July 26, 2013 Day seventeen

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Morning brought a light rain and unseasonably cold weather.  We checked out of the hotel and drove up the “north shore” of Lake Superior.  This is an amazing drive through the north woods along the shore of Lake Superior, the closest things that the Midwest has to an ocean.  The views in the rain showed one of the different moods of the lake.  We didn’t see the postcard views, but they were spectacular.

We stopped to see two lighthouses in Two Harbors, MN.  By this time it was raining harder, and we could not quite put our hands on our raingear.   We could see the main lighthouse up close but we got quite damp walking out on the breakwater to the smaller lighthouse, and finally gave up getting all of the way out to the end.  We can vouch that Lake Superior weather can be harsh even in July.  Several times we were grateful that we has such nice weather watching the ships come in the day before.

Our destination at the most northern point of our day was one of our all time favorite lighthouses: Split Rock Lighthouse.  This lighthouse station was much more extensive than the others we had seen on this trip and had marvelous tour guides and interpretation.   We saw a billboard advertising “ Split Rock Light House. Come for the Views, Stay for the stories”.  We found some wonderful stories there indeed.   

 Dick hiked down to the beach to get the iconic photo of the lighthouse on its cliff 130 feet above the lake. 

Patti particularly appreciated the costumed reenactors inside the lighthouse keepers’ home who were busy cooking breakfast on the wood-burning stove.  Nothing like the smell of bacon to bring a place to life!

We reluctantly turned south off the North Shore, and retraced our steps through Duluth and then headed south to Minneapolis.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

July 25, 2013 Day sixteen

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We wished Patti’s sister and family a fond farewell, having so enjoyed the Wisconsin North woods.  We went out for a final spin around the lake on their pontoon boat.  The loons gave us a farewell when five of them were swimming not far from the boat. The peaceful quiet of this small lake was so refreshing.  Wish we could stay longer, but the road calls.

Next stop was Duluth MN where we were so pleased to be able to see the Parade of The Tall Ships. We saw nine different traditional sailing vessels:  sloops, schooners, and full rigged.  It was breathtaking to be gathered with thousands of others in the canal and harbor area of Duluth and see these amazing ships from many places around the world arrive under full sail.  Some came as far as from Norway. 

The afternoon was great weather and the photo taking opportunities were grand!  Each ship had a story about what brought the owner of the cress to putting their energies into these traditional ships. 

We walked down and saw the three lighthouses that guard the Harbor and canal.  Oh, we love lighthouses and visit as many as we can on our travels.

We also visited the Maritime Museum and learned more of the history of Duluth and lake Superior, especially in relations to shipping.

Then Dick was thrilled to be able to tour an old iron ore carrier that sailed on the Great Lakes.  He saw many of this type of ship sailing on Lake Erie while growing up.  The tour included a “guest quarters” where guests of US Steele were invited to come along for a cruise (and hopefully take interest and invest money in the company.)  It was striking the difference between the barebones crew accommodations and the luxury quarters for these guests.

We made a run for it as a big storm came in and got caught in the rain.  We were thankful our final evening destination was lonely a few miles away and that it wasn't a camping night.  We instead enjoyed a lovely room on Barker Island in Superior WI.  It was wonderful that the rains help off until the ships were in the harbor.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

July 24, 2013 Day fifteen

  After breakfast, Patti went on a kayak adventure with the four nieces and nephews.  We went where perhaps no one had gone before paddling through mucky and reeds and lily pads looking for paths through the deep recesses and coves in the lake.  We, luckily, found our way out and had a great time.  Patti did get quite wet and wished that she had put on her swim suit….oh well.  This lake is perfect sized for kids to explore and they showed Patti some of their secret places.  Delightful!

Cooler weather here in Northern Wisconsin.  The temps now were in the mid 70’s and kind of cloudy.

While Patti was out with the younger family members, Dick had a fine time sitting on the pontoon boat talking with Paula and Tom.  They are a great couple and are doing such a fine job of parenting.

After lunch, another tandem bike trip, this time with Patti and her sister sharing a bike.  Nice, nice, nice!  They rode the same six miles as yesterday but the other direction.  What a treat.

