Ice Cracking Lodge and a tour with RV Friends

Last night John and I joined Judy, her son Andrew and her grandsons Joey and Seth for dinner at Ice Cracking Lodge.  The burgers they serve are so large John and I split one.  We also split a small order of onion rings. We enjoyed the food and company.

Seth and Joey enjoying their dinner. 

Today, RV friends from Las Cruses, NM, Donna and Ron Markey stopped by for a visit.  Their son got married this past Saturday, congratulations to the bride and groom.  We met Donna and Ron in 2009 at an RV Dreams Rally in Kerrville, TX.  Wow how time flies.  Can't believe it has been that long since we have seen them.  John invited them for lunch and a tour of the refuge.  We all got together for ribs, baked beans, slaw and Hawaiian salad then we were off for a tour. 

 We saw a doe, a fawn, a garter snake and a painted turtle.  We didn't see any bears, wolves or eagles today. Awe...maybe next time. 

Painted Turtle.

 Donna saw this little fawn as we drove down the Blackbird Wildlife Auto tour.    We waited to see if it would stand up or move out of the bushes so we could get a better photo but no such luck. 

Donna and Ron.

It was nice to see Donna and Ron again.  We wish them safe travels. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Birds, Geese and more Ladder Golf.

Yesterday morning I accompanied Judy on a few trails. She was trying to record bird sounds but the birds weren't cooperating.  On our way back to the RV we saw John working at one of his mowing sites.

Don't it look like he is having fun.  He even smiled for the camera. 

In the afternoon I worked a the VC.  The geese family decided to take up residence for a while. 

Here they are at the bird feeders in the rear of the VC. They were drinking from the fountain and eating the sunflower seeds.  Of and of course they left lots of poop.  Uck!!

After they feasted on the sunflower seeds they came around to the front door. 

I love watching the birds from the VC window.   

I was watching these two purple finches for a few minutes and snapped a photo.  I didn't realize the third bird was coming in for a landing. 

After work John and I joined Judy at her place for a cookout. Her son Andrew and two grandsons, Seth and Joey were in for a visit.  Thanks for inviting us to dinner Judy.  We enjoyed it very much. 

Of course we had to play a game, or two, of Ladder Golf. 

Joey and Seth getting ready to play. 

Andrew and John playing.

John and Judy.   Lookout John......Judy is going to smoke you again.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Turkey Days in Frazee

We were looking for something different to do so we drove over to Frazee where they were celebrating Turkey Days.  This is supposedly the home of the world's largest turkey.

This is the large statue outside of town. 

This is the smaller statue in town.

There were many events in progress when arrived one of which was the Tyler Shipman Memorial Car Show.  

Tyler Shipman's car.

John and I both like cars and there were a few good looking ones here. 

1970 Dodge Challenger, Fuel injected 440 

It would be fun to take it for a ride. 

Pontiac GTO 

Ford Torino Cobra.

After walking through the car show we were off to visit Vergas to get a picture of the world's largest Loon. 

Ain't he pretty.

On the way back to the refuge we stopped to pick up a few groceries. The weather was really nice so we decided to cook out tonight.  Judy was working at the VC so I called to see if she would like to join us for dinner.  

This was one of the first nights we were able to enjoy being outdoors without the deer flies and mosquitos attacking.  After our meal it was game time.   Ladder golf style!

Judy said she would play the winner of the first game.  John beat me so here is John and Judy at the beginning of their game.  Sorry the picure is blurry.  I just had to post it because I loved the facial experessions.

In the end Judy beat both of us.  Way to go Judy.  You smoked us.  We had a great time. 

Tomorrow we will be working at the VC. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Cutting trees and picking up trash.

John's day started very early this morning.  He was up and out by 7:30 to pick up the kids working under the Youth Conservation Corps.  This is their last week here and there are lots of projects to get done.

Judy and I checked kiosks and picked up trash along the roadsides in the refuge.  At our first stop we noticed a piece of maintenance equipment that might belong to John.  I called him and asked it he was missing some equipment.  He said, "I might." 

