Ugggghhhh, coffee grinder woes! I spent $60 on a Cuisinart (yes made in China) grinder in 2018, hoping it would last many years. It’s flaking out on us. It comes with an 18m factory warranty and no I didn’t buy the 4 year extended warranty, was hoping for $60 I would be getting decent quality. In my 20 or so years of grinding coffee I’ve already gone through at least 5 coffee grinders, usually we just grab a cheapie. They never last more than a couple of years. I will always justify spending more money on something that will last many years. I didn’t find any electric coffee grinders made in the USA when I was in the market back in 2018, so went with the Cuisinart (this one for reference). It has 4.5 starts out of over 20,000 reviews (will be adding my negative review shortly). The on/off/grind switch is starting to flake out, we have to hold it down while inserting the plastic container all the way in. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
I called their customer service hoping I could send it in to be serviced, even if it was at my cost. She said no, it’s past the 18m warranty and there’s nothing they can do (I guess if I had bought the extended warranty they would’ve just sent a new one?). She said throw it out and buy a new one. They’ll offer me 20% off on a new purchase. It old her I will not be buying anything from them ever again if that’s their solution. I just hate the throw away culture. Anyway, what have you had luck with? I’m leaning towards a manual crank option or worst case, pre-ground! Of course, my 1st choice will be something made in the USA, does that exist? I’m imagining I can find some antiques off Ebay, might those have lead concerns? Comment below if you have knowledge on this topic please!
Wow! 9 years. 9 years ago today I decided to launch my own page on Facebook. I thought that I might as well start cataloging the info and resources I was finding along my mission to find the best & safest products on the market, that were also made in the USA whenever possible. If you’re newish to my journey, here’s an article from way back in 2013 that discusses what launched me on this path, my interview with American Made Insider.
What I really want to say today is what a great joy it has been to connect with so many of you over the years. Some of us go WAY back. My Son was 1 when I started my site, meaning he’s going to be 10 years old next month (say what!?). When I first began sharing my research findings with the online world I made a point to keep my personal life out of my posts. I desired to stay anonymous, and also not to have my kids childhoods be made public. But over time I could feel small connections being made with the conversations that were taking place daily in my group. As time went on, I learned more and more about your family, and felt safe and happy to share about my growing family too. The result of this is that we’ve truly grown into a wonderful community. I have actually met a few people from the group in real life, which is an INCREDIBLE experience. And I yearn for a lot more of that. But the fact remains, most of us will never meet. But it doesn’t diminish that I feel like we’re friends. I’ve asked for support over the past few years, both for my father, my friend with her struggling orchard, and many of you have stepped up big. When I posted yesterday about a Mama in the group whose 3 year old daughter is undergoing chemo for a rare type of cancer, several donated immediately. Stranger to stranger. That is something I will never take for granted. I firmly believe that human connection is more important than ever, and do know that feeling can be alive & well even in an online community.
I whole-heartedly started my blogging journey altruistically, wanting to connect with others who shared similar values. And I’m so proud of the path it has taken me down these past 9 years. And I’m eager to continue to follow this path and see what doors open next. As I get burned out and turn my back in one area, a door opens with new, exciting possibilities to pursue. And I will never, ever get tired of discovering new made in the USA products and companies. Each time I learn about something new (to me) my heart literally feels like it skips a beat.
