2015 Summer Road Trip July 24 thru August 2

July 24 & 25

Leaving Shipshewana really early we made it to Milwaukee to pick up Chris and Mary. Then on to visit 

John and Nance. They are  long time friends of Mary's. We met them in 2013 while cycling across the

Country. They live in an area called Coulees. Coulees are the result of the melting waters of ancient 

Glaciers. Coulees are big ravines in the hills. Because of the lay of the land has wonderful breezes

Through the area.

When we arrive we learn that blue berry picking is first on the agend tomorrow...6:30am departure

WOW! These people are serious about picking blue berries. 

Mary is in the thick of berries. Some are actually going in her bucket.

Ahh Nance, such a talented lady. An exceptional berry picker. She will fill two buckets of berries.

Catherine joined us for the picking. This was my first time to meet her. What a fun lady. 

She had us smiling and laughing the whole time. 

Nance filled her buckets and went back to the car. Catherine headed back as well. When Mary and I got there Catherine was missing. Mary went out and brought her in. Seems she got side tracked by

Monster berries. Everybody got their buckets of berries paid for. Mine was $6.00! Back to the house.

Speaking of house,John and Nance bought this cabin years ago. It was over 100 years old. They disassembled it And rebuilt it on their property. 

Now they love the beach and spend their winters down in Costa Rica to avoid the Wisconsin winters.

Because they miss the beach so much they made one on their property. This is Bubba's.a nice super

Place to relax. Lots of sand.

For a little sun they created  The Cay a cozy place with a fire pit.

After a long bike ride an outdoor shower is a wonderful thing! This was really nice.

Doogie's hanging with Maybelle. Nance rescued her a few years ago. Really a mellow dog.

Diggity and Doogie weren't real sure what to do when they got here. We opened the door to the

Trailer and they could come and go wherever they pleased. Doogie found the pond up the hill and would go swim for a while then run like the wind. Diggity loved just walking and checking things out.

Also he's made sleeping an Olympic sport.

Chris and Mary are taking us on a ride down to Gailsville for lunch.

On the way into town  Jim spotted a sign for the Trempealeau County Fair. After lunch we will head

That way. Gailsville was a small town but bigger than most of the others around.

At the fair I got to see my first tractor pull. I wasn't quite sure how it worked.

Seems the tractor would pull this contraption with a sliding weight. As it went down the track the weight would slide forward increasing the weight. This category of tractors was for those from 1959 down. 

This bunny really put on some eyes for this county fair.

 Brianna and her "Kidd" Sterling

This pony and horse were just a couple of many beautiful horses at the fair. It was warm but all the animals had huge fans keeping them  comfortable. 

Mama and baby cow posing for a photo for me.

July 26

Great barn! We are out for a ride and head out to a different direction. It was a great day for a ride.

Cool and overcast. In the mid 60's.

Mary said it would be a flatter ride today. Hmm. It's got a few good grades to it

We went out so far and turned around. These horses watched us for a while then took off in a full gallop. They make running look so graceful.

Riding We came up on this group of cyclist. Had a nice chat with them. They were from all different areas. Mary knew one of the fellows. It was great to see them out here riding the wonderful roads

Back at John and Nance's we're relaxing in Bubba's Maybelle is a beautiful pup.

Mary is wearing a tie dyed tee we bought for her a the resturant called Garden of Eat'n

Which by the way is a great place for lunch in Gailsville when you get there.

Saying our goodbyes but first a great photo of John and Nance. Cute couple and very special people.

And here they are, some really special people in my life. It's fun to be with everyone.

Especially the head In the middle, Mr. Jimmy!

July 228

Back in Milwaukee we get Chris and Mary back home. All cleaned up we are going to Kegels for dinner. Stephanie has been working there for a while learning all the aspects of it. Tonight is Julian's first night bar tending. He looks pretty natural .

July 28

Back in Milwaukee we meet with Chris and Mary. We are going to ride the Oak Leaf Trail with them today. The Oak Leaf will take us all around Milwaukee. We will get in 55 miles almost all of it is via bike trail.

Riding through land that is part of a reserve you would never know you were in a bustling city.

Wisconsin is know for all of it's rail to trails systems. Its chilly under the canopy of trees.

Open prairie filled with Queens Ann's Lace follows us along the trail.

This is the first we have ever seen a caution sign with a car on it. The Oak Leaf Trail signs were

Part of Amillia, Chris's daughter's project in getting them posted along the trail.

Riding back toward the downtown area of Millwaukee. It is an impressive sight.

Nothing like riding in a lawn chair. They are so cute. By the way Chris and Mary are getting married in December. Yahoo, we are so happy for them. They are very special to us.

It's lunch time and we wind up in the neighborhood that Mary grew up in. We stopped at this Deli.

What an awesome place. Jim and I shared a 1/2 panini. Man, it was huge. We only shared 1/2 of a 1/2. Took the rest for lunch.

The patio at the Deli offered a cool breeze for a feat lunch.

Besides giving cyclist fair warning about hazards coming up, I can't help how many people smile when they come up on these signs.

 July 29

For Dinner Julian and Stepanie made sushi. It was really really tasty.

It was amazing how much prep went into it. 

Great dinner but now we a are going to leave to go get our new fifth wheel.

July 30 and August 1st

We get to Ladsing Mi. Where we are going to get our new trailer.

Well there was a lot to do with it so we didn't get to leve till Friday afternoon.

Here we are rolling out with it. Man is it cool!

We made our way to South Haven to visit with Uncle Don one more time while we are close.

He enjoys dha I got dinner on the "Idler"which is an old oat converted to a resturant. The weather is 

Perfect and made for a great evening.

Back at Uncle Don'sand Joanie's home it's been a fun evening.

August 2

We realized we didn't need to get on the road to Madison yet so we extended our stay in South 

Haven. We rode our bikes into town for lunch and have a look around. The city is quite busy and actually getting ready for the next weekend. It's the Blue Berry Featival the biggest happening I. south haven.

While we we looking around we went into a shop called the Decadent Dog ( I love the names for

Pet stores.) Jim decided we needed to get Diggity a life vest for swimming in lakes. He got into trouble 

At Shari's and could needed help getting out of the lake.

Well we get the vest home and Diggity would have nothing to do with it. Doogie realizing it was an opportunity to be cute and adorable was more than happy to model it for us.

August3

There is a trail that goes from South Have to Kalamazoo. It is 33 miles long. Michigan is also 

Known for their rails to trails systems. A bit blurry, this is a hard packed trail. Mi sometimes gets weary of trails. I find them pleasant and kind of mindless. However on this trial you had to keep your eyes open. Lots of sandy spots and road crossings.

Lot of activity here guy fishing, people running and boats up and down the Black River

A cover bridge along the trail below is the story behind it.

We went out 15 miles then turned around and road into town. Down at the beach there were warnings for risky conditions because of high winds. Lots of people on the beach. Vow ever one was in the water.

The wind was like sandblasting. It was so strong.

You can see white caps on the waves going down the channel wall.

Well I said no one was in the water. These wind surfers wee something else.

These were the first hammocks that actually looked appealing to lay in. With the wind blowing 

They looked very appealing.

We stopped by Uncle Don's he was there by himself. He wanted to see the trailer. We told him we would go home and come back and get him. We did and he even stayed for dinner. His son Donny

Dropped by and after a really lovely evening Donny took him home. 

Tomorrow we head to Madison Wi. To meet up with everyone going to Trek World.

It will be great to see them and new stuff from Trek for 2016!