Where's the lake??

"My broccoli isn't doin' too good, but I think the cucumbers will do just fine" is the dinner conversation at the table next to us in a cafe in Brule, Wisconsin. Four hundred plus miles from the cool breezes of the island have us questioning the wisdom of ever leaving at all! Tonight's camp site is hot, humid, and swarming with mosquitoes, but better than the one we had aimed for all day. That campground turned out to be a hunters' campground, over six miles on a dirt road, ending in a low holler next to a mouldering piece of water, a breeding ground for mosquitoes. One of our better decisions of the day was to "move on". The next little town had a cafe (where the broccoli conversation and canned corn and mashed potatoes were served up with a tough little piece of chicken). We opted for a State Forest campground, also about seven miles off the highway, also hot and humid, but prettier, if that counts. At this rate, we may be in a motel tomorrow night, one with air conditioning! We'll keep you posted! Love, Liz

Woman of steel

Did I mention the water is FREEZING?

Our Youngest Member

This is Lacey, the 5 month old Golden Retriever puppy belonging to Jeff's family. What fun we have had watching this young life discover the world around her! She has no fear, lots of curiosity, and a disarming personality that, coupled with her cuteness, makes us love her. Puppies are a handful, though, which is why the protest sign of Jeff,s girls at the tie dye party said, "Lacey Didn't Do It!" Love, Liz

The Tie Dye Party

The project this summer, sponsored by Aunt Ada, was tie Dying. Ada brought with her a shirt for everyone, all the ingredients to do the project, and, most importantly, the two pages, small print instructions, written for us by Ada's friend Stephanie DuBois, a master tie dyer, herself. It took three days, and lots of participation and fun to make our shirts.

The culminating activity was last night's tie dye celebration dinner, which quickly morphed into a hippie theme, complete with protest signs (mine said, "Black Labs Matter"). We often refer to different Summer's together by the theme, as in: " That was the summer of the gnome party". Well, this will be referred to as the Summer of the tie dye shirts! Love, Liz

Imagination: A key ingredient

This year it is horses, little plastic ones, and each of the kids has one or more in her care. Every horse has a name, and a home in the forest AND a boat to go to sea in! In the picture Hanna is showing me her horses' home, and the boat she made herself. The horses have just come in from a boat ride, and are still in their corrals on the boat.

Under the Main House is a long work bench and a hundred years' worth of accumulated tools. The work bench was not built for little girls and boys, so stools are in order to enable the hammering and sawing necessary. Some parent always seems to be available to guide the little carpenters in their boat building endeavors. The boats are very creative! Love, Liz

Kids' Night to Cook (3)

The finished product! Love, Liz

KIds' Night to Cook - part 2

On the salad side of the kitchen, Katelyn Meyer and Hannah are seen here slicing and dicing a great salad. Only one cut finger, but band aids are found in the 70 or 80 year-old medicine cabinet on the left. The dog food can is collecting dripping water from the leaky roof! Love, Liz

KIds' Night to Cook

Lauren Meyer, Jeff's daughter, is about to turn 14. As the eldest of the generation 5 cousins, she was the Head Chef for the preparations for dinner. All the kids pitched in, doing an amazing job of slicing, dicing, stirring, baking, etc. Much was learned: how to time a meal so that everything is cooked and hot at the same time; what a rolling boil looks like, how to extract a meatball from the sauce to test for donness, etc.
While generation 5 is cooking, generation 4, all their parents, are enjoying a cousins night out, and generation 2, Aunt Ada, Grammie Liz, GramMart and Uncle Cary are overseeing the meal preparation, the 7 month old twins, 7 kids, and 3 dogs. Did I mention the lightning, thunder, and POURING down rain? It was a very interesting evening! Love, Liz