So, thank YOU for being a part of my community. Thank YOU for continuing to vote with your dollars and considering the impact your purchases have on our communities, our families, our planet. Here’s to many more blogiversary posts in my future 🙂
Susie Z, one of my fellow Poofy Guides for many years now, my neighbor to the West in Minnesota, homeschooling Mama of 4, chapter leader for her local Weston A. Price group, is in need of help from strangers. You can read all the updates from her GoFundMe (click on ‘read older updates’), but long story short is: what they thought was an abscess in her daughter’s tooth turned out to be a rare form of cancer. Thus, she is going through chemo. She’s 3. I’ve been following the story for the past couple of weeks. When I asked Susie if there was anything she needed, anything I can do, she said not at the time. They were waiting to find out how much of the treatment insurance would cover, how much they would be responsible for out of pocket. Well, bills are starting to roll in, and $20,000 is their 1st portion, likely with higher numbers to come. I know we’re all like extended family here. And I know most of us are Mamas. Last week was Random Acts of Kindness Week. I know we’re not all in a position to donate financially, Susie knows that too. But even if a couple of us can chip in, we will help this family in need. My Eco-friendly USA group page has 5000+ people, if we all chipped in just $1, that would be a significant donation! And of course, keep this beautiful little girl, and their entire family, in your thoughts & prayers
One thing I want to start doing more of is moving really good Q & A that come up in my closed group page over to this site. This was the question: Anyone who is well studied on adaptogens? I love Poofy’s super shroom… is that considered an adaptogen? I’m looking at CHOQ and wondering what’s the difference and should I take both?
While I don’t necessarily want to give out medical advice here, I wanted to share the info that was shared regarding the topic in general. I wasn’t entirely sure on the difference between modulators and adaptogens myself. But I shared this article that I reference frequently regarding immune stimulators vs modulators, you can read it here. I was glad a college-trained herbalist in my group who is my go-to for advice on topics such as this weighed in. Here’s what she said regarding the difference: modulator refers to the immune system. Adaptogen refers to your adrenals and stress/nervous system response. Nice thing about mushrooms is that they are both modulators and adaptogens.
I’m a huge fan of Poofy’s Super Shrooms myself! I don’t take any supplements daily, but I do take the Super Shrooms several times/week. Growing up, and actually into my 30’s I did not like to eat mushrooms at all, I picked them out of any dish. But I’ve come to appreciate them now! But I was a bit leery of how this tincture would taste, if it tasted like a dried up mushroom I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy it. But the good news is, it pretty much tastes like alcohol, with a little bit of chocolate flavor even. It tastes nothing like mushrooms. It does burn a bit, but I’ve found I can tolerate it now. I just hold it under my tongue as long as I possible can (about 30 seconds).
I have come to have SO much respect for mushrooms not just on burger with fried onions, but for their plethora of medicinal powers. They truly are amazing little powerhouses! Here’s some info about Poofy’s Super Shrooms blend, and if you click on the link at the bottom you can read more about the particular mushrooms selected. Also, for a LOT more info go to PubMed and do some reading, there is a ton of info.
triple extraction process contains 14 different mushrooms! Take around 100 days to make this tincture! 1. Mushrooms are fermented to make the polysaccharides, triterpenoids and alkaloids more bioavailable. 2. Hot water extraction, because polysaccharides are only water soluble 3. 90 days in alcohol, because triterpenoids are only alcohol soluble.
I offer a 10% rebate on all 1st time orders as a thank you for registering as my customer., and EVERY order after that earns a 5% rebate! What you do: go to ‘login’ then ‘create customer account’ using my link. Then complete your order, shipping is free over $55. Afterwards, send me an email with your order # and let me know how you’d like the rebate, options are: PayPal, Venmo, check, Poofy gift certificate towards a future order.
I’m guilty of falling into the ease of ordering from Amazon. But please take a few extra minutes to cross-check from the vendor directly. I was about to order some organic boxers for my Son, from City threads, via Amazon. I took 3 extra minutes to compare with City Threads directly. Here’s the difference: $33.25 via City Threads, $34.76 via Amazon…. And they don’t have to give Amazon a chunk of that so it’s a big difference for the vendor. I know return policies are a big deal, especially when it comes to clothing.
Here’s City Threads policy: City Threads offers returns for full refund or store credit within 30 days from when the order is received. The customer will be responsible for paying a small cost to return the item, as listed below: RETURN ONE ITEM: $3.67 shipping cost (deducted from refund when we receive returned item). RETURN 2 OR MORE ITEMS: $7.55 flat-rate shipping cost (deducted from refund when we receive returned item).
