John and I got up around 5:30 a.m. so we could get our walk in before the day got too hot--it was 71 degrees when we started out this morning and the temps reached the mid 90's by the afternoon. We used the AC for the first time today.

John thought he had to help JD in the shop, but things weren't ready to be assembled, so he spent time in the garden picking strawberries. We were fortunate that the weather was so cool and rainy while we were away and the berries didn't start to ripen until this week. There seems to be plenty of strawberry jam left from last year, so we plan to put some of this year's crop in the freezer and eat the rest.


After breakfast, I went up to Sara's to get my hair cut and to discuss menus for the Fourth of July weekend. Amy's family will be here for the holiday, so today I got busy baking some cookies and making potato and Jello salads.


This afternoon was so warm, we just vegged inside in the AC watching a few TV shows. Matt and Hanna stopped over to pick up a screen door that was stored in the shed and spent some time in the coolness visiting and filling us in on Diesel's escapades.

After being gone for over two weeks, eating more than we should, and generally being lazy, we decided it was time to get back to somewhat healthier living. John and I got up early so we could get a walk in before the day heated up. It felt good to get the joints moving and enjoy the cool morning breezes.

John spent most of his day mowing grass--by late this afternoon he had it well in hand. My time was spent finishing going through all the mail that had accumulated, paying bills, and thinking about what to have for supper. After eating out for days, I have to remember that I have to think about that now. It's all part of getting back into the routine. We are slowly getting back into ours. Our evening was spent watching the finale of The Voice and working on the computer.

John and I were up very early and down for breakfast at the motel by 6 a.m. We wanted to get on the road in the hopes we could be home by mid-afternoon. Our one glitch was the morning rush hour in St. Paul, MN. We hit a little stop and go traffic, but soon got through the worst of it and had smooth sailing the rest of the way around the Twin Cities.

There is a Cabela's store on the route home, so John decided to stop and look for new fishing lures. He soon found what he what he wanted and we were on our way again.

We reached Bemidji by noon and headed to Burger King for a quick bite before going to the bank to take care of some financial business. From there we did a little grocery shopping--just enough to get us through a few days as the car was pretty full and we didn't have much room for bags of groceries. Once we got home, John started cutting grass. We were gone for 16 days and they had over 4 inches of rain during that time--the grass was pretty tall. While John was busy mowing, I unloaded the car and began unpacking. Next was sorting all the mail and email. We took a break for supper and then headed up to Clearbrook to get more gas for mowing and to stop at Matt's to see the kids.

As I mentioned last night, we have a new family member. His name is Diesel, he's a Golden Retriever about 7 weeks old, and he lives with Matt's family. He joined their family over the weekend and seems to enjoy his new life.

Finally we were able to get back on the internet here in Wisconsin. We weren't able to get on line at Gus's, so there were no blog updates for several days. I will recap what we have been doing on our travels.

Friday morning, Ginny made us a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit, juice, toast, and coffee cake. What a send off for our day of driving to Ohio. We really enjoyed our time with the Johns, and look forward to seeing them on the golf course next winter.

Our Garmin showed us the way to Ohio, but we made one wrong turn at some road construction and ended up taking a tour of downtown Cincinnati. Our trusty Garmin showed us the way out of there and back onto the right road to Gus's house.

John and I arrived around 4 p.m. Katie was in charge of VBS and tonight was the final day of the program, so she had to leave early. Gus ordered in some pizza and after eating left to help Katie with the cleanup at church. Upon their return, we spent the rest of the evening visiting and catching up. When Becky, our niece, got home from her job, we were also able to spend some time with her that evening.

Saturday was a pretty quiet day--most of it spent visiting and then going to do some shopping at Harbor Freight and Hobby Lobby. We taught Katie and Gus the game of Hand and Foot--the women beat the men both games.

Sunday we woke to heavy rains that lasted most of the morning. Driving to church was a little bit of a challenge as the roads were flooded. Following the service, there was a church picnic which was held in the Fellowship Hall due to the weather. For supper Katie and Gus took us to O'Charley's where Becky works as a waitress. We requested to be seated in her section, and needless to say, her dad and uncle had a good time teasing her while she waited on us.

