Library And Shopping Day

Today, Thursday, July 31st, Bob and I are at the Brown County library. I am updating our blog and he is doing online banking. Our first retirement checks have arrived in our account. I guess we are officially retired now! We picked up the microwave from the repair shop and after the library we will stop at Walmart to pick up a few groceries. We also plan on stopping at a store that has Star Wars Legos on sale. We will get Noah's Christmas gift early. We plan on leaving early tomorrow morning heading to Michigan. We will stay at Newberry KOA for a week. I will post again when I have Internet.
As always, we miss our family and friends and appreciate them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Cleaning Day

On Wednesday, July 30th, we stayed at the campground. I cleaned the motorhome and Bob checked the tires and all the stuff guys check in preparation for our departure. We did get a call from the repair shop. The microwave will be ready on Thursday. So we will leave Wisconsin on Friday morning. I have had several requests to post pictures of our rig. So check out our new home. It actually has been very comfortable for us. Miles seems to like it, too.
As always we appreciate our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Movie and a popcorn (maybe)

On Tuesday 29th, Bob and I went to see The Dark Knight-the new batman movie. It was great! We were going to get a popcorn until we saw that the giant tub of popcorn was $ 6.25. C'mon we are on a fixed income!! After the movie, we went to Applebee's for dinner. We then made a pit stop at the Dollar Store and picked up a few items. Then we headed home. We had to take our microwave/convection oven in for repairs and are waiting for it to be ready. Hopefully, we can pick it up on Wednesday and leave on Thursday.
As always, we think of our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Family

On Monday, July 28th, Bob and I stayed at the campground. We did our usual 5 mile bike ride and the 3 mile evening walk. After supper, I called two of my cousins. My cousin Janet lives in Mesa, Arizona. after she retired a few years ago she moved from Michigan to Arizona to be near her daughter and her family. Janet has 3 beautiful grand kids. And I know she stays busy with them. we had a great conversation. Joe was going to be stopping at "Aunt Jan's" when he was in Arizona in a few weeks, but his travel plans have changed. I wanted to let Janet know that she wouldn't be getting any company and she actually sounded disappointed! We will be stopping to visit her when we get out that way-probably sometime after Christmas. She is doing well and loves her new retired life. After speaking with Janet, I called my cousin Vickie (Janet's sister). Vickie lives in Michigan. We are hoping to see her and my other cousins, Mike and Helen, after we leave Mackinaw Island, that will be in a few weeks. Vickie and family are doing fine. Both she and Janet are my mom's sister's daughters. We had a great conversation as well. She is getting her youngest son, Trevor, ready to go to college. I can't wait to see them. Some of you might know of the awesome practical joke that I played on Vickie some years back. When Bob and I had traveled out west, I sent Vickie letters from a Gary T. Goose. She actually thought one of the letters contained a white, powdered substance. I had her going until my MOM let her know we were traveling. Anyway, it made for good fun. One thing I really miss is that I didn't get to grow up with my cousins. We moved to Missouri when I was about 6 years old. But I am so glad that we keep in touch and get to see each other sometimes. NOTHING is as special as family. I love them very much. We also spoke with Steff and she had taken Emma and Ella to the doctor for their school checkups and shots. Emma did fine, Ella, not so good. Steff didn't think that she would have to get any shots and she did. So Ella told Steff that she lied to her and she was not happy about it. But after the ride home, I think she made ammends with Steff. So now they will be going school shopping and all is well.
As always we we appreciate our family and friends and miss them!
Mary, Bob, and miles, too!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Well, the other day when we went to the boat launch in the campground we saw a rainbow. and I want to say, there is no gold at the end of the rainbow. But it was pretty just the same!
As always, we think of family and friends and miss them.
Mary, Bob, and miles, too!

Library Day

Today, Monday, July 29th, Bob and I are at the Brown County Library in Green Bay. We are catching up on email and the blog. Bob is also checking out some of our next stops once we leave Wisconsin. We will be leaving on Wednesday and heading to Michigan, Eventually making our way to Mackinaw Island. Once again the weather has been wonderful. High 70's and no humidity. While we are out today we will make a WalMart stop. We continue to bike and walk everyday. At least 5 miles on the bike each day and a couple of miles walking. For Suzette-Bob is reading everyday! I try, but not as much as he does. I was thinking...if I was still working I would be back at work today. But I don't have to worry about that! I am RETIRED. As always we appreciate our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Lambeau Field

On Thursday, July 24th, Bob and I went to Lambeau Field-Home of the Green Bay Packers. We toured the Packer Hall of Fame. We opted not to take the stadium tour, but I did get some pictures of it. We also heard that the Rams are at a training camp not far from here. For Joe Fehlker (aka The Favorite Child) you never know, Joe, I might just qualify for the 2012 Olympics!!!! Then what are you gonna do?
As always we think of our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Birthday Boy!

