So far this year, November has been way better than October in the weather department.  It's a little hard to believe that Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks and that Christmas is comin'.  I know that Christmas is comin' because commercials don't lie and my mailbox is filling with catalogs.  'Tis the season.

We walked down and traipsed through the abandoned and deteriorating cabins at the old Hiawatha Resort. 

I stopped at a gas station in Wausau on my way up north on Friday -- a terrific Mom & Pop place that's definitely on my list.  It's nice to know where the good ones (i.e., clean bathrooms) are.  I found another on the way home -- looking for the first, but being distracted as well as having picked the wrong exit -- it's nice to know there are two!  Anyway, on the way up I bought some water and a Diet Coke and a bag of nut clusters because I was a little hungry.  I went out to my car and smartly decided to open the bag of nuts while still parked rather than wrestling with it while driving.  I pulled and pulled and pulled and could NOT get that bag open -- at all, I couldn't break that seal even one little bit!  This has been happening more and more with all sorts of sealed packaging -- or it opens, but splits WIDE open or spills or splatters.  Ugh.  I am strong as an ox, but I don't have a grip anymore!  I think I'll get a little scissors -- maybe foldable -- to carry with me all the time.  I actually went back inside and asked to have the bag cut open.