Today we were up bright and early to say good-bye to Gus and Katie and hit the road for the final leg of our adventure. We made it to Eu Claire, WI, after almost 12 hours on the road. We hope to make it home sometime tomorrow afternoon. It'll feel good to get home and see the grand kids again. We have a new family member to meet. More about that tomorrow.

Well, John and I had another busy day with Ginny and Lloyd. Some of our morning was spent just visiting and then we went on a tour of the Amish countryside. Lloyd really knows his way around all the back roads and we were able to see many of the Amish homes and farms as well as their businesses. We stopped at a couple of their food stores and made a few purchases.

Around noon we stopped for some lunch before heading off to the Lincoln Log Cabin, an Illinois State Historic site. There we learned about Abe Lincoln's father and the farming of that era. By this time we were all pretty tired and decided to call it a day and head back home. Following a supper of pizza, we played a couple of games before heading off to bed. We have had a wonderful visit with Lloyd and Ginny--tomorrow we hit the road for Ohio and a visit with John's brother.

Well, I am finally back on the internet and ready to update you all on the last few days of our travels. Monday morning we left Tim and Mary Ellen's to drive to Lake Village, Indiana to see Gene and Jeannie Bevins. It wasn't a very long drive to their place and we arrived right after lunch.

After getting a tour a their very nice home and visiting for a little while, Gene took us to Fair Oaks dairy where we took a tour of the barns, milking parlor, and birthing barn. This place is amazing--they milk at least 65 cows at one time. I never saw so many holsteins in one place. We even got to see a calf being born. Gene then took us out for supper and a little tour of their area. Our evening ended playing the game of Farkel.

Tuesday morning we toured the town of Cedar Lake and visited with Everett and Darlene Endris. Everett is recovering from knee replacement surgery and is on the mend. Next stop was lunch, more touring and finally back to the house for some of Jeannie's delicious vanilla pudding dessert.

Today we left the Bevins and continued south to Oakland, Illinois, to see Lloyd and Ginny Johns. We arrived right around noon, and they took us out to a local state park for lunch. When we returned to the house, John and I were taken on a four wheeler tour of their trails through the woods and along the river. That little adventure was followed by a ride through the countryside where Lloyd showed us some of his son's farming equipment and his many acres of corn and soybean. I think there is more corn here than in Iowa.

I am using the John's computer to write the blog this evening, so I can't post any photos until I am using my own laptop. I will put some of the photos of our travels on then. It's time for supper, so that's all the news for now.

Well, in case you all are wondering why I didn't post anything on the blog yesterday, Mary Ellen and Tim kept us so busy yesterday that we didn't get back home from all of our adventures until after midnight. I was just too tired to even think about anything else except getting into bed.

We have had a marvelous time with the Miners. Each day ME started us off with a delicious breakfast which was served out on the patio.


Following breakfast, we headed off to an art fair held in East Grand Rapids. Once there we walked around looking at all the wonderful photography, pottery, and much more. John and I bought a ceramic tile to remind us of our Michigan trip. Next we stopped at a book sale where ME and Tim purchased a few items. The adventure continued with a tour of downtown Grand Rapids and lunch at a deli in the Amway Hotel--it has a beautiful lobby.

Grand Rapids skyline

I think by now you are getting a picture of how our day went. Next stop was a tour of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. We spent quite a bit of time there--it was very interesting learning about his life and Presidency.

Windows of museum reflecting the city

Back in the car, Tim drove us to Holland, MI, where we spent time visiting with their son, Shawn. We got a tour of his beautiful apartment which overlooks the downtown's main street and shops. By now it was time for some supper, so we drove to Grand Haven, a town on the shore of Lake Michigan, where we ate at a well known pizza place. Next it was back to the harbor area where we took a walk on the pier, saw some fireworks, the dancing fountains, and had ice cream. What a day!!! We dropped Shawn off at his car by the pizza place and headed on back home to Grand Rapids, pulling into the driveway around midnight.

