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Monday May 25- It's Memorial day and it was almost rain free. We sat and watched the campers roll out after a long weekend. We went down to the beach to witness all the people at the beach. Not only are there swimmers but I don't think I have ever seen so many kayaks in the lake. This virus has forced people outside I think. Jeff finished off this day with a jam session down in Palo.

Tuesday May 26- Surprised that we had another nice day out there. After cleaning the shower houses I went in to to go to Aldi's. When I got home I started the laundry. I had to bring it in a couple times because we had a few random showers. I did get to enjoy my swing chair until the knats came a visiting.

Wednesday May 27- Just the usual stuff...cleaning the shower houses. Then home and some cleaning here. They mowed today so we had some cleaning up on that. Our walk in sites are full for the weekend. I did get a lot of  quilting done. I only have one more row of blocks before starting on the border. We had quite the range of weather today......sunny, cloudy, rain, repeat. Also I should mention we have been bombarded with camping questions. Lots of new campers this year.

Thursday May 28- Another gray and gloomy day. After getting my work done here at the campground I drove in to Seth and Katie's. They have brought me in as there cleaning lady. I got my work done there and came back out to the park. It rained on and off until about 3 o'clock. Then after supper I helped Jeff load up his kayak, he went fishing tonight. I stayed home. I had plenty of people stop by with questions. It's not that I mind answering questions. When they ask, they either don't listen or if you don't give them the answer they want to hear. Funny they come up with all kinds of ideas to make the park work better. It is getting annoying.

Friday May 29- This morning when we got up we noticed a change in the weather. The temps were cooler and the humidity was down. Today we have our doctor appointments after we had to reschedule. The other ones were cancelled because of the virus. It was different going in the office. You had to have a mask, they checked your temperature too. The water fountain was shut off and no magazines to be found. It's very strange to go anywhere anymore. It's a crazy world we are living in. When I got back I needed to fill up my feeders. The orioles aren't coming around as much. The hummingbirds are starting to come back more. About 2:30 we went in to Justin and Molly's. Jeff, Justin and Molly are going golfing. I get to stay with Maddyn. I'm not sure how much fun they had but Maddyn and me had a great time. We went outside and did some sidewalk chalk.

Saturday May 30- When we came home from Justin's last night we brought home their carpet cleaner. This morning I had to go in and get some cleaning solution. Jeff wanted to start on the carpets. We have really good weather to get that done. He started in the bedroom to see how it works. It seems to do a pretty good job. He also did all the throw rugs. He decided to do the rest tomorrow. We hung around the park all day long. The park is full and buzzing. All campsites are full and the beach and lake are really being used too.

Sunday May 31- After doing our camp hosting jobs we came back and got busy cleaning the rest of the carpet. Jeff also cleaned the recliners and the fabric on our kitchen chairs. We went in town and looked at some cars. Just for fun. Then we went over and looked at that trailer. We have looked at it before and both of us kind of liked it. We are always looking in case we need to do some changing.

Our next stop was Seth's. Went over to get Hailey. She is coming home with us. We stopped and got lunch at Culver's. We made our way back to the park. Usually on Sunday we watch all the campers leave. Today right after they left, they rolled back in again. It's a zoo here. We fixed supper and then Hailey wanted to have a movie night. She made signs, tickets for everyone and even numbered are recliners so we could find our seats. She helped papa make some popcorn and we watched our movie.

Monday June 1- We had a surprise this morning. Jeff went to take the dogs out and spotted 2 baby raccoons up in a tree. He came in and got us and I grabbed my camera. Hailey even came to see.

We left our new neighbors and came back to the rig. Then I went to clean shower house 1. When I finished and walked outside those 2 baby raccoons were waiting for me. They scared me. We did not approach them and kept our distance.

After cleaning we made breakfast, waffles this morning. Then it did some sprinkling outside so we made cupcakes. Hailey loves to bake. We spent the rest of the day outside, riding the bikes, and iside playing Wii. Sis went home around 3. Then I finished the blocks on my quilt. 

Tuesday June 2- I noticed some tent campers left late last night and left all their trash. Well the good news about that is the baby racoons had some dinner. Did the cleaning of the shower houses and that site. Then before it got to hot I took Ruby for a walk. Guess who we spotted on the walk? Yep our raccoon friends.

