Successfully Repelled Mosquitoes

Happy Fourth of July America!

Bought these a few months ago and have been saving them for the Holiday! I have always liked the 4th of July because it is such an honest holiday. We celebrate the birth of our country with picnics and down-home parades. No presents, no religious significance, just BBQs and fireworks.

On Friday the 3rd, the owners of the RV park sponsored a Pot Luck dinner. They provided the hot dogs and hamburgers, and everyone brought a side dish or dessert to share.

It seems there are a lot of couples who have been coming here to Valley View RV Park for part or all of the summer for many years. We shared a table with our new Alfa friends and they introduced us to some of the others. 

After eating, six of us, all Alfa owners, gathered next to Betty and Joe's rig and solved the problems of the world. They had some very good stories to share and advice on what to be sure to see in Yellowstone in the upcoming month.

As the sun began to set, the mosquitoes came out in droves. I noticed the others begin to wave their hands and swat at the pesky buggers. Personally I have always been pretty lucky in that, although I will get a few bites, I am not very sensitive to them. 

It began to look like we were going to have to call it a night, when I remembered a device I had bought several years ago after reading about it on Karen in the Woods's blog. In her post, she told how they were at a Wisconsin wooded lakeside park and were beset by mosquitoes when they were out in the evening, so they tried a new toy, a ThermaCell Mosquito Repellant,  that worked unbelievably well. 

Being from Wisconsin myself and knowing how bad they can be I immediately ordered a couple of them. But in our travels we have been lucky enough to not be bothered by mosquitoes!

So I went and found it in a bay, and we read the instructions and got it put together and started. I have to say we were all very skeptical because it didn't smell, or smoke, or seem to do anything. At first the mosquitoes were still around, but eventually, it did work, and they stopped bothering us. Next time I'll be sure to get it going sooner! 

This product is available at stores like Cabala's  and on Amazon. It comes in a portable version like the one I bought, and also as a table top lantern.

All I can say is that it  really works!

Thank you Karen for writing about it so long ago!

Not cheap, but very effective! ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellant.

On the 4th we decided to go over to West Yellowstone for a small town celebration. I read in their local paper there would be a parade, a sale of BBQ tri-tip sandwiches as a benefit for the football program, and fireworks.

We arrived in town a bit early for the parade and took a stroll down the main street and browsed the offerings of many gift shops. I bought a bottle of Montana Wild Huckleberry Preserves and a new winter jacket.

A winter jacket? When we left our home in California I brought along one mid-weight jacket that I had owned and worn for many years. It was very functional, but not pretty. I have been looking for a replacement for a long time, but most places we go just do not have winter wear on sale. Being the tightwad that I am, I did not want to pay full price for something I would only wear occasionally.  I found this fleece-lined, hooded jacket on sale for $35. It is cuddly, and I like the hood. There is a deer picture on the back as well.

After shopping we went back to the town park, set up our chairs for the parade and had some tri-tip. It was not the best, but it was benefitted the local high school. 

The parade was pretty typical of a small town. Old cars, girl and boy scouts, veterans, bicycles, fire engines, and of course horses.

A reminder of what small town America is all about. Local people, living their lives.

Montana Sunset

It doesn't get dark enough for fireworks in Montana until after 10 PM. The parade ended around six.  With not much to do for several hours, we drove the few blocks to the place where our RV friends suggested to park for the fireworks. Although it would have been a place that would allow us to leave easily after the fireworks, we explored a bit and found a place that put us in the position of being the closest car to the launching point!

While we waited, there were more "private" fireworks being launched over the town than we had ever experienced in any other part of the country. Not just little strings of firecrackers! These "private" shells were as big as some of the municipal fireworks we have experienced.

We could see the launch area from our location, and as the 10 PM start time came, and went we learned from the firemen who where parked close to us that there was some sort of "technical problem". The good thing was that it was getting darker and darker, so that when the problem was finally solved, we saw and heard some of the best local fireworks we had seen over the years. There was just enough wind to keep the sky clear of smoke, and the bursts were almost directly overhead. 

Wow!

A great end to another Fourth of July.

  

I wonder where we will be next year.

National Eagle Center, Wabasha Minnesota

The Minnesota weather has been wonderful. Cool and not very humid. We had one overcast day up in Itasca, but we welcomed it and hunkered down for a rest day, cooking homemade soup and doing the wash. 

The tow package installations on our new Jeep were done by mid-day Thursday. I had not made plans for the night, but after a quick look in my reference books we got a spot at a private park in Wabasha MN. It looked like it was about half way between where we were and where we had reservations for Saturday night.

I have mentioned seeing many run down small town downtowns in our travels. Some of the more tourist-oriented destinations are overrun with souvenir shops.  Wabasha, Minnesota is different.  The small downtown is clean, the buildings are in good repair, and there are many "real" small business in addition to the usual eateries. It felt alive. A good place!

I would like to say we choose to come here for this attraction:

The National Eagle Center, but that would be a fib.  Instead, it was a very lucky landing at the Big River RV Park at the edge of town.

We really enjoyed our visit to this most excellent research, rescue, and educational facility.

Merikay compares her arm span with the wing spans of some raptors.

After enjoying some of the exhibits we sat in on the 11 AM presentation. A very perky intern (not the handler in the picture below) gave a fun and informative program about the eagles. Then the handler brought in one of the resident eagles and fed him lunch.

Today, fish was on the eagle lunch menu.  Sunday is Rat day and they love it!

After the program we got to view four of the resident eagles up close with no glass or barriers between.  The resident eagles are all "rescue" birds that have been injured and are unable to survive in the wild. 

It was great to see them so close and to learn more about how wild eagles make their living.

If we had wanted to hang around until 2 PM we could have gotten our pictures taken with a living eagle, but not wanting to wait, Merikay opted for a picture with this lifesize eagle statue. 

We left our Jeep parked there and took a nice short walk along the river. 

Lilies were among my favorite flowers as a child. Lilies blooming in the fields and along the roads meant summer and vacation to me.  Funny, how the sight of them again has brought back so many childhood memories!

After our lunch sandwiches, we headed out of town to a park that promised an easy 2 mile nature trail. 

As it happened, we almost managed to spend some time in Minnesota without being attacked by vast clouds of mosquitos. I had expected them when we visited Judy, but except for a few deer flies and the usual adult force of ticks, we were not bothered at all. We went for several walks and had no problems until Friday.  

We set out on the forested nature trail and although we had sprayed ourselves with "Deep Woods Off", we had to turn back because the mosquito were swarming over Craig.  I am one of the rare people who although I might be bitten by an occasional mosquitoe I rarely welt up or itch. I'm just not allergic to them. A blessing! Deer flies yes, chiggers yes, spiders yes.  But not mosquitoes.  I don't know why, and I'm not asking.

Finally, this was one of several river boats we saw on the Mississippi.

There were some very nice ones docked near where we had lunch.  Someday, I would like to rent a houseboat, perhaps with another couple or two to share the cost and fun, and cruise down one of the big rivers. 

Water RVing?

Anyone want to go?