Amazon - November to December 2012

Working at Amazon was very tough, and everyone keeps asking us if we are going to come back next year. Working the night shift was not as hard as we thought it would be, and the dogs were fairly good about letting us sleep in the morning. I do not think they slept much during the night since and come around 10:00pm and take them for a walk, which I think really helped with their attitude. Our shift was from 5:30pm to 4:00am. We usually left about 4:50 because there was always a line trying to get into the parking lot, with police directing traffic, and got home about 4:15am. The dogs ran outside and into the woods, while Jim & I got settled, watched some TV, and tried to unwind. Showers followed, fed the dogs breakfast, then hit the sack about 5-6am.

 

Maple Heights, Ohio

Arrived in Maple Heights Monday October 22nd.  Dad drove to the police station and talked with a lieutenant and we got permission to park in front of his house for the week - both the trailer and the truck.  Went to dinner at Pat's house Monday night.  This picture was taken when we visited Mom & Dad Balach in December 1982.

Jeff's Place, Syracuse, Indiana

Left Marilyn's place on Thursday and drove an hour to Jeff Brookbank's place in Syracuse, Indiana.  Jim backed into one of his driveway's and nicked the front right fender on the Excursion on a telephone pole, but ended up backing into OK.  

Marilyn's Place, Walkerton, Indiana

Arrived at Marilyn's Monday afternoon. She sure does have her hands full taking care of her three grand kids while their mom is at work. I must say though that they are very well behaved and listen to her without much argument - they get their homework done; help with dishes and laundry. They moved up here this past summer before school started; Michelle is still in Georgia working, and trying to get a job up here. 

Training Alaskan Huskies, St. Croix Haven

Carol lives up the street from the campground on the Old Ferry dirt road. She works the summer months here and in October begins training her huskies for a cross country dog sledding adventure. She hooks the dogs up to her ATV and lets them pull it at a low speed, going down Old Ferry to the river then back up and through the campground. Positively amazing.

Trees Changing Color, St. Croix, Minnesota

One of the things I really wanted to do was take a trip up the North Shore while the leaves are changing, but it does not look like we are going to make it. Our next days off are bringing in a cold front with it and highs in the mid to high 40's - brrr. So I took some pictures around the campground of the various trees as they changed. We have so many leaves on the ground now around our campsite and it is very dry. Fire danger is high, and with the wind we have not had a campfire lately.

Lucy's Adventure with a Stick

Yesterday started out as most of our days off do ~ lazy morning walking the dogs, making blueberry pancakes for breakfast and looking at the computer. Discovered that chipmunks have been putting acorns in the back of the Excursion in the body housing that covers the gas tank. Lucy smelled them and chased some out of there but the last one she chased out and into the brush she pounced on and ended up impaling herself with a 1/2" diameter stick in her leg about 4" deep. Nasty. Happened just as we were getting into the truck to go to Walmart and do grocery shopping. 

Afternoon at the Beach: Lake 26 (Wisconsin)

Went to Lake 26 Wednesday afternoon to enjoy the water and beach. Had lunch and then down to the water and beach to cool off. The dogs had a great time swimming and running around on the beach and around the area. The water was nice and shallow and the lake looks like a good place to canoe.

It's a pretty big lake but the beach is quite small. We were the only ones there for a while and the dogs had a great time in the water swimming and running around. Lucy actually learned to swim and would swim out to Jim and jump into his arms like a little kid trying to get out of the water. The water was quite shallow and warm - we were able to kneel out there and enjoy the water.

Duluth, Minnesota

Went to visit Duluth on a bright, sunny day in July. Spent some time at the museum at Canal Point which told about the ships that sailed on Lake Superior. We walked a little along the walkway next to Lake Superior and let the dogs go swimming on a stony beach we found. 

St. Croix Haven Campground, Independence Day Parade

There is always something going on at the park. On July 4th weekend there was a parade around the campground where Jerry the owner decorated his antique Fire Truck and other campers decorated bikes, golf carts and trucks and drove around the campground.

I walked around the campground to take pictures of the parade, which was a lot of fun to watch.

Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area, Grantsburg, Wisconsin

Crex Meadows is a 30,000 acre state wildlife management area. It's objective is to restore the area to its original condition of a brush prairie-wetland complex. It was altered by settlers in the late 1800s - wetlands were drained and much of the brush prairie was allowed to grow into a jack pine-oak forest. As a result, much of the original native plants and animals were significantly reduced or completely disappeared. 

Lazy Mornings, St. Croix Haven Campground, Hinckley, Minnesota

On our days off Lucy usually gets us up at 7:00 am - no more alarm going off at 5:00 am getting me up to go to work. By 7:30 am it is time to get up to take the dogs for their morning walk - around the campground so they can hunt chipmunks. Then it's back to the trailer for breakfast. Found fresh blueberries on sale at Wayne's food store so I made blueberry pancakes two mornings in a row with real butter smothered on top with Dark Amber Maple Syrup and coffee - yummm. (Note Jim's coffee cup with the beautiful smiling face.) 

It is now 10:00 am and Jim is taking his mid-morning snooze while listening to Neal Boortz on the computer. Sun has not made it out yet but should with the high today near 80. Checking out stuff to do today - maybe a geocache and some more sightseeing. Usually head toward Wisconsin since it's only 5 miles east over the St. Croix River. Check out a winery and some country stores.

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St. Croix Haven Campground, Hinckley, Minnesota

Finished our first week of work over Memorial Day Weekend which really broke us in - campground was packed with over 150 campers here. Rained a lot but people enjoyed themselves anyway. This place is big for ATV's and a lot of campers bring them. Lots of kids and family oriented. Getting our campsite ready and enjoying a campfire.

Took a drive down to the St. Croix River to take a look at it. Jim sitting with dogs by St. Croix River.

Onward to Minnesota - our first workamping job

Our first workamping adventure started on May 15, 2012, taking us a week to get to St. Croix River Resort in Minnesota, which is about 5 miles west of Danbury, Wisconsin, just over the St. Croix River in Minnesota. Our first stop was Chattanooga, TN to Camping World to get new tires put on the trailer. From there we headed up through Tennessee and into Kentucky. Stopped at Bardstown, Kentucky to visit the Heaven Hill plant for a tour.