Sunday morning brought us to church at Bethel Lutheran Church. This is a church where Patti grew up and her mom has been a member of for nearly 60 years. It was lovely to see their head Pastor, Anjeanette. She is a very special long-term minister with our family. Always lovely to see her. And the service was full of really well done patriotic music with a very fine inclusive message. It was nice just to be able to stretch out the Fourth of July, a little bit longer.
After lunch, we headed off to Wisconsin. We first stopped at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. This area has a tremendous amount of bald eagles, especially in the winter. The Center participates in rescue and educational programs. We’ve been here one time before, but we really were glad to see their latest exhibits. One of their animal educators was available to talk to us for quite some time before a bus load of people from a river cruise arrived. We were glad those people were getting a chance to experience the wonders of these magnificent birds. And, we enjoyed a special exhibit about the American bicentennial centered around an eagle theme.
The drive was so very green. Green is a color that when you see it in souther California in the summer means there has been intensive irrigation, not rain. We mis the green!!
Another hour further down the road, we came to the home of our nephew, Matt and his new wife Sofie. We were at their wedding a few weeks ago and we were really pleased to get the opportunity to come and see them in their home. We had a delightful evening together over dinner and sharing stories of our African safari and their lives. We appreciated hearing about Sofie's role as a middle-school Social Studies teacher and volleyball coach. She is so creative in her approach to teaching. Matt is an accountant in an agency helping people with employment and housing needs. He loves being part of an organization helping people,. They are really a wonderful young couple and it was fun to hear about their work and other things going on in their lives.
Then we were back to Rochester ready to settle in for several more days before we needed to hit the road.
It was a quiet day on Monday the sixth. Dick became more and more sure that it wasn’t allergies or a cold that he had picked up while we were in Africa, but indeed a sinus infection. We got some help from our local family to find the easiest urgent care and had a really positive experience there where they confirmed yes it was a sinus infection and yes, he needed antibiotics. He was really tired of feeling so tired and having his head hurt so much. So we were pleased to get the medication and he was needing and to spend extra time sleeping just fighting off the infection.
Patti went back to her brother's home to use his WiFi to complete several work obligations. While there she looked out the back window to see a deer. Perry and Jodie feed them in the winter but here was one on a warm Summer Day.
As we were about to go over to another nephew's house, Josh and his partner Makiah, Patti’s mom had a terrible fall as she tried to step out the front door to check her mail. She was able to call for help from a jogger who was running by, who alerted us. Patti then called her brother. It was clear that Joan had really hurt her leg and, after quite a struggle, we got her into Perry’s car and he whisked her away to the emergency room.
She was seen by a doctor with x-rays and scans, and it was clear that she had broken three bones at the bottom of her leg and ankle. So she was admitted to the hospital and the long week of dealing with the medical system was underway.
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