Trip to Wisconsin

We left for Wisconsin on September 12th. We stayed the first night at the Little America Hotel in Cheyenne WY.  We then traveled all through the flat and boring state of Nebraska.  Randy wanted to take route 90 instead of the regular way to get to Wisconsin so although we did go through some of Iowa, we also went into Minnesota for a few miles.  The second night, we stayed in Lincoln Nebraska. We went swimming in the pool and sat the hot tub there.

The third night we crossed over into Wisconsin near the Mississippi and stayed at La Crosse Wis.  The next day we drove east towards Green Bay.  We saw lots of pretty green fields, fir trees and other trees and lots of farms and barns and even a goat farm. Everything was so clean looking and so well tended. There is no desert there so there were no dried up grass or weeds. There are also no mountains, so the sky looks very large.

We arrived at Tammy's beautiful home around noon the third day. It was over cast and damp and looked a lot like the Pacific Northwest.  Tammy's house is located on a cul-de-sac where there are about 4 other homes and they are all high end homes. She lives next to a DR. She gave us the grand tour. She has posted photos of her home on her blog so I won't say anymore except that the house is very large, beautiful and has a lot of storage space and a beautiful yard with fountains, fenced in, private and very green and she does not have to water. She has two decks, upper and lower and an outside balcony on the 2nd floor.  I think her house sits on 1/2 acre. She got the house for a steal and the most wonderful thing about it, is that the previous owners left a piano, lots of wall art, all the window fashions, art and paintings, 2 beds and bedding, end tables and patio furniture just to name a few. The house has 3 fireplaces and a hot tub. We sat in the hot tub during our visit. She actually has three different living rooms, the formal living room, the TV Room and the family Room.  There are lots of shelves everywhere. She has a formal dining room and hutch. It's too bad everyone is so far away because that place was just made for entertaining.

Green Bay is a very clean city with lots of beautiful homes which are well tended. There are lots of beautiful churches, mostly Catholic. I did not see any LDS churches so that was weird. The church bells ring every day from the Catholic school near by.

Charlie is a wonderful cook. He fixed his famous hamburgers and his wonderful turkey. He and Randy went to the cheese factory (Wisconsin is known for cheese) and got some cheese curds. They were yummy.  Jacob got a permanent job there packaging baby wipes and it's right near where Charlie works.

We took a trip on the Green Bay Peninsula to Door County. We saw lots of wineries, bed and breakfast places, tourist attractions, and just beautiful scenery. It was kind of cold and damp though. We went to Lake Michigan which is one of the great lakes. You cannot see where it ends. It seems as big as the ocean. There is no swimming there though. The water is very cold. We enjoyed eating at a little dig Called "The Rusty Tractor." I also bought some fudge at one of the little shops in the area.

While there, we also went to a train museum where Randy was excited that he could hardly contain himself. His grandpa used to work for the railroad and got on the train with him many times. These were the old black coal burning steam engines. There was a large display of trains there but Randy's favorite was the Big Boy which was enormous.

We were going to go home through South Dakota to Mt Rushmore and on to Devils Tower in Wyoming, but we were just too worn out. I hope we can go next time we go that way and we should go there first before going to Tammy's so we won't be so worn out.  I am going to have to start flying again because it's so far to visit her. Randy won't fly, so I guess I will go alone. However, we will both try to drive there again in the summer when it will be warm there. 

One the way home, we had tons of rain coming down really fast. We stayed in Austin MN the first night, Grand Island NE the 2nd and Little America in Wyo the third night. We had a great time. It's good to be home though, but our place just doesn't measure up to Tammy's place.  And I need to mention that I did have to go buy warmer clothes because I did not bring enough with me. Tammy said the weather had been nice until we got there.

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We went on a trip to Arizona in our trailer.  We took the train from Williams AZ to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We camped there for a 7 days. We also took a ride to the mountains where Randy used to camp. We went to Flagstaff and enjoyed a movie and ate at a 50's diner. Randy wanted to take me to Meteor Crater but it was just too hot to go there.

Williams AZ is on Route 66 and the whole theme there is the 50's. You can get ice cream sodas, cherry phosphates and all kinds or floats. There are displays of juke boxes and 50,s cars. It was very enjoyable. The elevation is over 6000 ft so it was very cool there. However, we did drive to Mesa AZ and spent one day there with friends. It was over 109 degrees there. You could almost touch the heat in the air, it was so thick.  We did run out of gas on the way there in our gas guzzler Suburban because the gas gauge read wrong. When it says you have a quarter tank, you are out. We ran out of gas just 7 miles from Panguich and the sheriff had to call someone to bring gas out to us. We belong to Good Sam road assistance but they couldn't get anyone on their end who even knew where Panguich was, so we had to pay and hopefully get reimbursed.

For the most part, we had a wonderful time. But because pulling a trailer is very expensive, we will probably only use it once a year to go anywhere far. We will use it mostly to go stay in the mountains.

We spent 5 days in Timpanoonke right by a little stream Lots of squirrels and chipmunks came really close to us. We had a very good time and I surely enjoyed our generator. We got to watch TV and make toast. We didn't run it a lot but it really came in handy. When not using the generator, we used a battery pack that plays DC TV so we could watch TV and DVD's. You can only do about two hours on it however because it runs out of power and has to be recharged.  We are looking forward to camping a couple of time more this summer.

