Summer Trip Away From the Texas Heat (cont'd 2)

 We drove back to Lake Benton Monday, the 8th and on Tuesday morning woke up to 49 degree temperature!!

Anyway, we packed up drove to Waterloo, NE a suburb of Omaha where my sister and family live.  This bridge separates Iowa and Nebraska.  The river is the Missouri.

We went out to dinner that night with Judeen at Boyd and Charlies BBQ which we always like.  (We have not been seeing Jim because, with his health issues, he is concerned about getting COVID).

On Wednesday Judeen and granddaughter, Aliza, came out to the campground.  She loves to throw rocks and tries to skip them/!

We walked over by the dam and did some rock throwing there as well as taking our shoes off and playing in the mud!

Aliza is also a very good artist for an 8 year old.  Judy had some small jars of clay and Aliza made a number of things, including the two animal faces you see here!

On Thursday we had lunch at LePeeps in Elkhorn.  The place was busy but we liked it because it gave us time to talk with Alison and Katie.  (Judeen didn't actually order all of that for herself.  One of the orders was going to Jim at home afterwards!).

Aliza enjoying her meal.

After lunch we got a picture of Judeen, Katie, Aliza and Alison.  It was a fun time!

On Friday we started for home.  Got as far as Carthage, MO (near Joplin) and spent the night there and then drove home on Saturday.

We had a great trip and enjoyed every part of it as it's always great to see family and friends!

Minnetonka - Pam & Steve's Wedding Anniversary

 On Tuesday the 2nd we left the trailer at the CG and drove to Minnetonka, MN to visit Judy's sister Pam and husband Steve and family there. 

The first night we were there, there was a thunderstorm.  Judy and I slept in the bedroom in the basement in the back of the house and never heard a thing, but this is what occurred outside our window.

Anyway, Jessie, Phanie, and a friend came right over and by noon it was all cleaned up and out by the street for city to pickup.

It's now official that Judy and I take Mathias and Crawford to McDonalds when we are in town!  We thought it was only when they had birthdays but I think it now becomes a 'tradition' whenever we are there!

 It was their 50th anniversary on the 5th so they had a great celebration.

On Saturday 22 of us went to a Twins game.  The weather started out drizzly but stopped after about an hour and it was really nice from then on.  As you can see, our seats were along the 1st base side and looking out to right field.  The view was great.

The first picture is when we got there - about 5:00.

This one was after the game started so you can see that there was a good crowd (around 27,000).

Ceremonies before the game included recognizing Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat as they had been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Tony gave an inspiring speech about his time in the league.

And, there were bobblehead dolls to be had!

This is all of us prior to the game.

Front row - Judy, Me, Steve, Pam, Crawford

Second/third row - Jenelle, Marcus Matt, Graden, Jesse, Alice, Ben, Molly, Zac, Mathias, Lauren, Phanie, and Violet.

On Sunday we went to church and then went out to dinner at a place called The Wok in the Park (so named because it is Chinese and it is located in St. Louis Park!).  

Pam and Steve know the owners very well and they opened the restaurant for them so it was a private party.  29 relatives and friends were in  attendance there!

Picture of their wedding party (1972).

This is Pam and Steve with his family.

And this should be the Pivec siblings, but MaryLou got in there on the left!

Tom, Tim, Jay, Patti, and Steve.

Everyone circulated and enjoyed getting together.

These are Pam and Steve's grandchildren - Graden, Alice Marcus, Mathias, Crawford, and Violet.

They had also invited their neighbors, Jim and Ann to the festivities.

And, Jim and Ann's kids, Mia and Henry.

It was a great time with great food and conversation!

Continued,,,

Summer Trip Away From the TEXAS HEAT!! (cont'd)

 On Monday we left Michigan for Wisconsin and got about half way in Rockford, IL before spending  the night.  On Tuesday we made it to Merrillan where Tom and Cindy Clark are now living.  We knew them for many years as Tom worked for JCP and they attended our church before moving further north of Plano.

We found our campground - Doc's Bunkhouse - and got set up on our site.  We did see this CG along the way but opted NOT to stay here!!!

We found their house by the lake and enjoyed getting together, reliving old times and having dinner.

View of their house from the dock.

Lake views:

Tom and Cindi - they never age!!

Typical farms in the upper Midwest.

On Wednesday (while Tom was at work) Cindy took us around the area.  We visited a Menonite store that was really amazing.  It had everything you could possibly want!  

Notice all the items that are bagged.  We bought some blueberry jello and some chocolate chips (both in bags!).

Then we found an old saw mill - unfortunately it was not open so we could not get a tour.

We spent some time out on the deck waiting for Tom to come home and then had some refreshments before going out to dinner with them.

