A Day Out in Amish Country.

My friend Linda from Co was here this weekend. She wanted to see if we could find a Amish community. I knew that in Augusta WI, there's a Amish community. We drove that way and then we took lots of back roads and found them.

It wasn't Sunday so not sure why there was a gathering of buggies here. The horses here were long legged and more like a gaited horse, not a draft style.

This boy looked to be about 10/12 years old, at the most. Amazing to think that he's out working four large horses while most boys his age are inside playing computer games! This boy stopped so that we could take a photo. Linda talked to him and found out that the horses that he had are Percherons and they are 12 years old (That's what the boy thought.)

We saw lots of draft horses. The Amish need them to pull all that farm equipment.

While we were taking pictures, Linda was concerned that what if the Amish got mad as us and gave chase? I told her that I thought that we could out race them as we were in a truck!

Road Trip!

I was able to go with T.J. on a haul last Sunday (Yes, I skipped church!) He was hauling potatoes for about three weeks. We left the house at 6.30am, had to get fuel for the truck (Ouch! Glad that it's paid for by the truck owner!) Then we drove to the fields. I think that we were number 18? So we got in a long line of other trucks and then T.J. went out and asked what number the drivers ahead of us were. We (T.J.) moved the truck up the line, and then about 45 min later or so it was out turn to get loaded.

Here the potatoes are getting picked over and big clods of dirt are being tossed aside.

We drove to Plover WI and went to the potato plant. They are big (Big!) buildings that store the potatoes. This plant is where Arby's and some brand of frozen potatoes are made at.

This pic T.J. took of the inside of the truck he was driving. We hauled about 63,000lbs per load. There were on the average 45 truck loads a day during the three weeks. Some days T.J. would do two trips, some days only one. This was just for Red Ceder Potato Company. There are lots and lots of potato fields out there.

Where am I?

Sorry to all my friends up in Alaska. I had just a very short time up there and was not able to visit with you all. I took this picture to prove that I was up there.

Ha ha, I jokes. When I went camping a few weeks ago this spot made me think of Alaska. Kind of made me homesick.

Camping

Went camping over the Memorial Day weekend. T.J. and I went way up North to a place called Bayfield and took the ferry over to Madeline Island.

Picture leaving the docks

A view of Bayfield, WI.

A view of Maggie

T.J. was in 7th haven as we were able to (I use that word we very loosely) cut up our own fire wood. He made sure that we had lots of fire wood. Not that it helped as we had a monster of a storm came over us that night and the next morning and it was rained out. I was a little bit worried as the lighting was right over us and it sounded really loud. Louder then normal.
Loud enough that you could feel the sound, besides hearing it.

I'm learning that in WI you have to have brats when you have a campfire. It's a law. Good thing that I like them. That's what is the cook pot over the fire. I do have to say, they are might tasty.

I can see that if I ever moved from where I'm at right now, I would go back to Alaska or up to Northern WI. It was beautiful up there. Not sure if I would want to live on an island but live up North? You bet!

Bad Krissy!

Wow! It's been a week since my last post. But I do have some lame reasons for not blogging.

I had a great time visiting with my sister in MO, and it was a nice road trip too. If there's one thing to know about me is that Krissy loves a road trip.

My sister Patty wants me to move to MO now so that I will be there when she and her hubby retire, but I'm not sure that I like that idea. It was hot and high humidity while I was there, more so then in WI.

School is DONE! I will get my grades back next week. I hope I passed! I jokes, I'm sure I did but I did have one really really big screw up! I thought that I was all done and sold my books back and low and behold, I still had one more week of school! I had three classes that I still had work to do.

I was kind of ticked at them as they did not post week 16 till week 16 started, but they had weeks 1 through 15 always posted so I'm not sure why they held back week 16. I did the work without the books but I may not have as good of a grade, but I was in the mid to high 90% grades so I'm not to worried. It's just nice to be done.

I'm still working 10 hours a week at the village office. It's okay, not really liking it, but it's money so I will keep on keeping on.