Camp Meyer - East

Eighteen family members on a beautiful island - who could ask for anything more?....some solace, maybe? That is where my van and my trailer in which Jeff and his girls are traveling come in. We have made a little camp in the woods that is peaceful and quiet when all the activity gets too much. We recently weather-tested it In a good rain and found ourselves dry under the awnings. Each evening Cinda and I retire to my van, my favorite "elevator music" and a glass of wine, and sleep peacefully under a starry pine scented night. Morning brings a new day full of memorable activities, but I do enjoy my quiet evenings! Love, Liz

Camp Meyer - East

Eighteen family members on a beautiful island - who could ask for anything more?....some solace, maybe? That is where my van and my trailer in which Jeff and his girls are traveling come in. We have made a little camp in the woods that is peaceful and quiet when all the activity gets too much. We recently weather-tested it In a good rain and found ourselves dry under the awnings. Each evening Cinda and I retire to my van, my favorite "elevator music" and a glass of wine, and sleep peacefully under a starry pine scented night. Morning brings a new day full of memorable activities, but I do enjoy my quiet evenings! Love, Liz

Trailer Life

Jeff and his girls, like Ada and me, chose to come to the Island by driving across the country. They had a wonderful trip, seeing all the sights...Grand Tetons, Yellowstone Park, Mt. Rushmore, and all the miles of America that feed us.
Dave and I bought this trailer a couple of years before he died. Buying my van was a great solution for my traveling plans, and I am happy that Jeff can make good use of the trailer. Once in Cedarville, the challenge was how to bring the trailer to Hatch Haven. We spent half a day trimming the forest back to bring it in, then our good friend and neighbor Tom Flood offered to bring it down with his tractor so that we could turn it around in our parking lot.
Jeff and I now are camping neighbors, though Jeff and his girls are sleeping in the Main House with all the cousins. We now number 18, so there is always lots of activity. Our day ended with a campfire and s'mores on the beach, followed by sand castle building for the kids and stories and laughter for the grown ups. I love this family! Love, Liz

More on the 4th of July

As the generations play out, while we were raising our kids, the three little Scott kids living down the island would come by to bake cookies with "Aunt Ada", and swim with us on our beach. Our kids grew up and have kids of their own. Meanwhile the little Scott kids grew up, and are all in college getting degrees in math and medicine, the fields their parents have excelled in, in their own careers. To our grandkids, the Scott kids, Ana, Sarah and Peter, are the heroes that swim on our beach, jump off the dock catching frisbees, and take the time with the young ones to encourage jumping off the dock, even letting the kids bury them in the beach sand. What fun we are having! I might mention that the water is FREEZING cold! Aunt Ada, turning 75, gets the prize for being the oldest person to get in that water and swim. Not being a contender for that prize, since I am younger by three years, I didn't even try! Love, Liz

Happy 4th of July!

Small towns across America are celebrating this Independence Day, but none more patriotically than Cedarville. The fire department did the pancake and sausage breakfast before the parade. Everyone was dressed in red white and blue. The town is a square- three blocks wide by three blocks long. The parade does the square, starting with a float handing out little flags to everyone with a message to "fly Our Flag to honor our Veterans. An old tractor pulled a flatbed of some family reunion group, all with the family tee shirt, with the kids on bikes behind. Old classic trailered boats carried the class reunion group, and other groups, all throwing out candy, much to the delight of all our kids. We have learned by experience to bring bags for the candy chasers. The picture shows Hannah's spot with a view. Following the parade and a visit to the craft show we returned to Hatch Haven for an afternoon on the beach. That story follows! It's great to be an American! Love, Liz

Tangled Tackle and Lost Lures

My husband Dave was the only real fisherman in the whole family. Grandson David O'Connor's tenth birthday prompted a gift of one of Grandpa Dave's rods and reels to introduce the art and sport(?) of fishing to the next generation.
I taught David how to assemble the rod and reel, string it, tie on a swivel, cast a lure, hook a worm, etc., then he was on his own. Over these last few days the inevitable has happened....messy tangles to fix and a lure lost to lake bottom plants, but he's sticking to it and if anything big enough to eat should swim by the dock, he'll learn how to clean it and cook it. Fingers crossed! Love, Liz

Who Knew Squirrels climbed trees?