It’s so easy to justify Amazon Prime and “free shipping”. It’s not frickin’ free, it’s $119/year. So City Threads came in cheaper, and that included $4.75 1st class shipping. So much of life is about habits, and I am pushing myself to get out of the 3 click ease of buying via Amazon.
City Threads, a great source for made in the USA and even ORGANIC underwear and other clothing! https://www.citythreads.com/
This summer will mark 8 years since I started offering a buying club. Way back then I was doing many reviews for products and I’d consistently get feedback such as: oh, I’d like to try that item but shipping is so expensive… And it dawned on me: why don’t I bring together a bunch of my favorite brands/products so you can pay just 1 shipping fee and try a bunch of samples & new items? The 1st orders were tiny, I did them on my kitchen table, at night, while my family slept, trying not to squeak the tape gun while I sealed boxes up. Then I moved to my Mom’s basement for a couple orders. The orders kept growing, and growing! I was doing 4 orders/year at that time & I needed more space. I rented an office in town for several years. At the height of the orders, I had no problem getting 125 orders. I even had to outsource data entry and hire my niece to help me fill the orders in a timely manner.
Fast forward to now. The timing of the orders has been set in stone years in advance: Feb, June, Oct. I send out at least 3 email newsletters before & during each order. I post almost daily reminders on Facebook… And the orders just aren’t coming in. There are numerous reasons, and we don’t need to get into them all. Also, I just finished up my books for last year and I make so little income once it’s all said & done, and I put a ton of time into it. It has brought me great joy over the years to facilitate getting these great products to everyone, supporting the vendors we do (many are group members) and that joy has kept me going more than the income it has brought in. But honestly I’m feeling burned out by the whole process too.
So, we’re going to try something new: 2 orders/year, Feb & September & see how that goes. I will work on the line-up for Sep soon, so everyone knows. I’ll plan on it being pretty large, offering the most popular vendors. Taking a break may be the death of the club forever, or it may revive interest in it. I pay a considerable amount to host my Pure Play Kids website, and I look forward to having more time to grow that site. While I can’t stock all the personal care products from the vendors I offer via the buying club, I would be able to offer many shelf stable items from the vendors that we’ve all come to love.
All that being said, I will extend last night’s deadline until this Sunday (2/14) at midnight central. Anyone who would like to add on to your existing order, or place one last order before the break, email me at: ecofriendlyusabuyingclub@gmail.com
While I’m not ready to turn my back on Fb entirely, I still enjoy a lot about the platform, I have been thinking about alternate ways to connect with everyone and most importantly to archive the great info shared there. And I know some have indeed cut ties with Fb entirely, I hear from them with questions via email. This platform is a resource at my fingertips yet entirely underused. I used to migrate info over here regularly, there are extensive archives which link to Fb threads that had a lot of info, but they’re all quite outdated now. My stats here tell me I have at least 200 unique visitors daily, some days many times that. SO, my plan is to try to get more dialogue happening here, as well as to migrate over important topics & info that come up in my Fb group. I’ve had comments turned off for many years (SO much spam, but I’ll deal with it), I’m going to enable those and I look forward to hearing from anyone who cares to participate.
I don’t anticipate daily postings, my goal is a few times/week. But when there is a flurry of activity in my Fb group, expect a flurry of activity here. I’ll work on getting more organized and creating tags & categories such as kitchen, bathroom, personal care, etc. And there is a search bar of course. Think of this as a supplement to what we already have going on in Fb, and I feel like a more permanent cataloging of the great info we share there regularly. In a couple months I will celebrate my 9th Blogiversary. I dislike having all my eggs in 1 basket, and currently, 11/12 of them on Facebook…
All the Sale Details: 15% off Sale starts Friday 11/27 @12:01am EDT, ending Monday 11/30 @11:59pm EDT. No code needed, 15% off will be applied when checking out (you must be logged in as a customer).
