Have you ever heard of of Hartman's Creek State Park? Neither had we until we visited Waupaca with some very dear old friends who lived there before we met them. We went on a boat tour of a chain-of-lakes in that area and then dinner at Clearwater Inn.

We began our visit at the beach.. There are restrooms and a changing rooms and a picnic shelter. There are rentals of kayak, paddleboard, peddle boat and floating mats available and we thought thee prices were very reasonable - $20/hr for the floats and less for the others. There was a beautiful breeze on this hot day.

There are multiple hikes around several small lakes within the park.

We ended the day with a visit to an historic old mill and wooden covered bridge which has long since been converted to a wedding venue and ice cream shop.

 Another state park we've visited recently is Kohler-Andrae near Sheboygan.

We don't believe we've been to this park ever before. It appears to have had some significant improvement recently, including some updated parking near Lake Michigan and a new bathhouse/restroom with running water and flush toilets.  There are still the pit type toilets in several areas.  There are also playgrounds, multiple picnic areas and a group camping area, though no individual camping.

A designated boarded walkway over the dunes has been constructed with limited access to an expansive beach.

The entire trail is about a four-mile round trip from parking area 5 or 6 on the park's map. The north end of the park has a nature center and the south has a large playground and picnicking area. There was also a butterfly habitat near the new bathhouse.

After we hiked, we sat for a light lunch on a bench. As we got ourselves ready, an 85-year-old gentleman, Jim, asked to share our bench.  We, of course, obliged. During conversation, we received a synopsis of his life story and some retirement advice, since he considered us "retirement babies".

We began our retirement traveling close to home (our Watertown home at the time). We visited Aztalan State Park in rural Jefferson County. It is a large open area of ancient Native American burial mounds on the shore of the Crawfish River and has a remnant of an ancient wood pole stockade that has been refurbished. It is a nice quiet place to pass a couple of leisurely hours hiking and learning.

It is believed these mounds contain both human remains and those of pottery, weapons and utensils.

There is a picnic area with toilet facilities and an office/nature center in a trailer. We've also visited this park in the winter and snowshoed.

Adjacent to this site is a local historical site. It contains a church and some log outbuildings.

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME

 Well, we haven't posted since September, 2018. As is typical with us, we get excited at the beginning, but, as time goes by, we lose ambition.

Since then, we've traveled to many places, including SGI again, to upper Michigan twice with friends, and to Vegas/Flagstaff/Grand Canyon/Sedona at the beginning of the COVID Wuhan virus lockdowns. THEY LOCKED DOWN VEGAS!!

An image of Vegas on our morning walk.

So, that being said, we are going to resurrect this blog because we have since retired, moved to a nice, two bedroom apartment in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (to be closer to our granddaughters), and have begun traveling as retired people This retirement has snuck up on us. John had always stated that he'd die at his desk while Sherri maintained she'd teach until she could no longer get up off the floor with her pre-schoolers. But, the stars aligned, God's plan unfolded and we knew it was time to retire. Sherri's mom, who had lived with us for the past twenty years, got to the point where she needed more care than we were able to provide.  So, with her moving into assisted living, we knew it was time for us to close that chapter of our lives in Watertown and begin a new one in Oshkosh.

The apartment search was frustrating. Senior housing units were uncooperative in that they wouldn't return phone calls or emails. Other ones wanted application money just to get information. So, we had to play a waiting game. After many drive-bys and several phone and email contacts, we decided on three to which apply. ONE had an actual opening and accepted our application. After several emails and phone calls (again) a move-in date was finally set and we could get our home in Watertown on the market and set a closing date.

The sale was a whirlwind in that the house sold in two days for a lot more than we could have hoped for and for $20,000 over, what we originally thought was an inflated, asking price! This allowed us to purchase our new car, a Kia Seltos, with cash and leave us with enough money to use as we see fit over time. 

The move was an eye-opener in that we realized how much STUFF we had! Sherri was GREAT in how she was able to down-size everything, sell those items we could, and part with others. We used the capacity of the new car to make several trips to Oshkosh as we were able to move in weeks before the original time frame. We were able to set up the apartment the way we wanted before all the furniture was moved in. We bought new living room and dining furniture, so that was delivered separately.

Our living room. That's a wood-burning fire place!

 The view of the Fox River from our second-story balcony

The next entries will be retrospectives of some trips we've taken since retiring. We look forward to you reading them.