We Made It To Wisconsin!

Greetings from Rhinelander, Wisconsin,

The last I wrote to you I was in Vermont at an Airbnb enjoying some alone time.  I retuned to Steve's in NY a day early because his Mom was hosting a dinner out for the family (and significant others).  I didn't want to miss seeing everyone.

We went to the Log Jam, which is a lot like a supper club.  It is a destination restaurant with a big salad bar.   In the first picture are me, Katie (Steve's niece), Ozzy, her boyfriend, and Kevin, Steve's son.

Below are Erin, Steve, and Steve's 90 year-old mom, Rosemary.

Below is Steve, Rosemary, and Steve's brother, Pat.

The restaurant was noisy.  I couldn't hear hardly any conversation.  I thought maybe it was just me and my old hearing, but when I mentioned to the younger folks next to me that I couldn't hear a thing that Rosemary was saying, they too, were just smiling and nodding with only hearing a word here and there.

While I was in Vermont, Steve had been busy working on making the trailer more comfortable.  Last time he added doors to the storage areas so we could have easy access to them.  This time he installed some shelves so we can get to stored items and bins without having to move the stuff on top of what we want.  He added lovely drawers (better than any I have ever had in my houses) to cabinets, custom sized to fit the space and our utensils!  

We are happy with the new hooks for hanging our hats and coats.

I still pinch myself that someone so talented is choosing to share his space, his life, and his time to tour the country with me.

I haven't been to big-name concert since I was twenty-something and I went to see the band America in Chicago.  I wasn't a fan, but I went with a singles group.  Steve took me to Albany and the Palace Theater to see Bonnie Raitt!  I do like Bonnie.  When I worked for a non-profit in Milwaukee, she had a concert at the Summerfest grounds.  We got to set up an information table, and after the show we got to go back stage and get our picture taken with Bonnie!  I don't know if I kept the picture when I purged all my stuff. 

The concert at the Palace with Steve was fun and exciting.

Bonnie didn't get on stage until well after nine pm.  Past our bedtime!  I really enjoyed the concert and I hope in the future we can find concerts that start earlier.  We were so tired by the end of the concert and we had a 45 minute drive to get back to Steve's house.

On the day before we were to leave and start our journey west, we packed up and moved into the trailer so Steve could shut down the house for the summer season.  He plans to return in November when he can winterize the house and visit his family again.

That evening we had one last visit with Steve's mom.  She said to me something like, "I have never met anyone who just fits in so well with a family."  Wow, how sweet is that?  She is so dear.

Our first stay was at Four-mile Creek Campground near Niagara, NY.  We only booked two nights.  We wanted to bike the trail up the Niagara River to the falls.

The campground is right on Lake Ontario,  I took pictures of sights that had a view of the lake, in case we ever return.

We had great weather for our bike day.  It was beautiful, with lots to see.  Though we biked about 30 miles, it didn't feel that long.

I didn't remember seeing this Buddhists'' Temple right on the trail.  The gates were open and we were able to walk in.

I thought maybe the restaurants would be less expensive off the touristy riverfront in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.  But it was kind of pricey.  But maybe it was the huge crepe I ordered for desert.  We shared it and it was VERY good.  It even had a scoop of ice cream on it.

Blue rain capes on the US side, red rain capes on the Canadian side.  A steady stream of colorful tourists getting on and off the boats and getting misted by the falls.

We went to the Stone Jug bar for music that night.  

We managed to get our feet in Lake Ontario.  We should be able to do that in Lake Superior too.  We have done the Atlantic and we will do the Gulf of Mexico before we reach Florida again.

You may remember Debbie and Jim, Christie and Mark from our fun trip to St. Croix this past winter.  Debbie has a house in Michigan.  We cut through Canada to get there.  We played cornhole and drank wine and had a great time.

Christie and Mark had their camper with them.  They live in NY too, by the Finger Lakes.  They left Debbie's around the same time and went with us to our next destination, Montague, MI.

I had reached out to bike friends and invited them to join us in riding the trails in the Montague area.  I as so happy to see some Florida friends.  Frankie and Dennis came from Indiana,  Mary and Jim live near Montague and were instrumental in helping us find this great city campground, Trailway.  Jan and Harley came with their friends.  There were 12 of us!  We loved it.  The campground provided a shelter with picnic table and picnic supplies for our first evening potluck, free of charge!  

