On the Road Again

We had such a great time with these folks in Random Lake.

We forced encouraged these two cousins to pose for us.

Turnabout's fair play, so we posed too.

We got into some rain on our drive today.

Is that a nuclear plant? Outside of Cedar Rapids.

It was another long day of driving. I can't read the words on that tower and have already forgotten where I took this!

Tonight we are back in the Amana Colonies, taking it easy.

Finally--Nancy's Notions, then visits to family

 We have been to Wisconsin several times, but this was my first visit to Nancy's Notions Retail Store in Beaver Dam.

Fabric, patterns, notions, machines everywhere!

It was very hard to make a decision, but I was not about to leave without something!

I shouldn't have worried! Cary found this fabric with vintage hot rods and decided he needed another long-sleeved shirt! I found this bright yellow batik on sale, got enough for a shirt for me. All projects for when we get home.

This lady had only been working two weeks when she helped me. I had a discount coupon (Cary discovered it in a Visit Wisconsin magazine) and after she issued me a new customer number, discovered I was already in their system! So she had to ring up everything again. In the process she failed to charge me for three yards of yellow material...I didn't notice till we were halfway to Random Lake. So I called the 800 number, got transferred to Customer Service...and it was all taken care of! I would hate to start a new job and screw it up; I know she was grateful that I called. 

We got to see Uncle Vincent just as ice cream was being served! It is a very nice facility; he even has some of his own furniture in his room.

Later we went to see Cary's Aunt Shirley at the old Birenbaum dairy farm.

It is no longer active, but was for many years.

Richard and Shirley's son, Perry, painted this milk can for them with a depiction of the farm.

A photo of the old farm hangs in Shirley's house.

Sheboygan and a Visit With Wollners

We started the day going to Sheboygan. Cary found his grandma's house, knocked on the door and explained who he was and that he had pictures taken there in the 1940s. The man, obviously taken by his clothing and crumbs on his chest was taken by surprise and told Cary he wasn't interested. But as soon as he got back to the truck, the man came out again, said his wife got off at 2:00 and could we come back. We knew we had plans for the rest of the day, but said we would see if that worked. We did not go back.

Downtown Sheboygan

Jim Wollner is Cary's cousin on his dad's side. They live in Belgium, Wisconsin, have a gorgeous home and great yard (garden too). We had a great visit.

 Jim is also a car guy.

Kathy

Relaxing in the shade. Earlier we had pizza--wish we had brought it out here. Jim and Kathy followed us back to John and Marilyn's to see our trailer.

Nancy's Notions in on our agenda for tomorrow. This evening we went to The Five Pillars Tavern for supper. A terrific day all the way around!

Random Lake, Wisconsin

We made it here to Cary's cousin's home here, a picture or two and a promise for more later.

Crossing the mighty Mississip

Welcome to Wisconsin

I can tell we are in the Dairy State!

When we got to John and Marilyn's...the tools came out!

Cary pushed the slide .out before checking for obstacles. The rough road in Iowa caused the drawer (seen right over Cary's head) had popped out, causing the slide to do weird things.

He had to take off the facing to do some repairs. Not happy!

John's garden, very nice. I hope for some produce before we leave.

Isn't this gorgeous? It is called cockscomb.

I am in Marilyn's dining room after logging onto her wifi, so not sure when I will get on again. Plans for more adventures!

Visiting the Amana Colonies

The drive today was beautiful, the scenery, the weather...the GPS and my husband agreed on the route!

Lots of green fields and silos!

We have been here twice before, wish we had planned a longer stay.

 The antique show on the property was a surprise--lots of very interesting things.

Cary thought this was interesting...

 We found the fabric store right away--didn't find anything I had to have, but always fun to look.

 Beautiful

The view out our back window--lots and lots of corn fields!

Rain and More Rain

The rain woke me very early (3 or 4:00 a.m.). Or maybe it was the thunder. Cary had no idea it was raining, so we got up about 5:15--he wanted to get an early start. We should have slept longer! We ended up waiting till nearly 8:00 since Cary hoped for a lull so he could hook up the trailer without getting soaked. He does have a pretty good raincoat with a hood.

The view out our back window around 9:00 a.m.

Lunch at a Taco Bell in a travel plaza on the Kansas Turnpike, worth the $20 it cost us to avoid the heavy traffic on an alternate route (that is the cost of the turnpike, not the tacos). I have to admit we were not always convinced that our GPS (aka Sami) knew what she was talking about, but we got to Osceola, Iowa as planned!

The rain alternated between very heavy and sprinkles, rarely was it totally not precipitating!

This is the view at the RV Park, looking towards the casino. Still pretty wet. But it is nice to have the cooler temperatures, cannot ask for better.

Wichita

My computer won't go online in our spot at the RV park. So I am in the laundry room! We had a nice day with our friend here in Wichita, will do more today.

Back in the laundry room! Here are some pictures with captions; the online service here is iffy, to say the least!

Pam and I  at the Hungry Heart, a cute brewery and restaurant near the new Wichita stadium

Pam and Scout in her front yard

Here you can see some of Pam's very interesting home.

The Wichita Aviation Museum, housed in the old airport, circa 1935.

Before we entered the Wichita Aviation Museum I snapped this photo.

 Closer view of the great 3-D relief of Charles Lindbergh's plane

 These two pictures were taken from the control tower on the third floor. Very impressive.

After lunch at a deli in McPherson, we went over to Stitches, the fabric store a few doors down. I bought something to go with a project I may have time to work on.

The McPherson Public Library is amazing. Pam and I would work there in a heartbeat! Stained glass windows are gorgeous.

After our food digested we drove to Newton for ice cream--shared a pint of salted caramel. Yum!

Back at the trailer for the night. Oh, I didn't mention that the weather was perfect, never over 75 degrees all day, and overcast! Pam put in her order in plenty of time!