Almost Summer time

This weekend is coming and we are going up to the Lake. Since we are leaving from work a little early ( to beat the traffic) and it is out of our way to come back to the apartment we have to load the Jeep with whatever is going up north Thursday night. There is a load going this time. Margaret has the spare bedroom full of stuff headed for the Coach. Including the Basement refrigerator you see below along with a portable ice maker and assorted dishes, pot, pans, and other paraphernalia.

We arrived around 6:00PM and unloaded all our stuff. We had happy hour along with a dinner of cold chicken procured from Cub foods on the way out of the cities. The weather was cool and Saturday was suppose to be cool, but Sunday promised to be warm and sunny. Things are looking good.
Saturday morning was a bit brisk. There was a film of ice on the water in the bucket by the deck. So we headed into Park Rapids after breakfast to check out the Walmart. We needed some storage chests for the basement of the coach and we ran out of coffee this morning.
The first trip to Walmart procured a couple of nice gray tubs for storage of things in the basement of the coach however due to a minor miscalculation they were a bit tall and didn’t fit. The second trip back to Walmart to exchange the tubs for some shorter ones provided a much better fit. This time we got 4 clear tubs with top. 2 for under the middle section below.

And 2 more smaller ones for the back of the big slide out trays.

With all the stuff finally stored in the basement where it belongs Margaret started to take inventory of here purchased items over the winter for the coach. She laid them all out for pictures. ( a post from her to come in the future)

Since I hate to see something going to waste it seemed like we should make use of the items sitting on the lawn for something other than pictures, so I hopped into one of the chairs for some sun.

After the rest in the sunbeam I was ready for some work so I proceeded to put in the dock. The first section of the dock is easy. You don’t even have to get wet. Just bolt the two sections together and push it into the lake. After that it gets serious and you have to put the wet suit on because I’m going to have to get wet and while it looks sunny and nice its about 45 degrees out and the water is just a bit chilly!

Once suited up the big wide end section of the dock has to be rolled into the lake and positioned at the end of the firsts two sections and bolted in.

Once bolted in and leveled up its time to get out of the wet rubber suit and put the deck top on the aluminum framework.

Some times when its a bright sunny day and you are enjoying yourself you just have to do the dance.

After the dock was in the day was winding down and we wandered around the lot checking out the plants and trees. Margaret’s daffodils are up and smiling at the world. They will be deer chow shortly.

One of the purchases this winter for the Coach was a portable ice maker. Just plug it in, add water and 15 minutes later you have ice. No self respecting camper should be without! That would be just too primitive. Happy hour without ice in your drinks unheard of!

Notice the perfectly formed cubes of ice in the colorful drinks. What an icemaker!

Early the next morning the wind had died down and Margaret could start her fire. She’s lost unless she can burn a fire.

Sunday was shaping up to be a beautiful day sunny and 70 degrees at the lake. We might as well get the lawn mowed and fertilized. So while Margaret mowed the lawn I fertilized then started to put in the boat lift.

Back into the rubber suit. The water has not warmed up much since yesterday. The blue and red jugs are floatation devices that help float the lift out to the end of the dock.

The hard part of the dock and lift is the lift. Its big and heavy, but its much easier to put in than take out. The end of the year is always much worse, but now we have the summer to look forward to and putting in the dock and the lift is always enjoyable.

With the lift in position the top has to go on. The day has warmed up nicely and it must be 75 degrees down by the lake so off comes the warm cloths while we assemble the top.

Once the top is on its time to sit on the terrace and enjoy the sunshine. The rest of the day is for enjoyment!

Mothers Day

Here is a mothers day thought copyright belongs somewhere else unknown, but its good enough to repeat. My choices are underlined. Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers are Important!

In the maelstrom of organizational details - big and little - that besiege most mothers, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and taken for granted. Restore your perspective by reading the thoughts of some elementary school children about their moms. It may remind you why you are so very, very important.

Why did you get your mother and not another mother?

• God knew she liked me a lot more than other peoples moms like me.
• Were related.

What was your mom like when she was little?

• My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
• I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
• They say she used to be nice.

If you could change one thing about your Mom what would it be?

• She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.
• I’d make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister that did it and not me.
• I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Is anything perfect about your Mom?

• Her teeth are perfect, but she bought them from the dentist
• Her casserole recipes. But we had them.
• Just here children.

Mother’s Day at Moms breakfast & fixing her computer

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A rough 3 days at work

In the R&D portion of my job at work I occasionally end up attending conferences or shows at different convention centers around the country. One of the conferences that I have been involved with over the years revolves around the RFID industry and this year their show was in Orlando, Florida at the Swan And Dolphin convention center near Disney's Epcot.

Margaret likes Florida so she decided that she would take vacation and accompany me this year and hang out at the pool and boardwalk while I was slaving away in the convention center. We arrived at the Orlando International Airport, disembarked from the airplane and picked up our rental car. National rental allows you to pick the car you want from the available cars in the lot and Margaret picked the soon to be extinct PT Cruiser for our vehicle for the next few days.

The Swan and Dolphin Convention Center, part of the Epcot Resorts center is an older but still spectacular place to stay. Our room was on the 15th floor with a great view of the surrounding area. We could watch the fireworks every night from our room.

Located on a small chain of lakes and canals serviced by water taxies you can travel by boat or bus from the hotel to other parts of the Disney properties quickly and easily for free.