We were able to park the truck and hardly use it for the four nights we were at Trailway.  Everything we needed or wanted was easy to walk or bike to.   The Hart-Montague paved tail goes right by the campground.   And just down the trail was a wetland/lake area with lots of big white swans.  Steve looked them up, they are mute swans.  Several couples had as many as seven signets.

Our first ride, we started our ride with the MUTS, Michigan Tandem Riders.  Another couple we have ridden with in Florida were among them, Vonnie and Len!  Vonnie has been following our travels here.  Thanks for Trippin' with us, Vonnie.

Shortly after we started our first ride we encountered a downed tree.  We helped each other lift our bikes over it.

In Hart (22 miles from Montague) we encountered lunch and the Tin Man.   I didn't remember this story of the origin of the tin man in the Wizard of Oz.  Interesting..

That evening, despite a light rain, we walked over to a band shell where there was free music! They were pretty good!

The next day seven of us rode south on the trail to Muskegan.  We had lunch at the Early Owl.  The waitress told us the art work was done by the owner.

And in the evening we found a brewery in an old bank building.  It served sandwiches and salads in a room in the back.

Then Christie and Mark and Steve and I walked to another brewery with live music.  They walked table to table and took requests.  They were great!

Christie and Mark left after the third night.  I drove to Muskegan to a gym in the morning.  And in the afternoon Steve and I kayaked on the lake with the swans.  It got pretty windy, so we didn't go far.

We stopped at a Winery on our way to Wisconsin.  Harvest Host is a program we joined where businesses offer camping on their grounds in exchange for campers doing business with them.  We like the wineries, breweries, and farms.

It was a lovely place, Dead End Winery is on a Dead End Road in Germfask, MI, at the north end of Lake Michigan.  The other campers there were from Decorah, IA.  I invited them to sit with us and share travel stories. 

After supper Steve and I walked up the road and through a cemetery.  Some of the graves had been previously marked with a stone that was broken and not legible.  Someone had taken the trouble to update the marker and put flowers on the grave.  I found that interesting.  My siblings and I rarely visit the graves of our relatives.   But many do it often and regularly.  

Down the road from the Winery a few miles is a hemp store and a few antique stores.  The group of businesses and homes looked like a company town.  Later I looked it up on the internet.  It was a logging town for years and then was sold and became a luxury resort in the 30's and 40's.  Then it was sold piece by piece to individuals.   

We arrived at our campground near Rhinelander and was assigned a hilly site because the site I reserved was being used by a group of campers that wanted to be together.  Today we were able to move into the site I had originally reserved.

It has been raining, and the mosquitos are anxious to bite.  Oh ya, we are in Wisconsin now.

But the best part is we are near my sister.  If it isn't raining, I or we can bike to visit her, bike to town for groceries or I can bike to the gym.  Mary has taken on the project of taking all the doors off her cabinets in her kitchen and painting them.  She is much more ambitious domestically than I am.   She is almost done.  I didn't remember her having sooo many cabinets.  That was a HUGE undertaking. 

She looks good.  

Dave (her husband with dementia) can still carry on a conversation, though it tends to loop over the same topics again and again.  He asks Mary questions all the time... the same questions.  

At times he is aware he forgets things and realizes what he has.  At other times he talks as if Alzheimer's is something he will probably get in the future because his dad and brother had it.

It came to me after seeing them again, that Dave was diagnosed before George.  George passed a whole six years ago!  SIX years!  And Mary has been working hard to live life to the fullest while answering the same questions over and over again as pleasantly as possible.  Dave still has some abilities.  George became incontinent soon after his full diagnosis.  George became pretty silent, which I can see was a blessing for me, though must have been very hard for him not to be able to communicate.

My heart goes out to her and all the caregivers who are traveling that journey.

While Frankie and I were together in Michigan, our friend Debra was getting a knee replaced in Florida.  We sent her well wishes.  I sure do want for her to be able to walk and bike again.  May you heal well and quickly, my good friend!

A shout out to my other friends in Florida and Jean in Mississippi. 

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.  Erin, Steve's daughter, is a teacher and she is taking the summer off.  So she and Matt are going to fly out to meet us somewhere in our travels!  That's so cool.  We will have fun.  They are going to discuss and investigate and let us know when and where.  I gave her our agenda for July, August, and September.  Kid's start back to school after Labor Day in New York.