A Do-Nothing Day

 Everyone needs  one of these every once in a while. 

Yes, I know we just returned from 10 days at The Dells.  We did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and if we didn't want to, we didn't.   In fact we spent that Saturday in the townhome, eating leftovers and whatever was in the fridge.  We didn't go outside at all.  Part of it was because the crowds at The Dells had increased for the weekend as evidenced by the large number of cars in the parking lot at The Odyssey check in.   We just wanted to avoid crowds, standing in lines for meals, and maybe increasing the possibility of having close contact with someone with COVID.   

It was all good.  We returned home relaxed and refreshed and ready to hit the ground running again.

But today is just a Do Nothing Day.  We slept late, but then we stayed up later than usual last night too.

There is nothing on our agenda today.  Every other day had something to do....taking the Escape into Unique Automotive to fix the piece that fell off when we arrived at the resort.  Picking up the car.  Hair cut for Gary.  Picking up Owen after school.  Splitting wood with Blaine and Landon.  Grocery run at Payless.  Appt at the Lafayette Nail Spa for mani AND pedi.  

But today is just laid back and relaxed.  I need days like today.  I need days to relax and re-group.  I need the absence of pressure that something needs to be done, accomplished, taken care of.  

It's cool.  Clouds are flitting across the sky (Dad would like that last sentence).  A breeze is blowing.  The fan in the living room is on.  The front door is open.   Gary is playing Solitaire on his iPad and I am going to make a Master List of things to do before Thanksgiving.  Then maybe I will do some sewing on Cooper's quilt.  

A Do Nothing Day.  Better enjoy it because from the looks of the calendar for the rest of this month and into October, there may not be another one for a long while!

Lack of Sleep? Maybe

 I have just been off today.  Really off.  

When I woke up for my first bathroom break at 1:00 a.m., everything seemed foggy.  Then I couldn't return to sleep.  I was wide awake.  I mean...really wide awake with mind racing and body tense.  If I had checked, I am sure my heart rate would have been high.  I felt really wired.

What was going through my mind?

Well, for one thing.....COVID.  I know Gary and I both had it.  I know that we have both been vaccinated.  But I also know that there are breakthrough cases and people are picking it up easily.  We haven't been wearing masks---they haven't been required so we haven't worn them except for one winery in Dane County.  We haven't been strict about sanitizing our hands.  We did a few times, but not after each and every time we were in a store or restaurant or stopped at a gas station.

To make that matter worse were two things:  Clay tested positive.  He refused the vaccine.  He had been in close contact with several people during the days he didn't feel well but hadn't yet been tested.  Then Karen tested positive also.  Her symptoms were lighter than his; since she had been vaccinated, the threat wasn't as great with her.  But still...my mind was racing.  What if we hadn't been careful enough?  What if we picked up something in Wisconsin?  What if we were one of those cases who had had COVID and thus the antibodies, had taken the two shots of the Pfizer vvacine, and still became ill to the point of hospitalization and ventilators and ICU...and death?  What if?  My mind was going wild!

Next thing?  Sister Clarice's death.  The siblings and I had a group chat yesterday which evolved into Mike's banter about canes and jumping the Nun Cult members. I know that Chuck Jansen has been the contact because he is Sister Martin's nephew, but it seemed like the real family had been forgotten about.  A check into his FB page verified that.  As thoughts went through my mind, something came to me finally.  This was NOT my battle to fight.  Yes, I am part of the Siemens family, but she is NOT my aunt.  If anyone would be working with Chuck to bring her back to Tipton for burial (which is not going to happen), or plan a memorial in Kokomo or Tipton, it won't be me.   I am not the relative.  Gary doesn't care.  He remembers Sister Clarice calling his mom on Christmas Eve, maybe the year before she died, maybe two years, and telling her she was dying.  Agnes was SO upset by that.  Of course she didn't die.  I am not sure what happened or why she called to tell her that or anything more about it.  But Gary remembers how upset his mom was and how that one phone call ruined her Christmas. Sandy won't be following up on planning anything, nor will Karen, especially with COVID now.  Mike is in Kansas, and even though he was talking big, he won't act on any of it.  If he does anything, it will probably be to send a huge flower arrangement with his, Angie's, and Nick's names on the card.  Besides that...we were the outcasts in the family because we were not Catholic.  Lutheran wasn't close enough.  The Sisters did not attend any of our weddings, those of the girls nor their graduations.  So there is that too.  Betty was contacted, but I don't see her, Judy, or Nancy jumping in to help with planning a memorial service.  Danny's and Frank's kids? Not likely.   So why am I worried about it?  Key word is the verb in that question.  I was, but I am not now.  It's not my battle to fight.  She isn't my aunt, except through marriage.  

