Wisconsin 2005

10/9/05 Drove 280 miles to Deforest Wisconsin KOA RV Park. Got settled and went to see mother. Took mother to the Fire House Restaurant in Deforest. Our pizza was great and mother's all you can eat baby back ribs were also good. Mother still has a good appetite.

10/10/05 Was tired from driving the past two days, so slept in until 9:00 a.m. Spent a couple hours on my diary and then went to take mother to Schultz’s Store. After that we drove to Portage to visit with Evelyn DeGroff. She is as small and skinny as ever appearing to be in reasonably good health at age 88. Her hearing is very bad however. Purchased $70 worth of diesel in Portage for $3.11 per gallon. We then came home to rest a couple hours. Next Linda, Mother, and I were off again to Joanne and David’s house. I helped David carry some construction materials into his partially built storage shed. Joanne cooked bratwurst for dinner. Watched the San Diego Charger – Pittsburgh Monday night football game, but regrettably San Diego lost another close one.

10/11/05 Slept in until 9:00 a.m. again. I washed Meghan in the RV shower and Linda washed our clothes at the RV Park. Took a drive to Token Creek County Park. It’s a beautiful spacious park with a separate dog park area for canine exercising. Unfortunately they had already closed the RV Park, so we will have to stay at the KOA. After Linda and I took Meghan for a walk, drove Linda to East Town Mall in Madison for a bit of shopping. Picked up mother about 5:00 p.m. and drove to Joanne’s. Was going to help David put some metal siding on his shed under construction, but he discovered that he was missing all of his window trim molding, so we could not hang anything. The metal siding he is using is going to be a real challenge to cut to size and install. Joanne made BLT’s for dinner. We then watched a comedian on DVD which we had purchased in Branson at the Pierce Arrow show.

10/12/05 Is cloudy and rainy today in the morning, cleared to partly cloudy and warmer in the afternoon. Kicked back and relaxed most of the day except for 1.5 hour walk with Meghan at Token Creek Park. Joanne and Dave picked us up at 5:00 p.m. Took Linda and I to a yarn shop in Madison. Then had dinner at the Prime Quarter Steak House where you selected and cooked your own steak on the grill. The steaks and salad bar was good and we had a nice time. On the way home we stopped at Wall Mart where I bought a wireless indoor outdoor thermometer with atomic clock and alarm for the trailer.

10/13/05 Had lunch with mother at Culvers. Got haircut in the afternoon. Then I took Meghan on an off leash hike at Token Creek County Park.

10/14/05 Took mother for her flu shot at 9:00 a.m. and then drove to Joanne’s house with mother. Joanne took us to the Amish bakery where we purchased bread and wonderful fresh baked glazed donuts that put Krispy Cream donuts to shame. I ate 3 of them ruining my diet for the day. We also found some Turban Squash for mother at the Amish produce shop. We then drove to Wisconsin Dells for lunch and to buy 3 #’s of fudge at the best shop in (according to Joanne) Wisconsin. It was delicious 1# each plain chocolate for Matt and me, and 1# of peanut butter chocolate for Linda.

10/15/05 Went to Jo and David’s about 10:30 a.m. I started helping David pour concrete footing for his remote building. At 11:15 a.m. we went to Dave and Jo’s neighbor Marty Phillips. She owns 10+ acres of beautiful pasture and woodland where she boards her 3 horses and 3 dogs. One of the horses, Mollie is a draft horse. Mollie was hitched up to a two person carriage and then Marty gave Linda, Joanne, and I individual rides on trails through the woodland. Marty showed us several beautiful antique and replica horse wagons and carriages which she had stored in her carriage house. Took lots of pictures to post on my web site. Helped David with the concrete work on the remote building the rest of the day. Joanne made a delicious dinner that night consisting of salad, large premium LA premium shrimp, and a fantastic pecan pie.

10/16/05 Took mother to Arlington St. Peter’s Lutheran church at 10:30 A.M. At 1:30 p.m. mother, my two sister’s families, Linda, and I went to Ken and Helen Ramier’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration at the Arlington Community Center. It was a fun celebration where I met a few old friends and mother’s sister Adeline, husband Lawrence Jahn, and their daughter Karen. After this celebration we all went to the McKenzie Center for a couple of nature walks. The we all drove to a Madison restaurant called Biaggi’s for dinner. Recently married Justin and Krystal Babcock also met us here. The food and wine was great all having a great time. We all got better acquainted with pregnant Krystal. She will make mother a great grandmother and Charlene a grandmother. Mother paid for the entire dinner and drinks. We drove mother back home to Deforest and said our good byes for this Wisconsin trip.