It is July 14 and we are making our way westward. Leaving our family in Batavia was difficult. We have been extremely blessed to be able to call the kids up for various outings & times together. It does seem a little odd to be the ones relocating as so often it is our offspring who leave. Thank goodness Denver has a major airport and we can either fly back to Chicago or they can fly to Denver with relative ease. Through google video or Skype, we will look forward to staying in touch.
Steve and I are getting a quick internet fix at a Panera’s in the Minneapolis area. Since our return from Sweden and Scotland, we stayed with Steph and Shane a couple of nights, Deb and Gene one night, and Andy and Julie one night before departing for our current journey westward. We appreciated the gatherings that we had with family and friends throughout the weekend. Doing laundry, working on paperwork, and acquiring the rest of our belongings from 4 different locations, really put us in a time crunch. The time zipped past all too quickly. We know that we could have continued visiting so many others of you. We are happy to know that leading up to our household move at the end of May we were able to say our “see you sometime” to wonderful friendships and communities. We will sure try to locate an abode with room for a guest room!
We left Andy and Julie’s on Monday morning. En route to Jenilee, Ross, and Nola’s, Steve and I stopped for a picnic lunch (thanks to the Andy & Julie) and a 2 mile hike at mosquito-infested Kettle Moraine State Park in Wisconsin. Fortunately the little shop down the road had mosquito repellent wipes which kept the little pests less pesky. On Monday night we were with Jenilee, Ross, and Nola for a great stay with them. Little Nola (our grand-niece) is just over 1 year old and such a delight.
After leaving Ross and Jenilee’s yesterday, we drove to Buckhorn State Park, where we made one of our favorite lunches, PB&J, picnicked along the shoreline, and then hiked for 3 miles. We reminisced about the great state of Wisconsin and the many experiences in its State Park system from camping to biking to mountain biking to snowshoeing. The State of Wisconsin really has knocked itself out to make their State Parks and Trails some of the best in the nation.
Unfortunately we miscalculated our time at Buckhorn, so we ended up arriving belatedly at Meri and Hailey’s in Edina, Minnesota by a couple of hours. Despite the shortened stay, last night was a great time with Meri and Hailey as we walked to dinner at Famous Dave’s BBQ and visited the whole time coming and going. Hailey is certainly growing up and as always, is a real conversationalist! We wish Meri the best as she embarks on her own architecture business. If you want to tackle a renovation, let us know and we’ll put you in touch with her. She is extremely talented and her award-winning work has been featured in various magazines, etc.
Today we’re off to “somewhere” in South Dakota. Our friends, John and Karen, are “somewhere” in Nebraska so we’re thinking that perhaps we’ll join them near Hill City, SD tomorrow evening if it works out. Then we’ll be traveling to Helena, Montana.
May this update find you be in the midst of enjoying your Wednesday. Sip some coffee or a glass of iced tea, stop to reflect on the moment, and remain wise.
Love,
Diane