Family Camping '08

For the past, oh, maybe about 15 years, once a summer we go camping with family. When the boys were home it would be with Terry & Sandy and their kids, our family and also my parents. Early on Mom and Dad used to take just the grand kids for a fun weekend and give us some time alone. Then we all started going. Usually we stay in WI. One year we headed out to Colorado and had a wonderful time out there in the mountains and another year we went to Missouri – now referred to as “misery”. Sorry those of you who love it there. Picture 90 degrees and humid and us having our usual campfire while we sit 20 feet away. It was nuts!

Slowly the kids started dropping out of the camping scene as they moved on and out. The first time that we camped without either of the boys it just didn’t feel right. There was definitely a void. Now we are used to it and we are the ones at the campground and beach watching young parents with their kids. A number of times we’ve said, “Remember when….?”

This year we went to Ottowa Lake. It’s a state park near Eagle, WI just a little west of Milwaukee.

It is a little campground with a nice lake but not a lot of other things there at the park to do. Nearby there were hiking trails which we didn’t go on because the mosquitoes were AWFUL! We never even had a campfire in the evening because: a. the mosquitoes were so bad and b. it was too warm. So that was really weird for us.


I had 35 bites on one leg from the first night.

Dale's following at Ottowa Lake.

We spent one day at “Old World Wisconsin”. It is an historical park with century old homes that have been moved there and restored. They have people working there as if it were the 1880’s. It was a beautiful place and thankfully there was a tram that brought us from one area of homes and old stores to another. Each area was a little different because they were built by settlers from different countries.












Dale found a little hiking area with a trout stream and unbelievably clear pool where we spent a little time. It was called Paradise Springs. About 80 years ago it had a hotel, horse track, spring water bottling plant and a water turbine. Now all that is left is some of the stone walls. Of course, Dale wasn’t too interested in that. He spent his time fishing. He caught 2 while we were there. We could see them in the clear spring fed pool. But, after that he couldn’t get them to bite. He said that he tried every fly that he had with him. Believe me, that’s a lot.


Looking for more














For suppers we took our turn making supper for the 6 of us. That gave us the other meals off. That has really worked out well and we have fantastic meals.
After that we played “Jocker”. It’s a fun board game and it is the men against the women. Boy, do we get competitive. This year we tied at 4 wins each. We’re going to have a tie breaker in the near future.