Today, July 24th, is Bob's birthday. We are now the same age! So no more older woman jokes until March. We are at the Algoma library catching up on email and blogging. I had a dentist appointment for my 6 months check up and all is well. We plan on going out to dinner to celebrate Bob's birthday. We will stay another week in Bay Shore campground in Wisconsin and then I think we are heading to Michigan. It is a beautiful day today-71 degrees and no humidity. We want to go to Lambeau Field and a casino before we leave Wisconsin. We were saddened to hear of the passing of Gene Steighorst. He will be missed. You can't think of Hillsboro without thinking of him. We extend our deepest sympathies to all of his family.Will blog as soon as we have internet again. As always, missing family and friends,
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Resting!

Today, Wednesday, July 23rd, Bob and I are taking it easy. Except he still says we have to exercise. So we walked around the campground this morning. Also, we still are biking almost everyday-at least 5 miles, and we walk down to the bay almost everyday. My new role model is Dara Torres-the 41 year old Olympic swimmer. I think by the time the year is over, I should look like her after all the exercise Bob puts me through! We plan on going to the library tomorrow, grocery shop, and run a few more errands. But today we are laying low! My favorite thing to do.
Mary Bob, and Miles, too!

Washington Island Ferry

On Tuesday, July 22, Bob and I went to Gill’s Rock, Wisconsin, and took the Island Clipper passenger ferry to Washington Island. It is located in Green Bay at the tip of the Door County peninsula. The ferry ride took approximately 25 minutes and it took us across the area of Lake Michigan called “Death’s Door” . The story goes that in 1870 as many as 100 ships were shipwrecked traveling through those waters. Dangerous currents and storms off the Great Lakes were responsible for many of the accidents. This is the area that Green Bay and Lake Michigan meet. Now with Coast Guard monitoring and much better weather tracking, the area is much safer to travel through. After we reached the island, we took a tour riding in a trolley. The tour highlighted four areas on the island: the School house Beach, the exotic animal farm, the Mann Mercantile, and the West Bay. Our tour guide was quite knowledgably being an “islander” herself. The population of the island is around 650 year round and up to 3500 during the summer months. It is quite expensive to live their because everything has to be ferried over. They do have most of the modern conveniences that we all have-they just cost more. The School house Beach is the only area in the world that has stones on the beach that are completely made by water erosion. No stones can be removed from the beach-stiff fines will be imposed if you get caught taking any stones. The next stop was the exotic animal farm. We saw ostriches, a cinnamon bear, pygmy goats, and a variety of chickens and geese. The owner gave us a tour and highlighted some interesting facts about the animals housed there. Third stop was the Mann Mercantile. It is the only general store on the island. You can get everything from “scoops to nuts” there. And the last stop was the West Bay on the island. It is one of the most scenic areas on the island and it really was very pretty. We then returned to the ferry for the ride back. After we were back at Gill’s Rock, we headed back to Quiet Woods RV center to pick up the RV. We had a new LP gas detector installed. We also stopped at Door County kennels to pick Miles up. He spent the day there while we were sightseeing. I don’t think he was very happy! After all the stops, we headed back to Bay Shore campground where we will spend another week. We had a late dinner and planned to rest on Wednesday. As always, we miss our friends and family and appreciate them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay...

Bob and I took a drive to the village of Fish Creek (which is in the Door County). We sat on the dock of the Green Bay. It was a beautiful day. We called Joe while we were there and got caught up on the family/home news. The area is quite scenic with a lot of tourists! We saw quite a few boats in the marina and the water was crystal clear.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat.....

On Friday, July 18th, Bob and I took a drive to the Door County of Wisconsin also known as the Cape Cod of the Midwest. We left the campground around 10:00 AM. Door County is located on the peninsula of Wisconsin. It is a group of villages around Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Each one is a little different and yet alike in that they are on the water and have wonderful little shops and restaurants. The day was perfect and the water was so clear, blue, and beautiful. We drove around the peninsula and stopped at each of the villages. We were amazed at the number of tourists in each one. All of the cabins, resorts, motels, (waterfront or not) had No Vacancy signs out. It is prime vacation time. We ate lunch at one of the restaurants in Fish Creek. Bob had the chicken tenders and fries and I had the fish and chips. Quite tasty! We stopped at the tip of the peninsula in Gill’s Rock to check out the ferry to Washington Island. At the time we arrived, the last ferry had left for the day. We have decided to go back to take the ferry to Washington Island on Tuesday, July 22. A walk along the dock in Bailey’s Harbor was really cool. We saw lots of commercial fishing boats, houseboats, and charter fishing boats. It looked like a picture postcard. I have to admit I did think of the movie “Jaws” when I saw the harbor and boats. That movie still scares me! We drove about 150 miles round trip and had a fun day but we were glad to get back home. As always, we appreciate our family and friends and miss them.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Bay Shore County Park