Shipping is always free over $55 (after discounts), and I offer an additional 5% rebate on all orders – be sure to place your order with my link, then shoot me a message after you order to claim it and let me know how you want your rebate.
BRAND NEW CUSTOMERS receive 10% off your 1st order, as a rebate. 1st, use my link, go to Login>Create Customer account. Then place your order and shoot me an email afterwards. Rebates are available via PayPal, Venmo, check, gift certificate, your choice!
Poofy CBD will also be 15% off for the 4 days. It is a separate link, and ships separately (but always free). I do not offer the additional 5% rebate on CBD. Shop Poofy CBD here
REMINDER: All gift set products are in limited quantity, they’ve made large amounts of everything. But due to packaging shortages as a result of Covid-related issues, they can’t just buy more & make more. What’s available is what there is, when it sells out, it’s gone. Also, they ship in the order received, so ordering on Fri vs Mon could make a difference of a week or even 2 for them to get to your order. So please, take the time to make your list now, be ready, and get your order in. My advice: shop early, and shop often
Holiday Gift Sets In addition to Holiday Gift sets, already in a gift box for you to take all the work out of it, there are holiday products offered as singles too! All sets are limited quantity, so order early! View all the Gift Set and holiday options here!
New Products There have been so many new Poofy products released the past few months including new scents, coffee scrubs, exfoliating cleansers, and more! Check them all out hereand try something new!
+Poofy VIP Text Alerts Want to stay up to date on all things Poofy? Simply text POOFYVIP to 474747 to opt-in. Receive text alerts including advance sale notifications, secret sales & discounts, early access, new product launches, 12 Days of Poofy and more!
TAKE 30% OFF ALL ITEMS. Add on to any existing Pure Play order and pay just the $5 flat rate shipping via Pure Play, email me and it all ships together!
Email me to claim items. Shipping will be exact charges from either USPS or FedEx: ecofriendlymamausa@gmail.com. Next order is in Feb 2021
We’re home, after exactly 40 nights of camping, almost 6 whole weeks, 1/2 of summer! Phew. It’s hard to sum up what it means to me to be able to do this with my family. And I’ve had so many comments from friends, family, online friends, wondering how we are able to do this? A few things: in the spring, I work 7 days/week for ~8 weeks straight in the greenhouse business. The rest of my businesses are all online, so I can do them from anywhere on the road. Financially, the main factor allowing for this freedom is we live with practically 0 debt. I purchased a very cheap shell of a house when I was 20. I slowly chipped away at finishing, and eventually adding on to the house, as my budget allowed, often with free, upcycled, recycled materials. So I was able to pay off my mortgage at age 37. My husband and I have not taken out a loan for a vehicle in our 20 years together. We’re currently driving a Ford Explorer as our camper tow vehicle, which we purchased for $1000 from our neighbor. After ~$700 worth of new parts, all the work done by my Hubby, it was more than road worthy. An awesome fact from our trip, we put on just shy of 4,000 miles! We pay off our credit card every, single month. So basically, if we can’t afford something, we don’t buy it. Also, out of our 40 nights camping, 14 of them were at free campgrounds. We did spend 2 nights at a cabin mid-trip, which increased our nightly average, but our 40 night average came in at $23. Our biggest expense was food, but other than that, especially with Covid, we really kept to ourselves as much as possible and didn’t do a whole lot in activities that hit the pocketbook. So really it is the time factor, I have always and will always maintain: time is more precious than money to me, and these 6 weeks spent traveling with my family, in our tiny little pop-up, are 100% priceless to me.
