Well Linda is winding down at work for this season and looking forward to being home beading and making plans for camping for the summer. I have my Michigan Enhanced Drivers License that allows me to cross the borders and Linda has to get hers yet. Michigan is one of the few border states with Canada that will issue, for $50, a drivers license with a special integrated circuit imbedded in it that, when passed by a card reader, will give the border personal information about you to allow you to cross back and forth over the borders. 

We will be getting the new truck out of storage in a few months and get it outfitted for the radios, computers and 5th wheel equipment so we have everything we need to travel comfortably. The change from the Chevy 1500 to the 2500HD will give us more horse power to pull the camper easier but the installation of all the towing equipment will take some time.

Besides camping and traveling this summer we have the kids loft to finish off and Gordy and Chris will be coming to help me and then we plan to make up the out door kitchen also and hopefully we can make it. Making the out door kitchen with the sink we can then have a nice place to do dishes and prepare some things requiring the sink. It will be nice and work well for all of us when we are over at the lot.

(Chris and Shelley)

Well Chris and Shelley are working on their house making it ready for sale so they can buy a family home from a 2nd cousin in Arkansas. We hope the kids can get the new house and get it fixed up for their living experience. We would like to see the house sometime and maybe winter there if we decide the winter here is getting to be to much for us. We wish the kids good luck in their pursuit of the new house.

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well the month started off kinda slow and I was even late posting the entry for the February Blog. Well here it is for starters and we are taking some time way from home and spending it with Kathy, Marg, Smokey and Skippper at the Casino in Lac Du Flambau. The girls wanted to get together with Linda’s  aunt and uncle for a few days. Murphy is at the breeder for  stay while we are gone and I am sure he likes to be with his sibblings and parents from time to time so they can associate with each other. The cat on the other hand likes just to sleep and she does a lot of that even when we are home.

(Snow for the month)

(Willy the puppy)

Well came home from having coffee and went outside with Murphy and saw a puppy stuck in the snow by the house at the fence. Well I got Murphy in the house and walked around the front of the house and waded through 2 feet of snow to get the puppy. It didn’t really like me and I told it it better not bit me and I got my hands around its belly and picked it up. I get it in the house and put it on the couch on a blanket and gave it some food and it ate that an settled down. I called Hope Animal Shelter and they told me that a family got this dog I found from Oregon as a rescue dog and it was 4 years old. It was a Pameranian and a male . The people that owned the dog called me then came and picked the puppy up and was thankful that I found him. He had some medication he has to take at 5 pm so they got him just in time. Well another dog back at their home. Good luck Willy and be safe now.

                                (Click on a picture for a larger view then back)

Well the old mother nature dealt us some weather to deal with here in the U.P. of Michigan and as you can see we have a fair amount of snow. According to the local newspaper to date we have 89.3 inches of snow since last September and we may see the record that we got a decade ago of 300 inches. Hmmm well maybe it is time to winter in the south in the camper.

Brian and Judy

Well looks like Brian and Judy had a nice Christmas with the puppies and Judy is enjoying her retirement from the Post Office.

Joellen and Bob

Well the kids and grand kids came up for Christmas and we all had a good time. Linda had to work but when she came home we sat and spent Christmas just relaxing and opening gifts. Dave and Sara went skiing at Indianhead one day and had a good time on the slopes.

(Click on a picture for a larger view the select back to return)

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well this has been a busy month so far and I have not had time to work on this months blog entry. It looks like the snow is coming and going to get cold. They are saying we should expect up to a foot of snow and that will be good for the skiers at Indianhead. I have only had to blow the snow once and that was not alot but this one that is coming is supposed to be a dozzy. So far we got about 6 inches and a foot will be something.

I am recovering from a tooth extraction and can’t get out yet for some snow removal. I think though tomorrow the 9th and 10th I will have to get the blower out and do some serious work. Give Linda a break so she can get out in the morning to get to work.

Well had been fact finding for a later model truck I want. I have an 01 Chevy Silverado 1500 1/2 ton with a 5.3 liter engine and it is getting up there with some serious miles on it (170,000). I thought I would give it to Chris down in Arkansas as it should last down there. I found a Chevy Silverado 2500 HD 3/4 ton truck with an extended cab and a 6.0 liter engine. It is a 2001 with only 12,200 miles on it and it is a beautiful Maroon in color. It has eveything I need, for pulling the 5th wheel, and we made arrangements with Reds Auto, here in Ironwood where we got it from, to store the truck till spring until we can change all the equipment over to the new truck. Hopefully this truck will last me for awhile and looking forward to mid April 2010 when we can get it on the road and get all of the gear installed. It has some scratches and knicks in the paint but Linda says we can always go to a body shop for a little touch up in spring.

(Joels new Chevy Silverado)

Merry Christmas

(Click on a picture for larger view then back to return to the Blog)

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well the month started off with a trip to Iron Mountain, Michigan for a craft fair. Linda made a lot of items with her beading and she sold a great deal. There was a real good turn out and Sue, our friend from Channing, helped Linda with the sales and packing after the fair was over.