Just across the bridge from our hotel is another set of resorts around another lake, the Boardwalk, the Yacht Club, and the Beach Club. A beautiful walking path around the lake connects all these resorts and you can wander freely between them checking out all the facilities. (Margaret nearly wore a groove in the path around the lake from walking)

So starting Monday morning at 7:30 till 4:30 for the three days below you see what each of us did

If you have followed our blogs over time you have seen our Spring in Minnesota photos.

Here is a contrasting perspective of Spring in Florida.

So can someone remind me why we live in Minnesota again?
Sunday had some open time for me since the conference didn’t start until Monday morning so we went out exploring together. One of the things we wanted to see was the Disney campground Fort Wilderness. We may be taking the coach there some day.
We took the car to the gate at Fort Wilderness and the gate attendant allowed us in to park and explorer the campground. We walked from one end to the other. Its actually quite large over a mile from end to end with very large, nice sites with full hook ups and large paved parking spots. A bit expensive at 50 + dollars a night but it seemed like we may spend a week here sometime in the future.

Throughout Disney properties there are free busses and boat taxis that will take you to other parts of the park for free. At the north end of Fort Wilderness we caught a boat across the lake to the Wilderness Lodge which is right next to the Enchanted Kingdom.

Here are the Hotels in the enchanted Kingdom across the lake as viewed from the water taxi.

When we arrived at the Wilderness lodge we had lunch at an outdoor cafe near the pool area.

This is the only recorded instance in history where I have ever drank a Budweiser. It was all they had. At least it had lime in it. That sort of made it drinkable. (almost)

The duck joined us for lunch, but when we ignored him we thought he would leave, he wouldn’t take that for an answer and started pecking me in the leg to get my attention and a scrap of food.

After lunch we toured the inside of the Wilderness lodge. Its quite a place to see.

After the tour we headed out into the woods following an old sand road behind the “Cast only beyond here” sign looking for a way back to the campground and our car. The trail turned into a nice walk and far more interesting than the typical paths the crowds get to walk on.

More Cast only areas with Clydesdales!

Onward to Downtown Disney for a tour.

Margaret gets a new Eco drive Mouse watch that never needs batteries or winding. It runs on light! You charge it for a few hours in the sunshine and it runs for up to a year!

She didn't get to keep the Harley.

After lunch at the Ranglund Road Fish and chips shop Margaret poses in front of the Irish shop,

Back at the Swan and Dolphin relaxing in the pool area.


We found a nice quit spot under the trees to camp for a few hours with drinks and an occasional trip to the hot tub.

During a break from wearing a groove in the path around the lake Margaret made a couple of fuzzy little friends on the beach.

Well at least until the adults show up and heard them away into the underbrush.

April at the Lake

The middle of April can go either way at the lake. Often the ice is gone but farther up north there can still be ice until later in April or sometimes even May like last year. This spring has been fairly warm and this weekend looks like its suppose to be 70 degrees up north at the Lake so we are taking Friday off and heading to the lake ice or not. Most of the way up to our lake place the water was ice free, but as we headed north on the last stretch of road the small ponds still had some ice.
When we arrived at the lake is was nearly 70 degrees the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. After opening up and checking everything out a trip down to the lake revealed that we are close to ice out, but not quite. The ice is dark grey and mushy, but its still there. It should be gone by next week.

All along our shoreline was open, and a few strange looking ducks had taken up residence in the narrow stretch of water. I have never seen any ducks that look quite like these, all white with a dark head and back.

Apparently I’m not the stealthy wildlife photographer that I think I am because as I was trying to sneak down to the lakeshore behind a big pine tree to get a better photo they took off winging their way over the grey ice.
Later research indicates that they were Common Mergansers a diving duck that hangs out all over the North America

With the sun shining on the lake shore and 70 degree weather it was a great place for a class of wine for happy hour.

We sat on the shore until the sun disappeared behind the trees watching some little crayfish scuttling about in the water looking for a meal

Dinner was grilled salmon and sashimi tuna along with a baked potato.
As always the first couple of days at the lake in spring are consumed with cleaning and repairing the effects of the long winter. Raking leaves and hauling them into the woods for disposal make the grass grow better in the summer.

It wouldn’t be the lake if Margaret didn’t want some rocks moved around.

I also started the big diesel engine in the coach for the first time since last November. I was expecting trouble, but the engine cranked right over and started immediately! I also fired up the diesel generator and let it run for a while to exercise it.

Then out into the woods I went with the big chain saw to drop a dead jack pine tree that could eventually fall on the neighbors house.
Here you see some work by the world famous videographer Margaret.

I had just a bit of a problem with it wanting to fall the wrong way so I had to use a wedge on the back cut, but it ultimately went down in the right direction. Then it had to be cut up.
There is still a couple of smaller dead ones in the same area, but they can wait till another time. They will require ropes and a hand wench to get them to fall in the right area and not hit an electrical wire or a house.

One more Jack Pine down. One lawn wheel to fix. Is there no rest for me?

Here comes the rest. Lovely Margaret the world famous videographer has been looking out for me and provided refreshments and chair in what was left of the sunshine for Saturday afternoon. I guess moving rocks pays after all.

All in all it was a good weekend. We got some work done and that puts us that much closer to a relaxing summer at the lake this year. ….Ya Right that will never happen!