CInda and Happy, both desert dogs have discovered a whole new world here in the forest. The very first day found them exploring on double time everything and every new smell. Among the discoveries was a duck sitting on a nest of 5 eggs. As they approached her nest, mama duck went flying and quacking away from the nest, flapping like she was injured, and led the two naive dogs away from her nest in a merry chase to catch a duck. I watched in awe as Cinda went right into the lake in hot pursuit, forgetting that, up until now, she HATED getting wet! Mama duck keeps them away from the nest, and the eggs are so far all safe.

Morning opened with showers and grey skies. After a few hours of work, we decided to take a trip to Sault Ste. Marie, a two hour drive north to the border of Canada and USA. We lunched at The Antlers, a landmark restaurant started in the early 1940's, and our family's eating tradition for almost that long. We bought our deck stain at the Sherwin
Williams store, provisions at Walmart, then headed home to end the day fishing on the dock in beautiful weather.

Angela leaves at 4:00 am to catch a flight to Chicago via Detroit. Ada, bless her heart, has offered to drive her to the Kinross airport. The kids and I will try some early morning fishing. Wish us luck!!

Love,Liz

opening the Island

Ada and I have been here on the island for two full days, and Angela, Hannah, and David got here yesterday, driving up from Chicago. Beautiful weather is making it easy to work through the process of opening up the camp for the summer. We have the boat in, the big sleeping porch put together, the cook house in order, the roofs swept of leaves, and chimney opened on the main house. LOTS more to get done, but the kids are a big help, and loving being here with the dogs. Tom Flood has been invaluable helping us. He came over this morning and power washed the deck and stairs to the main house. After a couple of days to dry, the kids will put a new stain on it all. Tom is replacing a lot of cedar on his dock, and had a pile of cedar ends, which we can use in our fireplace, so he taught David how to drive a tractor, and pull two carts of wood down here. David loved it!
>>
>> Everyone but me went into Cedarville to buy groceries. I got to stay home, because I did the first shopping and, being a minimalist, left out a lot.
>>
>> Hannah and David have joined me and Cinda sleeping in the van. Cozy! The kids get the new van bunk bed, and Cinda and I get the lower bed, except just before bed and just after waking up, when we all cuddle up together, to talk.

Jeff, Lauren, and Katelyn started on their journey back to join us yesterday. They are driving back with a trailer and their Golden Retriever puppy, Lacey. What fun these dogs will be!

>> Life is good! Love Liz
>>

The Last Lap

The van is buttoned down, and we are ready to go...four hours of driving, and we will have reached our destination, Hatch Haven on Island #8, Cedarville, Michigan. CInda and I have driven 2,500 miles to get here, picking up Ada and Happy in Arizona. This pictured campsite was right on the shore of Lake Michigan, cool, green, quiet, and beautiful. We lost another hour as we entered Michigan...maybe that is why I am dog- tired tonight....or MAYBE it is because we arrived to a locked up, winterized and winter battered place, needing LOTS of work to get it habitable. We attacked the cook house first, getting electricity going, which starts the water pump, hot water, lights (the shutters, still in place, make it dark inside), the stove, refrigerator, etc. We have put in a long day, but tired as we are, Happy and Cinda are even more tired. They are both first timers to the island, and have cased the whole place, at a dead run! Tomorrow, with more energy, I will report on a surprise with Cinda. Right now, we'll say good night! Love, Liz

Mason City, Iowa

There couldn't be a more pleasant place to be on this, the longest day of the year than right here, in The heartland of America. We are staying at the lovely home of Jim and Carmen Loveland, which has become a favorite stop of mine as I cross the country. The Lovelands always throw a neighborhood BBQ while we are here, so it's like getting together with longtime friends. Folks living in this cul-de-sac of nine spacious homes have been friends and neighbors for 30 years. Our two dogs were welcomed by Jim & Carmen's two dogs and another neighbor dog who showed the girls around the neighborhood. No fences here!

