Happy 72 to Dave

Dave at 7

Dave at 72

Happy birthday to brother Dave who is 72 today.  He is a talented guy who does so many things so well.  Terry and I wish you many many more birthdays Dave.
I do not say enough about my siblings.  Helen will have a birthday in August and Joan in September.  They are both incredible women who have done wonderful things with their lives.  Joan lives in Utah with husband Ron while Helen lives in Arkansas.  Growing up on the farm with Helen, Dave and Joan we created many many great memories while working and playing.  Dave and I may have been a bit difficult for Joan at times but as she has done throughout her life, she handled it well!  It is at times like this, a birthday, when I sit back and think about Ronald and Janet.  I guess the older I get the more I wonder what they would have been like if they could have lived into old age.
Until I was well into my adult years I thought Mom and Dad were perfect but then one day it dawned on me that they were just like everyone else, they had flaws but were still great parents!   I loved them so much and not to brag but I think they did a super job of raising their 6 children.  I am thankful for what they did for us and I know that my love for Helen, Joan and Dave is certainly related to how we were raised.
My FP is pretty much history, as is my Kona Coffee too, so it is time to see if I have any energy for that bath upstairs.

The dawn of a new era

Terry and I drove to St. Michael's MN, 40 miles, to take in the HS graduation party of Therese Chambers.  Therese is Grandma Saunders' oldest great-grandchild.  Her mother Lisa, is the oldest of Allen's children.  I tried to convince Allen that he has to be older than me because here he has a grandchild graduating from HS and my oldest grandchild will be in the 7th grade.  It did not work, I remain 2 years older as the story goes.  I say the "dawn of a new era" because all of Grandma's 24 grandchildren are well past HS age and now it is the beginning of her 30+ great-grandchildren HS days.
We begin the demolition of our upstairs bathroom in order to enlarge it and make it accessible from the hall rather than the guest room.  That way when we have guests we can use the bathroom at night.  We will put a tub in the bathroom, there is no tub now, as all the bedrooms are on the second floor so it makes sense to have a tub there.  We will be removing a LOT of plaster so it will take some time before we have a contractor come in and do the finish work.  It will get done this summer.
Aaron stopped by Sunday as he and family were in town for a HS graduation party. It was a quick visit but we wanted to show him the plans for the bath.  Terry was able to send a pint of backyard raspberries to the kids.  I am assuming that Ruby ate most of them!  Our raspberries are crazy.  We now need to pick everyday.  Oh my they are so good.
I am thinking I am starting to feel better.  Not sure but I think.  I was able to work on the construction yesterday for several hours.  Sure, I did take a short nap but they need to stop soon.
Not much else to say.  It is hard to believe that we are 3 days away from July.  The days are getting shorter!
My FP that is in my favorite camping cup that Terry gave me is saying that there are about 3-4 sips left so I need to rap things up and start the day with some work.

Summer is here

Summer is here and we are looking at the "almost end of June".  A lot has happened since we arrive in MN and then not so much!
My health continues to be a concern.  If you were to rate energy on a scale of 1-10, mine would be a 1 or 2 at the most.  I went in the back yard today and spent about 15 minutes picking up things before I mowed the lawn.  I came in and was exhausted!  I did have a Dr. appt today and we will see what that brings.  I am hope full something shows up.
On Monday we had a contractor over to look at what we plan to do with the bath upstairs.  I have spent a little time there but not much.  I took in 3 samples to see if there is any asbestos.  Not a big concern but one has to be careful.
Terry has picked the first of of raspberries.  I am guessing there are 1000's of berries!  Don't know what we will do with them.  Ruby may be here Sunday AM and she will have fun picking and eating.
I have not really unwrapped the wood shop.  I have done some things in it but my table saw is still covered.
I have put weed killer and fertilizer on the lawn but need to spot spray some places for weeds.
There are some things up in the garden that we planted when we arrived back.  Things will be late but that is OK.
Tomorrow we will travel to St. Michaels for a grand niece graduation party.  It is Allen and Deb's oldest grandchild. I am thinking several of the Saunders will be there.
Terry has been doing a great job of trying to get weeds out of the flowers.  They are a pest for sure.
We have seen many bunnies in the yard.  We don't care for them!
I have been enjoying my FP each morning as Costco had Kona Coffee and we purchased some.  It is spendy, even at Costco, so I need to enjoy to the fullest.
No, time to watch Minnesota Almanac.