I finally fell asleep around 4:30 and slept until close to 6.  Gary had to take the red Escape in to have the piece re-attached (it fell off when we first arrived at The Dells two weeks ago).  As a result I have been tired all day.  I slept for about 90 minutes when we came home from  Delphi.  I slept for about 30 minutes in the recliner before Owen came after school.   I was dragging while fixing chicken and noodles for Hilary and the kids for dinner.  It was hard.

I know I don't function well without sleep.  I know I need at least 7 hours of shut-eye a night.  And tonight will be the start of that new trend for me!  

I need sleep.

Sunday, Sunday....

 Yes, it is Sunday.  Never a typical day, but not an exceptional one either.

The usual...sleeping a little later.  

Church service from FCC at 10:45 instead of our usual 8:30 because of the Fall Festival.  Good message, though.  I always enjoy, and appreciate, Jim's sermons.

Hilary, Blaine, and the kiddos arrived around 1:15 or so.  The reason?  Photo shoot at 2.  Plus odds and ends of things to do around the barn and outside.  According to the weather guy?  Last nice day for a long while.  Temps will begin to drop tomorrow and fall will be here.

Parade of goats.  I looked outside at one point and saw Tessa with Bella, Blaine with Hopscotch, and Landon leading the new acquisition from Craig.  It was her first time on a halter and to be lead and she was doing great!  Maybe it was because of Landon's superior showing skills?  I am sure he would like to think that!

Arrival of Elinor.  She is the baby girl of Owen's pre-school teacher for the last two years.  Today was the 9 month pictures session and they chose our lane and yard for the setting.  I am excited to see these.  Lots of orange pumpkins with the Little Miss Pumpkin herself!

More laundry.  Washing windows.  Sitting on the swing.  Sitting in the gazebo.

Lunch of meat and cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches and deli salads.

Dinner of hot dogs and baked beans and finally a piece of peach pie.

Some group texting between the Siemens Siblings about Sister Clarice's death and funeral arrangements.  It seems like HER plans are not being considered and the sisters have taken over.  

Reservations made for showing at Louisville in November.

I have been thinking today...I know.  Scary thought... but I will say it again.  I like living here.   Not that living west of Pulaski was bad, and we do have so many memories from living there for 42 years.  But I really like it here.  I like our house.  I like the deck. I like the yard.  I like living back a long lane.  I like the gazebo.  I like sitting on the swing.  I like it that after school Megan and the kids can come over.  I like it that on Sunday afternoons Hilary, Blaine, and the kids are in and out.  I like it that the kiddos (big and little) help themselves to drinks in the fridge and snacks from the pantry.  I like it that seeing everyone is not a planned event any more.   It just happens and it can happen several times a week and sometimes even several times within a day.  I just like it.

Hard for me to grasp that this is the end of our FOURTH summer in the new house.  FOUR summers!  #1 was the move in summer - closing on June 25, moving big stuff on July 28, and never looked back.  #2 was the 'house arrest' for Gary and his wound vac on the foot.  #3 was COVID and doing all of the spruce up work around here--pulling weeds, power washing, fixing up the gazebo, staining the deck.  #4 was this summer and the blood infection plus things went somewhat back to normal, whatever that is.

Summer is drawing to a close.  When we left the day after Labor Day for Wisconsin Dells, it was summer.  When we returned, the corn was picked, the grass was brown, and leaves covered the ground everywhere!  The red geraniums had lost their luster.  The hanging baskets no longer looked fresh and perky.  Many dead marigolds graced the flower pots.  I bought mum yesterday.  Sigh.