My friend T.J. had been doing some home improvements for me. He had to build this work bench so that he could "work" Pretty nice huh? Now I have a place to put stuff and not have it all willy nilly in the garage. I think that the plan today is to replace the screens in the house. They have holes in them and it's not stopping the bugs. So good thing that T.J. has a work bench to work at/on!

I'm bad!

Sorry, for those that really really count on me to blog! ( I think that there might be two or three of you?)

I have to be honest, I am not into blogging right now. School is getting close to being done, I'm working on my speech that I have to do, and then I have all the big things out of the way and only two or is it three more weeks left? Not sure, but there is an end in sight!

In a few weeks I'm going to take a little drive to MO and see my sister and BIL. They are going to be down there as their kid will be graduating, and I can't stand the thought that my sister will be only a 10 hour drive from me, that's why I'm taking a little road trip.

Maybe after school I will be back into blogging.

Road Trip

On Sunday I (we) went to the Twin Cities. We being Shy Guy and I. The King Tut exhibit was going on. I did bring my camera but they were not allowed so I didn't get to take any photos. It was a neat experience. I have always liked Egyptian history and seeing all that "real" stuff was great. I saw jars that at one time held King Tuts guts! His bed that still had the woven reeds that he slept on.

The one big draw back was that it was jam packed! They only allowed so many people in at a time, but then in 30 minutes they would let in another group of people in. You just can't rush though this stuff. You need to stop and look and read the information and admire it. Well, I did. I think I got felt up a few times from strangers! And there were men that were wearing way waayyyy to much cologne and woman with to much perfume on, and we can't forget the babies crying!

This place also had the Children's museum so we did a little bit of that too. I really had fun there. I like playing with stuff. They had things about hydraulics and gears that I got to play with. I guess I still have a lot of kid in me.

Flash Back

I forgot to post some pictures of when I was in CO. Here they are. Yep, I didn't take that many.

My friend and I did take a break from packing up stuff, we took a little road trip up into the mountains. We saw some Dall Sheep? Mountain Goats? I'm embarrassed as I can't remember what they were or even looking at the pictures I still don't know. This little guy had horns attatched to his head because?

This happened to him.

I'm back, Kind of

I went to Co for a week and had a real good time with my friend. We got lots packed up and I also came back with some goodies, like a antique dresser, table, hall tree and full size bed frame (Headboard/Foot board and side rails)

But on the way back I got a speeding ticket! I was going 46 in a 35 zone. I was coming up to a town and went from 75 to 65 to 55 to 45 and did not see the 35 sign but the cop saw me! That hurt and also 4 points! I did not speed anymore.

On the way to and from CO I did have some bad weather but nothing a Ex Alaska girl can't handle.

But I forgot my laptop in CO at my friends house, she sent it to me but I have not gotten it yet. I feel very lost without it, but I have read two books as I have the time.

When I get my laptop back I will post some pics and tell more about the trip.

Road Trip

Tomorrow I go! I am going to drive to CO and help my friend Linda pack and move stuff. I am not attached to her "stuff" and she doesn't know it but I'm going to go through her stuff, toss it right out! She has too much stuff that she has been packing and unpacking for a long time. (That's right Linda, I'm going to make you cry!)

I printed off a map on how to get there. I went there about a year ago and I did some back roads but this time I think I will stay on the interstates and make quicker time. That means going through Denver, not that I am fond of that city.

I will bring my lap top but I wont blog as much (But then I have been not doing that much anyway)

Oh, I did buy a cell phone, it's one of those trac phones. It's kind of odd to have one again. I will adjust I'm sure.

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My bad.

I should have moved more south! I was wrong though, I thought that it was -28 this morning and it was only -26, what was I crying about? -26, that's okay, -28, no way! Too cold for me When I got to work today i was sent home. The furnace at work went out over the night and the building was filled with gas and also very cold. When it got fixed I went back to work at noon.

Also, I only have two more days of class! Then school will be over for the semester! Yippee Skippy!

I'm going to take a road trip in January to CO to go help my friend Linda pack up stuff. And you all know, Krissy loves a road trip. But I think that this time I will go get a cell phone. there are some long stretches that towns are far and few in between and in the winter I think that a cell phone might come in handy. Just for the what if factor.