I met Jim Loveland about six years ago when he was assigned as a Law Enforcement Professional (LEP) to the 29 Palms Marine Corps Base. He rented my guest house for several weeks, and I met Carmen when she came out for a visit. We have enjoyed a friendship that reaches across America. Happy Summer Solstice! Love, LIz

Crossing South Dakota

We awoke this morning in Valentine, NB., about 9 miles from South Dakota. Tonight we are in Palisades State Park near Brandon, SD, about 9 Miles from Minnesota and Iowa. Tomorrow will tell which state we choose to travel to. We are ahead of schedule, so have many interesting options to choose from.

We had forgotten that this is Father's Day weekend, and legions of families are out camping! The first two campgrounds we tried were full, so we ended up in this delightful park about fifteen miles north of I-90. It is cool and shady and very pleasant. It is wonderful to be a part of Americana that sees families spending time together riding bikes, kayaking, swimming, BBQing, etc. We are blessed to be Americans!

Happy and Cinda are now seasoned hunting buddies. Once out of camp we let them loose and they run and leap over the tall grasses like truly freed souls. It's great fun to watch. They return, thirsty and panting, and happily ride for hours in the air conditioned van.

We stopped in Mitchell, SD. To visit the Corn Palace, where they make murals with dried corn on the cobs, all in different colors of corn. An amazing part of American history, as they have been putting up fresh murals annually since the early 1900's. For two days we have been driving across the great American plains....maybe something new tomorrow? Love, Liz

Valentine, Nebraska

We now have a week to get to Hatch Haven, so we can slow down and take some easy days. We left Carnine Ranch this morning, and only drove 218 miles today - a solid day of driving through the rolling Sandhills of this state reminds me why I usually turn north to get OUT of Nebraska in the Summer! The town of Valentine is just 9 miles from South Dakota, so it should start getting cooler. It is time to re-organize the van camping, to avoid flying briefcases,etc. That will be our activity tonight. Showers are in order, too! Love, Liz

A Great Day at Carnine Ranch

> Dan came by in the RZR 1000 a four wheeled Utility Vehicle, to give me a ride out to the hanger in the far pasture. He started a big generator to hydraulically open the big hangar door, and there was this Super Cub beauty. We pushed it out, did the check-out, set one notch of flaps to give us lift, one off we went! We flew all over the pastures finding the rogue cows and calves that had escaped yesterday's roundup, we dipped low to give a couple of cows a little move-on in the right direction, and enjoyed a beautiful morning flight.
After a breakfast of French toast and sausage, Dan's oldest girl, Halea (pronounced Hayle) came over and we mixed up two big bottles of milk to bottle feed two orphaned calves. Ada's dog Happy tried to lick the spilled milk off their muzzles. Happy and Cinda are taking ranch life in stride..they have experienced chickens, calves, friendly ranch dogs, ranch cats, toads, motorcycles, and all of Dan's great kids.
> All this and it isn't even noon! Love, Liz
>
> Q

Cattle Drive

Who knew that after driving 463 miles today we would end up with more driving? This time the vehicle was an ATV and we would be driving cattle (cows and their calves) to a new pasture. In the old days this would be done by Cowboys on horses, but today the Cowboys ride motorcross bikes, racing back and forth, making fast runs out to herd the strays back, whistling and shouting....what a sight to watch. Even so, as Daniel Carnine says, it's like herding marbles uphill. In spite of their best efforts, many calves and cows broke from the herd and ran every which way. Dan is taking me up in his plane this morning to fly over the miles of pasture land and locate the strays, then he will go back out with his Cowboys and round them up. Dan says that all the calves want right now is to find their mothers, and all the mothers want is to find their own calf to nurse their big bags of milk. They do a good job of sorting themselves out.
It is always wonderful to be back on the ranch! Cinda and Happy are having a grand time being ranch dogs - so much to see and explore! love, Liz
>
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Paradise, Colorado

What a beautiful spot! We are camped by the Colorado River, which is very full and running fast. This state park is about 300 miles west of Denver, and 400 miles east of Page. We had a pleasant, but long drive, and tomorrow we hope to reach Carnine Ranch. I am up in my new bunk bed, and Ada is sleeping on the back bed. The dogs are both great traveling citizens.
The drive through Moab, following the river through the spectacular red mountains was spectacular. Good Night! Love, Liz

Can you see Rainbow Bridge?