Today was a much quieter one (we were all still pooped). We all slept in a bit and then once again ate breakfast out on the back patio. We followed that with a game of Hand and Foot (which the girls won once again) . That lasted until 1:30, so it was decided to eat lunch and then visit a sculpture garden in the area. There were many very unique sculptures and some beautiful tropical flowers to see.

I think this was entitled "Listening To History"


White Orchid

I have been taking little breaks while writing this entry. Just finished eating a sandwich and strawberry shortcake. It's time for another round of Hand and Foot. You'll have to check back tomorrow evening to see who wins. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access tomorrow evening as we move on with our travels, so you might not hear from me for a day or two.

John and I spent last evening at a bed and breakfast in Glen Arbor. The hosts were wonderful and made everyone feel very welcomed in addition to serving a delicious breakfast of waffles, fruit, juice, and coffee cake. We shared the meal with folks from Baltimore who work at John Hopkins and another couple from Grand Rapids who were retired from insurance sales. After eating, we loaded up the Honda and headed off to Grand Rapids with a few stops along the shoreline.



We reached Tim and Mary Ellen's home by mid-afternoon and after receiving a tour of the house and grounds, we were given a ride in Tim's 1931 Model A Ford Deluxe Coup. Tim has had this car for 40 years--restored for 25 years. It's really his pride and joy--he wanted me to share more info about it, but I had to decline as it's getting late and I need to get this finished and posted.


We had just returned from the ride when Roger, Tootie, Nancy, and Randy arrived to visit. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening sitting in the yard visiting and playing a game of Washers. Mary Ellen then served us a delicious supper and we spent more time sitting around the table talking before it was time for them to head off home.

Nancy and Tim waiting their turn

Roger watching John and Tootie

Roger and Randy watching the game

John and I had a wonderful, fun filled day. It's good to be back visiting with our friends again. Mary Ellen has some adventures planned for tomorrow, so we better get to bed.

After spending most of yesterday climbing up and down hills we were both a little stiff getting out of bed this morning; however, once we took our hot showers, we were moving much better. I was looking forward to not climbing any hills today.

After breakfast we headed off on the next leg of our Michigan adventure. Our first stop was Petoskey, MI where we spent some time visiting the local museum and walking around the Bay Front Park and marina. By the time we were finished it was noon, so we checked our Garmin and found an Applebee's right down the road. Our plan was to have our big meal now because we weren't sure what we would find for eating establishments in Glen Arbor, our final destination for today.



We reached Glen Arbor about 4 p.m., checked into our bed and breakfast, and drove out to explore some of the area. We ended up at Pyramid Dune--climbing a mile long hill to see a view of Lake Michigan. Just what I needed; however I made it to the top, but the weather was so cloudy and overcast, you could barely see the beach many feet below. Hopefully the weather will clear off tomorrow.

View from top of Pyramid Dune
I think this is one of the tallest sand dunes in the world

After a good night's sleep, we were up bright and early to catch the ferry to Mackinac Island. No cars are allowed on the island and it was so strange to see bikes everywhere. When crossing the streets, you had to look out for the bikes and horse drawn carts.

The ferry pulling into the Mackinac
Island docks

John and I spent our day touring the fort and other buildings as well as hiking a few of the many different trails. The island had many steep hills and we really got a lot of exercise today. The views of Lake Huron were just beautiful. I have posted just a few of the many photos taken today.

Arch Rock

We had internet connection problems last night, so I couldn't get this posted on the web until this morning. Today we are heading off to Glen Arbor.

Since we made such a big push driving yesterday, we were able to take our time getting on the road this morning. Our route took us along the northern shore of Lake Michigan--we made several stops at scenic outlooks to get a closer look at the lake and to walk along the beaches.

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge around noon and pulled into our hotel which is located right on the shoreline of Lake Huron.



After settling into our room, we explored the town, visited the public docks and parks, walked out to the Mackinac Lighthouse, and did some shopping. John found a nice pair of work boots that he has been looking for the past several months. This has been a perfect time to visit here as there are no crowds and no waiting in lines for anything.

