Our yard

One thing we love about our wandering --- our yard keeps changing. And sometimes we get one JUST RIGHT. Loved this one in little Oconto, WI. Spotted it from the highway and pulled right in, stopped by noon. How lucky we are to be enjoying this flexibility...

We've been visiting friends in Michigan's U.P., Upper Penninsula. We've decided to call George our brother-in-law-twice-removed. He is the father of my nieces and nephew from Illinois. Have had fun with him and his wife Linda.

George and Linda's beautiful back yard on the Au Train River.

Linda preparing her kayak for a weekend long symposium in the same town we headed for next, Grand Marais, MI. We'll probably bump into her again this weekend. We're going to do a little kayaking here. Our AZ kayaking friends would love this place with hundreds of sea kayaks here for this big symposium.

Aren't these gorgeous??? No, we didn't buy them...

By the shores of Gitchee Gumee, by the shining big-sea water. We keep coming back to Lake Superior every year...so beautiful with its deep blue waters.

Our campground is right on the shore of Gitchee Gumee. This is our beach, our yard for now ...

Enjoying Wisconsin!

It's not ALL about getting the fresh squeaky cheese curds direct from cheese factories ... though that is a large part of our enjoying Wisconsin.



Take a look at the fabulous 70 mile bike ride we did...

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Good Old Midwest 4th of July

What a great way to spend the 4th of July - with my Mom's crazy Lang family in Bettendorf, IA - Quad Cities. THAT is a POOL party - almost everyone in it, most with water guns, so no one on shore stayed dry.

My Lang cousins - we are the "older generation" now. We had a GREAT time seeing everyone.

You never know who you'll see an RV park - how about an RV with a big red nose?

Gregg, Jeri, Kelsey and I visited Mom, Dad and brother Bob in the beautiful Rock Island Arsenal National Cemetery. (The other side of the headstone is engraved for Dad.)

I just love crossing the Mighty Mississippi River.

Doesn't northwest Illinois look a little like Tuscany, Italy??? Sure is pretty...

Good Old Potosi Beer - Wisconsin brewed.

This has been our campground for 2 nights- a Corps of Engineers park, Grant River Rec Area at Potosi. Right on the banks of the river, we can watch the barges and other river traffic go by. This was dusk last night.

A new First!!! (I love "firsts").

Fish Fly (or May Fly) hatch. We'd heard of them of course, being amateur fly-fishers. But now we've been IN one.

The camera does not adequately capture the enormity of this experience.

There have been clouds of them with the air sometimes absolutely full of the little critters. The grey area to the right of the tree is one.

They don't bite or even seem to leave any residue behind so we have rather enjoyed them.

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We are thankful for...

• Beautiful weather this week - low 80's & low humidity. Good biking weather.
• Got our door locks fixed and we hit the road again.
• Joined our friends Jan and Chuck at Swan Lake State Park in Carroll, IA.
• Meeting new friends along the way - people we hope to see again some day.

Had our trees trimmed in the campground yesterday...

Found a cute little bar in a tiny Iowa town on our bikes - full of mounted animals, large and small, and even a deer hind-end. A First....

Met some roamers like us ... traveling around looking for bike trails. Hope to run

into Ted & Colleen from Maryland again some day - "Fools On a Mission to Tour America at 10 mph" -

Gary and Judy have 2 Lions club exchange students staying with them this month. We joined all of them in Pender, Nebraska for a Quasquicentennial parade that included Shriners from all around. Lots of the little cars, etc and Gary's White Horse Mounted Patrol group from Sioux City. So beautiful to see. After the show, they put the Lions Club girls up on the horses. That's
Birute from Lithuania and Zophia from Slovakia. They are delightful, speak English very well, and are really enjoying being "Iowa Farm Girls". Birute calls our RV a "Driving House". I like it! Going to use that from now on...

The corn will definitely NOT be "knee high by the Fourth of July" this year ... unless it's the Jolly Green Giant's knee. More like "as high as an elephant's eye." The rains have been perfect for corn so far ... and now need to slow down. Water table is up so high that creeks and rivers now overflow with every rain.

BUSY in Iowa

That's Gary (Gregg's brother) and Judy's whole family gathered together for their 50th Wedding anniversary weekend. Big party. Lots of fun.



Gregg with his Grandpa's '55 Chevy. We took it to a car show in Le Mars, Ice Cream Capital of the World.










Hay rakes make the BEST photographic subjects...








The Schindel Family farm. Three Schindel families living here when we are here. Gregg grew up here.

Cowboy the gorgeous farm Collie

Gary is training this pretty white filly -Bing's Blanca - 2 years old.

Beautiful to see him work her out in the yard outside our RV window.

This twin was abandoned by its mother who favored the other so we get to feed her. She finishes that huge bottle in no time flat and begs for more.

9:40 at night on the longest day of the year, June 21st.

Gregg managed to get 5 of his high school classmates and spouses together for a cookout.

Got to see our Prescott friend Mary Mordino who was in town for a High School Reunion in Le Mars. She's waving from the float in the Ice Cream Days Parade.

Mary and I had a dream of meeting up in Iowa some day to eat together at Bob's Drive In (there since 1949), home of The Bob Dog...we did it!!!

Omaha Dance Recitals and Soccer Tournament