Saturday July 30. 1,300 miles so far on vacation

I ran 5.5 miles around a small lake in Winona.

Great breakfast out on Neppl's deck
Denny and Jim unloaded dry wall at the church. We showered and packed then went to the farmers market.
Left Winona about 10.   Coffee in Rushford, Minn. Karen and Tom live four miles north of Fountain, Minn. The Brinkmans are meeting there for Bette and Phillip's 60th wedding anniversary. We stopped to visit and see their new home. We went to Lanesboro and watched the entry of canoes, and tubes as the family did a river float. We helped transport  cars. Then Denny and I rode back to look at shops at Lanesboro. We drove to Craigs. They were babysitting for Ben's tonight. He had a class reunion. Julie and Joe were at the farm. When they left we went to Decorah stopped to see Bruce at the Corner. There was leftover pizza from Mabes. We spent some time walking Main street for Nordic Fest.

Friday july 29

Left Spooner at Ten

Stopped for gas coffee  walk thru antique shop 11:30

Got to Red Wing, Minn. at one pm

Left at 2:15 after a cold drink on at Saint James veranda over looking the Mississippi and a walk thru Red Wing boot store.

Stockholm ... Population 97

Lots of cute shops to explore. Thanks for telling us about it, Nancy!  Denny was okay with me looking.  He said he got to look thru the Redwing boot store.  That is a fair exchange for me.   I got a pretty (deep lavender/pink) top and some cute sandals with colored stones.

In Winona with Neppls at 5:30
Great visit.  Grilled veg, shrimp, chicken.  Swam in the pool that Jim takes care of with twins that each of them are a god parent of. After swimming we sat and visited on their deck til 11. Great to spend time with friends ... over the years friends are great.

Thursday July. 28

I got up and ranto the road and back 3 times. Later we clocked the sdistance with map my run. It was.67 miles times six.  4.02 mlles

8:30. Great breakfast
Fruit. Three kinds of muffins
Sausage, mushroom omelet plus egg bake. French toast with blue berries sauce. I asked if I could finish my breakfast after I got done swimming. It was okayed and I took my plate to our room and ate in later after I took hot tub relax after swimming.

Swam in Carpenter Lake
Denny canoed beside me to protect from sharks, boats and exhautio. When I started my second lap a boat ran into me.  Luckily, it was Denny's canoe. He said he couldn't turn fast enough. Sure glad he was there to help when a boat hit me...even if it was his canoe. I swam out to a bouy and back 3 times. We took the I phone and map my run to see how far I swam. .13 times six. -- .78 miles

Left at 11:30
Text from Molly

Stopped in Winter along a pond for left over steak and bread from last night. 

Made it to Spooner and checked into Best Western about 5.  Denny did a quick wash on Harley and looked for a place to eat.   We met Siches about 6:30 and had a great visit in a noisy restaurant until about 10 when they had to leave.

Wednesday July 27

Left Valmy at 8:30

Talked to Molly S. about meeting Thursday night for supper.
Text from Julie F. We met her at her work.
It was rainy as we drove through Green Bay so we stopped at McD to look at a map. (I had suggested no fast food eating on vacation,only local or mom and pop places, but this was an exception. It was the second McD we stopped at in the rain. Rain lowers the standards and expectations on a motorcycle.

We ate lunch at Shawano with Julie 11:15 to 1:15. Good visit and catch up. She helped me pronounce my grand nephew's name
Lone. Jay. So
Lon jez so
Mendamenda 

Called and could not get a room at the first Bed and Breakfast 
Called and got a great room at Eagles River. Inn at Pinewood lodge (715 477 2377)It was really a nice place; a big lodge with 8 room that could be rented. There was a small beach area, canoes, pool table, about 5 areas to sit and visit.
Before we drove for supper we sat out by Carpenter Lake, Then we drove to eat Italian steak.
Had talks on the phone with our daughters.
Used the Jacuzzi in our room. SWEET B&B I decided to run and swim in the morning. Breakfast is at 8:30. I could run first and swim after breakfast. Great way to train for tri.

Tuesday July 26

We drove up the west side of Door county. There were lots of cherry groves along the road. Denny had a great breakfast at Village cafe in Egg Harbor (or maybe it was Fish Creek). Both bacon and sausage. They didn't have outside eating, but we ate in a cute porch that was decorated brightly. We headed to Ephraim. Pretty town didn't stop. Drove to Washington island where we rented bikes for about an hour. 12 miles. Fun I was thinking it would be more of a tourist town, but it was mostly rural setting. I was glad to get in some bike time to train for August 7 triathalon. Drove and ate at Fish Creek. Shipwrecked Cafe outside It was a pretty harbor near sunset. We headed back to spend the night at Run Away Lodge at Valmy

Monday July 25

Juice at cliffs on the bay

Breakfast at Baileys Harbor. Cornerstone cafe. Rode a motorcycle a lot thru trees and roads where you can peek down the lanes and see houses and maybe the lake in the background

Sat in the park in Sister bay and looked at kids playing in the lake...so I thought I'd swim too. I swam for 45 minutes about 3/4 mile. It was refreshing

At 5 we ate Reubens at Shoreline restaurant

At 7 we ate cheese curds on the beach restaurant called Fred and Fuzzy's until the sun set. It was so pretty.