Mackinac Lighthouse

Coast Guard Museum by public docks

We returned to the hotel after our walk to rest up a little and then headed out for some supper. John found a nice little family restaurant and we enjoyed a very leisurely meal. The evening was still young, so we played a game of miniature golf (John won) and then strolled through some shops where we ended up buying a couple of ice cream cones. By the time we got them eaten, we were back to the hotel and ready to call it a day. Tomorrow we head to Mackinaw Island.

We were up by 6:30 a.m., took showers, finished loading the car, and were on the road to Bemidji by 7:15 a.m. Our first stop was to gas up the Honda and then on to Mc D's for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent in the car with a stop in Superior, WI. for lunch and then another stop at Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. We rolled into Iron Mountain, MI, by 5 p.m. The day was absolutely perfect for driving and we enjoyed the beauty of northern Wisconsin. Our trusty Garmin led us to a nice restaurant for supper and, after a walk around a mall, we called it a night. Onto Mackinaw City tomorrow.

Our weather has been staying pretty consistent--cool, partly sunny, and breezy. The ten day forecast is calling for much of the same. Still looking for summer weather--hopefully we will experience warmer weather on our travels.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and headed off to church for the Sunday service. This afternoon John did a little work in the garden and checked around the outside to make sure everything was set for us to be gone. I got the packing done and loaded a few things into the car. The rest will go in tomorrow morning. We cleaned out the fridge, ordered in a pizza for supper, and spent the evening watching the NBA basketball playoffs.

I hope to update the blog each day, but it will depend upon internet connections as we travel, so if I miss a day or two, don't worry, I'll post when I can.

We had a pretty quiet day around here. John worked down in the shop with JD finishing up some loose ends that weren't completed yesterday. With that work done, he gave the lawn one last touch up and trim. The garden is all weeded and fertilized, so hopefully it will do well while we're away. Everything he planted is now up and looking healthy and the strawberry plants are loaded with berries. As the berries ripen, the grand kids will have to take care of the picking and eating until we get home.

I kept busy today changing bed linens, doing several small loads of laundry, getting our clothes ready to pack, and giving the house one final cleanup. We are pretty well ready to travel come Monday morning and are looking forward to visiting with friends and family and seeing parts of the country we haven't traveled before.

The weather here in northern Minnesota just doesn't want to warm up. We had another chilly night and today the temps reached the low to mid 60's with cloudy skies.

John was up and out early this morning as Matt had called last night asking for some help today with a tiling job. They got the entire floor tiled and grouted and were finished by mid-afternoon. We are seriously considering tiling our kitchen floor this summer, so this was a good learning experience for John--he feels we should be able to tackle the job okay by ourselves. While John was off tiling, I did some cleaning, organizing, and generally getting things gathered for packing. I also spent some time reading the instruction manual for my new camera and taking a few photos.

Wild flowers in front of the shop

Today was Matt's 40th birthday and this evening we held a surprise party for him at Applebee's in Bemidji. This had been in the works for over a week and we all managed to keep it a secret--he sure was surprised when he walked in and saw everyone waiting for him. Matt had been plannng to work up his food plots this evening, so Sara called the guy who was lending his tractor to Matt and got him to tell Matt the tractor had broken down and it wouldn't be available for use until tomorrow morning. He fell for the story and Sara was able to get him to the party. We all had an enjoyable evening eating and visiting with family and friends.

Birthday boy trying to smile with a mouth
full of steak

Matt and Sara looking over his
birthday gift of prunes while he
wears his new Twins hat.



Rachel enjoying her meal

The clouds cleared off this evening and we had a beautiful sunset. A perfect ending to the day.

We had another beautiful sunny day, but the temps remain cool. It seems like we are the only section of the country that is not experiencing sweltering heat. However, I'll take the cooler temps over 100 degrees any day.