It really got warm out there today. I did the laundry but stayed in most of the day. It got up in the 90's today, and it was humid.

Wednesday June 3- Busy day today. With all the heat and humidity the shower house was a buggy mess. This morning on my walk to the shower house only saw one raccoon. That is probably not good. After cleaning there I went in the Seth's to do my cleaning there. After cleaning there I had to run to Justin's to pick up an amazon box. Then back to pick up Ashton from work. He is coming home with me to go fishing with Papa. The went out but it was super hot and no wind. The both caught some but no keepers. When they got home they were hot and exhausted. Jeff took Ashton home because he has to work tomorrow. We don't get to see Ashton much anymore he is getting older and we aren't as fun I guess.

Thursday June 4- It is another scorcher today. So today I cleaned our place. We just hung around here all day and answered questions from all the campers. This is our 7th year here and I have never seen so many people using this park. Then to make it even more interesting, lots of them are brand new to the sport. They are having record sales in campers, bikes and kayaks. I think lots of those folks are bringing all there new stuff out here to play.

Friday June 5- Again really warm out there. We decided to go for a ride to get away from the park. We have spent a lot of time here with this virus thing. We went to the trailer park again to see if they had that new trailer opened up yet. It wasn't ready so went and looked again at the one we like. When we went in we both still liked it. Sometimes when you see something you like it but when you go back it has lost it luster. Not with us on this one. We have looked at some double wide ones too. When I go in them they just seem so big. I think I could actually even be happy in something a little smaller than the single wide. We are used to living in 400 square feet. The single wide is almost 1200 square feet. We got home and had lunch. Then I went in to town to get some stuff to make cake pops. I promised Hailey we would make them the next time she came out. We are going to have her come out once a week. She needs something to do.

Saturday June 6- Hung around here all day. We even had more people show up looking for sites. When I told them there wasn't anything they drove around and found some empty sites. They didn't notice that they were reserved. I had to explain that they might be running late and if they paid for it, it is theirs.

Sunday June 7- It was another summer like day. We watched as the campers rolled out. Then we watched them all roll in. Our walk in sites fill up as soon as they leave. We went back over to see that trailer. This time the new one was ready to see but we still like the other one. We came back to the park and since it was so warm I spent some serious time quilting. I am now quilting the border. It has been really busy around here and with this virus we haven't been able to do many things. So life is changing. Just the normal day to day stuff. We have to entertain ourselves. Most of the time we have to do it here in our rig and at the park. Until next time........

some of our entertainment

Bring On The Campers

Monday May 11- A new week and after that not so weather friendly weekend this week is starting off kind of the same. Last night before  bed I thought I kept smelling propane. I looked around and couldn't figure out what it was. Jeff went to bed and I started to go but I just couldn't get that smell out of my nose. I woke up Jeff and asked if the furnace was on....it uses propane he said no. I told him I was going to turn off the propane so I could sleep. Then this morning Jeff went out and looked around to see what it was. He figured out one tank was dry and the other wasn't connected. The valve that controls which tank is on was not locked in. This let some of that tank to leak out. That's what I was smelling. He took both tanks to get filled. When he got them home and hooked them up, the smell was completely gone. Problem solved. I have a very good nose. I did my usual Monday cleaning and sat down to start quilting. The dogs started barking, I got up to see and there was a camper pulled in. The guy was walking over to ask a question. Then I noticed it was Lenny and Dawn. They brought out their new camper to give it a test run. We showed them where they could set up. We went over to catch up, social distancing.  It was pretty cool out there and the wind was colder yet. They have a toy hauler so Jeff and Lenny got to play there guitars a bit.

They played as long as they could, Jeff's fingers were cold.



Tuesday May 12- We had some sunshine today. I had planned to make a trip into town. First I went to Walmart. I went early to avoid the people. It felt really weird putting on my mask and gloves. When I left I removed the gloves before touching the car. I had a list and I got everything on it. I bought the bigger versions of everything to avoid another run soon. Then I went to Aldi's to grocery shop. Again I had a very detailed list, so I wouldn't forget anything. They had everything I was looking for. They even had meat. Hyvee, the grocery store we get most of our groceries are out of meat here lately. I was very relieved when I finished. I made my way home feeling like I really got something done. I got back and put everything away. It was still sunny so I sat outside and did some quilting. Lenny came by to play some more guitar.