Some more games, then another pontoon boat ride where we got a show by local loons (who you can hear late into the evening with their haunting calls) and a bald eagle circling overhead.

The time was so fun, with lots of chances for talking and snuggling!

After a great dinner, we headed to the fire ring with s’mores and pie iron treats.  Heaven!  The fire was blazing and cozy, lots of fun sharing and Patti was glad to oblige when she was asked, “could you tell US a story?” and told them about a time when they ran into campers afraid of bears.  What a great audience in a great setting.

The evening passed too quickly, and after some cards games, time to head off to bed, tired but refreshed.  What a blessing to have this special time.

July 23, 2013 Day fourteen

--> A fond goodbye to Patti’s parents in the morning put up on the road to Northern Wisconsin to visit Patti’s sister and her family.  The drive was an easy 4 hours, with small towns and wooded views as we went.

We checked into our hotel and arrived at their lake cabin just outside of Hayward WI at about 12:30.  The four kids were excited to see us and had quite an agenda planned out. The first event was a ride around the lake on their pontoon boat.  What a lovely setting for their cabin.  After lunch we then spent a couple of hours playing killer volleyball.

Once we played three games of volleyball it was time to go for a six mile ride on tandem bicycles.  We had each ridden tandems but never together.  It went very well as we rode along on beautiful country roads, up and down manageable hills. 

The lake cabin has been their wonderful rustic getaway place for the place 14 years.  What a wonderful sanctuary to get out of the city and into a lifestyle of swimming (the kids keep a record book of how many times they swim across the lake. 

This summer, Anna has completed 100 trips across the the 1/4 mile wide lake.  We were there to witness the final four laps of this achievement.  Really an ideal kind of place as a child to grow up knowing about nature and a slower way to live.

We saw a number of deer and turtles in the vicinity of the lake but did not catch them with a camera.  This chipmunk was willing to pose for a number of photos.

The evening brought a beautiful sunset than some very competitive board and card game play with lots of fun had by all.

What a pleasure to get to have some special time with Paula and Tom, and their kids: Anna, Jackson, Isaac, and Maria.

“The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life. ”
― Agnes Repplier

July 22, 2013 Day thirteen

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A much needed hang out day in Rochester.  Patti and Dick did a little downtown shopping and then we had a berry picking expedition up into the woods.  This time we were prepared with proper berry picking containers-both black raspberries and some precious wild red raspberries were ripe.  Yum!  We took along one of Patti’s mom’s daycare children, Anika for her “very first time” berry picking.  As a six year old, she was a trooper.  

Patti is so glad that children are still growing up knowing the joys of organic, vine ripe berries picked in the sun in the woods.  

It was so nice to spend time with our nephews, including Uncle Dick having some wonderful talks with the boys as they walk through the woods. 

And there is nothing like catching some frogs (and letting them go later, of course.) The whole afternoon is one of those experiences that should be labeled “priceless”.

One more trip to the skate park and then time for another of Joan’s cooking triumphs.  This time fresh MN sweet corn along with strawberry (or black raspberry) and angel food cake.  Boy, Patti misses her mom’s homecooking!  Really enjoyed time with Mom and Dad, just relaxing.  

And Matt and Patti's dad demonstrated for us how to make handmade stress balls out of balloons and flour.  And we got to take several stress balls with us on the road.

Evening time allowed for some more visiting and then some card games.  Patti’s family is always looking for a chance to play cards.  It was been a great visit and we will be sad to go.

July 21, 2013 Day twelve

Patti joined her parents for services at Bethel Lutheran Church.  That congregation has really grown since Patti attended there.

Then, we all headed off on a little trip to a couple of towns about an hour away.  We went to Brownsdale MN, the little town where the family lived when Patti was 2-6 years old.  We saw the house that Patti’s mom, Joan, made the plans and blueprints for.  It was her dream house, and Harold and a carpenter friend built the house one summer.  

Joan and Harold stood proudly on the porch of their old home.  It was easy for them to put themselves back in this communitythat they had lived in nearly 50 years ago.

It is nearly next door to the elementary school where Harold was the principal.  It was really neat to see the places again, and Patti, Harold and Joan were filled with lots of old memories.  There was no one home at the old house, but we talked with a neighbor across the street. As it turns out, HE had also been principal of that same school replacing the guy who replaced Patti’s dad.  Talk about a small world!  We enjoyed visiting with him and then driving around the small town.