Okay, an additional bit of background, to make it even more interesting. I set off on this adventure with 2 broken bones (my foot and my ankle). When we left, it was barely 2 weeks post-break. Many people expressed disbelief that I was going through with our plans. But my main thought was: I have a limited amount of summers with my kids. They are growing up so quickly, and in a few years they’ll be saying what I did at 16 when my parents went to Canada and I opted to stay home and work and hang out with my friends… So no, laying around on the couch and feeling sorry for myself was out of the question. Here’s one post I did from the road about it: It’s been 24 days since I missed the bottom step in my home and broke 2 bones. The bruises are fading, although still visible. It amazes me how quickly our bodies can heal, and how we also can learn to cope with pain. I can be heard saying “owwwww” at least 20 times/day as I get sudden, deep down, shooting pains. But they pass, and I know it’s my body healing itself back together. I’m so, soooooo grateful for my amazing Husband who has taken on his new role of caretaker with grace. It’s not easy setting up camp, and tearing down days later, on your own. I do what I can, but he does 90% of it all. And still, we’re having an amazing time and look forward to several more weeks on the road. Today is the 1st day I’ve sat an adventure out. Hubby and the kids went to one of our favorite fishing spots, but there is a super steep bank that is difficult even under the best conditions. So I’m chillaxing with my girl Shiloh, resting the foot, and reading 100 Things Pearl Jam Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die And enjoying every second of my lazy Tuesday!
Updates from the road:
Night 13 of camping. No. It’s not all glorious. My son is especially prone to being hangry, unhappy over trivial things, inconvenienced. My daughter goes with the flow and is incredibly easy going and an amazing traveler. We definitely have some bumps in the road, but more often than not, we have awesome days. Today was 1 of them. Perfect 70ish degree day, with a breeze. Our dog started dock jumping along with the kids. This is something they do for hours on end, and I already lament the day that they think it’s boring. I gazed at the sky for hours. Looking back at this moment, I especially love the shadows on the dock. And for me, 1st day in 30 since my fall without crutches! Stronger by the day, and it feels ammmmmmmmmmazing!
When I posted that we’d been camping 13 nights in my Eco-friendly USA group page, I had these comments, which is what spurred me to share my extended thoughts as I’m doing now. Comment: 13 days! Impressive! We only ever go for 2 nights (in tents). Just this morning around the fire my friend and I were discussing how we don’t think we could do 3 nights. 2nd comment: What do you all do? After hiking, kayaking, and swimming at the beach my children were getting restless and a bit bored.
A: We’re on a 30 night+ trip! We’ve upgraded to a pop-up (from a tent) so that helps. The most we did tent camping was 12 nights. And yes, the older I get, the less enjoyable the tent was. But I feel like I could live in the pop-up! My kids (and Hubby) are fishaholics, they can fish morning, noon, and night. With a lot of swimming in-between. We drive a couple hours, stay 5-7 nights, drive a couple more, stay another 5. Each area leads to new day trips and exploring. There are a lot of waterfalls up here in northern WI, and a bazillion lakes and rivers. I WANT my kids to be bored. I want them to figure out what to do with themselves when technology isn’t an option. We have several board games, a bin of art supplies, books, for some basic entertainment. My hubby told them he made homemade bows and arrows when he camped as a kid, so the other night he helped them each make one. And they “hunted” squirrels and chipmunks in the camp ground. Don’t worry, there was no chance they were actually going to hit one. But they spent hours trying. Then our black lab ended up eating most of the arrows they made out of sticks, lol. But honestly, being bored is the goal, and we can’t accomplish that in a couple nights…. There are definitely challenges, it’s not all pure bliss. But it’s important to me to make these memories with my kids, and see as much of our beautiful world as we can. My oldest is 9 already, I know those teenage years are coming and friends will be more fun than Mom & Dad…
They would absolutely be on their tablets all day long, if I let them. Once I tell them to put them away, they find stuff to do! I hear: want to go play at the playground Sissy? Want to go scooter? Want to take the dog for a walk? We literally spend hours upon hours swimming, jumping off docks, playing on play grounds, each place is new & exciting. They are now able to pump on swings by themselves, something my 9 year old Son just learned how to do this year actually. So I’ve turned into the Mom who was asked to give under ducks and push, to the Mom who gets to sit on the bench and observe, something I actually NEED to do this summer as I’m nursing my broken bones. These moments of sitting and watching them run and play, when they don’t need me, are so bittersweet. This is a small reminder of how quickly they are growing, and why I’m so adamant about maximizing our time together.