Wednesday May 13- The day started off fairly nice. Lenny and Dawn are pulling out this morning. We went over to say good bye.

They got out of here in time because the wind and rain came in. I was inside quilting. I finished the inside of the snowman today. Now I need to come up with a plan for the rest of the quilt.

Seth called to see if we wanted to come over and get some food. We declined on the food but came in to visit. Jeff brought his guitar to play with Seth. They also got in a few games of blades of steel.

We came on home, had supper and I cleaned up the dishes. I sat down and looked on facebook. I see a post that says Waffle's is missing, Waffles is Seth and Katie's bernese mountain dog. She is only 2. She managed to push open the front door and off she went. Nobody saw her take off so she had a pretty good head start. They took off hunting the neighborhood, but no luck.


Thursday May 14- I woke up many times to check my phone. Waffle's still hasn't come home. We went in to town and rode around the area she was spotted. We didn't see anything. It is so sad, they really love that dog. They aren't sure what they are going to do but they reached out to some agency's and also Facebook. This dog is big and furry. She can not take the heat so they are hoping it stays cool. Well it's cool and the rain rolled in. It rained most of the night and she still hasn't been found.

Friday May 15- It's a really nice day out and we already have lots of campers for the weekend. This is the first weekend where reservations are in effect. We have every site booked. I got laundry done because it's not raining. Jeff went mushroom hunting. Seth gave me a call and wanted to know if I could come in and run to Walmart for them to get some supplies to make posters. They have also started a facebook page....bring Waffles home. They have lots of people that want to help. Seth and Katie are still working from home so if someone sites her they can run to look. They still have work to do though. They are really using every resource available. When I brought home the stuff for posters Katie's friends came over and made posters to put up.

This is Waffles

Saturday May 16- Today started off nice, we had 7 not show up for there reserved sites. We hung around here most of the day. It turned a bit gloomy with spits of rain. Jeff tried to mushroom hunt again but nothing. I just worked on my quilt. Around 4 o'clock we went in to Justin's house. They are getting people together to go out hunting for Waffles. She seems to hide during the day and moves at night. Justin and Jeff had time to play there guitars before we headed out to hunt. Maddyn wanted to get in on the action as well.

We met up with everyone at 6 to set out to search. When she had been spotted it was in the evening, we were hoping to get lucky. After 2 1/2 hours and no luck we headed back home. They are getting more and more people in on this hunt. Dog lovers are coming out in forces.

Still looking for this precious girl. She is definitely missed.....come home Waffles...

Sunday May 17- Woke up to rain and lots of it. Poor Waffles is getting drenched. We had some campers leave but we are already full for the holiday weekend. Carl contacted us to tell us that the shower house buildings will open next Friday.  We have been super busy around here. People are looking for sites but we have none for the next weekend. After supper Jeff went to town to pick up some packages from Amazon. Then he went out looking for Waffles. They are getting more and more to help. After looking for a while Jeff decided to come home. Seth and Katie got a tip that she was way out in the country. They took off to see if it was her. By the time they got there she was spooked off and on the run again. She is very timid and skittish. If she sees people she runs. This could cause a problem in catching her.

Monday May 18- This morning they went back out to the farm that she was spotted at last night. They even had a picture of her. Ashton, who is Seth and Katie's son went with his aunt. They actually saw here but again she took off running. It is so frustrating. So many people are out there looking and Waffles is doing her best to avoid them all. Jeff went to pick up groceries today. I stayed around here minding the campground. We had a little rain again today. They also got the hot water heaters turned on in the shower houses. Tomorrow we will start cleaning them in preparation for the holiday weekend. Still nothing on Waffles.