Home

We finally arrived in St. Paul after being on the road for 26 days. It was a great trip.  The ending, not so good, but overall it was fantastic.  Some of the highlights:

• We drove through 19 states.  Some of them we were in for a long time, others just for a short while but each state has its own character and things to see.
• It was the beginning of our tour of presidential libraries.  We took in Carter's, FDR's and JFK's.  Terry and I were juniors in HS when JFK was killed so his library was perhaps the most interesting in terms of memory.  For history, it does not get any better than FDR's. 
• I would say Acadia National Park was the highlight and that was also the focus of our long trip.  The mountains standing against the ocean and the ocean gently lapping at the mountains was spectacular for sure.  The view from Cadillac Mountain was breath taking, the ocean at Sand Beach was wonderful and in between everything was so fun to see.  We think it is now our favorite park.  If anyone plans to visit I suggest doing it in May or June.  They get over 4,000,000 visitors a year and July and August are the busy months.  One camper we talked to said 20 years ago he was there in mid summer and he waited hours to get into the campground.  Then he said if you wanted to see Sand Beach, forget it unless you wanted to walk a long long way.
• Our quest to find Heady Topper Beer was fun.  I had found online when and where they deliver.   We went to several stores as they all have a limit of one 4-pack per person.  In one case you had to pay with cash as that is faster than credit card.  One of the stores we went to gets 240 4-packs and it is usually gone in a couple of hours.  Anyway it was a fun chase and actually the beer is very good.
• We spent time at the von Trapp lodge and compound in VT.  That is owned and run by one of the von Trapp children. It was built because the son who built it said it is so much like where he was born in Europe.  It was fun and very beautiful to see.
• It was a fun time taking in Terry's granddaughter Tori's HS graduation.  She is a special gal
• Seeing and catching up a bit with all the Lee grand children was great.  They are all growing up so fast. If my Mom could hear her great grandchildren play the piano she would be so proud.
• We were able to visit a few more micro-breweries and bring home a few more growlers for my wood shop.
• Oh, I should not forget the popovers in Portsmouth NH.  They were SO good.
• I suppose I should mention there was one stop at UC for my rash.  I received a shot, kind of a hurtful one, and that did clear up the rash within several days.  Then there was the 7 hour ordeal at the ER in South Bend which resulted in MANY test and really no results.  That was last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and I am now much better but not totally well.  AND of course Monday AM in Ohio I was too sick to drive so we stayed at the campsite an extra day.  Terry was so good and patience as I was in the camper all day except to get up and "throw" a couple of time.
• FINALLY we arrived home Saturday afternoon.  The car has 5100+ miles on since we left Naples but our minds are now so much richer from all our experiences.  We are blessed.

I had a double pleasure this morning.  I had Kona Coffee FP.  Costco had some in and we HAD to buy some.  It is smooth and has a great taste.  BUT it is pretty much gone so the writing is pretty much finished.

Last stop

We arrived in Madison WI yesterday early afternoon. Drove through Chicago without delay which was good.  Will be with Aaron and Amy today and head to St. Paul tomorrow.  We have enjoyed out trip so much and seen so much BUT it will be good to be home tomorrow.  This THING that I have has pretty much spoiled the last few days.
We do not know what I have.  It started Sunday night with the chills.  Monday we could not leave the camp ground as I was in bed all day getting up twice to throw!  We did drive to South Bend on Tuesday and we thought things were behind us.  About 4 in the afternoon I spiked a temp of 103 so I went to lay down.  By 7 the bed was completely soaked and my temp was 104.  We felt it was was not wise to stop at Urgent Care so we went to the ER at Memorial Hospital.  We arrived there about 8 PM.  They did all kinds of tests, drew a lot of blood and came up with nothing. By the time we arrived my temp was pretty normal.  We left the hospital at 3 AM!  I felt better but I just had no energy.  Thursday morning I woke up at 6 and the bed was completely soaked again.  We left at around 9:30 and I felt pretty good.  Now the good news.  I woke up this morning and I had not sweat last night so I take that as good.  I did go out this morning to fill the little pool with water as it is supposed to get warm here.  I came in sweating and tired so the bottom line is NO energy but feeling a bit better.  There are 2 tests the hospital took that will not be completed until Monday so something may come up.  We will just have to wait and see.  This no energy is hard to live with.
Not much more.  It has been so fun to see the grandchildren.  Ruby, Leo, Elspeth, Audrey, Liam and Henry are pretty special.  They are getting so big and can do so many things.  As we listened to Henry, Liam and Audrey play the piano I could only imagine how happy and proud my Mom would be.
Enough, I may make myself some FP today.  It has been a long time.
The car will show that we have traveled about 4900 miles by the time we back into the driveway in St. Paul tomorrow.