All good things must come to an end. And after all....school had been in session since the beginning of August!  Cross country season will end next week.  The Francesville Fall Festival was this weekend!  It's time!

Sunday, Sunday...another delightful day.

Acts of Kindness

 I know...people, like my family, do nice things for me all the time and I rarely say anything about what they do.  Occasionally I will thank Gary for something, like taking me out for dinner or unloading the dishwasher or folding the clean clothes.  But I don't really dwell on what they do for me.

However, I notice when others do something kind, just out of the blue.  Three things recently...

Tina -  I was feeling a little bit blue a few weeks ago, the usual 'no one likes me' and 'I have no friends' when in the mailbox I found a card.  Tina had sent me a 'just because' type of card with a nice note and reminded me that we needed to plan a lunch or dinner soon.  She was free after a Board of Directors meeting for Carrol White REMC so we planned to meet at Brick and Mortar in Delphi for dinner after her meeting.

Ryan - A few days ago I received a FB message from Ryan asking for Dad's full name.  I sent a returned message with Norman Henderson as the text.  Then he said he was looking for the bench at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.  Now I knew it was fair week, and I thought I had probably mentioned Mom and Dad's bench at one time, but that was a few years ago.  He remembered.  He searched for it.  He found it.  There were too many people gathered around it at the bridge from the cattle show arena into the main part of the fairgrounds for him to take a picture.  BUT.... two days ago he sent me two pictures.  One was of the bench itself, and the other was one of three of his kiddos sitting on the bench (or rather climbing on it). For him to remember about the bench, then search for it, then pose his kids on it for a picture....very special to me.  He didn't have to do that.

Bonnie - One of the Dotti's ladies.  I started with the DWLZ group in 2005,  Slowly I became acquainted with some of those who posted regularly.  Eventually I met a few of them...Karen from Decatur (we meet in Wabash for lunch).  Trish in Myrtle Beach.  Gin and Bob in Tampa.  Karen F and Linda from Michigan at Shipshewana.  Today I added Bonnie to the list.  She lives in Stoughton, WI.  We had been at The Wisconsin Dells for 10 days and were driving home.  Her house is just a few miles off the interstate we were traveling and it was easy to just stop and say hello.   It turned out to be a two and a half hour visit.  She fixed breakfast for us.  She gave us a tour of her house and explained the process of its final layout.  We chatted about her husband who died several years ago of Lewy's Body Syndrome.  She shared information about her three daughters, their husbands, and her grandchildren.  It was just a nice visit.  Plus she gave me a gift---a bottle of peach wine from Aldi's!  She said it was the best so I am hoping I like it!  We gave her a bottle from the last winery we visited in Baraboo the other day.  It was just nice to be excited to see someone I had texted with and who had been posting in the same forums I had for the last 15 years.  She also was the saving grace for me when I was searching for Green Bay Packers fabric for the baby quilts for Lindsey and Shawn Geyer's twins.  

I feel so blessed by these three people.  I know that their kindness is something that was really special to me, and I think that IS so special because I always heard my mother telling me that no one liked me, nor would they ever like me unless they had an ulterior motive for acting like they did.  Another bad influence from my mom that I need to dismiss right?

Tonight I will thank God for these three special people in my lief and for their acts of kindness (and for Gary and the girls also!).

Final Notes on the Wisconsin Dells Trip - Part 4

All good things must come to an end--- and today is the last day at The Dells.

While the trip was a good one and we had a good time, we probably won't be returning without the kiddos.  There just isn't enough interesting new things to do here for us.  As Gary said earlier this evening, if it hadn't been for the wineries, we probably would have stayed in the room a lot more.  

Today's experiences....a big score at Old Navy.  I used my 'have to buy $75 worth to get the $30 off' so I found a green long sweater,  a long sleeveless top, and very cute clothes for Lynnlee.  Then we went to the Hanes store and I found FOUR new bras for 40% off each.  Final stop was the popcorn store for some Kettle Corn and a couple of smaller specialty bags for the Scott and the Yaggie families.

Late lunch at Famous Dave's, but the newer and larger location by the outlets.  My BBQ chicken sandwich and potato salad were excellent.  Gary liked his BBQ brisket sandwich too.  Later we went to Culver's again for just a sandwich for him and a small sundae for me.  