No more rides for Krissy

I was going to do a road trip with my friend T.J. today. It was going to be all the way down to Milwaukee! But, I got a call last night from him, he was telling his boss, the owner of the trucks that I was going along and I guess the boss laid down the law (In a nice way) He only carries insurance for the driver, not for any passengers. Oops! I guess we were lucky that nothing happened last time!


Oh well, I guess I will have to use my own gas and spend my own money and do my own driving from now on. Bummer. And no, T.J. doesn't like to do road trips on his off days! I wonder if many truck drivers do?

So bummed

Well, T.J. called me up at 2.45am to let me know that the load got canceled so there is no road trip for Krissy today. I guess I will do homework.

Mighty Hunter

Harvey is a good provider! He caught and killed a pocket gopher this afternoon. Then he got all growly with the chickens, with Abby and with Wilbur when they came over to check it out. I was going to toss it to the chickens but Harvey has moved it. Have you ever watched the movie Escanaba in da moonlight? There is a line in the movie that I found funny. It is "Honey, fry up some lard and onions, cause I'm gonna gut you a buck" That line went through my mind when I saw the size of Harvey's catch.

Also, I'm skipping school tomorrow. One teacher canceled class, one class I have all the work done now and it's not due till next Thursday and the Library is closed. So I'm going to go on a road trip with my friend T.J. (Wood cutting friend) He called me up and said that I need to be at his house by 4.30am! It's going to be a long day. We will be going to MN and he will deliver to two job sites and also one store. I better set my alarm clock for this one.

Road trip

On Sunday I skipped church and went on a road trip with my friend from the book club (Shy Guy) We went North to the mighty town of Duluth. We went and toured two things while there. We went to the Aquarium, which was fun. We were there for about two hours and saw some neat stuff.

After that we went and toured some big mansion called the Glensheen. I think I liked the Glensheen tour better then the Aquarium. That also took about two hours as we had a tour guide that showed our group all kinds of stuff. I have to say, I did gasp when the guide pointed out in the library a collection of first addition Edgar Allen Poe books. I got tingly. I guess you can take the girl out of the library but can't take the library out of the girl!

(Sorry but the pictures are not in order)View of Lake Superior from the beach at Glensheen.

This is the front/back door of Glensheen. Front door if you came by boat, back door if you came by carriage.

We did go over this bridge.

Some fish, just in case you can't tell.

Fake fish.

We both want to go back to Glensheen in the spring/summer as it looks like the gardens are

grand. And there are some other things that we would like to check out.

Road Trip!

My friend T.J. (Tree cutter guy) is a truck driver. He asked me Friday night if I wanted to go on a trip with him on Saturday. Huh, Krissy on a road trip? What's one of Krissy's favorite-est things to do? ROAD TRIP! And this one was great, I didn't have to drive nor pay for the fuel!

Here's T.J. getting ready to toss the strap over the load. He then showed me how to hook them on the other side and also how to wrench them tight. We drove to Eau Claire to pick up the load, that took about 45 min and then we went south to Osseo for coffee and some Micky D's for breakfast. Then back on the road, south on I94 to Tomah, then East on Hwy 21, South on 49 to the little town of Berlin. That's where we dropped most of the load. The truck is also a fork lift. He unhooks from the trailer and like magic he has a fork lift.

Taking the first set of tresses off.

Taking the tresses up the the job site.




Action shot of dropping the tresses.

It took two hours to unload at this job site. T.J. had me tossing and hooking, unhooking and rolling up the straps. After I rolled up about 50 feet of straps he shows me this handy dandy tool (Drill thing) that you hook into the strap holding thing and the drill then does all the work. (He said that he didn't me doing it by hand, yeah, right!)

After dropping the job site load, we then went to Oshkosh to Menard's and, dropped the rest of the load. That took about 30 minutes or so. Back on the road, North on I 41 for a bit, then on to Hwy45.

Stopped in the town of Stevens Point and had late lunch and then North till we got up on Hwy 29 and came West till we were back in Eau Claire.