After breakfast John worked down in the shop--still not quite finished with JD's list of things to do. Sam, Hanna, and Rachel have been attending a basketball camp this week and today was their final day. John and I went up to the school to watch them play some games and attend their award's ceremony. Awards were given for most free throws completed, three point shots, one on one competitions, etc. They all played real well and received some awards for their different age groups. Hanna received several awards including Most Valuable Player for her age group. It was lunch time when we left the school, so we stopped at the drive-in for a hamburger before heading home.



This afternoon John mowed some more grass--he's trying to get it all cut and trimmed before we leave for our trip. I got a new camera and spent some time reading the directions and trying to figure out how it works. I think it's going to take a while for me to get the hang of using it. Following supper, John went up to Sara's to get a haircut and then played some basketball with Sam. The rest of the evening was spent watching a movie and the news

What a difference a day can make in the weather. We went from the 90 degree temps of yesterday to a high of 56 with clouds, showers, and strong winds. After being gone all day yesterday dealing with the car, it was time to get back to work today. Since the weather wasn't conducive to working outside, John spent most of his day in the shop making parts and assembling product--he should have everything JD wanted made by tomorrow.

This morning I worked in the office finishing up the bills and then headed up to Sara's for a haircut. The rest of the day was spent finishing laundry and starting to gather things together for our trip. When John got done in the shop, he went up to Matt's to cut up a tree that had fallen over onto one of his deer food plots. Matt is getting ready to work up the ground and needed the downed tree removed. The rest of our day was pretty uneventful--just watched some TV before calling it a day.

Today was a busy one for us. We left the house around 8:45 a.m. to head off to Bemidji where we shipped the hunting bow sold on ebay. From there we drove to the Honda dealership to have our car serviced. There was a recall letter waiting for us when we returned from Texas, so in addition to an oil change, we also had that issue dealt with. When the service adviser, Josh, looked over our tires, we found the tread was pretty low, so new tires were also put on our car. Must say it rides much quieter and smoother. The servicing was suppose to take 3-4 hours. It didn't get done until 5:30 p.m.

Fortunately, we did have a few errands to run--spent some time at the bank and then went to Perkins for lunch. I was looking for a pair of light weight pants, so we spent some time in the Mall and at Gander Mountain. Finally found something I liked in Herberger's. John also managed to find a couple of very good deals on the specials rack.

The Honda still wasn't finished, so we took a spin through Menards and Home Depot and then made a stop at Sherwin Williams to get to lacquer for the new chair John is building. We even went back to Perkins for a piece of pie--anything to kill time. Out of things to do, we went back to the dealership, and our little orange car was parked out front--hooray!!!

We paid our bill and started out of Bemidji--got about a mile out of town when Matt called and wanted us to check out some grout for a tile job he is doing. John made a u-turn and back to Menards we went. After checking with the sales person, we found out that Matt had the correct grout. Back into the car and on the road for home. When we started out this morning, we thought we would be finished with everything and back home by early afternoon. Some days things just don't go the way you plan.

We had another beautiful day--in fact it was warm enough this afternoon that we turned the AC on in the house. JD is away for a few days on a camping trip with his family. Before he left, he gave John a list of parts to be made and product to be assembled. John decided to work in the shop in the mornings so he could have his afternoons free to do what else needs to get done around here before we leave on our trip next Monday.

This afternoon John mowed more lawn and worked on getting the electric fence up around the garden. Everything he planted has sprouted, so he wants to protect the tender plants from the rabbits. We haven't seen any so far this spring, but he wants to take precautions in case they start showing up.

My day was spent taking care of finances--making sure everything was paid or scheduling payments on the internet. I don't want to have to worry about something not being paid while we are traveling. All our travel plans are complete--have all the motel reservations made and confirmed. John sold his hunting bow and accessories on ebay, so we got that boxed up and ready to ship. I have a jacket listed that will end in two days--hopefully that will sell and I can get that sent before we leave.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. We watched a little TV before calling it a night. Tomorrow the Honda goes in for servicing, so we will be gone most of the day.