It is a go today

Terry is sitting in the chair Henry made by himself out of salvaged wood!

Henry's iron work, he gave it to Grandpa and Terry

more of Henry's iron work

another view

Henry, who is 12, worked on a farm once a week as part of his home school year.  Part of that was doing some iron work.  Here are some of his work.  I think he has become a blacksmith. The chair, well he took a pallet apart and made the chair all by himself.  He also put on a nice concert on the piano last night.  Not to be "upped" Liam and Audrey did a very nice job on the piano too.  Oh, Elspeth played too and when Terry asked the name of the song she came up with a name.  Now that is a gal who can think on her feet!
We have had an interesting visit here.  We arrived on Tuesday, a day late because I was sick on Monday.  Well Tuesday afternoon I spiked a fever of 104 and as I got out of bed the bed looked like a water bed with a huge leak.  Off to ER at 8 PM and home again by 4 AM!  Felt a bit better yesterday and today I feel pretty good BUT I woke up this morning in a bed soaked again.  What is one to do?  The hospital ran several tests and nothing came up so we will wait and see.
We are off to Madison today and then home a day later than we thought, Saturday.
We are looking forward to seeing A/A and Leo and Ruby.  I think they have their new bathroom done or almost finished.
It will be good to be in St. Paul after a 26 day trip.  Perhaps a bit longer than it should have been!
No FP this morning but I actually ate and had coffee so I am good.

Westward Ho

Beauty from Acadia!
We are headed west as of about 7 AM this morning.  We plan to drive as far as western NY state and then find a campground that for sure has electric service.  We have a case of Heady Topper in the cooler and it has to stay cool!
We had a great day yesterday in Stowe VT.  Spend time at Von Trapp mountain place where there is a beautiful lodge, deli etc.  It is run by the son of one of the Von Trapp kids in the movie.  We also had fun going in different places and saying we were Heady Topper searchers!  You do not need to know the cost of a 4-pack!
Enough as Terry is already taking down camp and here I am sitting writing.  Also, the cool air from the quiet peaceful stream has taken ALL the warmth from my FP.

VT

I have not had the time to download any pictures yet.  We are currently in St. Johnsbury VT.  We are camped by a quiet stream in a campgrounds that is very nice.  Had showers for the first time in several days and Terry got two loads of laundry done, the first time she has been able to to that. 
We are 3200+ miles into our trip.  We have seen so much and had perfect weather.  We spent 3 nights in Acadia NP and the weather was sunny and 70's.  Went into Bar Harbor a couple of times.  We think Acadia may be our favorite NP now. 
One night in Boston we had a wonderful lobster dinner, 2 1/2 pd Maine ones that melted in my mouth.  JFK and FDR libraries were so so interesting as were many other things.
Tomorrow we will spent around VT but for sure will be in Stowe VT in the AM to pick up some Heady Topper beer.  Two years ago it was judged the best beer in the world.  We will find out if that is true or if they have great sales people.  On their web site they have the stores and days they deliver and most places limit sales to a 4-pack per person.  I called one place today and they said they get 240 4-packs on Friday and they go fast!  It is not sold outside of VT.  Is it important, no but it is fun!
On the 4th we will head west for a visit in South Bend and Madison before we park the camper in St. Paul the 10th. 
Oh, I did not have my FP in the morning on Wednesday but I drove into Bar Harbor to get some pictures.  I stopped in a small cafe and asked if they had good coffee.  The guy said he roasted his weekly and would grind it daily.  I said I would have some because I have FP each day but did not have my that morning. He went to the back of the cafe and made me a pot of FP!  Fun.
I will try to get some pictures soon.  We were without phone and internet for several days as our camp sites were out of reach of Verizon. 
Enough for now.