Camping 2015 - Trip #3 - the North Shore

Last weekend we went on our third camping trip of the summer. It was our second annual camping weekend on the North Shore with friends from church. we camped at Burlington Bay Campground in Two Harbors. We love the campground because we can have camping spots overlooking Lake Superior. Last year we went in June, and here are some comparisons regarding camping in each month:

June 

• The weather was more unpredictable - cooler, and wetter
• No bugs
• Campground not as crowded

August

• Nice summer weather
• Black biting flies always around
• Campground was packed - many sites had more than one vehicle, and more than one tent. This made the roads in the campground less safe, and the bathrooms more dirty. The campground was still very quiet at night.

We enjoyed our weekend so much. Both my husband and our friends have motorcycles, so we trailered them and brought them with us. One day the four of us jumped on the two motorcycles and enjoyed a ride up Hwy 61, stopping in Beaver Bay for lunch.

Another day we packed a lunch and the 4 of us plus our dogs piled in the pickup and drove up to Grand Marais for the day. It was beautiful!

Each night we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. Each morning we had our coffee while looking out at Lake Superior. We walked along the shore, and threw stones in the lake. We simply enjoyed the beauty around us, the company of our friends, and the relaxation that comes with being on vacation.

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Here is our camper on the right, and our friend's camper on the left. 

This was the view from our camper:

Our "motos" - as my grandson would say -

Craig really liked this old logging truck we saw...

We stopped to check out this marina on our way up to Grand Marais.

The rest of these pictures are from Grand Marias. It was a hazy day so the pictures are not as bright as if it had been sunny.

We had such a good time that we made reservations to go back next summer - we're going to try June again.

Summertime!

It's finally summer. We've been waiting and waiting for warm summer days so we can be on the lake, grilling meals on the Weber, and enjoying lots of visits from family and friends. While spring came fairly early this year, summer has been slower to arrive. I'm not complaining - I loved the cooler spring days and nights, when there weren't any mosquitoes or deer flies. But now it's July - time for summer!

I'm reminded of a song from "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" where Snoopy sings

It's suppertime. (click to hear the song on YouTube)
Yeah, it's suppertime.
Oh, it's sup-sup suppertime very best time of day.


Br-r-ing on the dog food, bring on the boneBring on the barrel and roll me home'Cause it's supperSupper, supper, supperSupperSuper, pepper upperSupperSuper duper suppertime


But in my mind I hear these lyrics:
It's summertime,
Yeah, it's summertime.
Oh, it's sum-sum-summertime very best time of year.

Bring on the boating, bring on the sun,
Bring all the grandkids, it's fun, fun, fun!
'Cause it's summer,
Summer, summer, summer,
Summer,
The best time ever!
Summer
Sum - sum Summertime!

Enjoy a few pictures of our summer so far.

4th of July Recipes

I always like to try new recipes when we're going to have company. I worry a little that it may not turn out to be good, but there's always more food around just in case - and then Craig and I don't have to eat it all week long.
Here are two recipes I tried this weekend. They are both from taste of Home's Fast Fixes with Mixes (2012 ed.) Click on the picture for the recipe.
The first is a great 4th of July red,white and blue dessert- Hot Berries 'n' Brownie Ice Cream Cake.

I used a different sauce than the recipe called for - because I didn't have all the ingredients. I just went to the Internet and looked for a hot fruit sauce recipe. (click here).  Everyone loved it!

The second recipe is for a wild rice salad. I just made it today - and it's chilling in the refrigerator for tonight's supper, so I don't really know if it's good or not... but it sure looks good!

As usual, I was in a hurry when we were at the grocery store, and even though I had the recipe with me, I didn't read it very carefully. So I got mushrooms and artichoke hearts - but I was supposed to get marinated mushrooms and marinated artichoke hearts. So we'll see if the salad tastes like it's missing something.

How about you - did you try anything new this week?

Bring on summer!

We are so excited - because today we bought ourselves a camper!

We have been talking about camping for about a year now. Several friends have invited us to go with them, and we even have a reservation to go to a campground in Duluth this June. So we started looking for a camper on Craigslist and eBay. As soon as we saw some pictures of vintage travel trailers, we knew that we wanted one... that it would fit us. About two weeks ago I found this one on Craigslist. It was close to home so we didn't need to travel far to see it. And we fell in love with it. Our "new" camper is a 1959 Mallard. It is 15 feet long - just perfect for the two of us - and Percy, of course. So today we went and picked it up. It fits perfectly in the space next to the garage.

