North Mankato, MN

We got to our summer campground, Sawmill, on May 15.  We will be here for most of the summer, visiting family and friends.

Mankato, MN

Our first couple of weeks were spent seeing family and friends. Grandson Kyle came to visit on our first night. Daughter and Granddaughter Angie and Sierra came the next evening. We spent time in town with Mike and Rebecca on a patio at South Street Saloon.

We had supper at Paglia’s Pizza with Beth, Aaron, Lucas and Henry a week before Dave’s birthday. It was supposed to be the day before his birthday but there was a goof up in communication! The pizza was good and it was great to see them.

The next day, we traveled to Jordan to the Pickled Pig where we got to meet Teresa’s boyfriend Dan. They have been together almost a year and this was his first meeting with any of the family.

For Dave’s birthday, I got him a cool T-shirt. We took Son Mike out to supper at Boulder Tap.

Angie invited us to her house for Memorial Day lunch. I made potato salad because my family likes my potato salad. She grilled burgers and had lots of fresh veggies. That was another fun day.

Some of the friends we made in New Zealand/Australia last winter were in the area so we got together with them for lunch at Clancy’s, one of our favorite places. It was great to see Pat and Julie again.

We spent Memorial Day at Angie’s house house for lunch.  She grilled burgers and I brought potato salad.  Kyle was not able to stay but Parker and Sierra joined us too.

The next evening was a perfect night for a fire so we brought out Dave’s Christmas gift.

Another day, Dave came home from running some errands and surprised me with flowers. I love that he likes to do that from time to time, usually for no apparent reason.

We had plans to meet Mike and Rebecca one day. Dave went inside to get beers while Boo and I waited on the patio. She misses her “dad” when he is gone.

Darlene and I hosted a bridal shower for our niece Liz on June 10.  It was held on a Saturday night at a Moondogs game.  The guys were allowed but had to stay in the Dog Pound while us gals were in the Dog House.  The guys joined us before the evening was over.  It was great to see so many family members again and it was a fun but chilly evening.

We have some really weird things happening in the campground this summer.  One night, I put Boo outside and we noticed many law enforcement vehicles.  Before the evening was over, the next door neighbor was taken away in an ambulance.  That was a couple of weeks ago and he has not returned.

Boo was chasing a half grown robin.

One camper entertained us  by standing in the bean field playing saxophone.

June 22 was the day that we met, 6 years ago.  We celebrated in a couple of ways.  First, we went to a baseball game, Twins vs Red Sox.  We won the game with Joe Ryan pitching a complete game shut out.  Brian Buxton mad history by hitting two home runs over 415 feet (464 and 465) in the same game.  It was very hot and I had to take two brief rests in the shade of the concourse.  It was fantastic game!!

When we got back to Mankato, we went to Applebees and were able to sit in “our booth” where we sat on our first date.  The server liked our story and wrangled a free dessert for us.

Friday, June 23 we went to The Circle Inn with Angie, Galen, Cris and Kent to watch/listen to The Murphy Brothers Band, featuring my nephew Fletch.  Okay, he wasn’t really featured but he is part of the band.  Lacey and Kezzie joined us for a bit too.

We have a crazy  goldfinch in the campground.  It sees its reflection in our windows and thinks it is a male competitor so he spends all day every day pecking at our rig, trying to scare it away,  We are annoyed and so is Boo.

Wednesday June 28 was mom/daughters day.  We are all going to get mani/pedis together, in preparation for Liz’s wedding this weekend.  It was the first time in many years that we have all three done this together.

My niece Liz married David Goese on July 1 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  They started with a Saints game for all guests (with supper) on Friday evening.  Dave and I did not attend that.  However, we did attend the fantastic wedding on Saturday, staying at Canopy by Hilton where the bride and groom had arranged shuttle service to the venue.  It was so great to see my daughters , brothers, sisters-in-law and nieces.  Sunday morning was a brunch at the hotel before we left.  Boo stayed at Angie’s house.

