Three Lakes, Wi

6/30/09

We have been located right across the street from Big Stone Lake, in Three Lakes, WI for a month. This lake is connected to 27 other lakes, which is the largest connection of lakes in the world. There are thousands of other lakes around those 28 lakes. We visited many of the lakes, but we were told by a man who has been here 27 years, he's never seen them all, and thought it would take a life time to do so. We've been trying to get back to walking each day. The first week we were here we found 2 deer ticks on us. We were walking up along the airport,
( which is located right next to the campground) and then into nearby neighborhoods. We were told later, that there are a lot of ticks in that area.



Road between small grass runway airport and the campground, with Lake at far end. Sunset from our Nest. Mallery has been grabbing things( a yellow sticky note) and won't give it back. Just like a kid," if I can't get attention, I'll do something bad to get it!" We decided to try a different neighborhood, to avoid the ticks. This was a beautiful neighborhood with lots of trees between the homes, and there were lakes on both sides of the road. The 2nd week we were here, we had some new neighbors move in next door. It was pouring rain and was dark as they set up their 5th wheel next to us. We felt sorry for them, as we remembered our 1st night out in Urbana Ia. It was pouring as Joe tried for the first time to set up our unit. We met Dave, Kathy and their son Kevin the next day. They invited us out for a ride on their pontoon boat that evening. We jumped at the chance, as we had only seen some lakes from the road.



Kathy & Dave from central WI. Wisconsin Loon The people that were next to us when we first arrived, told Joe where to go fishing, if you didn't have a boat.



This bridge is the place! And look, Joe is a fisherman- his 1st fish - a large mouth bass. And before we left, he caught a small mouth bass. I just sat and read a book and watched. I didn't have a fishing license. Guess what's for dinner tonight. This goose and her babies swam by as Joe fished. Our neighbors Kathy and Dave were so nice. They invited us over every night for a campfire and games. Their son, Kevin is going into the ROTC, and had just met a girl in the ROTC, who can't get calls or emails for a couple of months. So Kevin starting writing her every night and would come over each night to print his letter. What a cute kid, I wanted to adopt him and I looked forward to seeing his sweet smile every night.




Joe and Dave playing golf toss
One morning Dave and Joe went fishing in Dave's pontoon boat. While they were fishing, Doug, a guy we meet the first week we arrived, stopped by and asked if we wanted to go boating. I knew Joe would be coming back soon, so I called him and he said they were on their way back. While out fishing, Dave and Joe caught two perch each. Doug took us on a boat ride through many of the lakes, up to the dam. We saw the boat lift that carries boats across to the lakes on the other side of the dam. But no boats were being lifted across, so we didn't get to see that. It was a beautiful sunny, calm day and the water was like glass.




Joe and Doug Boat lift On other side is the dam Sign at dam with map of the lakes on this side of the dam. House built maybe in the twenty's- Rumor has it, that years ago, Al Capone- type mobsters came here because it was so secluded and also on an island. When we got home from a full day of fun in the sun, and sunscreen of course, it was time to clean the fish that Joe had caught earlier with Dave. Dave gave Joe a refresher course on cleaning fish. When Joe caught the two fish on the bridge the other day, he said he butchered them. Vinnie, a guy we meet at Edisto Beach, Georgia last November gave Joe a fish cleaning course, but it has been a while with no practice. Fish for dinner again tonight!




" I got your pen, and you can't have it" " I want attention all the time" Kathy our neighbor was cutting her husbands hair. I asked her if she was a beautician. She said she was not, but had been cutting Dave's and her 3 sons hair all their lives. I told her Joe was in need of a hair cut, and she asked if Joe would like her to do his hair. So Joe, being a LaFontaine, accepted the offer. For not being trained, Kathy did a great job.

Today Joe and I spent the day driving around looking at lots for sale, all over this area. We wanted to see more lakes and what the prices were for different sizes of lots, and lake, and water clarity.