My old stomping ground, Flagstaff, was the first night's stop as my dog Cinda and I journey once again across country to our family summer home in Upper Peninsula, Michigan.  Dave and I graduated fifty years ago this year from Arizona State College,  in the first class of its new name, Northern Arizona University.  I always enjoy camping at Black Bart's in Flagstaff, known for  its steak house with musical revues featuring the students from NAU who are aspiring entertainers, doubling as wait staff.
    Sunday gets me to my second stop, Page, AZ to pick up my sister Ada, who will be riding with me, along with her dog, back to Hatch Haven.  But wait....before we can hit the road, Ada has a few social events planned....ten friends for dinner to welcome me back and wish us safe travel; a 7:30 Monday morning flight over Lake Powell to see Rainbow Bridge; followed by a Sunday Brunch with friends; THEN getting Ada packed and ready to go.

    The flight over the dam and Lake Powell was a gift from a local successful merchant, in gratitude for Ada being his First and Third grade teacher, and now his son's teacher.  What a marvelous experience!

    We plan to leave at first light for a long drive tomorrow, about 450 miles.  Dogs and ladies are looking forward to this journey East and North.  Love, Liz 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Elizabeth Meyer <lizmeyer920@icloud.com>
Date: June 13, 2016 at 3:56:04 PM MST
To: lizmeyer920@hotmail.com

Sent from my iPhone

California Drought

I love traveling and camping, to which most of my blogs attest. Today's campground, though beautiful, is one I will not be returning to. Boasting its River shore location and boat launch ramp, they charge accordingly...$45 a night for just an electric hook-up. I have never experienced such rules & regs! For starters, to make a reservation I was required to download, print, send them my credit card info,sign and initial a contract and send a picture if the signed contract ...but wait, the contract was not ENTIRELY legible (all the pertinent info was), so I had to re-photo and send again! Arriving at the park took me three tries, then to find it locked up like Fort Knox! I knocked on nearby doors until a girl came out, grilled me on my validity, then swung opened the gates, ushering me into a nearly empty park! It turns out the river is "seasonal", and now is not its season! I had to sign my compliance to 16 regulations, among which is a promise my dog was not a Pit Bull, Chow, Rottweiler, or Doberman, nor any mixture thereof. There is a fee to use the Internet, and THEN, to add insult to injury NO SERIUS RADIO... Read that... no elevator music. Bummer!

On a lighter note, the park is beautiful, as is the weather, and the whole (dry) riverbank is home to a colony of moles, which Cinda is happily digging for.

re-photoP

Living Happily Ever After

I am the new Queen of Camp Meyer and Camping Princess! I finally convinced Mom that Sheila had to go...Sheila always wanted to live with her other Mom, Lisa, and now she gets to, and word has it around Camp Meyer That having a Mom with some authority was just what Sheila needed, and now she really IS a Good Girl.

Meanwhile, I am happily still doing bad things like begging for food and running away when I get the chance, but life as an only dog suits me FINE! Mom can (and does) take me anywhere, and I am very friendly to dogs and people (but I still kill rabbits and ground squirrels when I get the chance).