We also stopped at Walmart to check out the fall decorations.  Hilary had shown me a few things that she had picked up at the Walmart on 26 that would have been cute in the jar on the dining room table...but none were to be found at this particular store.  I thought the workers were just filling the shelves with that kind of decor along with Halloween costumes.  Gary thought the shelves were empty because everything was sold out.   I still think they were filling the shelves with new merchandise, but who knows?

As usual Gary has packed and put his things in the Escape already.  After we returned from dinner, I packed my suitcase and re-organized a few bags of purchases.  But nothing else of mine will be ready to go until morning.  We still need to pack up the refrigerator things.

The plan is to leave by 8 a.m.  It will be an hour's drive to Stoughton where my DWLZ  friend Bonnie lives.  We will join her for breakfast- I am contributing OJ and a box of Dunkin Donuts.  At first we were going to be watching time closely because Gary really dislikes driving in Chicago and we would need to juggle our time to miss rush hour.  But after reading of a horrible accident on I-65 yesterday where traffic was backed up and a car that was stopped had been rear-ended by Jeep whose driver was not paying attention and that put the car into the back of a truck and crushed it.  The driver who was from Lafayette died later of her injuries.   I had a bad experience on IN 14 between Winamac and Rochester one summer and thought I was going to be rear-ended and it scared me to death. That fear is still with me and I hate driving on I-65 anyway...so we are going on I-39 to LaSalle/Peru, then picking up US 24 to either Kentland or Monticello to avoid that route.  So we can visit with Bonnie a little longer, maybe.

This afternoon the Blue Green rep from Utah called again and wanted to discuss other options with us.  I politely told him that we were just not interested and nothing he could say would convince us to change our minds so he stopped asking.  I appreciated that.  

A little sad that this is over, but.......we stayed three nights longer than originally planned.  We had a good time just doing what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it.  

I think both of us are ready to be at home, sleeping in our own bed, showering in our own shower, and having more space to move around in!  Plus I know Hilary will be glad to when we return.  It's been a tough 10 days for her and her family!

Until the next trip.....

Notes on Trip to Wisconsin Dells Part 3

 Today is the last day of our time away from home!  Tomorrow we head south again.

Saturday was our 'Do Nothing Day' and we did just that ---nothing.  Naps. TV.  Reading.  Eating from the fridge which meant leftovers and snacks.  It was a good day.

Sunday - Outlet Mall.  Small, just one long strip, but there are nice stores.  Most of the spots are occupied---there may have been a couple empty store fronts but not anything like Lodi north of Wooster.  The walkway was open but covered.  In fact there was a rainstorm while we were shopping but nothing was wet except the outer sidewalks and the parking lot.  Scores for me----a new Vera Bradley purse (like I really needed one but it was cute and a new pattern and I didn't have that style).  A pair of black Hey Dude shoes (after the three people working there ignored me the first time I was in, then I returned and one of them say 'HI!  Welcome back!').  Three new tops at Old Navy.   Gary found two pairs of tennis shoes.  He also went to the Beef Jerky store while I was in VB, and we bought some popcorn at a specialty popcorn store.

Monday - Return trip to New Glarus.   We were looking for nesting dolls for the little girls and New Glarus beer for Wally Hooker.  With the help of the clerk at one of the gas stations, we bought two cases of Naked Lady.  Who knew there were so many flavors of beer made at this local brewery?  Then we went to my favorite grocery store, Roy's Market, and we found cases of the Kid Kolaske for him also.  While we were there, I told Gary we probably needed to buy just a six-pack of something for him, Blaine, and Matt to share.  We had lunch at the Culvers and watched the elementary kids on the playground at recess (school is behind the Culvers).  There is a HUGE bridal shop next to one of the gas stations also---many beautiful dresses in the windows.  I don't remember that shop being there but then...it has been 21 years since we visited the town.  Also we chatted with the owner of the shop where we found the Nesting Dolls for the little girls.  She  remembered the lady who sold the cow bells (She said she was 'gone' and I took that to mean that she had left with her cowbells from the downtown area but Gary thought she was dead!) and we chatted about our staying in the apartment above the funeral home while M and A' s house was being build (she thought they prepared the dead bodies on that second floor!).  It was fun to visit with her.  The only thing I didn't do was get a picture of the thing (and I don't know what it is called) by the street to turn into town with the Swiss people and flowers.  We have pictures of M and H standing by it and the last picture we took was in March 2000 when Hilary brought Veronica and Jessica with us for spring break.  Once again....New Glarus was my favorite place where Mike and Angie have lived.  