This was about 13 hours worth of road trip. He said I could come again on more trips when I have time (No work and school) so I must not have made his ears bleed with all the questions I asked!

I'm so, so sad. (Not really)

The reason I'm sad? I just ate the very last Sailor Boy Pilot Bread Cracker that I had. My sister, who's coming down to Wisconsin to visit me will be bring me some more. But till then? I'm cracker less.

For some reason today, I feel un-settled. Maybe because it's windy and cool and feels like fall? Maybe because I just balanced my check book? Maybe because the one cat Harvey is bugging me?
Maybe because I have no crackers?

Whatever the reason, I don't like it. I have not had this feeling in a long time, not since I moved here to Wisconsin. If it wasn't dark, I would go for a drive. Driving always calms my nerves. I normally don't listen to anything when I go for a drive. It allows my mind to wonder wherever it wants. Then my mind can mull things over. Maybe I just need to mull a bit.

Road trip and stuff.

It's been a busy week for me, with friends and family popping in to say hi.



Sunday I skipped church and went on a road trip with my friend from the book club. We went south on Hwy 25 and went to Pepin but really went to Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery place. I bought some hard cider. I like it, taste like apple juice but not as sweet. We then stopped for lunch in the town of Nelson at the local cheese factory. Then a nice drive home. We took back roads, it was all very scenic.

Today, Monday, was the first day back at school. When the alarm went off at 5.30am I could not, for the life of me, figure out what the beeping racket was! Got to school on time and I all ready have homework, which I did when I got home. My homework was for my 8am class which is Human Resources. I had to write up a little paper called "Why I'm better then you" Basically a resume in a letter form.

My second class at 9am is Intro to Business Management. No homework yet. I think that I will enjoy both classes and subjects. I don't have my third class till Thursday. That class in Micro Soft 2007. Thursday will be a "heavy" day as I will have to bring all my books on that day as I have all three classes.

Farmers Market

It was a good day at the market. I sold 18 bars of soap. It did seem to be a little slower the normal, maybe because it was raining this early morning and was very cloudy and high humidity.

When I got up this morning to take care of the girls I looked at the weather for my area. 94% humidity, now I know why I am growing gills behind my ears! It also explains why my hand railings of the front steps have a green mold growing.

It's almost 10pm right now and just so you know, the frogs are very loud right now. Or maybe they are toads? Not really sure. But I see them at night on the sidewalk so that's how I know it's frogs/toads and not crickets.

My sister Kathy, her husband, and kid are supposed to be coming down to see me next week. I am getting a little excited but I am holding back as this sister has made plans many times to come, and has not done it yet. When I get the call that they are on the non stop flight from Anchorage to Minneapolis then I will believe that they are on the way! They will only be staying a few days. My BIL is from the Virgin Islands and they are going there to visit his kids and folks. It will be nice to see them as it's been two years.

I think that tomorrow I will clean out the truck ( I have spilled dried beet pulp in the back seats) and then go for a Sunday drive. I have not taken a road trip for a long time and I feel the urge to put some miles on. Not sure if I will go South, North East or West.

Road Trip

We (Shy guy and I) hit the road at about 8.30a and drove south till we got to Little Norway. It took about three and a half hour to get there. I forget to take my camera while we toured the place. It was slow paced but very interesting. Made me glad that I have a metal shovel to use when I clean out the goat pen, not a hand carved wooden one that has a dull edge! It took about an hour to go into all the buildings and hear about them and some of the tools/equipment that they used.

After we toured that place we decided that we might as well go see The house on the Rock. I really liked the place. It took about three hours to tour the joint. And we did not really look at some stuff (The dolls and doll houses) A lot of the stuff was replicas of the real thing but there was enough odd things that were real to make up for it. It was hard to take any real good pictures as it was very very dark inside and then almost all the stuff was behind glass so then you had the glare of the flash.

I did take some video of the worlds largest Carousel Ride. I have to admit, my jaw might have dropped when I first saw this! I think that you need to see it it person to really get the effect of the whole thing.

After we did that we then drove home. Did not get home till 10.30pm. It was a long, but fun day.

And for those that want to know, no, there were no sparks. Not on my part anyway.