On Thursday we left there and drove to Owatonna, MN which is about halfway to Lake Benton, MN and got there on Friday where we plan to spend a couple of weeks.  Got together with my cousin Gary and his wife Shirl for dinner that night at one of our favorite pizza places - the Lakeside Resort.

On Saturday we met with my cousin, Claudia, at the Mexican Restaurant in Pipestone.  Margaritas of course and some good food.

We spent the week enjoying the cool weather and being with family and friends.

We also went out to dinner with Claudia again, this time to a restaurant in Ihlen, MN (about 10 miles south of Pipestone) with a population of 61.  This place has been a number of restaurants over the years but this one, Burgers and Brews, was really good and very nice atmosphere, and great food.

Continued...

Summer Trip Away from the TEXAS HEAT!!

 We made our travel plans for the summer to include a trip to MI to visit my cousin Karen and husband Bob and attend a wedding there.

We also plan to visit friends Cindy and Tom (who worked at JCP) from Plano, in Wisconsin, and then travel to MN to visit relatives and friends also to celebrate Judy's sister Pam and husband Steve on their 50th wedding anniversary.

The final leg of the trip plan is to visit my sister Judeen and husband Jim and family in the Omaha area.

We left Plano on 7/5 and made a quick stop at this place to get their infamous banana pudding.  But, they didn't have it so we settled for 2nd best - mixed berry pudding!

Then we drove on to Chanute (again!) but this time to have the trailer brakes, suspension, etc. checked.  Now that the RV is 15 years old, we have to consider these things.  We got there late Tuesday, so that afternoon we sat outside and enjoyed the rest of the day - even though it was in the upper 90's!

Had an appointment for Wednesday and everything checked out.  We had planned to be there 2 days in case they would need more time.  Saw this truck at the Grain Bin Restaurant where we always go for breakfast while the RV was being serviced.

While the RV is being serviced, we usually go to this city park and wait it out.

There are those who believe that I was sleeping here, but, as you can see, I was engrossed in the book I was reading!!

On Friday we traveled Eastward to Marceline, MO. to spend the weekend there.   Crossed the Mississippi and saw a couple of barges.

This was our campsite for the weekend - very nice.  Great camp host here.

Little did we know that this is the boyhood home of Walt Disney.  His family lived in Chicago until he was 5 and then moved to Marceline.  They have a great museum here that originally was a train station.

Walt and his sister Ruth.

 Memorabilia...

Walt and his brother reading the Marceline paper.

This teacup ride was our daughter, Julie's, favorite when we went to Disneyworld.

(NOT!!)

Afterwards, we got a Mickey flag.

Trains are very much part of the town here as there were at least 4 trains that went by while we were in the museum!

While sitting outside at our campground, we noticed a bird pecking away on top of our mirror.  All we could think of is that he was seeing his reflection in the metal part of the mirror.

On Monday we drove to Carlock, IL to spend a couple of nights before heading up to Michigan.  

This town of 600 had one gas station and one restaurant.  Diesel here was $5,89 so I opted NOT to get filled up here.  The restaurant was very good.  We did drive into Bloomington to wash clothes at a laundromat.  While there we filled up with diesel at $5.49 and felt like we got a good deal!

On Wednesday we drove to Belding, MI. which took us near Chicago (I-80) and many trucks and slow downs along the way.  

Notice the cloud formation here - very unusual.

We found our way to Belding and the Double R Ranch Campground where we parked for 5 days.  Expensive place ($58 per night) but they do have horse back riding, canoe and kayak floating down a river, etc.  This is 1st time we have stayed here over the weekend, and, we were lucky to get a spot because the CG is full.

Had dinner - taco salad - with my cousin, Karen and her husband Bob.  On Thursday we had lunch with them and talked about old times and looked at old pictures, trying to determine who some of those people in the pictures were!  Went to dinner with them that evening.

On Friday we got together again and we went on a tour of the town.  Visited a very nice library with many murals, etc,

Cousin Karen...

Karen and Bob...

 Have you ever seen "hops" growing before?  This is in the town of Greeenville, MI. 

Saw the Veterans Memorials which included WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, Middle East conflicts, - Desert Storm,  etc.  Also had a memorial for Afganistan.  Because it started raining, we went back to their house and played cards (taught them Up the River-Down the River.  Played 2 games!) and had pizza for supper,

Saturday we went to Jan Gray's wedding with Randy.  We knew Jan when she was married to Tony Huffam and they went to our church.  She divorced Tony and lived in the Plano area for many years.  Her daughter, Joy and family live in McKinney so we saw them all.

Jan has since moved to Michigan (Charlotte) where she has family and met Randy and they married.

Notice line 4:  Exchange of Rings...

It was actually a door knob!!  And Jan had a 'rock' for him!!

Wedding venue took place in this building.

On Sunday we were back at Karen and Bob's house for lunch (taco soup and corn bread) and played cards again (4 games of Up the River-Down the River!!!).

CONTINUED...