Here is John's brush cutter.   Judy and I waited until John came to pick it up.  We didn't want it to go missing. 

John with the YCC kids, Tawny and Wyatt. 

While Judy and I were out today we saw a Red Tailed Hawk,  a doe and a fawn, a couple of Blue Herons, eight Sandhill Cranes, a painted turtle and lots of flowers.  

Here are three of the eight Sandhill Cranes we saw today. 

Here is the painted turtle that Judy helped to cross the street.

Purple Prairie Clover

Evening Primrose (I think.  Please let me know if I am wrong)

I think this is a thistle of some kind.  Eventhough it is a weed I thought it was pretty enough to snap a picture. 

Later this afternoon I accompanied John to a couple sites with fallen trees.  The first stop was one Judy and I saw earlier in the day.   The tree needed to be removed before tomorrow's tour. 

Tomorrow is one of our off days so I am sure we will be catching up on a few household chores. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Happy Birthday Judy Bell.

John has been busy with his usual mowing and I have been working at the VC.  Yesterday John was sent on a road trip to Moose Lake, MN to pick up  some sort of device to use to keep beavers from blocking culverts.  The weather was very humid and hot.  It reminded me of being in Mississippi.

Today is fellow RVer/volunteer Judy Bell's birthday. John baked Judy a cream sherry cake last night to celebrate her special day.  We enjoyed sharing cake and ice ceam with her tonight.

Happy Birthday Judy.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

Picking up trash.

Another work day for us.  John had mowing to finish and I helped Janice clean the pit restrooms.  It didn't take very long and I was back around 10:30 and ready to meet up with Judy to pick up some trash. This is one job we don't mind doing because we get to travel throughout the refuge and you never know what you will see.   Everything changes from day to day.

At one of the boat launches we saw lots of butterflies.  We tried to get just the perfect picture.  It was difficult as the butterflies don't stay still for long. 

I was able to snap a picture of this White Admiral in the tall grass. 

I also got some pictures of a Compton Tortoiseshell.  They move so fast I thought I would never get a decent photo. 

After leaving the boat launch area we continued on our way.  We hadn't seen much in the way of wildlife until late afternoon when we saw a couple turkeys walking in the tall grass along Bruce Boulevard.  Judy pulled over and killed the engine so we could watch and, of course, take pictures.  One of the turkeys was a very light color.  I had never seen one like it before. 

The turkeys seemed to linger in that same spot and within a minute or two we knew why.  

 Little turkeys emerged from the tall grass and they all began to travel on down the road.  Very cool. 

I think there were nine poults but I was not able to photograph them all. 

Another picture of the light colorled turkey. 

Also, while we were out today, Judy took me to see the cabin and old car on the refuge.  This is where the Fall Festival is usually held. 

Thanks Judy for taking me there so I could get some pictures. 

Tomorrow is one of our days off so I am sure we will be making a grocery run. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Top End Dragway

We were off Saturday and decided to drive to Top End Dragway in Glydon, MN to watch some drag racing.    There were muscle cars, dragsters, newer model cars and snow mobiles.  The snow mobiles were fun to watch.  We had never seen them race.  I took some videos but with the internet being so slow I couldn't post them.  Bummer!

Sunday was our usual work day at the Visitor Center.  We had a total of  72 visitors.  Fifty-two of them attended the afternoon movie.  There were so many people the movie had to be shown twice to accommodate everyone.  I think that was the largest group we have had so far. 

John at the counter in the VC.  Doesn't he look busy? 

After we got off work we headed over to Judy's to meet fellow full time RVers Merikay and Craig.  They have followed Judy's blog and stopped in to meet her in person and visit.  Judy gave them a tour of the refuge.  Later on we all gathered at Judy's for a cook out.  Thank you Judy for a great meal.  

Craig and Merikay.

It was nice to meet Craig and Merikay.  We wish them safe travels. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Cookout with fellow RVers and Fried Pickles.

