[So . . . now you know!  😉 ]

In case you hadn’t noticed, blog manage-ment and staff have been on vacation for several weeks.  Something to do with the usual mid-summer maladies – company, family, hot humid weather, and a desire to basically not do much.  Nevertheless, the crack staff photographer was on the job the entire period and his escapades will be issued at later dates.  Until then . . . we are required by local household law to first present, “We Went To Camp!”

Camp, as you may recall from past performances, is Camp Brosius, in (and on) Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  It is the Indiana University alumni camp, and both The Biddies are loyal and proud Hoosiers!  So, every year about this time, we pack up the car and leave a perfectly good lake in West Central Minnesota to drive all the way across our fair state, and Wisconsin, to the far eastern reaches of the Badger State to stay at another perfectly good lake.  It’s at least a 7 1/2 hour adventure . . . which could also place you in the Black Hills.  But it’s a family and friends annual reunion, so go we must.  And this year we had the added bonus of having Grandson Tom, who in the spring completed his freshman year of college (Purdue), the minimum requirement to be a camp counselor, be a counselor at the place where he has been a camper from the time he was in the womb (as his mom says).

We left last Saturday morning.  Son-in-law Danny lead the way . . .

The day was a tad on the dreary side.  I fired this shot through the sun roof.

We spent Saturday night in West Bend.  Although we couldn’t check into camp until 1:00 on Sunday, the supervisor doesn’t like to be rushed.  We dropped by in the morning . . .

To pick up the Grandson and take him to brunch in beautiful downtown Elkhart Lake.  We had to get him back to camp by noon . . . because he had work to do in preparation for the camper onslaught.  The summer camp period is 8 weeks long, with a new “shift” of campers every week.  Our 8th-week group would have 120 people!

Our brunch place!  That’s the supervisor’s sister Rita, a/k/a Biddie 1,  in the lower right foreground.  Above her in the white top is her daughter (our niece, under the Eskimo kinship system), Beth, and her “granddaughter” (we won’t go into that here), Katie.

As we strolled through the market on the way to the restaurant on the far side, it’s always good to be greeted by this reminder.

The restaurant rocks at 10:00 on Sunday mornings!  😉

Restaurant instructions.  Remember, Elkhart Lake is one of those cool little (population about 1,100) artsy communities – is it any wonder why I like it?

It’s the kind of place where the restaurant walls make you think.

Beth, Rita, the supervisor, Tom, and Katie patiently await their cool artsy food.  Note the women on the far wall for very soon future reference.

Son-in-law Danny has joined us at the table.  To show we are just a normal, All-American family everyone is viewing their social media devices.  Heaven forbid someone may have missed a tweet?  😉

This may have been used on my headstone . . . if I’d ever planned to have one.

Remember those women on the far back wall.  I pardoned myself and asked if they’d mind letting me shoot this photo.  Their reply was, “You don’t want a picture of us?”  Annie O’Flynn, of local Skilly & Duff, and Salty Dogs fame recently opined that “Free Beer” would be a great name for a band.  The advertising, of course, would read “Free Beer here!”

This is Elkhart Lake.  Camp Brosius is up on the far upper left (Northwest) corner, on the peninsula that juts north.  The town is on the lower right (Southeast) corner.  The lake is 300 acres in size, and you can walk around it in about 2 hours.

We had time after lunch for a little meandering about town . . .

The Biddies prepare to board one of the little cool artsy places.

The whole yard to the place is one giant garden – not a blade of grass to mow!  🙂

The supervisor is teaching “the kids” all about the joys of shopping.

Hmmmmm, I bet I could put the Cub Reporter to work making something like this for home!!   (Seeing those thoughts turning in her head, I immediately fled from the premises!)

Seating is available for those loathe to shop.

The place we just toured.

Just down the street . . . a wine and beer store!  🙂

We brought the boy back to camp.  We were still too early for check-in, so we snuck out the back way . . .

So we could drive in the “front door” again to be greeted by the counselors singing the camp song.  We were first!  ;- )

The “product” we’d just purchased at the wine store.  For you oenophiles out there, that is indeed a bottle of Sauterne on the left.

And Rita brought me a birthday present (still a month away).  Needless to say, said present was used exclusively by The Biddies!

Our porch, where much of the excitement would take place!

Katie and the supervisor visit Jami and Danny in their room in the Annex.

[The 63 steps from our place, and the cabins, down to the lake front and the dining hall.  Oy!  A climb a minimum of 3 times a day!

[This is how you can tell The Biddies are sisters!  Identical nappers!  And Rita has confiscated my bed!  It was a long drive for all to get there.

Our first meal, Sunday night, is Thanksgiving!  You can see the turkey through the screen door, being carved by Chef Larry.  🙂

Mom & Dad find their son, the counselor!

Going through the chow line . . .

Staff introduce themselves to the campers.  At our table, Nephew Chris, his mom Elke, and Katie, with Tom as the counselor on the right.  His fellow lady counselors all thought him cool and very smart!  😉

We are Brosius born and Brosiue bred . . .

Our porch, with Rita’s special lighting, from the top of the 63rd stair climbing back up.

Hot action on the porch.  I always thought they should rename the place Camp Euchre.  Euchre tournaments begin the night of arrival and continue all week.  While we lovingly know them as The Biddies, at camp they are known as The Dreaded Callecod Sisters!  They paired and blitzed through the fields in 2 tournaments, making the finals in one and the semi-finals in the other.  Rita claimed extenuating circumstances in the tournament where they only made the semi-finals – she said their opponents gave them too much wine!

Apologies to our Alex readers as this, and the next several following entries, will be mostly a family diary for those at camp.  We had a great week of weather . . . for those such as me.  It’s an older place with no air conditioning, so I was delighted that at night we had to don sweatshirts or jackets (note the photo above).

p.s.  Kudos to both the Alex Legion and VFW baseball teams for making their respective state tournaments!  🙂