One day they started doing handstands in a lake, and asked me to judge. This turned into no less than 3 hours of judging. They both have a competitive nature, so it was non-stop diving, handstands, me scoring: 6.3, 8.2. Over and over, and over. When I’d find myself starting to get bored and about to say let’s go, I’d stop myself. Go do what, why, what’s better than this? Again, I know these moments are fleeting. By next summer, or the following, they’ll be beyond these competitions. And I have a feeling I’ll long for them.
One day we saw a black bear cross the highway while driving, so that started a game of animal I-Spy. We put monetary amounts on each animal. Common things like squirrels & deer were worth $.25. A bear was worth $5, moose and elk were worth $20 (suuuuper rare and I knew we wouldn’t see one), and adult had to verify siting. But basically, these are the types of strategies I used to keep them off their tablets (we did a lot of driving and they like to be on tablets during drive time), keep them engaged and interested in our surroundings.
It’s super interesting watching a campground fill up as a weekend arrives. We’re at a new to us spot in Salon Springs (used to be a state park, sold back to county a few years ago). There are only 30some sites total, maybe 10 were occupied when we arrived on wed, it was pretty dang quiet. Now, the place is hopping. It’s fine, but we definitely prefer the quiet! There are dogs barking (not our good girl), games of cornhole happening, ACDC blaring, an occasional train, all the smells of 30 dinners being cooked at once. We’re having pork tenderloin stir fry, can’t wait! And my kids, well, they’re practicing shooting chipmunks on homemade bow & arrow while the neighbor kids do rounds on their electric scooters….
We know that one of these summers our kiddos will outgrow the playgrounds we frequent around the state. But for now, we cherish moments like this, we were all cracking up so hard, hooting and hollering on a swing that looks like kids probably hadn’t enjoyed it in quite some time. These are the moments of our long summer days that I cannot get enough of
After 13 nights camping, we decided to spring for an adorable little cabin for 2 nights. Not like we’re really roughing it in the pop-up, but all meals happen either over the fire, our 1 burner, or the Instantpot. So, having access to a full kitchen for 2 days means I’m prepping for the next week of camping big time! A quick trip to the local grocery store (I’m so thankful that I’m able to get around well enough to do the shopping again!), and a little over an hour in the kitchen, and all this is happening!!
I love the challenge of coming up with as many meal ideas as possible, with what I have on hand and what I can find at the local grocery store. Being up in the northwoods of WI reminds me of shopping in Belize: organic food is rare, which is hard to get used to… As I tell me kids, we eat what we have, not necessarily what we want. It’s over an hour drive to a decent sized town, so we’ll definitely hit that up once we get up that way.
So I looked in my food bin from home and had 3 cans of tuna and 2 packs of organic alfredo sauce, so tuna casserole is in the oven. I still had some organic purple carrots from home too, so shredded a bunch of those into the mix, the color is so pretty! The grocery store had a discounted veggie platter, it needed to get used up quick, so the cauliflower & broccoli from that went into the casserole, along with onions & garlic. Super easy, in the oven in no time!
I was able to find a bag of organic potatoes, so since the oven is going, I threw 6 potatoes in to pre-bake as well. Potatoes take a long time over a fire, so having them pre-cooked saves a ton of time, and they can be used in a breakfast scramble, or other side for dinner. I found some local, organic ground beef, score! So I have 2 packs of that cooking into Sloppy Joe’s/BBQ’s! I love making these because they’re super easy to make, as well as super easy to re-heat. We eat them on buns, with chips as a kinda’ dip, or even on a baked potato!
Not organic, but I grabbed a pork tenderloin which is in the Instantpot currently too, while all this other stuff cooks. We love carnitas, and we can also add BBQ sauce and make it into sandwiches. I have some steel cut oats from home, so after the pork is done, I’ll make a few days worth of those in the Instantpot, and will just re-heat them with some milk for a quick breakfast. And for veggies, tomorrow there’s a farmer’s market in town, so I’ll absolutely be hitting that up! I hope to get enough ingredients to pre-make a huge salad (and yes, I bring my Vejibags on the road), and then I will wash & pre-chop/prep whatever else I find.