Off from work and enjoying the nice weather.    Fellow RVers, Tom and Marci and their sons Nicolas and Bryce arrived in Detroit Lakes earlier in the day.   We met them a few years ago at an RV Dreams rally.  So glad they were able to stop by for a  visit.

Judy had a tour in the refuge this morning.  One of the couples in the tour follows Judy's blog and were here for a visit also.   We all gathered for a cookout and great conversation.  John even fried up some pickles as an appetizer.  He had planned to cook some last week so Judy could taste them but he didn't have all the ingredients.  Today he was prepared. 

Left to right: Bryce, Sherry, David, Tom and Marci. 

Left to right: Marci, Nicolas, Judy and John.

Shortly after dinner the skies became overcast and soon we felt a sprinkle or two.  John and I wanted to take Tom, Marci, Nicolas and Bryce on a tour of the refuge and were a little bummed that the weather didn't cooperate.  We decided to give it a try and loaded up and headed out.  Within minutes a light rain was falling.  Marci was able to get a few pictures so all was not lost.  

We enjoyed meeting David and Sherry and seeing Tom, Marci and their sons again.  Hope to see them all again down the road again real soon. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.

We're still here.

It has been a few days since our last post.  The internet service hasn't been the best so downloading pictures and posting blogs have been a slow ordeal.  Just wanted everyone to know we are still here  just a little behind on blogging.

Judy and I have been busy trying to complete the Loon Survey at Tamarac.  The weather has been a major factor.  One day it rained and was too windy so we had to wait until things cleared up.   

We had a fun filled July 4th weekend.  Judy's daughter, granddaughters, son and daughter-in-law were visiting her and we all got together for a little bit of BBQ.  Thanks Judy for intiving us.  We really enjoyed the food and the visit. 

From left to right: Phoebe, Crystal, Avery, Daniel, Robin, Judy and John. 

Right after our big meal the rain moved in.  Oh no!  Lucky for us it did not last long.   After the rain stopped we were all back outside.  We had games to play. 

Avery and Phoebe discussing their Ladder Golf scores.   They were so cute playing it.

John even pulled out the old dulcimer to play for us.  When the bugs started getting bad we all went in for the night. 

On Sunday morning John worked at the Visitor Center alone while Judy and I planned to finish our Loon Surveys. We had three lakes left and time was running out to get the surveys done.  Judy's son Daniel and daughter-in-law Crystal came along with us.  

We arrived at the first lake and found Leechers on the lake in a canoe so it was a total wash.  Notations were made on the survey sheet.  This meant Judy and I would have to return at another time and try again. 

Judy hard at work.

Judy and I in the back of the truck looking for loons.  This was one of the locations where we couldn't park off of the road because of the rain saturated grounds.   There was also tall grass so we needed a higher vantage point for viewing.  Don't you just love our orange vests?  We were styling.

Moving from location to location to do the surveys gives us a great opportunity to take photographs.  You never know what you will see here.  It is so cool. 

The last two surveys were completed around lunchtime so we headed back in.  I joined John at the Visitor Center to finish up the work day. 

This geese family spent the afternoon hanging out at the Visitor Center.  The babies are getting big.

Judy's son Daniel and daughter-in-law Crystal went fishing in the afternoon.  They weren't gone very long and returned with some nice fish for dinner.  Our thanks to them and Judy for a wonderful dinner that night. 

Daniel the chef.

We enjoyed meeting and sharing the 4th with Judy and her family.  Fun times. 

 The sunset from Judy's site.

Monday rolled around and it was a work day.  John was off to cut fallen trees with the fire crew from Detroit Lakes Wetlands office and Judy and I were off  to finish one last survey.   Unfortunately, the leechers were on the lake again so we weren't able to complete that survey.  Oh well, we tried. 

Tuesday John went out with the crew to finishing cutting fallen trees and I worked at the Visitor Center.  Tomorrow will be our last work day of the week.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.