Tuesday - Wineries.  As I was planning the day, I discovered that one of the wineries, actually the one I was most looking forward to visiting because of the fun names I had seen on the bottles at the liquor store in Reedsburg, was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  WHAT?   We went to Woolersheim Winery at Prairie du Sac and it was a really nice place.   We chatted with one of the workers.  I was a little disappointed in the selections of the wines for tastings, but it worked out ok.  The pours were generous, and since I had eaten just oatmeal for breakfast, I really needed to eat something about those tastings!  We went to the Bistro, but they offered only cold sandwiches and salads and snacks on Tuesdays (who knew?) so we had some kind of chicken and cheese sandwiches, a bag of chips, and we bought a bottle of pear wine because I wanted to taste it and it wasn't included in the tastings.  I liked my sandwich.  Gary said it was horrible.  We drove to Baraboo to another winery which was new and out in the middle of a field but on the edge of town.  We had three 'pours' for $11, a good sized amount in each glass, that we shared.  We ordered a large pretzel, and it was.  HUGE!  There were three small cups of dipping sauces---cheese, a mustard, and another I didn't try because I really liked the first two.  

More naps, then Cracker Barrel for a late dinner. 

One more day!  Then home tomorrow!

A Few Decisions

 I get myself bogged down with things sometimes---no big surprise there.  I often talk about those things with other people, including Gary and the girls.  No big surprise there either.  But one purpose of this trip was to get away from things, to focus on just us, or me, and relax, reflect, and refresh.  So I have made some decisions.

One, that I actually made before we left, is that I am not returning to Milestone Fitness.  I really like Megan the Trainer, and I appreciate what she has done for me.  But the cost is high, and I don't feel like I can really afford the monthly fees right now, especially when there are other things that are needed our financial support, like a new lawn mower.  Instead I must begin to work with my DVD collection on walking, focus on the exercises that Dr. Page gave me, and try to remember some of the things that Megan the Trainer did with me so I can continue some of that routine.  Another factor is that Gary mentioned wanting to return to some type of workout and suggested that we both start our membership in Firehouse Fitness in Rossville again.  We can go together and use the machines and the weights there.  As long as we are dedicated to that, it will work for both of us.

Reaching out to others.  I like to keep communication open with friends and family. However, I don't like to be the only one communicating.  We have invited friends to our new house several times and very rarely do they accept the invitations.  While I know people are busy and have family and friend obligations along with work responsibilities, I just don't like being the only one who wants to keep the friends relationship going.  The texting can go both ways.  FB messages can be initiated by either party.  Much as I want to keep the friendships solid and alive, I am tired of issuing invitations and receiving regrets.  The same thing applies to emails.  It doesn't take too long to send a quick text.  When I don't hear from someone for a long period of time, then my lines of communication are going to dry up too.  I truly believe the saying "If they really wanted to keep in touch, they would." 

Mom.  It seems like lately so many devotions have led my mind to thinking about Mom.  Then I write about a situation with her in my comments that I share with Rhonda.  She mentioned the other day that I open up more and more about situations with Mom and she thinks that is a good thing for me.  But in reality, it is the same stuff I talk about with Gary or the girls all the time.  She has been gone for over 4 years, so anything I share is 'old news,' not anything new.  Talking. or writing, about her just brings me down and depresses me.  So I need to stop.  Starting today my responses to devotions and scriptures will be without mention of Mom.  I can refer to teaching or the girls when they were younger, or anything else in my childhood---just not Mom.  I need to move on. It is more than past time to do that. The only way I can grow, the only way I can become more faithful and closer to God is to stop referring to her with every post I make. 

That's it for now!  Some soul searching.  Some thinking.  Some praying.  This is what I came up with.  And I feel good about it.