Tuesday May 19- Boy it's been extremely busy out here. We are full for the weekend but now people are showing up for sites during the week. They will get out before our weekend campers arrive. Usually we aren't busy during the weekdays. That's not the case this week. We went up and cleaned the shower house in the second loop. They have some repair work to do on the first loop. After cleaning up there Jeff decided to go look again for mushrooms. I stayed home and then I got a call from Jeff. He spotted a brand new baby fawn. So I jumped on my bike with camera in hand to come take a look. He took me to her and we kept our distance. I got some great pictures. I called the park ranger to see if this was the way it was suppose to be...he assured us the baby was doing just what she was supposed to do. I took my pictures and left her alone.

When I got home and while I still had my camera out the birds were very busy outside. So here are a few pictures of them.

Wednesday May 20- Today I was going in to town to work. Seth and Katie hired me to clean there house. Bonus I can do my laundry while I'm there too. I got all my laundry done. I even got the kids started on cleaning there rooms. I didn't get finished with the house so I told them I would be back to clean the bathroom. They still haven't been able to get Waffles. They have contacted some people who are telling them to stop having so many people look because she is just running farther away. Now they are waiting and watching so they can put up some trail cameras and trap her. Nothing yet.

Thursday May 21- First thing this morning we got busy cleaning our shower house. We are all ready for the grand opening tomorrow. Not really looking forward to that. The host on the 2nd loop hasn't arrived so we have inherited a second one to clean. At 2:30 we went to Justin's. Justin and Jeff are going fishing with another Justin. I'm going to watch Maddyn until Molly gets home from work. We had fun reading books, playing and having snacks. Then after her supper she let me be her snuggle partner before bed. She likes to watch a movie for a bit before bed. The guys got back and kept a few nice walleyes. Bonus the other Justin had found lots of mushrooms and gave us some. We had a late night, didn't get home until after 10.


Friday May 22- We got up and dressed. We had to go in for blood work. We haven't had our coffee yet but you can be sure it was waiting for us in the car when we finished. I got lucky, I had a faulty needle the first try so lucky me got poked twice. We came home and I changed. The shower houses are open. I left to go to Seth and Katie's to finish my cleaning. I got the bathroom done and the basement steps cleaned. I told them when I left they can find Waffles now since I have the house all cleaned. Before coming home I stopped by Justin's to get the carpet cleaner. Then home. We fixed supper and cleaned up the mess. Then I got a call from Seth saying somebody had spotted Waffles. Katie went to see. Seth joined her after getting Ashton to work. He told me he would let me know. It wasn't too long and I got a call...facetime.....it was Seth and who was sitting in the back seat....WAFFLES!!!!! They actually got her. They had her cornered in a fenced in area and had blocked all the exits. Katie said she didn't recognize her until she had her hands on her. Oh what a happy phone call. That made our day....nine days and nine nights...now she is home.

Hopefully she will be healthy and the can get back to normal. They haven't had much sleep or eats since she has been gone. Now they will be able to rest easy knowing she is home and safe.

Saturday May 23- Up and time to clean the shower houses. First ours in our loop. Then up to the 2nd loop to clean it. The park is really full and there are quite a few tents also. What is making it worse is all this rain, mud and wet grass. We are also getting those crunchy bugs...yuck. The weather today was the same as it has been rain, the some sun. Then some rain, the sun. We stayed around here most of the day. I worked on stuff inside. The blog and then my quilt. I did get my new craft light so now I can see again. Jeff left in the late afternoon to go for a ride and then we had some really bad weather coming in. Lucky for us it stayed south of us but we had lots of rain.


Sunday May 24- Up to clean and the weather so far looks good. We stayed around here all morning. Then we went to Justin and Molly's. We left early to drive by the trailer park, they have a couple brand new trailers they just set up. We went to look at them. The first one we really liked, the second one...we didn't care for it at all. Then we went on to Justin's. We had a big dinner planned. First we had a real good batch of mushrooms. Then we had fish that the guys caught the other night. I'm not a mushroom fan but the fish was really good. We had lots of extra's to finish off the meal. Everything was good. After dinner Seth Katie and Hailey came by. They had company from Keokuk and brought them over. Our niece Lindsay her husband Cody, and there 2 kids Gabe and Alice. We visited with them for awhile before everyone headed to there homes. It's been a busy weekend here at the park but it's not quite over yet. One more day of busy park. Let ya know how it goes...until then.....