While driving around, this little turtle was in the middle of the road, and needed to be saved, and put in a safer place! When we came home, we couldn't believe, Dave, Kathy and Kevin had left. Darn, I was going to get a picture of Kevin when he came over to use our printer that night. We found a note on the picnic table from them, saying they decided to leave today, to get a head start before they had to go to work on Monday. We remember those working days, and are glad it's them and not us. They left their email and phone number and said good-bye. What a neat couple they were. They always had us laughing! After reading the note, we ran inside, changed our clothes, and headed to Doug and Lauri's permanent summer home, in the campground. They had invited us over, with some of their friends, for grilled pork loins. Denny and Shirley were there. We met Denny and Shirley, and Doug the first week, we got here. Doug' s wife, Lauri and his daughter Andrea, were there also. We met them on the next weekend when they came up from the Milwaukee area. At the cookout we met Nancy and her husband, Doug's friends. Everyone brought food that was yummy, with strawberry short cake for desert. We just brought ourselves, because Lauri insisted not to bring anything. We were blessed by all their generosity!



Denny & Shirley and their 2 girls, Molly and Maggie The next day we, as well as everyone in the campground were invited to the owners son's graduation party in the park. There are 98 permanent trailers here, with the owners coming here every summer. There are only a few spots for transients, like us.



Denny & Shirly's permanent seasonal home. Doug & Lauri's summer home. Building a deck on Nancy and her husbands home. Doug and his daughter Andrea at the graduation party. Doug just retired this year and is getting use to his new life. Sorry his wife, Lauri wasn't at the picnic, so I missed getting her picture. While sitting and eating at the graduation party, a guy we had briefly met earlier, came over and visited with us for awhile. Later he came back and asked if we would like to go fishing with him the next day. You know the answer to that one! The next day we went to the store and I got my fishing license, a scoop of minnows and a dozen leeches, as he had suggested we purchase.Then headed to the dock to meet him.



John helping Joe. We had a great day fishing with John. As soon as we got to his chosen spot, Joe threw in his line, and in about 2-3 minutes he got a fish. John was trying to get my line baited, but had to stop, because Joe's fish had swallowed the hook and John had to help him. To make a long story short, John never had time to fish, because he was helping me, or Joe all day. Joe and I were catching fish as fast as we could throw out the lines. Many times I would lose the fish because I could not get the hook in them. I was having a hard time getting the coordination of hook and reel and keeping the pole up, all at the same time. The fish kept getting the bait. John was a great teacher, but I think I was a real challenge for him. Even with all my loses we still had the 6 walleye limit- 2 for each person on board- in no time. After that we had to throw all the walleye back in the water, which added up to a lot. We continued to fish and by the end of the day we had 18 fish (6 walleye and 12 perch). All walleye between 14'' -18" had to be thrown back because they are spawning size. All our walleye were under 14".

I think this one was 14" that Joe had to throw back John is a retired teacher from New York who has been coming here for 7 years. He is a champion musky fisherman, who has won several tournaments, with one netting him $15000.00. One of my catches was a perch with a northern or musky( can't remember which) trying to eat my perch as I reeled in my line. As it got closer to the boat we could see the big one attached to the perch. John got his net, but as I started to pull it up the big one let go of the perch. That was exciting!



At the dock this caught my eye. Another of God's creations! Joe, John, and Rod in the fishing house cleaning fish. This is our catch of the day! It would have been doubled, if we could have kept all we had caught that day. And that's no fish story! John said this was not a normal day of fishing. This was fishing like in Canada, except smaller fish. It was a phenomenal day. As I have said God's Favor is chasing us down, and we are enjoying his blessings. The fish are cleaned and we have several meals of fish, thanks to John!