We had an absolutely gorgeous day--warm temps, calm breeze, and plenty of sunshine. This Sunday was the first of the summer church schedule, so we had to be up and out of the house an hour earlier to be on time for the morning service which now begins at 10 a.m. It felt good to be back after missing two Sundays due to back problems.

The weather was perfect for being outside, so John and I decided to wash the Honda. The last time it was cleaned was sometime in March. I cleaned the inside while John took care of the exterior. Our little car looked pretty spiffy after its bath.


Once the car was done, John decided we should go fishing. We hooked up the truck and headed over to Lone Lake which is about 3 minutes from our house. There were several other boaters already on the lake, and it didn't take us long to get our boat unloaded and into the water. We motored over to a secluded spot and started fishing. John caught a northern on his first cast. Fishing was great!!! John caught about 8 northerns, one of which was about 20 inches. I fished for sunnys and bass. We didn't keep anything this time as we stayed out until 8:30 p.m. and didn't want to take the time to clean fish this evening.




It was a perfect day to be on the lake. Hopefully we'll have many more this summer.

It was a beautiful day--a sunny, clear sky and much lower humidity. The winds are still blowing, but nothing like what we have had over the past several days. John took advantage of the nice weather and worked outside the entire day.

The first job of the day was trimming up all the trees. John likes to be able to drive the mower right around the tree trunks without getting hit in the head by low hanging branches. Next was mowing more lawn and then he finally planted the Mountain Laurel, Red Oak, and Live Oak seeds that he has been storing in the refrigerator for the past year. I spent the morning doing more trip planning and now have made all of the needed motel reservations. This afternoon I took the camera and spent sometime photographing the garden so John's brother, Gus, can see how our garden is growing. We have plenty of blossoms on the strawberry plants and our tomatoes look nice and healthy. The only problem is we will probably be gone when the strawberries come in--the grand kids will have to take care of eating them.

Our garden

Rows of strawberries and tomato plants

First of the berries starting to form


Strawberry blossoms

John had to do some watering this afternoon. It's amazing how fast the garden dries out. The lawn is still very wet in places with standing water, but the constant wind has dried out the tilled ground of the garden. After a busy day, we spent a quiet evening watching more of the NCAA softball playoffs.

Today was just beautiful--the winds finally died down and it was warm enough that I wore shorts for the first time since we've been home.

John made a nice breakfast for our company and after more visiting for a couple of hours, Tim and Mary Ellen left for Minneapolis. We needed to do some banking and to pick up a new gas can and insecticide sprayer so we made a quick run to Bemidji and Wal Mart. While we were there, we also picked up a new propane cylinder for our gas grill. Just one more stop to gas up the Honda and fill the gas can, and we were on our way back home.

John gassed up the lawn mower and spent an hour or so cutting more lawn. There were some places where he was mowing through standing water. While John was busy with the lawn, I did some more work on organizing our Michigan trip. I think I have it pretty well mapped out--just have to start checking out motels next.

We had another beautiful sunny day, but the strong winds keep hanging around. Tim and Mary Ellen Miner arrived around 10:30 a.m. and we have had a very enjoyable day visiting with them. After lunch Mary Ellen helped us plan our Michigan trip--the tentative departure date is June 13th. This evening we played a couple of games of hand and foot--the girls beat the boys handily both games. Our company leaves tomorrow morning for Minneapolis, then on to Rochester, and then back to Minneapolis where they will fly out to northern California to visit Mary Ellen's sister.

We woke up this morning to sunny skies, but the strong winds of yesterday were still hanging around. John checked over the outside after breakfast and was glad to see that we didn't lose any shingles or have any other property damage from the high winds.

John worked down in the shop for the morning and then, after lunch, got busy mowing and trimming the grass. The lawn looks pretty good right now. I did a little laundry and straightening up around the house to get things ready for company.

This evening John took the tiller up to Matt's and worked up his garden area. He left the tiller there so Matt could go over it again tomorrow. I took some time this evening to list a jacket on ebay and then did some trip planning on the computer. We are hoping to travel to Michigan in a week or so. Will know more about definite plans after we talk to Tim and Mary Ellen tomorrow.