The Trip to Wisconsin Dells - September 2021 - Part 2

 Food!

I forgot earlier today to write about food. 

 

We noticed, or rather Gary did, that there aren't as many chain restaurants here as there are at home or in other places we have traveled.  We have yet to see a Texas Roadhouse, an O'Charleys, a Cheddars, a Red Lobster, or an Olive Garden.  There are fast food restaurants, but the main  place to eat, that is a chain, is Culver's.  That makes sense because Culver's originated in Wisconsin and nearly every town has at least one. 

Tofflers Pub and Grille in New Glarus - we were one of two couples in the main floor dining room that day.  I ordered a chicken salad sandwich (with nuts on toasted bread) and potato salad.  Gary had a pulled pork sandwich.  Both were good meals.

I was still full from lunch in NG so we went to Culver's that evening.  Gary had a tenderloin basket and I ordered my favorite turtle sundae but with just one scoop of ice cream. It was SO SO SO good!  I used to order those all the time when Mike lived in NG.  So good!  But full of calories, and I think I stopped myself from eating them because I discovered that I would need to use an entire day, if not more, of WW points just to cover that one sundae.  Yikes!

 Applebee's in The Dells - sign on the door that there might be a wait due to lack of servers.  A family of 5-6 was waiting on the seated area.  The hostess told us it would be at least 35 minutes before we could be seated.  Lots of empty tables.  We left as did the young couple behind us.  They went to IHOP next door.  We went into town further.

B-Lux Bar and Grille - The Dells  Nice place.  Not very crowded but it was a Thursday evening.  I ordered a tuna melt sandwich and shoestring french fries.  Gary ordered a hamburger with cheese (extra, Jim and E. Anne) and waffle fries.  The tuna was extremely salty and Gary switched half of his sandwich for mine.  What a guy! He didn't like it any better than I did!

Famous Dave's BBQ -  spur of the moment - we spotted it and went around the block and parked.  BEST Chicken BBQ sandwich and potato salad for me.  BBQ Brisket for Gary.  Very good but one of our more expensive meals.

Paul Bunyon  - The Dells - This place was recommended by the concierge at the resort as one of the best for breakfast.  The usual buffet was switched to family style because of COVID.  We paid at the door for the meal which was scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, ham and sausage, pancakes and a choice of juice, white milk, or coffee plus a pitcher of water.  Additional cost for tea or iced tea, lemonade, soft drinks.  Additional cost for a bowl of fruit.  We went basic!  It was good food and it was all you could eat so we didn't leave hungry.  Nice for a meal but one time was enough for us.

 High Rocks Cafe - downtown Wisconsin Dells - Friday night  Small crowd.  Our waitress was great and funny.  She smiled a lot.  I had a pasta dish with chicken and broccoli and covered with shredded parmesan. Very good but it was a 'Heather Davis' type of dish---the more I ate of it, the more there seemed to be.  Gary had a Monte Cristo sandwich and some kind of special fries that he said were really good.  It was a good meal---kind of a Friday night out type of thing. Gary ate half of what I brought home for dinner on Saturday evening since we stayed in all day.

Which brings me to ---- our food for today, Saturday, was cheap!  We found a large coffee cake/Danish at the Viking Foods (recommended by our update guy) for $3.99 and it has last us for every morning so far.  We have one piece left.  We had egg rolls for a late lunch plus chips and dip for a snack, then I fixed a bowl of oatmeal for my dinner since I wasn't really hungry.

We brought along drinks, some granola bars, cookies, and a few other things.  We spent less than $100 at the grocery store for just breakfast items and a few snacks. Not bad.  

Sunday - mid-day meal at IHOP.  I ordered strawberry and cream crepes which were good.  Gary had chicken strips and fries.  He really liked the BBQ sauce.

Dinner at Mexicali Rose.  I ordered a strawberry margarita which was HUGE and very good too.  My dinner was  flauta with chicken and cream cheese and it was really good too.  Gary had some kind of enchilada that he liked.   It was a good meal overall. 