The Northwoods in WI

6/1/09 to 6/4/09

We arrived at the Harbor Campground in Three Lakes, WI on June 1st. We will be here for a month. Joe found this campground and I give him 2 thumbs up. Before we came up here, we called T- Mobile, our cell phone service. They told us, we would have no service up here, because we were in the boonies. We called all our family, and told them to call us on my pay as you go virgin phone, for emergency only (25 cents a minute for the first 10 minutes, then 10 a minute there after for the day). But because God is so good to us, we have 5 bars of service. Praise the Lord! I have cable here and 80 % on the Internet also. We were told we would have to drive 7 miles to get Internet service. I am a happy camper. And when I am a happy camper, everyone is happy too ( the husband and the dog)! We are paying $390.00 a month for full hookups which comes to $13.00 a day (which fits in the budget of $25.00 a day, and makes Joe happy). The last four days have been sunny with temps ranging from 45 - 55 degrees at night( great sleeping weather) to 60 to 75 degree in the day ( perfect weather for us). The last few days, we have been driving around, and visiting the towns and lakes in this area. Joe and I have always dreamed of having a summer lake home. I grew up going to my Dad and grandmother's home on Clear Lake, Ia. Joe grew up going t0 Trout and Spirit Lake. We are finding that lake homes up in the boonies are just as expensive as farther south. It is very beautiful up here in northern Wisconsin. Many yellow maple, tall thin and lacy pines, and white birch trees. Thousands of lakes and streams as well. Last night, Joe and I were walking Mallery around the park, for her after dinner nightly walk. As we were walking a small white dog came running and barking at us, guarding her territory. Soon the owner came out to call his dog. We talked a few minutes, and then he invited us to join him, his wife, and a friend to their campfire. We sat and visited around the fire, till bed time. Most of the RV homes are permanent summer homes with their owners coming up on weekends. Most have been coming to this park for years. Each RV lot is groomed in their own taste. Denny and Shirly, (the couple we meet) have been here for two years, with deck, patio and landscaped, built around their RV trailer, as if they have been here for years. They invited us to go boating with them, sometime this month. Their friend Doug, who just retired in May, also has a boat, and said he would take us sometime also. Today after sightseeing nearby towns, lakes and the National Nicolet Forest, we pulled up to our nest, and our next door neighbor, whom we talked to one time, brought over a plate of freshly caught, fried perch, crappie and bluegill. This is why I love RVing. You see the true nature of people, who have time to breath. Oh, and the fish was awesome! Our parking spot for the month! Restaurant in campground Road trip to Eagle River (town north of Three Lakes) Lots of pines and trees Lots of flat bottom clouds here One of the thousands of beautiful lakes in northern WI Dark clouds that produced a few sprinkles A beautiful day even with these stormy looking clouds A beautiful creation waiting to mate- my presence keep scaring off him off Rhinelander's Hodog- town south of Three Lakes

Off to See My little Sis.

5/25/09 to 5/31/09



We left Berlin WI. and headed northeast on Hwy's 49 to 21 to 41 and then 10 to Two Rivers, WI. We are going to see my younger sister Nancy and her husband Jim, for a few days. Nancy and Jim were both at work, but they told us to help ourselves, and go ahead and park and set up in their drive. We unhooked and parked the car out in the street, then I got my walkie talkie to help guide Joe back into the driveway. When we first drove up, Joe wondered if we would even fit in the drive. He thought we were to long. As he backed up, it was very tight. I was behind the RV and he was very close to my sister's mail box. As I guided him just inches passed the mail box, I then walked around the RV to the passenger side to see how things were. " Joe Stop", I yelled on the walkie talkie. The RV was pushed up against the neighbors across the street, mail box. He had just push up against it, but in one more second it would have pushed it down. I went over to the mail box to check it out. Wow was that close. We had a good time having coffee every morning with Nancy, as she works 2nd shift. Then Jim would come home after Nancy went to work, and we'd visit with Jim. We had acouple of days when they were off at the same time, and they made us a yummy dinner. We helped Nancy put some flowers in, and Joe helped Jim with some mowing and trimming.
We made a 1st, as we have stayed free for a month straight, from the time we left New Orleans to the time we parked at The Harbor Campground, in Three Lakes, WI., ( our next stop) We stayed at Wal-Marts, friends, family's , truck stops, our storage parking lot, and Kettleson's Dealership parking lot, during RV maitenance. This is really going to help the budget. That's the LaFontaine's way of saving.




Nancy, Jim & Ozzie

Their home in Two Rivers WI.



Our new backyard. ( Dawn- my full-time RV blogger teacher- I give you credit for that saying this one time.) We just fit with no room to spare.