Sunday July 24 take two

• Sunless nan 10:30

Drove to port Washington

Ate o nodule Michigan n

Left 3

Broke foot peg as I got on Harley in Howard grove we went to Benares to try and find the right. Bolt to put foot peg on and stabilize saddle bag...time ia now 4:45...2 hoirsbto algoma and another 2 hours to sister bay

Got to balmy about 8

Got a burger in joshs old stomping ground

Two guys there knew him

Called julie

Josh was at his grandma and came to see us

We went to the institute where they met

Well I'm sure you have been wondering...exactly where have those two gone and why are her posts so choppy/random and senseless. I tried to make notes in the Iphone and copy and paste them into the blogsite. I did this as wetraveled down the highway on the motorcycle. I couldn't read the small print to see if what I was writing was okay. As I look on the computer screen I can tell what I was writing was senseless. Now as I try to add pictures, the blog site is acting very strange. Let's see, what happened? We drove across Wisconsin to Port Washington where we got ate and got out and walked the wharf/?? A little further down the road I got on the Harley and the left foot peg broke. We stopped and Menards (not Benares) to get a part and Denny fixed it in the parking lot. That night we stayed at Valmy, not balmy. Who wrote all that crazy stuff on the back of a motorcycle with a small I phone font that I couldn't read with out my reading glasses?

Sunday July 24

Ran 6 miles on trail by Nancy's home before Denny got up. We had coffee, bagels, blueberries and melon for breakfast. YUM!

Saturday July 23

Denny got 2 tires and rims. Left Manchester about 10. About 10:15 DOWNPOUR!! We were on the road 10 minutes in the rain. Spent 2 hours in Dyersville at McD's and looking in an antique mall. Then on to backroads in Wisconsin. Stopped in New Glarus. Tour and brats. Denny was impressed with the big flag the town was putting up as we rode down town to get a sandwich.To Madison and ate Mexican with Nancy and Myrna and Dobbin.

Friday July 22

Took Howard to Doctor at 10. Anabel stayed home she was feeling nauseus. Planted flowers so hopefully they will live while we are gone on vacation.Took Anabel in for her shot at 4. Left for Wisconsin at 6. Staying the night with Pat and Dureen. Should be there about 10. 10 miles from Manchester a blowout on the motorcycle trailer on 4 lane highway 20. Very interesting!! Very good friends to help us out at 9:30- 11:00 am.

Thursday July 21 17269

Tomorrow we head out on vacation. I guess we will find out what that is all about. Just Denny and me for 8 - 10 days. We did go for about a week with 3 kids to Grand Canyon, other than that I don't think we've ever been gone so long. Denny had his first branch manager meeting this am. I putzed around at home. I'm looking forward to putting our feet up and relaxing. I drove the folks to SC today. We left about 11:30 and got home about 5:30. Anabel's appointment was at 2. Denny drove up and got the motorcycle at Algona after work. I lazed around and packed a little.

Wednesday July 20

I took Evan and Anabel to the folks at 8 am. I went at 9 to help get food ready for Arlene's W.'s funeral. At 11 I elft for Missouri Valley where I met Kathy W. for lunch. So good to spend time with her. We visited until almost 3. I stopped at Jodi's to look at her ideas for the Tri tank. I think it si going to be pretty nice. Missy helped me order a larger tank for me.

Tuesday July 19

I went to Kay B's morning coffee before heading to Carroll to get the oil changed in the Prius. Then I stopped at the folks and made arrangements to take Anabel to IG for her white Blood cell booster shot.

Monday July 18

Gail and I went to the YMCA at 5:30. I swam 3/4 mile and then rode 2 miles on the stationary bike. Bruce fixed pancakes for breakfast. Gail and I started on basement adn then worked on weeding the berm on the east side of the house. We got most of that done by 11 and Gail fixed lunch. Then we started to tackle more of the basement. We got it all gone through. I think Bruce took about 3-4 pickup loads to the dump. Mexican for lunch. I headed home about 8.

Sunday July 17

Cereal at Craigs before 8:30 church. Every one headed home or out to golf after church. We got home about 3. The picture is of our second Mom, Lenora L. What a sweetie. It was good to stop there Saturday morning. I headed to Atlantic and got there in time to swim 1/4th mile before the pool closed. Then Gail and I went home and started to sort through dishes in the high up cupboards.

