More Cousin Time!

Pit stop in Wisconsin

So many cornfields! Doubt I have never ever seen more cornfields in my life!  The total amount of cornfields I saw driving through Wisconsin is likely more than the total I have seen in my 60 years! 

I thought I had picked a camping area right off the highway since this is just a quick stop before heading to see Nancy and Sherry in the Minneapolis area, but I did not! I drove and drove and drove through cornfields on roads with names like  County Road W, County Road AA, County Road H… you get the picture. At one point I was driving down a road and noticed a kid on an ATV with two dogs running with him. My first reaction was to slam on the brakes. Poor Lambert hit his head on the dashboard and scared the crap out of me! The kid stopped and waved me on… that was frustrating!! I am not psychic. I did not know that you saw me, OR that your dogs would stop. All that flashed through my mind was hitting your dogs with my van. UGGGGHHHHH

Making friends!

Something seemed amiss when I got to the campground… There were no kids! Which was a bit of a relief, less distractions for the pup! There was also no fenced dog park but there was a lot of grass and great walking for us. As we wandered, I noticed a fairly large group of people sitting in a circle. They were waving towards us. I had no idea if they were trying to get my attention or not, so I walked over to them and asked if this was some kind of Happy Hour and they said, ‘Yes, join us!’. So I grabbed a chair and a beer from the van and made my way back to the circle.

They are all part of the Wisconsin Winnebago WIT Club. (Which I learned started as only ‘Winnebago’ owners, but has grown to include all RVer’s.) They were so welcoming! This is the first time I had been invited to take part in a HH with a group. Unfortunately they were winding down, but they invited me to join them for a fire later. “Yes, I will be there!”. Lambert and I went back to start dinner, and YIKES! I opened the cabinet where the spices are, Thyme came crashing down; glass and thyme went everywhere! Soon there was a knock at my door, or rather a ‘yoohoo’, as only my screen door was closed. One of the lovely ladies came to invite me to dinner! I had to pass, as I had already started food and now I had a mess as well! But how sweet!!

Back on the road!

I joined them at the fire pit later, Lambert made a lot of friends and it was really nice chatting with people. The next day I thanked them again and was on my way to St Louis Park, MN to visit Sherry and Nancy. I had a four plus hour drive in front of me, so I wanted to be on my way! Back to the freakin cornfields! At least I know what to expect this time; although I did not expect to drive through IOWA. IOWA??? It was not on my list, HAHA!!

Arriving at St Louis Park

When we arrived Sherry was waiting for us outside her building. Such a lovely sight! We walked around the park across the street and got settled in a bit. Sherry moved to St Louis Park after her husband passed away. She sold the big house and moved near the city to be closer to Nancy. The apartment felt welcoming and homey! Lambert felt so right away; I tried to keep him on the floor, but Sherry let him on the couch. We enjoyed a beer, dinner and catching up.

There is a lot to catch up on when you only see people at functions with lots of family. Unfortunately the most recent functions have been funerals; not the best reasons to gather. It was comforting to relax and chat one on one. The food was awesome too! She served a quinoa casserole, which I have made versions of three times since! After dinner we met Nancy and Jerry (they live about five minutes away) and they drove us to music in the park at The Lake Harriet Bandshell.

It was a beautiful setting with the lake directly behind the stage and there were benches to sit and watch the band. It was a Beatle’s cover band with dancers and all! Very cute costumes for the band and the dancers, the music, hmmmm, not the best ever, but an entertaining show! Nancy told me there is always free music at many parks nearby and they try to go as much as possible. I need to look into free music in Seattle!

Day two of cousin time!

The next morning the three of us met for breakfast at Hold The Wheat. Their thing is gluten free, but they also have vegan options. The pastries and cookies, all of it actually, were wonderful! Sherry and I had some time beforehand to take Lambert to a dog park, it was a huge dog park. There were times we couldn’t even see him. Lambert had a BLAST running and running and running!

The rest of the day was spent checking out Hopkins, MN. A very cute downtown area to wander with the pup. We stopped at a local brewery along the way and then met Nancy at a winery; The Vine Room. Lovely wine!!! The evening plans were to relax at Sherry’s. Nancy is bringing dinner, so it’s looking like an evening of food, games and chats! Nancy made a very yummy, vegan pasta with artichoke hearts. And guess what card game we played? 5 Crowns! (Sorry, Sherry did not have the best go at it!) The game has been making the rounds since playing it with Charlotte and Cindy in West Virginia!

The next morning I am grateful to do some laundry, wash my hair all in the place! No schlepping stuff to a laundry building and showering in a campground! I am off to Duluth to pick up Piper. Another adventure with a friend is about to begin!