought 60 bags of red mulch and put it down in the beds.  It make everything look so good and also, helps keep the weeds in control...

 Just planted some flowers

 After 2nd cutting

 After 2nd cutting

 Ferns popping up

 Trillium's and Wild Leeks

  After 2nd cutting

 After 2nd cutting

I had gone to my favorite greenhouse and bought some plants.  Now I have to get them in the ground.  I feel so great this year and it is so easy for me to move around and do outside work.  Of course, I had to take Mr. Herbie for rides on his tractor.    I also had a huge amount of seeds that I had saved that past few years and never planted them.  So I took a bucket and dumped them all together.  I went out in the back garden and took my Mantis and tilled up some ground and weeds and then I made rows and put seeds down.  If they germinate and grow that is good for me...  If not, that is OK also.  I just did not want to waste them without trying.   

I had the garden club over at my home for the 1st meeting and we had a pot luck and we made out our schedule for the summer.  We had a great turn out and food was awesome also.  Great variety.

 Garden Club Pot Luck

  Garden Club Pot Luck

  Garden Club Pot Luck

 Garden Club Pot Luck

We are going to have a very busy summer this year, so in a way I am glad that I am getting alot of the major cleaning done. In a week we are heading for Goshen Indiana for a Heartland Rally.  Oh yes, it is Heartland again.  I have been getting alot of comments about being so involved with the Heartland Owners Club.  Well, we have met so many wonderful people and friends.  Why not be around people that you like and care for..  RIGHT!!

We went and ordered out new bed, King Size, and it arrived, Wow it is sure nice and makes our Big Bedroom look so different.    Now, the big Queen size bed we had in that room ( It is a Paul Bunyan Design, that we had for years) is now in the other guest room..   Now I have alot of room for our friends to come and visit.

Memorial Day, I was up early and went into town for the Memorial Day Services at the Bay Front

 Munising Bay on Memorial Day

War Memorial - Munising Bay

and then  went to the campground and visited with my friend who had moved to lower Michigan and came back up for her grandson's graduation and a baby shower for another grandson.  Then we went to The American Legion for a lunch that was provided and I visited with a few other people who I knew.  

Dan smoked some ribs this past Saturday and it was the first smoking since we have been home.. They were good.  He knocked the rub up a notch, and I think that it was a bit too spicy..  We had froze most of them and will take them with us to the Rally...

 Smoking Ribs

Smoking Ribs

Well, this is what has been happening and I have been busy so I can enjoy the summer without too much work...  Ha Ha Ha....