Today is Wednesday, July 16th. I will do some back tracking to get the blog caught up! We are now in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We are staying at Bay Shore County Park. It is a very picturesque park. It is located on the Door County peninsula of Wisconsin. Our site is a very level, shaded, and quiet spot. There don't seem to be many campers in the park and it is a huge camping site. There are about 80 sites for RV's and trailers/5th wheels and several more for tents. We arrived here yesterday afternoon. After we readied the motor home, we took a walk down to the beach area of the bay. It is beautiful! It is pretty awe-inspiring to see all the water and realize that is just a small portion of what is out there. I will take some pictures in the next few days and will post when I can.We drove in from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. There we stayed at a camping park that had semi-permanent "homes". There were over 400 "homes" in the park. Our site there was nice. We were on a level site with water and electric. No sewer hook ups. So we had to use their laundry facilities. Not bad, but I miss having the convenience of my own washer/dryer. We stayed there two days and basically rested up and got ready for the long drive (200 miles) to Green Bay. Also, when Bob and I were in Northfield, Minnesota, we celebrated our wedding anniversary. We ate dinner at The Old Northfield Tavern. It is a restored tavern that they have turned into a restaurant. It has beautiful oak floors, stained glass windows, and a romantic atmosphere. Even though we are together 24/7 we still love each very much and the years keep getting better! (That is for my sister-in-law, Alice) She said this traveling together would drive us nuts. We got some great news from our other sister-in-law-our niece Lorri and her husband are expecting a baby. Wonderful!
Today we are in Algoma, Wisconsin, at the library. The area here is pretty with lots of farms. Dairy farms at that. No wonder Wisconsin is the cheese state. Well, I will close for now. Bob is ready to go back to the motor home.
As always we think of our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Lunch With A Pretty Girl!

Hi everyone!
I will try to get the blog caught up today while we have internet access. Right now we at the Northfield Library in Northfield, Mn. We are using the wi-fi here because at the state park where we are staying we have no internet or cell phone availability.
We met with Shannon Williams today for lunch. It's easy to see why her company was so impressed with her. Not only is she a beautiful young woman, she has such a great rapport with people and is so outgoing and friendly. I know that her parents (Butch and Shelley) are proud of her and they should be. She is AWESOME! We met at Old Chicago and had a great lunch. We got caught up on all the old hometown/family news and heard about Shannon's job. She is taking advantage of this time in her life to seek out new adventures-good for her. We are really proud of her and we know she will continue to do well. She assures us that she is in a very secure apartment-I worry about things like that-I wouldn't want anyone to get her!
Yesterday the weather here was awful. There was a tornado that touched down a few towns over from where we are staying. Luckily, we didn't have a tornado, but very severe thunderstorms and hail. The motor home handled the rough weather quite well. No leaks or damage. Miles slept though the storm. We have found Minnesota to be a very beautiful state. It's still flat in comparison to Missouri, but not as flat as South Dakota. The weather today is beautiful-no humidity-we really love that! We will leave the state park (Nerstrand-Big Woods) tomorrow, Sunday, July 13th and head for Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and stay at O'Neil's campground for two days. I think we will have Internet access while there so I will blog a little more then. I will also post a picture of us with Shannon next time I blog. I didn't bring my camera in to download the picture. Tonight we will get things ready for travel tomorrow. As always, we miss our family and friends and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

On To Minnesota!

Today, Tuesday, July 8th, Bob and I will get ready to leave tomorrow. We plan on getting everything in the motor home packed up for safe traveling, finishing any laundry and making sure our food supply is good to go. We will be driving about 240 miles tomorrow to Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park in Minnesota. We plan on staying there for about 4 days. We hope to meet up with Shannon while we are in the area. Today is a beautiful day here in Sioux Falls and we hope to have great traveling weather when we depart tomorrow morning.
As always, we think of our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

USS South Dakota Battleship Museum

On Sunday, July 6th, Bob and I went to the USS South Dakota Battleship Museum in Sioux Falls. It is located by the zoo and a beautiful park and softball/baseball fields. The "battleship" is a concrete outline to scale of the original ship. Many of the gun turrets, mast, and torpedo launchers, are original to the ship and on display. Unfortunately, the ship was scrapped in 1964. The USS South Dakota was the most decorated battleship in WWII and it was the flagship of Admiral Hulsey. The peace treaty of WWII was to be signed on the USS South Dakota for several reasons-(1) it was in the area when the Japanese surrendered and (2) it was the most decorated. But because our President at the time (Harry Truman) was from Missouri, he sent the USS Missouri to the site and the treaty was signed aboard her. Inside the museum are many, many artifacts, news clippings, pictures, and mementos from the ship and those who served aboard her. The actual flag that flew on her mast is there and you can see shrapnel holes and blood on her. A very patriotic place. Be sure to visit if you are in Sioux Falls. The remaining crew members meet at the museum every other year for a reunion. After visiting the museum, we headed home. We biked around the KOA park and surrounding area for 5 miles. (It's killing me) and then walked around the KOA park after supper. All in all it was a very enjoyable day.
As always, we think of our family and friends and miss them very much.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too.