Berlin, Wisconsin - Wal-Mart

5/24/09

We left Mason City, and headed north into Minnesota on Hwy. 35. Once in Minnesota we drove east on Hwy 90, across the state to the Mississippi River. After crossing the big river, we stopped at a rest stop for lunch. We continued on 90 to Hwy 82 and arrived at our destination of Berlin, WI. The drive was a long one, about 280 miles. Joe's brother Dave knew we we coming to Wisconsin this summer. He told us we should check out Green Lake. He had visited this lake years before and he thought it was a pretty nice lake town. We drove to Berlin, because it had the nearest Wal-Mart to stay at. After arriving at Wal-Mart we shopped and called it a night. The next morning we drove back 8 miles to Green Lake. We visited the visitor center and got some information. After checking out the town, we drove around some of the lake. We checked some of the houses for sale on the lake, by picking up some flyers. Because this lake is so centrally located to many large cities, homes on the lake are a million and up. These homes are not so big either. Nice lake Dave, but a bit to pricey for a summer home. After looking around we went back to the Nest and headed northeast to see my younger sister in Two Rivers, WI.

My Birth Town

5/22/09 to 5/23/09




After leaving Charles City and seeing my friend Barb, we headed north, just 45 minutes away to Mason City, Iowa my birth town. We parked the Nest at Wal-Mart, in Mason City. We did our grocery shopping and the next day we went to visit my dad's grave in Clear Lake. It was memorial weekend. Couldn't have planned it better, if I had tried.


My Grandma and Grandpa Freeman and my dad Harry Freeman's grave.

I lived in Mason City, Iowa the first 5 years of my life. When my parents divorced, my mom and my sisters moved to Ottumwa, Iowa where my mom's parents lived. My Grandma Freeman, (my dad's mom) had a home on Clear Lake, in Clear Lake, Iowa, which is 10 miles from Mason City. My sisters and I spent every summer at my Grandma Freeman's home on the lake. I have very fond memories of her home.

After visiting the grave we went to see my Grandma Freeman's home on the lake. ( my Grandpa Freeman died before I was born). The City was redoing the street in front of her house, so we had to walk 3 blocks to see it. As we past the Outting Club( kind of like condos, but built years ago), I saw this robin feeding her young. We finally got to grandma's house. Her house is the one that looks out of place at the far right. She sold it 30 years ago for $30,000. Someone came in and totally remodeled it. It looks totally different than it use to. It use to look more like the middle home. Better picture of grandma's remodeled home.

Those were the good old days of summer, when I used to steal fresh baked cookies from the cookie jar. When Grandma put us down for naps, my sister Nancy and I would toss pillows back and forth. We spent the afternoons on the dock sunbathing and swimming. Then as I got older I had a few summer time boyfriends who took me out in their boats. Good memories.

I do not know why this last paragraph is in blue and in a box. I tried to undo it, but could not figure out how or how I did it in the first place. If anyone can tell me I would appreciate it greatly.

Going to see my Best Friend

5/21/09

After our night at the truck stop in Center Point Iowa, we headed to Charles City, Iowa, to see my best friend Barb Hoppe, who I went through Dental Hygiene school with. We were the only students who had children, so we really had a bond from the 1st day. She was my one and only Maid of Honor/ Bride Maids at Joe and my wedding 16 years ago. She has been frustrated with me because, I haven't been up to see her for awhile. I am glad I am going to see her today. She has made several trips to Cedar Rapids to see me, so we are making an extra effort to see her before we leave Iowa again. Her brother, Mike Molstead, owns a Chevrolet Dealership in Charles City, and said we could park our Nest for the night behind the dealership. It was a rainy day, but that's OK because we are just going to go over to Barb's house to visit and then go out to eat.




Mike Molstead's Chevrolet Dealership in Charles City Iowa.

We parked at the very back on this side of the building.We had a great time visiting with Barb and her boyfriend Steve. I got to see her three son's, Ben, Chris and Cole, who had all really changed since I last saw them. They took us to a Pub & Grill in

Osage, a small town north of Charles City, called Teluwut. We had a great time catching up and like always, I forgot the camera to take pictures of them. Like I've said before, I need to tie it around my neck. The pics of Barb's brothers dealership were taken as we drove away the next morning. It was raining also as we left. I want to give Mike a BIG thank you for letting us stay at his dealership for the night, and if you need a car and in his area, he is a great guy to work with. Bye Barb, take care and don't work so hard as a Hygienist, or you'll end up like me, not working.( which after all, has not been so bad- just blessed to have a husband that saved).