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Hidden Valley Recreation Area
Encompassing 180 acres in the George Washington National Forest in Bath County, the Hidden Valley Recreation Area is one of our favorite places. It has a great, little campground that is managed by the best hosts, Toni and Judy, who work very hard to keep it clean and neat. The beautiful Jackson River runs through…
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Grok And I And The GMC
Me: Oct. 8, 2025 What causes GMC Sierra 3500 diesel error code, continue driving, cleaning exhaust filter? Grok: Understanding the “Cleaning Exhaust Filter – Continue Driving” Message on GMC Sierra 3500 Diesel The GMC Sierra 3500 with the Duramax diesel engine (typically the 6.6L L5P in recent models) uses a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) in…
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Grok, YouTube And I Fixed The GMC
December 1, 2025 It is dangerous, frustrating and frightening to have your truck go into “Limp Mode” while pulling a trailer. It first happened between Thunder Bay and Bayfield, Wisconsin on Lake Superior. The truck operates in reduced power and speed to protect the engine. It can happen for a variety of reasons: high engine…
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The Madison, Wisconsin Farmer’s Market
Making our way back to Virginia, we had some interesting stops along the way. I took one last picture of the St. Croix River before driving to Babcock County Park Campground in McFarland, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin is known for its cheese, but we haven’t really seen it. We drove Rt. 8 east…
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St. Croix National Scenic River
Thursday, September 25, 2025 We took two cruises on the St. Croix National Scenic River. I booked two nights in Interstate State Park, which is right on the river. People book this campground months in advance on the weekends. We were lucky to get a spot for a Wednesday/Thursday. We are on our way back…
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Northern Mushroom Tour
Tuesday, September 23, 2025 L:61 H:64 Martha picked up a brochure in the Farmhouse Restaurant about an outdoor class on mushrooms. We have wanted to do this for some time, so she called and scheduled it. Our last hike piqued our interest. There were so many mushrooms of all sorts. All of this rain and…
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Hike The Sea Cliffs Trail
Monday, September 22, 2025 L:61 H:65 I drove up to Walkie’s in the morning. He told me to come back if my check engine light came on, and it was. The truck was running a lot better. It sounded good and was getting better gas mileage. He wasn’t there, so I poked around the yard…
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Apostle Islands Cruise
Sunday September 21, 2025 L:61 H:72 It was a foggy, rainy night and morning. We drove into town for the 1:15 Cruise. They told us in the office to go down to the yellow line on the docks. We were early, but wanting to sit on the upper deck, we walked down, getting behind a…
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Madeline Island
Saturday, September 20, 2025 L:59 H 75 Martha loves a farmer’s market, so we went to Bayfield. It had been cloudy and a bit of rain, but by the time we got there, it was a sunny, beautiful day. It was a nice, little market with about 12 booths. Martha bought a couple of different…
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A Rainy Day In Little Sand Bay
Friday, September 19, 2025 L:58 H:63 It was a rainy, gray morning, which was nice to catch up on a few things – emails, a little news, the blog, etc. Since the Apostle Islands Cruise was cancelled yesterday due to high winds, we had scheduled for today. However, it wasn’t looking so good for today…