State Parks in MN might close

ahhh, sad day when they have to close the state parks. It just makes Joel and I sick that this might happen. We are big fans of State Parks and do all we can to help support them. An annual Park sticker is $25. $25 a night for a site with electric. We buy fire wood, maps, field guides all from the State. Before we had Ruth, we were tenters and always stayed at a State Park. We also always got an electric site to plug in the heater and for the air pump for the air bed! Regardless of State, we support/supported State Parks. We have to wait it out for about another 1 1/2 weeks to find out what will happen. In the mean time, we have our fingers crossed that Ruth will beable to stay at a State Park.

This list of Minnesota state parks contains the 68 State Parks, seven state recreation areas, eight state waysides, and 22 state trails in the Minnesota state park system, totaling approximately 267,000 acres.  A Minnesota state park is an area of land in the U.S.State of Minnesota preserved by the state for its natural, historic, or other resources. Each was created by an act of the Minnesota Legislature and is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The Minnesota Historical Society operates sites within some of them. The park system began in 1891 with Itasca State Park when a state law was adopted to "maintain intact, forever, a limited quantity of the domain of this commonwealth...in a state of nature." Minnesota's state park system is the second oldest in the United States, after New York's.
Joel & Debbie

Ruth's Popped Lid back on!

We were leaving when Ruth popped her lid. We were loaded, dog in the truck and heading out through the neighbors driveway. After hearing the clunking, asking Joel what that noise was...him finding Ruth's lid in the garden, Joel got to work. The adjusters popped out of the vent hood. They are machine pressed onto the hood. After TRYING for about 10 minutes to pop them back in, with no luck..called the son in law Alex to come over. They took the adjusters, (I know that is not the name for them) and filed off the little knob at the end, used the drill press to drill out, to put a bolt to hold it in place. Went to the hardware store so Alex could find a bolt with deep threads. Worked like a charm and much sturdier now than before. It pays to have a Mechanical Engineer in the family! The total cost for fixing Ruth's lid....$1.24! And off we went!
Alex went home so they could finish getting ready to go camping with us. We tried a few different private camp grounds this time but ended back at Forestville and got the last two spaces available for the busy weekend. It was "Take a kid fishing" weekend and the park was packed. So many activities going on at the park. Learning about Bats, Owls, fossil hunting, hiking. My grandson is quit the fisherman and this weekend Papa Joel taught him how to trout fish. Little guy did darn good! His first trout! Cooked it right up on the fire.

 Joel & Debbie

Oh, You ask...What's that?

Ruth's upper bunk vent!

Long story very short, moving Ruth out of the back yard, the vent caught on the telephone wire. Ripped that baby right off.

Poor Ruth

Joel & Deb

Our Family

We live in town and don't have a real big yard. In fact, the neighbors garage is partly on our property. We are on a hill...there is quit a slope behind Bernice. Along with HUGE Lilac bushes, trees, garden and Honeysuckle. Not to mention the vegetable garden! This is our back yard!!

Bernice's Door

Joel worked on the door this weekend. Trying to get it water proofed before we get rain. The door wasn't closing real tight. He rebuilt part of the frame and he worked on the metal frame straightening and patching the tears in it. He finished the door and looks great with a tight seal now. Here are a few pics....

Joel & Debbie

Curious...

Has anyone ever made a rock guard for the front window? Joel is online now, searching. He did find one about a Hurricane panel along with some pretty good directions. Most of the hardware is still intact for attaching the rock guard on Bernice.
Joel & Debbie

Bernice's BirthStamp!

Had Joel take a pic of the side of the sink with her Birthdate and the plate on the outside where she was made. Bernice has a birthday coming up! She will be 52! Joel and I are still older than she is!

Joel & Debbie

Ewwww...wanna see her at her worst!!

Mattress is out, cushions are out, drawers are out! Found 3 bumper jacks under the back bed and a VW jack. Mouses got the dog food off of one of the traps. Over one billion mouse terds removed. Other than that, no real surprises. Here is the inside before anything was removed today...and found the date on the side of the sink June 24th, 1959!

Joel & Debbie

Bernice's Trip Home

Home Sweet Home!!

Joel & Debbie

Bernice is Home

Bernice came home last night! Dragged the Son in law along, he is a mechanic, and between Alex and Joel, we had her on the road within 20 minutes! Don, the PO, pumped up the tires the night before for us, and they held air! There was some concerns about the hitch, being old and rusted, but we had ran out there earlier to make sure she was cleaned out and get the light fixtures down, and Alex and Joel did some oiling and greasing on the hitch so it would drop, and it did! There was a problem with the jack slipping but with some persistence, it did go up, and then down! I followed, I was the tail lights on the way home, driving behind,  and Joel said she was easier to pull than Ruth. She rode straight and smooth with no swaying. A bumper sticker on her read....Don't laugh, Its paid for! Alex thought that was great!
We backed her in to our back yard. We have to use the neighbors driveway to back in, we have to many trees to get around. She has a broken back window, so put the blue tarp over her, set mouse traps, and let off a bomb in her! Peeked in the windows this morning and no mice and not many flying critters either. There is a wasp nest in there, but I don't do creepy or crawly things, that's a job for Joel! She is in pretty rough shape. Poor old gal. Can't help but feel sorry for these old trailers. We haven't finished Ruth yet, she still needs some cosmetic surgery! I know people still look at Ruth on the outside and get that small wrinkle on their face, but once they see the inside their eyes open up and you see the smile! Neighbor came over last night about 10:30 and told us to help him find an old trailer to fix up! No problem, unless its a Shasta, I'll keep that one! I'll post some pics soon as I get them DL'd! Oh almost forgot, Bernice is a 59'! And along with Bernice, we got the original birth certificate! (title)!!! We about fell over when he had that in the trailer waiting for us!
Joel & Deb

Bernice 58'? or 59'?

Looking online at 58/59' Shasta's. We really aren't sure what year Bernice is? Anyone have an idea? Is there somewhere we can look? We have a 61' (Ruth) Shasta. The title came with Ruth so we knew what year she was created. But on the inside of the cupboard above the sink, the wood is stamped Feb. 22, 1962. Maybe she was started at the end of 61' and finished up in 62'?
If you have any idea's on where to look for a year, would love to know exactly how old Bernice is.
Thanks,
Joel & Deb