Our little beauty is in pretty good shape. There are a few things to be fixed, but if we wanted to, we could go camping in her this weekend. With windchill tonight forecast to be at least -30 I think we'll wait a while.
But we're as happy as can be to look out the window and see her parked in our driveway.

Here are a few pictures of the inside... I will be looking for fabric to make curtains and slipcovers for the banquette. We are going to put a full size mattress in back, and I'll be looking for a cute bedspread. Craig has to do a little work on a couple of the regulators for the front windows, and the inside of the door needs some work. But can you see the possibilities? I have been doing research on Pinterest, and have seen so many cute trailers... I can't wait to put our personal touch on this one.

The bonus is that this little trailer can serve as overflow sleeping when we have all the kids and grandkids ( or any other company) here for a weekend. 

Just call if you want to make a reservation to stay in our little trailer!

Saturday Date

"Come Saturday morning, I'm going away with my friend".... (If you know the song, sing along!)

Last Saturday I went away with my best friend, my husband, to Crosby to go biking on the Cuyuna Trails. There are miles of trails, with views of the goreous mining lakes and beautiful forests. I envisioned a leisurely bike ride, time to enjoy the views and time for conversation.
We loaded up our bikes and headed out. When we got to Crosby and unloaded our bikes, we found that we had a choice to make. Should we take the paved trail that we'd already biked on a few years back, or should we take the dirt trail? I could tell that Craig wanted to explore, so I agreed to "hit the dirt" trail. Little did I know the challenges that lay ahead.  We missed the sign that said, "more difficult." We hadn't gone far when we realized that this was no leisurely riding trail. The trail was narrow, and there were often rocks, roots, and stumps on the trail. The trail was also windy, with lots of switchbacks. We had to be careful to stay on the trail, because if we veered off we'd end up tumbling down a steep hill if we didn't hit a tree first.
We did find several spots where we could stop, catch our breath, and view some spectacular scenery.  There were also road maps along the way, and more decisions - do we take the "more difficult" trail, or the "most difficult" trail? Should we keep going or turn back? I felt a real sense of accomplishment when we reached the paved trail at the end.

Looking back, I see some lessons in all this...

1. Just as we had a choice between the wide, easy path or the narrow, more difficult path... we have choices in life.  Do we take the easy way out? In school do we only take easy classes so we don't have to work too hard? Do we choose a job that's probably boring but is easy, not too much work? Do we stay silent because we'll be ridiculed or challenged if we speak the truth?

2. When life is difficult do we persevere, or do we turn back and quit?

3. If we take the easy path, we miss out on some special things. We miss out on the best views. We miss out on the feeling of a job well done, a fear conquered, a new experience... we miss out on the abundant life God promises.

4. When we were biking on the dirt trail we had to stay focused on the trail, we didn't have much time to look around. If we didn't keep our eyes on the trail, we could end up hitting something and we'd get hurt. We couldn't look back, only ahead. In life we need to keep our eyes focused on the road so that we can avoid the rocks, roots and stumps that could hurt us like temptations, bad habits, friends who aren't good friends, etc.

5. We took time to get off the trail, rest, and enjoy the view. The same is true in life. Every once in a while we need to stop, pull off the trail, and rest. We need to stop to see the beauty and blessings around us. We need to "stop and smell the roses." Have a drink of water - drink of the living water that only God gives.

6. Finally, we celebrated a job well done. We finished the trail. It felt so good to have gone the distance, to persevere in spite of my fear, in spite of how tired my muscles were, in spite of the difference between the path I thought we were going to take and the one we explored.

And what about Craig? He loved every single minute of it. The trail was exactly what he wanted- challenging, fun, beautiful.

We had a great Saturday morning together.

Summer is for family and fun!

We had a great time over the 4th of July with our family. All of our kids and grandkids came up and stayed for three days. It was so much fun to be together. The only person missing was our son-in-law, Mardo, who couldn't make the trip from Guatemala. I appreciate that he was willing to let Carrie and Micah come for a visit. I hope next year they'll all be here. I'd like to make this a family tradition.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

As you can see, we spent a lot of time on the water. Our "new" boat was great - it pulled skiers right up out of the water. Craig picked up a new tube that two people could go on together, and everyone loved it. Brenton, Stephanie and the kids spent some time fishing off the dock and they caught lots of little fish so everyone had fun. After the grandkids were put to bed each night, the adults gathered around the table for some great games of Wizard, Uno and Sequence. It was a great time!