We are going to get together with Lindas sisters and aunt and uncle at the Casino in Lac De Flanbau for a few days and have to fun with family and stay for a few days. This has become a regular event and it is always fun to spend time with family seeing Linda works over the Holiday get together and we don’t get to see much of them.

(Click on a picture for a larger view then back)

Well we are winding down and ramping up this month. Linda is ramping up at work on the 20th and starting a new winter season or at least getting ready to start activities at Indianhead. Winding down at the camper and getting the kids place winterized and also the camper. This means draining the water and putting in the antifreeze in the system. We had planned to finish the wall boards in the loft but Linda hurt her knee and the weather was so bad we decided not to spend any time at the camper. Gordy and Chris from Antigo were going to come up one more time this season but with Lindas knee problem and the weather we called the weekend off. The back yard will have to be raked and the grass cut for the last time this season but first all of the leaves have to fall off the trees. To get all this done we are going to have to look at some break in the weather as we have been getting a lot of rain for the start of October.  

Linda is planning to go to a craft fair in Iron Mountain and that will be in November and she is getting ready for that. Joel started a exercise class at Indianhead and also the pool will be open for the winter and there are arobics classes that are planned 2 days a week.

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well during the month of August my good friends Bob and Sue invited Linda and I to a trip fishing on Lake Superior. Although Sue and Linda didn’t go out on the boat with us Bob and I spent 4 hours on the lake catching our limit of trout. We had a surprise at the end of our day and that was a major lure hit when Bob was pulling in the lines something hit the lure on the end of a steel line and snapped it. We think it might have been a steel head salmon that would have been nice to have had to finish off our fishing trip. The fish we caught ended up getting swapped or smoked trout and that was great. I can’t begin to thank Bob and Sue enough for this great trip on the lake and the stay over with the 3 dogs.

(Joel and Linda)

Well the kids are up for the Labor Day weekend and we are going to spend time at the lot and maybe having some fireside chats and cook outs. Linda is in a craft fair in the old Pamida store in Ironwood and she is doing ok there and hopefully Joellen might have some stuff , beading, to show there.

Well we drove to Arkanas to visit Shelley and Chris and took a tour to Hot Springs and saw the city. It is a tourest trap but there were a lot of nice shops and resturants to frequent. We have been mixin time off with the kids and their school schedule. It has been raining so we have not gotten many pictures of the tours. Stopped in some swap and pawn shops and bought some items and hope we have room in the truck for the stuff we are bringing back.

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well this month is a birthday month with both Linda myself and Chris is celebrating our birthdays. I am not sure how we are going to celebrate the occasion but maybe just another day of the month. Chris is turning 39 this month and we hope we can make it down either this month or next for a visit to him and Shelley.

Linda and the sisters got together and spent time visiting and just plain doing girl things. Here are the girls as they appeared for me out on the deck in the back yard.

(Bob and Joellen)

The loft is coming along fine and we only have a few boards to finish off the last end wall. Gordy from Antigo was able to pickup the remaing 8 boards we need to finish off the wall and hopefully we will be able this month to finish off the wall.

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well the start of the month is off with a bang. Linda is working hard on the upstairs bathroom and that is requiring sanding the old paint and working on the walls making them ready for the paint primer. We have the new sink, cabinet and medicine cabinet and the wall had to be opened up for that. This house was built when dry wall first came out and it was very thick so when I had to cut the wall open I distroyed numerous saw blades. Hopefully we will be able to show after pictures of the bathroom and it will be a lot nicer. We are going to put in new flooring as this floor had been in since the 30’s when the house was built. We will also need a new light fixture and that would be the last item to get.

Before

After

I have been working on the banisters on the stairwell and have them in for a while but there is more work to be done with paint on the walls as soon as we can figure out how to put a ladder on the stairs and then stain the railings.

(Bob and Joellen)

Well the Milwaukee Wisc summerfest kicked off in late June and early July and Sara had a chance to play sax in the Jazz band at the fest.

“Click for Ironwood, Michigan Forecast”

Well this month is starting off with a trip to Racine so Linda, Joellen and the girls can go to the bead show in Milwaukee. Then later on mid month we are going to take the 5th wheel and get some repairs done to it and then go to Grand Marais Mi for a stay. I am hoping that the place is nice and we can do some fishing on Lake Superior. There is another camp grounds near Mackinaw Mi that I think would be a nice place to go and if we do we will post pictures for both camp grounds later on in this month.

Well we are in the Grand Marais camp ground up in the UP of michigan. We had to get the camper repaired in Rhinelander, Wi. The camp ground is great and we have cable, water, electricity, internet, but no sewer. Well this is not a problem as there is a business that pumps holding tanks on Sundays for $15. Well can’t beat that.