So here we are, just Mom and me, van camping! Today, we left home and drove up past Ridgecrest to a long and windy (but very scenic) road to Lake Isabella. Neither of us have been in this neck of the woods, and we love having the time and freedom to meander to Fresno, which is where we are headed. Mom thinks she needs something new for the van. It's nothing I can use, so I don't care. I'll let her tell you about it. Picture me with a Happy Tail on Happy Trails! Love, Cinda

Blooming Desert

Blooming Desert

Yucca blossoms, Evening Primrose, Purple Sage, Buttercups and Belly flowers are all in bloom in the Providence Mt. state Recreation Area; weather is perfect....it is camping at its best! Mitchel, Miki (his dog), Cinda (my dog) and I are "trying out" our new camping group.

Last month, I had to make the difficult decision to give up my loyal watch dog Sheila, who had grown too protective of me to be trusted as a pet. In her mind she "owned me", and I could never get the upper hand with her. Fortunately for me and for Sheila, My good friend, and Sheila's Best Friend agreed to take her. Sheila is adapting well to city life, with Lisa, David, and Hilary. Sheila adores Lisa and accepts her as the Boss, which is very important for Border Collies.

Meanwhile, back at Camp Meyer, we are enjoying the peaceful co-existence of Cinda and Miki. The last test...how do we camp together. WELL, the rule from the get-go was to be "only the people get to sleep on the bed". It was a long night trying to get the dogs to understand the rule, and mostly the dogs won. 😳

We will be out another day and night....we'll see! Love, Liz

Last Day at Sea

Today we will be at sea.  We left Granada at 5:00 PM.  Leaving the dock was the high point of Granada.  We were docked next to a ship even bigger than ours, the Britannia from England.  The other boat was getting ready to sail, as well, so all passengers were on board.  People we standing at their balconies, lined all outside decks, and all our passengers were out as well.  The British passengers all had little British flags, waving them, shouting "Bon Voyage", "Safe Sailing" , etc. as we slipped away from them.  Cheering from all of us, as well, made for thousands of cheering, waving people.  It was an amazing experience!

The weather while we were at Granada was stormy, so we cancelled going on a boat ride and snorkeling trip. We walked around the port town of St. Georges in a light rain, then came back and just enjoyed ship life.  The kids went ice skating!  This wonderful week is coming to an end.  We must pack and have our bags outside our staterooms by 11:00 tonight.  Love, Liz

Sent from my iPad

Fwd: Back at Sea

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

>
> Hi from the High Seas! We set sail from St. Lucia at 5:00 PM. I took this "selfie" from the balcony of our stateroom, where I am am enjoying a Mojito (one of those minty/lime rum drinks)
>
> Our day was great! We left in an air conditioned bus, which feels good because the temp. Is a steady 85 degrees, and, of course, humid! On this island there is only one straight road....the air strip! It is all up and down and the roads are narrow and curvy - winding up high, then winding back into a cove where a village would be. Most of the island lies inside the cauldron of an old, yet still steaming volcano. We got up close and personal with the boiling center - very interesting. Much of the island is rain forest, with wonderful ferns, flowers, banana plantations, coconuts and cacao trees. We stopped for lunch to sample a Caribbean meal. Beans, rice, potatoes, cabbage and chicken. It seemed pretty bland compared with my love for Mexican food.
>
> One of the couples at our dinner table is from Puerto Rico, They don't speak English, so I am enjoying chatting with them and translating some of the other dinner talk to them. Time for another Mojito! Love, Liz
>

St Lucia

A beautiful morning arrival at st. Lucia! We are leaving within the hour to visit the word's only drive-in volcano, a rain forest, and a banana plantation . Later! Liz

Puerto Rico

Here I am, enjoying this view from the balcony of our Marriott Hotel in San Juan! Jeff and his girls, Lauren and Katelyn and I just spent two nights here. Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach and in the hotels pools, and Jeff and I enjoyed a couple of Mojitos, which is a yummy lime and mint rum drink! The climate here is a steady 72 degrees - I'm lovin' it!

Today we go to Old San Juan to board the "Adventure of the Seas" for a seven day cruise to some of the Caribbean Islands. Stay tuned! Love, Liz