For storage for all of this, we left with 6qts of Kombucha in glass mason jars. Those are now all empty, so will get filled up with the above. Once I run out of those, I will use Gal Ziplocs. No, I don’t love them, but while camping I do use plastic more than I ever would at home. Glass is heavy, and bulky, and I try to balance the use of both. So, that’s my update from the road I’ll add this to my camping meal post from last year: https://ecofriendlymamausa.com/recipes/camping-meals-made-easy/
Random updates from the road: 2 broken bones can definitely slow my roll, but not stop me from enjoying the rest of my summer! This dip in Windfall Lake felt nothing short of baptismal!
Putting my foot up after a long day of hobbling around without crutches (YAY!)
One of the best investments that helps us cut costs (literally) while on the road is this electric chainsaw! Wood is super expensive, at least $10/ night if we have to buy it, $20 if we want to stay up after dark. TIMES 30 nights or more that more than pays for this @ $200! Rechargeable, quiet, lightweight, gets the job done!
One rule of the road is ABC: Always Be Charging. And we were, especially when we were at off-grid sites. We drove somewhere daily, so my phone, the chainsaw, the kids tablets were always plugged in to be topped off while they could.
One of our other investments that we’re looking to cut out is ice. We have a tiny fridge in our pop-up, and the Instantpot actually blew all but 1 circuit (including the fridge) while we were on the road. Now that we’re home, my Hubby was able to fix it all. But, we lived out of 2 coolers for the majority of this trip. So we had to buy ice daily, running us ~$5/day. We mulled over several solutions, but ultimately have decided it’s time to upgrade to a larger, hard-sided rig with a decent fridge/freezer combo.
As I mentioned above, we spent 14/40 nights at free campgrounds. We got really lucky and found 1 that even had electricity, free + electric is pretty rare. There are websites/apps devoted to free camping in each state, for many, it’s a way of life. We like to do a mix of free and fee sites, as I have grown to like some amenities. Potato Falls is our free, but no amenity site that we’ve camped at for 4 years in a row now, and have really come to love. Here is the post I did when we got set up there, along with a few pics:
We’re all set up at Potato Falls! Always a gamble with just 6 sites, but we haven’t struck out yet in our 4 years of coming here (we always hit it on a Mon). 3 of the 6 sites were occupied, but we got ours. No electricity, 1 pit toilet, can barely see the next site, also free! It’s heavily shaded and always breezy. It rained a lot up here yesterday so all creeks and rivers are raging. There are more vehicles than we’ve ever seen here at the trailhead to the falls, you can hear them raging from our camper. Trent and kids just went to hike down to them now, something my ankle isn’t quite ready for yet. Feels great to be back at one of our favorite spots! NO electricity, so when it gets dark, we pull out lanterns, and generally go to bed fairly early, or sit by the campfire for awhile.
Going off grid means you need to simplify. We made cold brew coffee instead of using our electric perk. Instead of toast with eggs we’d make scrambles and use tortillas. Every problem has a solution, and you get creative when you need to. And believe me, we were just as happy, if not happier, off grid. It’s soooo quiet and beautiful, we really enjoyed feeling more connected to nature. I’ve found that when you lower your expectations, you are often pleasantly surprised!
Even as someone who has grown up in this state, and been to the northern part of the state several times, it still boggles my mind how much water is up here. Those blue specks are all lakes and rivers. Today we head north a couple more hours to the shores of THE greatest of all lakes, Superior!