A Lonely Campground

Monday April 27- It's a special day today, my best friend has a birthday today. So I had to give her a call to sing her Happy Birthday. When I looked outside I notice there isn't a lick of wind. This is very unusual for this park. Then I looked down at at lake and see some birds, so I grabbed my camera and went down. Got some really good pictures...first I spotted these two with there perfect reflection. Then I hear some noises and look to see a family getting in the lake to go for a swim.

As you can see when they entered the water they made some ripples which only made the pictures better. I'm becoming my grandma, that's for sure.


Then we decided to take a road trip. Since we haven't been visiting the grocery stores our cash is gone. The closest branch to our bank is in North Liberty, so that's where we went. It was a nice day for a drive and it does feel good to leave every once in awhile. After getting some cash and before heading back to the rig we stopped by and picked up some packages that we had shipped to Justin's. We came home and since it was so pretty I went out to pick up some trash around the park. I do a different area every day.

Tuesday April 28- This morning the wind wasn't so up to the 2nd loop to do trash detail. It is really nice and quiet here. No people to make too much of a mess or to visit with. When I got back I called the vet in Center Point to see if they have Belle's prescription dog food. I also checked about heart guard medicine. We keep our dogs on the medicine year round because it is always warm. Now if we would live in Iowa you don't give it to them in the winter. My pet peeve is they make us get the dogs tested every year before giving us there meds. We do not have a lapse in the meds so I feel the test is just not necessary....aggravating. In the afternoon I looked at the water and spotted the flock of white pelicans on the water. So off I go with camera in hand. I took a few pictures on the way down just in case they fly off. I get down there and start to focus on them when my camera goes dead....bummer.

Wednesday April 29- Well it was a good thing I got out the last couple days because today was gray and WINDY!! Jeff went to pick up Belle's dog food in town. I don't think I went outside most of the day. It was a quilting day for me.

Thursday April 30- A better day today...we had sunshine. I walked down by the beach area and the smaller boat ramp. Found plenty of garbage. While the campground is closed the rest of the park is open. People have been staying at home too much, they are really enjoying the rest of the park. It was sunny but still a little chilly. I waited for it to warm up some before giving Belle a haircut and Ruby a bath. I finished up the quilting of lines and shadows on the hat of the snowman. Now I need to come up with an idea on how to fill in the rest of it with quilting. I've never done a project like this before. I'm having to think extra hard...it's painful. We finished off the day with a little Wellstrung music. They joined Jarrod Hogan for a mini show live on facebook. It was fun to watch and listen but not nearly as good as live.

Friday May 1- Today I needed to do laundry, it was suppose to be warm and sunny. I did 3 loads.
It didn't feel that warm. I took the car over to the other side of the lake where the big boat ramp is. Last year they were working on it and it was the first time I saw what they did. Boy what an improvement. I was going to town with the trash pick up until my grippers broke. That took care of that job. It did warm up some and turned into a beauty of a day. We decided to go mushroom hunting. So we rode our bikes up to the path and went to hunting. I didn't have much luck. Jeff found 2 and I found 1. Good thing I don't like them. We did see some pretty flowers and lots of frogs.

Saturday May 2- It was busy day at the park. It was super nice outside. Everyone was taking advantage of it. We had boaters, kayakers, walkers and bikers. Families were even having picnics. It really is nice to see people using the park. We do have a very nice area to enjoy. Jeff went to the store and picked up the groceries. I took Ruby for a walk. Jeff even walked down to the dock to try a little fishing. No catching just fishing. I made sugar cookies today for tomorrow. We are very excited for tomorrow, we are going to get together with the kids and grandkids.


Sunday May 3- Up and watched church online. I'm very happy that we have that option but, really miss the church family. Today was another really nice day. We are going to Seth and Katie's today. Happy that the weather cooperated. We stayed outside and visited. They played bags and the kids jumped on the trampoline and skate boards. We had food and just enjoyed the time together.

After eating we had our annual late Easter egg hunt. I think the kids had fun. I know us adults did.