Saturday July 16

I ran 3.5 miles. We ate breakfast at the Coop Country Express with Craig, Gails, Nancy and Jeans. Then gals went to Decorah to visit Lenora.

Friday July 15

I took folks to SC for Anabel's chemo treatment. Her appointment was a 10:30. I went to Penneys to look for a tank top for Tri in Denver. Howard to electric chair to get groceries at HyVee. In IG I ordered Pizza for us to take on the way to Decorah. I picked flowers to take along.

Thursday July 14

Little Anabel and I took the 4 wheeler to ggma's. Worked on updating the blog. The picture caption would be "Mommy, Brooks is sucking on the rag (THAT T HAS BEEN IN THE DIRTY WATER BUCKET) {And I want to try it.}." I planted asparagus and plants I got a t Bomgaars. I tried unsuccessfully to make a c hart with character recognition on the computer for independent living.

Wednesday July 13

Watched neighbor grands while Missy went to walk/jog with Kathi J. Coffee at folks. I called the hospital and asked if they needed some flowers for the lunch area. It was okay and so I picked about 20 yellow lily stems and greenery. I watched Brooks while Missy and two healthy went to see great grandma and pa. At 11, I started on making a chart with IEP info for each of the students I had. Got done about 2 and took flowers into town. Stopped at Bomgaars and got fly spray. Stopped at Jodi L. to talk about tri tank. Stopped At Luft's office to ask about bill. They called and faxed them our insurance cards. Then I asked about the bone density scan that the hospital said they were faxing to their office. Dr. Luft looked at both of them and said my right hip had improved, but the left had stayed the same. Continue taking calcium 1200-1500 per day. Have a bone density done yearly to see if there is change. I have early stage of osteoporosis (peinity) so insurance should cover it. Good to get those two things checked on. I used the $ from the hospital flowers to get flowers 75% off at Pamida. 19 little plants of asparagus. :) I went to Elizabeth's and asked to borrow a bike. YES! Then rode twice around the trail (about 7 miles, no I map my run today. Then I ran 1.21 miles (map run) and swam 20 laps. (Matt informed me that is not a triple "stack"... it is called a "brick" workout when you do two activities in a row. I didn't know...just in bliss with my ignorance. I guess that today I stacked three bricks by doing biking, running, and swimming.) At home Denny was working on fixing my tire. Phillip had stopped at Denison Wal-mart and gotten two tires and one tube. The pictures are of Phillip putting hog panels on roof of eagle's nest. What a guy! Missy had said how the vines were invading the room in the nest. I had a brainstorm (or maybe just a storm). The vines can't invade the canvas roof, but perhaps a hog panel would give them a space and support on which to grow. Of course my "pie in the sky" vision is the roof and awning being covered with lavender wisteria blooms next spring. I'm not holding my breath ... you don't need to hold your breath either.

Tuesday July 12

31 days... Professional Development school days start August 12. Thank you, Lord, for this job. I was up early to chauffeur Stangls around. I got to Laura's about 8. Drove to get Bethany at Hidden Acres. Back to IG. I swam from 12 to 1. We ate at Food Pride, then took Beth to rec center for Juniro varsity cheerleading camp 2-5. I took Laura back to Odebolt, there were some things she wanted to get done for the fair. I took a nap at home for about an hour. Then back to town to get Beth and stop at Subway for a sandwich. Back to Odebolt to get Laura, Then to Hidden Acres and back home. Denny and motorcycle club were at t the Boulders in Lakeview and so we stopped there. The club had taken cars after the meeting out to eat. Finally home about 9 pm... 13 hours later.

Monday July 11

Coffee with 5 gals from church in my yard at 7 am. Whitney H. Teresa P. Elfreida P. Marie and Janet Miles. Nice am. At 12:30 14 gals from the HS came for salad luncheon. Dani T., Ann H., Janet C., Donna R., Vicki E.,Lorraine J.,Denise F., Linda J., Kay B., Cathy H., Mary Jo H., Emily M., Missy and Me. Lemonade as they arrived. They brought salads and desserts. We ate in the coop, doilies, pink goblets, pink flowered china plates, and cloth napkins. Peach tea, coffee, and ice water. It was fun. They left about 3. Then Kim L. came over for a visit until about 5:15. It was good to talk. Denny came home from work and said let's go for a bike ride. We went to Lakeview and rode 6 miles from town and turned around. Now not that I have extra weight, but my tire popped at mile 8.86 (Thanks Luke for setting up I map my run.) Denny rode ahead to get the pickup at Lake view and I jogged with my bike 1.69 miles. (Thanks, Luke) I didn't know it was that easy to run and push a bike. Of course it didn't slow me down that much, because I don't go that fast without a bike. AND I GOT TO STACK. I think that is when you do biking and running, or biking and swimming, or swimming and running together to prepare for a triathlon. It wasn't a planned "stack", but a good workout anyways. Nice night. Mark S. stopped over for a short visit.