I don’t think we could’ve done this many weeks without our kids revolting had we not had 2 of our best families of friends coming to join us at the 1/2 way point. 2 families drove 6 hrs to spend a week on Lake Superior with us. And it was nothing short of epic. None of us had camped more than 3 nights together before. And we had THE best time. We each have 1 girl, 1 boy, and 1 dog, all very close to the same age. The kids played for a week straight. We fed and watered them, took them fishing and swimming, and they seriously just played together from sunrise past sundown. Each family has a dog, and they played so hard, so good, non-stop. The Dad’s took a day to go kayaking together, the Mom’s took a day to go out for lunch and to a casino (a 1st for all of us). We stayed up past the kids bedtime every, single night and laughed around the fire. My soul needed this so badly, and it was just amazing to share this time together, in one of my all-time favorite spots. I’m so grateful they took me up on my offer!
Our dog really did amazing too. This is our 1st summer with her, we adopted her last fall. She definitely felt the need to be guard dog of our site, but she adapted really well to all the moving, setting up & tearing down, and generally is just a true joy as an addition to our family.
Soooooooo much history up here. Every day is a lesson, for adults and kiddos. Homeschooling doesn’t take a break for summer vacation. One major lesson we’ve learned about our state is how important rivers were, vital to the fur trade and other early development.
Update on my healing progress: 6 weeks ago today I broke my foot and my ankle. 2 weeks ago I weened myself off crutches. Yesterday my new crocs, 2 sizes 2 big, arrived at my friend’s house up north. I’m still taking it slow, but my body says it’s ready for this new stage, and it feels soooooooo gooooooood!
So, here’s my conclusion:
I believe that just about everything has a silver lining, even a pandemic. Just about every, single thing we had planned for this summer was cancelled. We celebrated my Baby Girl’s 7th birthday with a campout, came home for 2 days, and headed out for what turned out to be 2 nights shy of 6 weeks of camping in this amazing state of ours. Normally, we’re lucky if we have 2 weekends in a row free, so something like this would never have been possible before. Our home, sweet home shows the signs of a birthday campout, turning around and leaving again. Of my nest on the couch, where I spent 2 weeks doing just about nothing while nursing my 2 broken bones. An office that I used my wheeled office chair to scoot around in, and fill my 90 buying club orders before heading out of town. Our yard looks like a jungle, what did we expect leaving it in July & August?
Yet, it’s home, and we are so grateful for this place on the banks of the Kickapoo River. When we left I was not even bearing weight on my broken foot/ankle, hobbling along on crutches. And during the course of our trip, I was able to start putting weight on it. I eventually ditched the crutches. I eventually ditched the boot. And here I am, walking with a lace-up ankle brace, climbing stairs even, instead of crawling on my knees and butt-scooting down. And it feels nothing short of AMAZING! And slowly but surely, everything is going in its place. We were greeted with a huge box of freshly picked veggies from my in-laws garden: tomatoes, potatoes, cukes, onions, YAY! Our kids are overjoyed to be able to play Minecraft with their friends once again. Our dog has slept in the coolness of the A.C all day. Grateful. Humbled. Blessed. Happy. Healthy. Home.
It was very interesting to see how attitudes towards mask wearing differed from county to county throughout the state. While we were gone the Governor put a mask mandate into effect. Yet 70/72 county Sherriff’s said they would not enforce the rule. And for sure, some counties we saw very high levels of compliance, other counties were very lax. When we went out to eat we tried to stick to places with outdoor dining. We went to a pizza joint towards the end of our trip and not 1 member of the staff, nor anyone dining inside had a mask.
My perspective on Covid was this: we have a chance of catching it anytime we leave the house. Am I willing to stay home for a few weeks, or even a few months, in isolation? Yes. Am I willing to stay home for months, even years, on end? No. As I think I’ve made pretty clear above, time making memories with my kiddos is precious, and they are growing super quickly. I don’t get a do-over on the summer of 2020. So no, I’m not willing to sit it out. I am willing to take some risks. WI is a rural state. We are not a hotbed for the virus. Camping allowed us to social distance, while making amazing memories at the same time.
Eco-Friendly Mama: Safe product recommendations with a focus on organic and Made in USA! 