Bike, Bike, Biking Down The Trail...

Today, Monday, July 7th, we headed to Sioux Falls Park to bike the other part of the bike trail. Of course, we didn't complete anywhere near the 27 miles of the trail, but we did bike 6.7 miles today. The weather has changed a bit since we first got here. Today is a little humid, but nothing like our good old Missouri humidity. The part of the trail that we biked today took us along the downtown area. There were quite a few bikers, walkers, joggers, and even one girl riding a scooter. After our ride, we loaded the bikes and heading for a diner called Hamburger Inn located in downtown Sioux Falls. It is mentioned in a book called Roadfood. The authors travel around the country and recommend off beat places to eat. By the way, Tina Thebeau gave us the book-thanks, Tina! The shakes were highly recommended. We each ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake. There are only 12 stools at the counter. We were the first customers, but it didn't take long and the place was full. We enjoyed our lunch and had a few stops to make before going home. We stopped at Scheel's a gigantic sporting goods store. Bob needed to get some bicycle chain oil, have the odometer on his bike calibrated, find out how to adjust the handle bars. Second stop, the Dollar store, picked up a few items, then on the pick up our mail. Once we got home, I did a few loads of laundry and hung them out to dry. Luckily, the winds are pretty continuous and it doesn't take long for the clothes to dry. I want to have all of the laundry caught up before we leave here on Wednesday, July 9th. Then we will be heading to Minneapolis, MN. We hope to meet up with Shannon Williams, a sister to one of Joe's friends (Brody). Shannon is now working for Cargill and had to transfer to Minnesota for the job. She is a very sweet and pretty girl. Yesterday, I was able through the Internet to find a friend of mine that I haven't talked to in at least 15 years! What a pleasant surprise. Her name is Barb Flotow and she lives in California. We had a most wonderful conversation getting each other caught up on our lives. We plan on visiting her and her husband and daughter when we get to California.
But I guess the most important happening of today is: IT"S JOE'S BIRTHDAY! Happy 26th birthday, Joe-we love you very much!
As always, we appreciate our family and friends and keep them in our thoughts and prayers.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!

Happy Birthday, America

July 4th was a somewhat restful day for us. We didn't do any sightseeing. Just stayed home. I decorated our RV with flags and patriotic bows-it looked quite nice. Bob grilled pork steaks and I fixed potato salad, baked beans, and an apple pie-can't get more American than that. We ate our meal around 6:00 PM and as the evening drew to close, we watched the fireworks from the surrounding area. We discussed our agenda for Saturday's outing and called it a day.

Jesse James and Palisaides Park

Today, Friday, July 3rd, Bob and I took a ride to South Dakota's smallest yet most visited state park-Palisaides Park. We took several hiking paths to see some of their famous rock formations-Balancing Rock and Twin Chimney Rocks. Quite Impressive! We enjoyed a picnic lunch-just us two-under one of the park's pavillions. It is a beautiful day. We enjoyed ourselves so much. We also visited EROS (it is a government mapping agency) in Sioux Falls. It is located about 10 miles from where we are staying in a remote area. There were originally 2 locations in mind -one in Kansas and this location. Because of the efforts of a South Dakota senator-Sioux Falls won out. We took a tour and it was very interesting! They map the areas of the declining rain forests and they can track and observe wild fires and dought conditions all over the world. They explained the type of cameras that are installed in the satellites and we saw actual "live feed" from some of the satellites. It is a recommended place to visit if you are in the area.
Next we traveled down the road to Gearretson, SD to see the gorge that Jesse James jumped to escape the posse chasing him. We arrived at Devil's Gulch and had a very informative visit with the park clerk. We did indeed see the "gorge" that Jesse and his horse jumped. Quite a leap- but you can do what you gotta do when you gotta do it! After we left Garretson, we decided to stop at the grocery store before we headed home to purchase our 4th of July meal items. After completed our shopping, we headed home to relax for the rest of the evening and enjoy our supper. Once again, we appreciate our family and friends and think of them often.
Mary, Bob, and Miles, too!