On Tuesday we packed up again and went to  Teresa’s house for the day, for the parade, supper and fireworks.  Angie came over as well as my former husband and his girlfriend.  It was great to see Teresa’s kids for the first time this summer.  WE spent the night but came home early the next day.

Although I have trimmed my hair a couple of times, sometimes by several inches, ever since cancer days I have said I would not cut my hair again.  I finally changed my mind. Here I am, front and back, with my hair at the longest I have ever had it. The next two pictures are the new look.  I really like it and hope to keep it at about that length.

 

 

 

One Friday night, my brothers and I, along with spouses, went to Dino’s for pizza and decided to surprise Fletch by showing up at the Circle in to listen to the Murphy Brothers. We are so proud of Fletch and his talent. He must have called Lacey because she came over with Kezzie. We love seeing the next generation Archerd. Steve would have been so proud of his grandson.

Dave knows how much I like to see plays, especially musicals and that I have always liked The Four Seasons. We have never been to a play together but The Chanhassen Dinner Theater advertised a production of Jersey Boys, the story of The Four Seasons. He booked reservations for us and we attended on Sunday, July 21. The show was great and so was the meal. The lead performer nailed it!

One of our last days in Mankato, we were heading back to the campground and saw a bank of clouds. A storm hit that evening that took down a lot of large trees in the area. We were lucky and there was no damage in the campground.

We spent a few days at the farm. Dave wanted to use Jimmy’s shop to do some trailer maintenance. We hosted a BBQ rib, Linda, Jimmy and Mason. Unfortunately, Taylor was unable to join us. Boo enjoyed being off leash most of the time. She is learning to listen to us when we set boundaries and to stay away from moving vehicles.

We also spent some time at the Sleepy Eye Brewing Company, always a fun place to visit.

Height of Land, Detroit Lakes, MN

We got to Height of Land Lake, Hans’ and Nettie’s cabin on August 1. We always have a good time here. The lake is beautiful, the company is great and we play a lot of games. We were joined for lunch one day by relatives of Hans, Marlys, Al and Dick.

After Hans and Nettie returned to their home home, Dave and I went to Detroit Lakes for our annual evening at Zorbaz. As always, we enjoyed the pizza but also had an interesting chat with a couple who live in DL. The man grew up in Mankato. His brother knew my brother and former sister-in-law, Steve and Sharon. She grew up in Adrian, MN and knew my friend Penny. Her brother lives in Sleepy Eye. Small world!

We joined Dean and Karen at their cabin on Saturday on August 5. Karen’s niece Heidi, her husband Brett and son Jamison were there and it was great fun. We shared supper with Dean and Karen, then returned the next day for Bloody Mary’s and lunch. We rarely see them so it was nice.

Dave and I also went back to DL one afternoon to check out a different lakeside patio. Boo enjoyed all of the attention she received at the Lake Side Bar.

We went back to Lake Side bar another day and it was a car show day. It was kind of neat to see some of the old cars.

Hans and Nettie came back to the cabin and brought their great grandchildren, Carter and Jaylee. We had a lot of fun with all of them, playing a lot of card games, Pegs and Jokers and Mexican Train. We also went out to supper one night at the Toad Lake Store.

We were alone for the last night at the lake. Dave was being nostalgic and took some final pictures.

Mankato, MN

Mid August found us back in Mankato, Sawmill campground. We will continue to see family and friends as well as finish some appointments before heading out in 6 weeks.

Late in August, some of the Free Press gals got together. It is always good to see my friends Lois and Penny. Penny’s husband was not able to join us but she brought along a girl friend. Lois brought her husband Mike. I have known all of them much longer than our time together at the paper. Thank you for organizing this Lois!

Seattle, WA

On Sept. 3, we too Boo to Angie’s house after supper. About 9 PM, we left the campground for St. Cloud. We were taking then 1 AM Amtrak for Seattle, to see Nate and Kate. I had taken the trip this way two other times but Dave hadn’t. It is a nice way to travel for a change.