When the party was over we packed up Hailey and brought her home for a few days. We got her unloaded and it wasn't long before she had us on the run.When she comes out here she has a big list of things she wants to do. First thing she wanted to do was some fishing. So her and Papa walked across the road and down the hill to the lake. The put there poles in the water and waited for....not a bite. She spotted a couple little bitty fish so not a total bust.

Monday May 4- Up early but Hailey was slow to rise. When she did get up it wasn't long before she was ready for breakfast. Papa has been bragging about his new waffle maker, so of course waffles is what we had for breakfast. She had to decorate hers, but she loved it.

Hailey's list included papa showing her how to play the ukulele. He showed her a few chords and seemed to have fun at that. Papa and her did some jammin....

We had quite the temperature change from yesterday. Yesterday it was in the mid 80's, today it's in the 40's. We decided to go across the lake and do some fishing and some trash detail. What we did see was a lot of baby ducks with there mama and daddy.

When we got back we remembered a trick we had got for Hailey while we were in Florida...it is rattlesnake eggs in an envelope. Well to say we scared her would be an understatement. We both felt horrible after it scared her to death. Well the pictures say it all.

We got her calmed down and got on with our list of things to do. Played lots of games, did lots of crafts and had some special treats. She definitely keeps us busy.

Tuesday May 5- Another busy day, but the weather was horrible. It rained all day long. After breakfast we got started on our list. First we made a card for Hailey's mom for mothers day. We also played WII, yahtzee, and made cookies. We also did some coloring and her spiral graph. It was a full day. Her dad came and got her when he was done with work. We needed to rest up after those busy days. I decided I couldn't wait any longer to get back quilting so I marked the hat and got started.

Wednesday May 6- So quiet around here today. I went up and walked around the 2nd loop to pick up trash. The sun is out but the temps are still chilly. I did some more quilting. After coming up with a plan I decided I liked it so that made it fun to do. I also spent some time watching the orioles, they are really starting to come around. I love it when I can zoom in and get a great close up. The hummingbirds are a buzzing around too.

After lunch Justin came out and he and Jeff went mushroom hunting. They didn't have much luck. I think Jeff found a few. Tonight when I looked outside I spotted 10 orioles on the fire pit waiting for there turn at the jelly bowl. I love them birds. Then I received a text from Carl the park ranger here. He said we will be opening the campground this Friday. The shower houses and the cabins will not open yet.

Thursday May 7- Brrr it was a chilly morning. Woke up to a beauty of a sunrise. Today I decided to get my bird feeders and seed. They are really getting upset that I haven't hung them up yet. I had to make a trip in to Theisens to get a feeder, seed, and suet. I'm not liking the shopping experience now so I made sure to get plenty. I don't want to go back for a while. When I got home I got all the feeders filled and up. It didn't take long for my feathery friends to show up. I now have way more birdies to keep me entertained. Tomorrow the campground opens at 8 am.

Friday May 8- Since we couldn't see the super moon last night because of all the clouds, this morning it was waiting for us. The campground is opening today and Matt was going to come in early and open the barricades to let them in. At 6:30 I saw the first camper pull in,  to wait for the park to open. They had to wait for Matt to come in. Wasn't suppose to open until 8. I thought we were going to have a full campground. That didn't happen, we only had 10 campers in our loop and even less than that in the 2nd loop. Jeff went to get our weekly grocery pick up. I hung around here and watched the birds show up.

Saturday May 9- Oh my......it's 29 degrees out there. On a better note we do have sunshine. It warmed up in the 60's today. This afternoon we grabbed Hailey's bike and took it in. Jeff brought his guitar, he and Seth did some guitar playing.  Then we went over to Justin's to pick up a package from Amazon. I also brought Maddyn her quilt. I gave it to her and I think she liked it. She calls it her blanklet.

When I got home I did more quilting. Today I finished the snowman's face.


Sunday May 10-Happy Mother's Day.....I heard from the boys and the grandkids. We stayed around here all day. The weather was horrible. I went to get my quilting stuff out and I grabbed my lamp. It just broke. Not in one place but 2. No way we are going to fix it. I will have to order a new one. It was a long gray, cold day. Most of our campers went home. Now that the campground is opened maybe things will start to get back to normal.....well a little. At least we can see people. Well until next time.......