Some Photos of our Arizona Trip

Me with our Friend Starr from AZ




Randy and Me on the Train to The Grand Canyon




Native American Performing on the Train

Me at the Grand Canyon

Performer on the Train

Randy Standing By the Old Steam Train Engine

The Grand Canyon

Me with Friends Lisa and Mark from Mesa AZ

Randy by Jukebox in Williams AZ on Route 66

Randy with our Friend Starr from Mesa

Santa Rosa CA, Napa Valley

Randy and Me at the Beach

Me at the Beach

Judy and Bob at the Beach

The Schoolhouse in Bodega Bay


The Catholic Church in Bodega Bay

After leaving Reno NV, we traveled on to Santa Rosa CA. Santa Rosa is located in the beautiful Napa Valley just north east of San Francisco. We visited with Judy Vance who is a friend of Randy. Judy used to live in Scottsdale AZ. While in Santa Rosa, we visited the Charles Schultz museum. We learned more about Charles and his cartoons as well as other cartoonists. The first night we were in Santa Rosa, we attended the play of Oliver. The cast did a very good job, especially the actor who played Fagan.

The next day Judy and her boyfriend Bob took us all around the Napa Valley. I have never seen so many beautiful vineyards. They were everywhere. There was not a weed in any of them. There were wineries and wine tasting in almost every vineyard. Words alone cannot describe the beauty of the Napa Valley. We also stopped by a lake and enjoyed a picnic.

The following day, we went to Bodega Bay in Sonoma county where Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS was filmed. We saw the old schoolhouse there and the Catholic Church. We traveled on down to the ocean on highway one. It was such a beautiful day with a pretty blue sky. We walked the beach and enjoyed watching the surf pound against the rocks and sand. We gathered sea shells. We continued driving along the coast and ate at a beautiful resort restaurant right on the ocean. It was pricey but the beautiful view was worth it. Then we traveled down the Russian River and enjoyed frozen yogurt in a little store along the route. We went back to Judy's and enjoyed a porterhouse steak dinner she prepared.

On the way home, we traveled through Yosemite National Park. We had to to take a different route and could not see the entire park because there was a huge fire in that part of the park. What we did see was just breathtaking. We saw huge rocks, trees and lakes. We spent that night in Tonapah NV and enjoyed an old mining town atmosphere.

The next day, we headed home through Ely NV. We had a wonderful time.

Me by the Vineyards in Napa Valley



The wineries at Napa Valley

Judy, Randy and me at Napa Valley

At the Charles Schultz Museum

Visit to Reno

On the way to Reno, we stayed the first night in Winnemucca NV and we ate at Sid's Family restaurant.We then went to Reno NV and stayed at the Siena Spa for two nights. Tina was so generous in giving us this package for our wedding. We enjoyed the pool and hot tub and a luxurious bath in a hydro therapy pool. You could choose the fragrance of bath salts they put in the pool. It was very relaxing. They even provided complimentary wine and champagne for those who wanted it. We ate at a very upscale restaurant there called Lexie's. We had a food credit but still paid a lot for the meal. We also visited the Reno Automobile Museum and just loved it. Randy especially loved it. It was huge with a very large collection of autos from over many years time. I wish Matt and Marty could have been there. They would have just been blown away.

North to Alaska

Tuesday we are leaving for Seattle. We are driving. We plan to stay in Butte Montana Tuesday night and at Spokane on Wednesday night. On Thursday, we will arrive at Jennifer's house. On Friday, the 12th, Jennifer will drive us to the ship where will enjoy a week on board the Rhapsody of the Seas going to Alaska. Randy has never been on a ship. I hope he will not get sea sick. He has been in every state except Alaska and Hawaii. He will not be going to Hawaii unless they build a road to it LOL.We will be on the ship with Tina and Kipp and Dom. We are really looking forward to it. On the way home, we plan to visit my brother, Chris in Kent, WA.

I hate to leave at a time when my kids are having problems, but there's is probably nothing I do to help. I am just a worry wart is all. I will never change in that regard. I hope they all be OK while we are away.

Our Trip

The photos above are of the saguaro cactus which I love and other cactus's and Judy's home (the one with Randy in the yard) and another home in the area. Bill and Carol are the older couple and the elderly lady is Peggy. The photos of Randy and I with the lady is Starr (the lady) Judy is the lady sitting at the table. Then there is also a photo of Randy alone at Bill and Carol's. There is also a photo of a cowboy saloon we visited.

We had a good time in Arizona. We stayed in Scottsdale which is a ritzy part of Arizone. The home we stayed in was very large with a swimming pool however, the swimming pool was drained. The weather was perfect, a little hot the last few days. But while it was snowing here in Utah, it was 70 degrees and sunny there. We visited our friends, Starr, Bill and Carol, Judy and Peggy. All friends from Mesa. Our other friends, Leona and Virgil were gone in their motorhome back east so we didn't get to see them. We were invited to Bill's and Carol's for a BBQ. We went with Starr to a movie and out to eat.

We went with Judy out to eat after she got home from CA. I got to know her a little better. She is the one that went to CA to see her new baby granddaughter. This is her only grandchild and Judy is about my age. I was very concerned staying at Judy's home. Randy once lived with her in her home for a couple of years. They broke up but remain good friends. So I really was not so sure about staying at her home and meeting her. It was kind of awkward having dinner with her since I realized that she was once with Randy and all three of us were together at dinner. She is nice though. She is a physical therapist working only once or twice a week as she is semi retired. She had three cats that we tended. She has two sons, one of which is a Dr. and the other some big CEO or something. Her daughter-in-law is a Dr. too. She is Jewish but not an orthodox Jew. She has plenty of money and has traveled the world including Africa and South America.