Camping at Pec

Last week was our monthly Good Sam Club campout. The campground is small, only 50 sites. About half have electricity. The inside of the loop are the premium sites this time of year as there are fewer bugs. Spaces are about 40’ wide and can accommodate tow or towed vehicles. The outside of the loop is adjacent to the woods where the bugs live. Every site has at least some shade which is nice.

We arrived on Thursday around noon. Several of our group were already here. We got one of the prime inside electric sites. We had 9 rigs here. One was a new member with a a new rig. The “rigs” vary in size from a van camper to 39’ motorhome; 18’ pull-behind trailer to 36’ fifth wheel pulled by a freightliner. The rigs range from 1978 to new. The campers are from 40-ish to mid-80s. Kids and grandchildren often tag along.

Our campout weekends include an ice cream run to the local ice cream shop, Friday fish fry, Saturday potluck and meeting, Sunday morning breakfast (usually continental style). Various games are available if you so choose. Ladder ball is popular in the afternoon and cards in the evening before the campfire. Various side trips may include a run to the local Wi-Fi hotspot, shopping, or local point of interest.

The days of the HUGE campfire are over. The Emerald Ash Borer has put an end to that. You can’t bring firewood from home (except scrap lumber). Firewood must be purchased on-site usually $5-10 per bundle and of course harvesting your own in the woods if frowned upon.

Almost everyone in our group has a pets. One, two even three dogs; Chihuahuas to a Golden Retriever and even a Cockatiel.

We have a very loud neighbor. A Catbird. He (she) begins his repertoire when there is an inkling of light. In late May that is about 4 a.m. His haunt is the bush behind our motorhome, very near the bedroom. He continues all day until dark. What a busy guy.

We decided to leave the motorhome at the campground for three days as we were going back on the following Wednesday for Memorial Day weekend. This cost us only $8 per night, saving us the cost of gas driving back and forth. The problem is we had to remove all the perishable food, clothing to be washed and a ton of other stuff that we did not want to leave. Of course we needed to restock not only the perishable items but also the dry goods almost more trouble than it was worth.

This weekend there were five from our group there. The mosquitoes were just horrible. I am convinced that they were immune to repellant wipes, sprays, candles and mosquito coils. We did use our screen room a lot, until we sold it. Long story not worth telling really.

A couple of us had hummingbird feeders out and they would come by all day long. At the campfire they would come to the feeder while we were all sitting right there. So several of us got our cameras out. It’s really hard to snap a clear picture of a humming bird, at lease for adults to snap a picture. One couple brought their granddaughter with for the weekend and guess who got the good pictures. Here are a couple of pictures I took. One at our campsite and one at the campfire.

Christmas 2009

Favorite Movies: 1) A Christmas Carol; 2) A Christmas Story

Favorite Carols: 1) Little Drummer Boy; 2) O Holy Night

Traditions: NONE!

This year:

Put up decorations December 4.

Christmas Eve dinner with Joe and Heather

7 p.m. Mass

Open presents

9 a.m. Tim, Amy, Audrey & Emily’s to open presents and brunch.

2 p.m. whistle-stop at Sharon’s

3 p.m. Jim & Sally’s for dinner

9 p.m. Arrive home

9:30 Bed

Take down decorations December 28

 

 

 

 

 

The Nth Degree

I have been invited to a Bridal Shower for nephew Jim’s fiancée, Laura.  Everyone has been asked to bring a recipe and a spice or kitchen tool.

As I began filling out the recipe card the came with the invitation I began to think of the recipe disc I gave for Christmas in 2006.  Ah, that’s the ticket. 

I’m not sure if I did get one to Jim as I can’t remember if he was there for Christmas as he was in the military.  But he has moved a few times since so I can’t be sure if he still has the disc anyway.

I had everything saved on my computer so it was just a matter of rechecking what I had done. I rewrote the “read me first” file, edited the disc label and made a jewel case insert.

The jewel case cover was the new aspect of the project.  I used my Scrapbook Deluxe software to make the cover.  I included wedding photos of my parents, grandparents on Mom’s side and grandmother on Dad’s side, a 1965 photo of three of us kids and the entire family at our house on Christmas 1990. 