Because we got to St. Cloud early, we found a bar and had a margarita in honor of Jimmy Buffet who had just passed away.

The trip to Seattle takes about 36 hours. It was Sunday and we spent most of the day in the observation car. They made a decent Bloody Mary.

Dave was enthralled the next day as we neared Seattle and took many pictures from the train.

Nate and Kate met us at King Street station. We normally do not stay at Nate’s hotel because he is not allowed to hang out with us in our room. However, this time, we got the best rates there, out pf a;; the hotels in his chain so we booked a room there anyway. The family rates were not yet available and it looked like they may not be available during our time frame so we had decided to “bite the bullet”. Well, Nate’s boss must really like him because we not only got the family rate, we had a suite. Plus, Nate and Kate were able to come up to our room with us. The young man checking us in was pretty nervous. I think he thought Nate was auditing him.

We spent our first afternoon going to lunch at the Lockspot Cafe and then walked around the Ballard locks. It was neat to see the boats going in and out of the locks. Plus, the salmon go upstream in this area and we were able to see them from above and also below, behind windows. We learned that because of dams, the salmon now need a little help. They are loaded on boats downstream and brought past the dams, then released to finish their journey.

The chairs in our room faced the bed but we thought that was dumb so we turned them around to face the view after we returned to our room that night. Beautiful!

Our room reservation included tickets for a harbor tour so Dave and I went on that the next morning, giving Nate and Kate some time to sleep in or for Kate to get some work done. The tour covered Elliott Bay and Puget Sound as well as Harbor Island. I had seen much of this before but but not all of it.

Nate and Kate joined us when the tour was over. We decided to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island, just for something to do and to hang to together more.

That evening, we had a pizza supper at Pike Brewing. What a neat place.

On Wednesday, we had breakfast at Pike’s Market and wandered around the city, including going to Shorty’s. Shorty’s is one of Nate’s favorite places to play pinball. We played some Cribbage there before going out to supper at Rococo, a deliious lasagna pizza.

Returning to our room, Dave wanted to take some selfies with both of us and the skyline. He had to be creative to make a tripod.

One afternoon, all 4 of us went to a movie. Nate let me choose and I selected “Oppenheimer”. It was neat to learn about the man who helped create the atom bomb and who built Los Alamos and White Sands for building and testing the bombs because Dave and I have visited both places on our travels.

For our last day, we went to Five Point for breakfast. I have gone to Five Point on every visit to Seattle, except for Nate and Kate’s wedding but it was late afternoon or evening the other times. After eating, we returned to N and K’s apartment for a while. Kate had some work to catch up on.

Then Nate took Dave and I to the Pinball Museum. I am not good at pinball but we had a great time playing!

All good things have to end. I am always so sad to leave Nate…

We did not sleep as well on the return trip to Minnesota but it was still good. Below are some pics across Montana.

Minneapolis, MN

We had a motel reservation in Bloomington on Saturday and had to kill some time after the train got in a at 7AM but eventually checked in. We went to Matt’s for a Juicy Lucy, then found our motel for a short nap. We had plans for the evening with cousins on the Peterson side of the family.

On Sunday, we went to the Vikings first game of the season and my first pro game ever. We played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and lost but had a lot of fun.

Mankato, MN

Boo was really excited to see us when we picked her up that afternoon. The next day, all three of us had dental appointments. She was having her teeth cleaned and while “under” the vet decided to biopsy a skin tag that at first seemed harmless. Unfortunately, it is cancerous. We had it removed but decided not to test further so we do not know what stage is is and will not do further treatments. The vet did not put a cone on her so we fashioned our own and she did not like it.

Our last week in Minnesota for the season was busy with finishing dental appointments, haircuts, getting Boo’s stitches out and final visits with family and friends. It is always hard to leave but we have adventures to look forward to.