 We also went and visited the world famous Spam Museum in Austin MN.  Although people really come and see this from around the world, for their love and Spam and kitchy things, no one that anyone in our family know has ever been there before.  It is totally the sort of thing that Patti and Dick’s grand adventures likes to include, so our family got to come along.  If you love Spam, this is your place.  It featured: The Hormel Girls (a band and singing group that would feature Hormel products), the history of Spam, an opportunity to try on meat packer uniforms,  to have a try at packing Spam in a can, and there are now 11 different kinds of Spam including Jalapeno and Black Pepper Spam.  We didn’t try to deep fried Spam curds…although the guys swore they were delicious.  Patti’s family didn’t give the place such a ringing endorsement, but it was quite cute and interesting to have a whole museum dedicated to a processed food.  Only in America!

 Then we stopped at one of Patti’s parent’s favorite out of town restaurants for a nice family dinner.

 Evening gave an opportunity for Dick to test his basketball skills against his talented nephew.  It was size against quickness which resulted in a draw.  There another chance to see Josh on the scooter still working to perfect his “grind the box” stunt.  It takes your breath away watching all of these kids whizzing around on bikes, scooters and skateboards but we didn’t see any major crashes.  It takes coordination and some dare devil blood.

 Another nice day with the family.

“Maps are essential. Planning a journey without a map is like building a house without drawings.”
― Mark Jenkins, The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure

July 20, 2013 Day eleven

This morning was a time of hanging out with Patti’s parents and doing some errands in Rochster MN. This included watching Harold ride his new bicycle.  This is certainly good exercise for him. Nice to just have some time together.

Then we drove about an hour down the road to Winona, MN to go to a basketball tournament played by another of our talented nieces, Anna.  As a student who just completed 9^th grade, she plays on her high school varsity basketball team, and that team plays some tournaments during the summer.  They played three games, winning two of the three.  It was so fun to see her in action.  “Little Anna” is now 6 feet tall and a very skilled basketball player. 

Again, we love to hear about all of these kids when we talk with parents and grandparents, but much more fun to see them play in person.  Go Anna!  Her parents, Patti’s sister Paula and husband, Tom, have been juggling some crazy schedules trying to maintain family time at their Wisconsin lake cabin while getting their kids to tournaments and camps, etc.  We are thrilled that in our next stop at their cabin in a few days, all of them will be there.  Can’t wait to see all of the work they have done to continue to make this a great getaway spot.

 A drive back home, some of mom’s homemade apple crisp, and then to bed.  These are very full days.

 “You're not traveling if you already know everything.”
― Erica Bauermeister, Joy For Beginners

July 19, 2013 Day ten

In the morning we went out to the Rochester Athletic Club where Dad and Perry and the boys work out. This is really a beautiful center, with indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a great workout area, swimming pools…a great set up. Josh had a tennis match, so we got to see him in action.  We have some very athletically talented nieces and nephews who play nearly every sport.  Because we live so far away, we mostly follow their sports from a far, so seeing him play in person was great.  He won the match.  (As well as the matches in the tournament the next day in Minneapolis.) 

We also met Chad, the athletic trainer that Harold (Patti's father) works with on a monthly basis.  He has been such a help to Harold.  Harold at 82 still works out a number of times a week which is great.

In the afternoon, Patti and Perry took the boys up to Quarry Hill Park, the 200-acre woods across form Patti’s parents’ home.  Patti and her sibs grew up roaming in the woods there. We wandered around, happily picking wild black raspberries (a favorite childhood treat.)  Matt and Josh then practiced their rock climbing while we cheered them on.

Josh also demonstrated his scooter skill at the local skate park.  He could whiz up and down and over.  This is a sport better done by the young!