Also is a dedication to Mom, a description of the project and table of contents.  The disc contains  110 of my Mom’s recipes, 93 of mine, 110 recipes I saved to try later, 62 household hints files and some recipes for wildlife (suet cakes, etc.).  All the files are scanned and saved to pdf so they can be opened on any system.

Quark on the Mend

During our stay in Moab, UT, Quark began having episodes of reverse sneezing.  We figured that he inhaled something and we thought it would soon pass.  It did not.  He continued to have episodes and after several days it became apparent that he had lost some weight. 

As we made our way east, Quark felt a little warm and the lower lid on his right eye became puffy and the inside of the lid was bright red.  I made up my mind to get him to a veterinarian in Dodge City, KS, our next stop.  The doctor couldn’t pinpoint the problem and gave him a “two-week” antibiotic.  I felt better even if Quark didn’t. 

On the final leg of our trip two days later, I still was not happy with his progress.  I called our veterinarian from the road to be sure I would get him early Monday, morning (it was Saturday). 

By Sunday evening Quark had a walnut-sized swelling under his right ear and his eye was looking worse.  Was I glad I made the appointment.

Monday morning we saw the doctor. Quark was running a temp of 103 and had lost almost 2 lbs. The doctor said it was an enflamed salivary gland and it was probably related to the reverse sneezing and the eye problem.  He put Quark on oral antibiotic and eye ointment.  Quark took the antibiotic for two weeks without significant results for the swelling but his eye did respond to treatment.  Back to the doctor and a change of medication and finally the swelling slowly began to diminish.

It has been 1.5 months and he will be finishing up his medication soon. He looks normal—no swelling or bad eye.

This picture was taken on October 16, 23 days after he first became ill.

Wasn't a Month Enough?

Well we weren't home a week and we were at it again.

A camp club outing about 30 minutes from home. Weather forecast was for COLD and snow flurries.

The group had access to a cabin at the fairgrounds where we camped so we could have our meeting and activities. The fireplace in the cabin threw heat about four feet into the building so the only real escape from the cold was our individual campers.

We invited Tim, Amy and the girls to the camp out as we would be winterizing the motorhome and would not be taking it out again till spring. Amy and the girls picked Tim up at work and they headed north. Unfortunately they took a different route due to having picked Tim up at work and this caused some confusion. After hours in the car they finally arrived after 8 p.m.

As you can see from this picture, we were quite cozy. Four adults, two children and two dogs filled up the 32 ft. motorhome. Moisture was just dripping down the windows from condensation.

The girls met Sebrina, granddaughter, of friends of Jim and Sherry. They hit it off and all three came to our place to watch a movie.

Trip Stats

Motorhome Miles = 3696

Car Miles = 1920

Total Miles = 5616

Gas Motorhome 520.19 gal = $1301.75 mpg 6.89

Gas Car 75.82 = $208.24 mpg 25.33

Lowest price per gallon $2.04 Great Bend, KS

Highest price per gallon $2.89 Sidney, WY & Moab, UT

Camping = $524.85 (includes Samboree)

Most expensive $39.48 Zion (private cg)

Least expensive $5 Capitol Reef

Misc. Expenses--souvenirs, ice cream/snacks, admissions, tolls = $291.43

Restaurants = $217.93

Ate out six times. One time was dinner and show.

Total 30 days $2609.90 / $87 per day

Did not include groceries as we would have had to eat at home anyway.

2003 Trip West

Duration = 27 days

Total Expenses = $2433.49 (includes groceries)

2004 Trip West

Duration = 36 days

Total Expenses = $2668.33 (6 days no camping fees stayed with family) (includes groceries)

Top Ten Glitches and Problems

1) Fridge goes out when traveling in wind.

2) Furnace was acting up.

3) Various drawers not properly closed came out sometimes strewing contents about.

4) Ran out of LP

5) Car battery died.

6) Bedroom TV fell off its shelf on to bed. (we were driving at the time)

7) The spring on the Brake Buddy attachment for the brake pedal kept coming off.

8) Sue's camera mysteriously changes date and time--date and time vary.

9) Should have planned to spend more time at the Family History Center in Salt Lake

10) Quark got sick.