Sunday July 10

I had fixed coffee cake yesterday so we had it for breakfast with fresh fruit. I was in the nursery during church. I gave an invitation to my yard tomorrow am at 7 for coffee. After church we came home and watched The King's Speech on my computer while Brooks napped. I started to clean the coop. About 4:30 we went to Crawford Creek for a church picnic. Phillip had taken his canoes there and everyone enjoyed them. Julie L. had an ice crusher machine and brought ingredients for snow cones YUM!! Denny sprayed for flies in the coop and on the deck.

Saturday July 9

I went to Carroll to get a bike tire, WW, and buy fruit for Monday. Mandy called and will be home about 8 pm. Denny spent several hours getting my bike ready to ride, then we went biking at Lakeview. Rode 12 miles. It was really nice and flat. Great that we didn't have to worry about cars. Stopped at Wall Lake and got meat to grill. Denny spent the next two hours cutting up vegetables and getting ready to fix supper. We took the card tables out and ate by the fire pit. So fun to spend time with our family.

Friday July 8

Biked 2.5, ran 3, biked 2.5. Got 3 grands and took them to the folks. Home to start on yard work. painted 3 chairs, painted basement stairs, Moved flower bed to carpet and crock bed at the southwest house wall. Ordered 3 running singlets, mowed the lawn. started supper on the grill. Phillip had an interview. Lord, keep them right in the center of Your will. Denny came home and we sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed the night and the grands and the yard. We are so blessed. AFter I got done weeding the picket fence I just lay on the trampoline and enjoyed life. Oh y, Did I tell you I am not thinking biking on gravel is a good idea? There was a lot of "stand and peddle" as you go up the hills and a lot of "pray and keep you hand on the brake" as I went down the hill. It would not be cool to wipe out on the gravel. OUCH!! Ordered 3 Nike singlets for our Tri.

Thursday July 9

Oh, the month is flying by. Up and washed dishes, Folks picked me up at 7:15. Howard had a foot appointment in SC at 9. I drove them. He was done at 9:45. We drove to the cancer center. Anabel was scheduled in to read her cat scan at 11. Well, her doctor called in sick. They called a doctor to fill in who was on his way to the office in Storm Lake. He turned around and came to SC. At least two patients from Storm Lake came to SC so he could administer the chemo to them. Then there were a couple patients who came in needing immediate care. I think he was the only doctor there. When we got to meet with him (finally 7 hours later) he seemed like a very good doctor. But he didn't really tell us anything. Anabel had already heard that the cancer in her liver was bigger, which was bad. The bone cancer in her hips had not changed very much, which was good. He examined her and asked if we had the time to get a chest x ray too. Of course, we had the time. He asked Anabel if she wanted to continue with the chemo treatments. She said yes. He explained two different possible treatments. Worst case side effects and usual side effects. He said he could not make the decision, but would meet with her doctor and they would discuss and let her know what the treatment would be. Treatments would start next week. Long day, no real information. Everyone was tired. We got home about 7. Denny went to a motorcycle ride to Arcadia.

Wednesday July 6 16883

Coffee at folks, Started calling to set up salad luncheon - garden party at my home Monday July 11 at 12:30. Worked on bunkhouse, filling the folks jeep with goodwill stuff. To IG Schau towing receipt, high school visit, return item at Malcolms ($8), dropped off stuff at never too old (got paid $49 from what I took in last fall), swam 20 laps, ran 2 miles, Fruit Soothies with Susan at the hospital, home, looked at pink tank tops/reflective vests, worked on bunk house, Denny came home and wanted to talk about the possibility of grants with Jensens, sat out by bunkhouse while I sorted material, Denny went out to mow thistles at folks, I worked more on bunkhouse. TWO PRETTY GIRLS.

Tuesday July 5

Ran the square. Coffee at folks. PASSED SPED LAW!! Started to sort through stacks of papers that I just drug into our apartment when school was over. Thanks Brandon, for letting me use your bike and for taking pictures with my camera. I'm leaving on the bike and Denny and 3 grands are headed to the popcorn ball playground.

Monday July 4

The 7 am jump again. Coffee on deck. We left about 9 for Atlantic. Denny gave Harley rides to happy grands before we left. We had lunch with Bruce and Gail and sat on their deck and visited. headed home about 2. Lazy time eating everything in sight when we got home. Denny cleaned up Harley, pickup and motorcycle trailer at night ... I chilled. Luke called to do face time. Nice weekend. Now Denny heads back to the real world and I try to get organized... everything I have not done the past 10 1/2 months and every thing I can do ahead for the next school year. Ya, sure, Faith get real, it will be a struggle for you to make yourself do anything and there is so much to do.