Evening brought a very special gathering of some of Patti’s closest friends from high school.  This year was their 35^th year since their graduation.  Patti decided to skip the big , more general event, but was super happy to see old friends.  Randy Jones was our host, having never left Rochester.  He cooked up a gracious feast!  Then we were joined by Kathie and Van Bredeson, from Hudson WI, and Frank Allen, who had flown up from near Jackson FL.  We enjoyed  catching up on the latest news from each other’s lives, as well as talking about “the good old days” where we sang in the choir, went on Lutheran youth trips to New Orleans and Germany, and as college students put on a Christian musical to raise money for our local Ronald McDonald House.  We were an exceptionally close and clean-cut group of kids.  It was fun for Dick to meet some of Patti’s old group.  The evening went by quickly, and we wished that more of the old gang were able to join us, but it was great.

"To reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again."
Ricky Nelson

July 18, 2013 Day nine

We had a great morning at Patti’s Uncle Jim and Aunt Len’s house. They are very special to us.  We spent a week with them a couple years back in New Orleans and totally enjoyed being together.  We had homemade Egg McMuffins, and had the chance to play with two of their grandchildren, Max and Anna.  Those two have amazing imaginations and were very fun to play with. 

Max is especially in love with dinosaurs and they both happily looked at our photos from Dinosaur National Monument and identified the fossils, after some hearty debate about which were which.  This included digging out models and books to support their claims. 

Patti also helped to make up some stories with them.  Wish we were closer to see these kiddos more often, but it was fun to see them for a morning.

Then on the road and an hour’s drive to Rochester MN, where Patti grew up.  Her parents were waiting to warmly welcome us.  And Patti’s mom moved into doing our dirty laundry.  Thanks Mom!  Dinner included Patti’s brother, Perry, his wife, Jodie, and two sons Matt and Josh.  It is so nice to be back with family. And Mom made a full turkey dinner!  Nobody is a cook like Patti’s mom.

We got to see some ping pong extravaganza, with both boys and Patti’s dad, Harold, being strong ping pong players.

We made the plans for the next few days of time in Rochester, then off to bed.

 “To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.” – Charles Horton Cooley

July 17, 2013 Day eight

On the road before 7am, sorry to leave Maggie and Jeff’s house, but time to head on towards MN.

The first stop today was at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site on the edge of the Badlands National Park in SD. This focused on the last remaining Minuteman II missile silo and launch control site left over from the Cold War.  The US had 150 of these missiles in South Dakota, armed and aimed at the Soviet Union. Each of these had a single nuclear warhead that was 1.2 megatons (that is the same as over a million tons of dynamite).  As the missile sites were being dismantled after the START treaties, someone decided that it would be important to keep one of these sites for historical and educational purposes. The silo we looked into had a test missile in it.

Dick remembers the duck and cover drills done in school in the late 1950’s where school children were preparing for the Russians to send missiles and to blow up our cities.  It was quite sobering to think about how close we had come to mutual destruction.  Also sobering to find that there are still hundreds of Minuteman III missile sites each with three warheads that are aimed at Russian today.  We were not able to get tickets to go on the tour of the launch control center, but hope to do that sometime in the future.

 

Driving, driving across SD.  We made a stop at Wall Drug, the famous place where their main advertising for years was signs in all directions offering free ice water.  It is a funny conglomeration of odd stores, restaurants, old photos, and odds and ends.  Patti got her picture taken on the back of a Jackalope.

At Chamberlin SD we found a lovely museum at a rest stop focusing on Lewis and Clark.  It was here on the banks of the Missouri River that they made stops each way on their expedition to dry out and to rest.  The exhibit was very professionally done with lots of wonderful artifacts and things that helped visitors imagine what these trips must have been like.

More driving, driving. South Dakota is along state with lots of rolling prairies and farmland, about 400 miles across.  One more stop was at the World’s Only Corn Palace.  This building is decorated on a yearly basis with outdoor murals made out of dried corn and other grains.  They have been doing this since 1892.  We were kind of reminded of Rose Parade floats, getting close up looks at how you can use natural materials in a very artistic manner.  If you are driving across southern SD you can’t miss at least a brief stop at the Corn Palace.

Then finally we crossed the border into MN, with nearly five hours to drive before we stopped for the night at Patti’s aunt and uncle’s home.  It was great to be back in MN again, and we happily listened to MN Public Radio as we drove across the state to arrive in Faribault.  We were warmly greeted by Jim and Len and settled in for a lovely visit.