Notes on Trip to Wisconsin Dells September 2021 Part 1

 Gary asked me earlier in our stay here if I were going to log everything that happened, day by day.  I said no, but I do think that some things need to be recorded, else they be forgotten in the days, weeks, months, or years ahead.  So here goes---points and observations about our trip.

 

• Don't trust the Maps app on the iPhone.  When I asked for the shortest route for this trip, it turned out to be a very long drive through the suburbs of northern Chicago.  We drove on routes and saw towns we had never seen before and most likely will never see again.  The additional two lane roads added several minutes, no at least an hour or two, onto our travel time.
  
• Hailstorms are nasty, especially when one doesn't know the area or the roads.  Pulling off into a parking lot of a random business was the best thing for us to do to wait it out. 
• Our 'townhome' for the week is nice, but I wouldn't want to live in it full time. One thing I have noticed about Blue/Green properties is that they are somewhat smaller than those we use at HGVC.  This one is fine for a visit---but I wouldn't want to live here.
• Owner Updates - I absolutely HATE these things.  Why?  Because there is always pressure to buy more points.  That is always prefaced with being able to update and get the most for our money, to add to what we already have to better use the plan for our family, to have more vacations. The bottom line is they want us to buy and if we resist, then we are usually made to feel like we are doing something stupid because if we were smart, we would be jumping at the chance to give them at least $10,000 to add more time to our wonderful vacations.....until the next time when we would be told the same thing.  Again.  But I was eager to go to this update.  Why?  Because at Boyne Mountain last fall we bought a sampler package and we were told that because of COVID we would have 18 months to use the points.  That didn't happen.  Gary was told our points would expire at the end of September---and we had to USE them by the end of the month, not just plan something for 6 months or a year from now with them.  I was ticked about that and wanted some answers.  What happened was that we found out about Bonus Time and were able to use our leftover points to extend our stay here for a few more days.  Plus our guy Adam told us that he was required to tell us how we could us our points better and how easy it would be to upgrade ....yes, here it comes....for just shy of $10,000.  I finally talked him into letting us think about it and returning to talk to him before we left.  I know that Gary would have convinced me while we were sitting there to do it, but after we thought about it, and I kinda promised a new mower instead with the money, we know adding more points won't be happening.  To date...no one has called to set up a follow-up appointment.  But someone could, and I am going to say no.
• The Dells is a fun place for going out on the lake in the Wisconsin Ducks.  For golf.  For skiing in the winter.  For skiing in the summer.  For miniature golf and arcades and all of those things like Gatlinburg has.  We realize that now.  When we were here before, we took the girls on The Ducks and it was fun.  But there isn't much else here for us to do.  So why did we come?  For one...it was hard to find a place to go close enough to home in the amount of time that we had to use our points before they expired.  But we also wanted to re-visit some of the places we had seen when  Mike and Angie lived here in the 90s.
• Drive to New Glarus - it was a little over an hour's drive.  Once we arrived in town, things began to look familiar.    The shrubs and flowers logo at the entrance to downtown is still there.  The chalets are still where they were.  The infamous funeral home still sits in the same spot.  We didn't drive south of town but I imagine the Culver's and the grocery store are still there.  We drove west out of town to see if we could find Mike and Angie's house---and we did.  Zentner Road.  There were cows in the pastures.  The trees had grown up, including the ones that Gary and Mike had planted along the drive.  It was hard to see the house and the barn, but they were still there.  I told Gary that this was the place I had liked the best of all the places Mike and Angie had lived.  I loved the catwalk across the living room.  The wrap around porch.  The kitchen.  The two bedrooms and bath upstairs that were ours.  We are lunch at a corner place called Tofflers and I ordered a great chicken salad sandwich with cole slaw. Really good.  Later we returned to a winery on the road to M and A's house---a new place that hadn't been there very long.  The wines were good and we have several bottles in the Escape to take home.  But the gal who served us was easy to talk with...and we discovered that she and her husband boarded their cattle across the road from where M and A had lived.  What a small world.  Gary had met the farmer that they were renting from.  We intend to return to New Glarus and look for the nesting dolls for Lynnlee and Tessa.   Gary didn't remember that Hilary had asked him to do that.  Plus Wally Hooker would like not just one, but four cases of the New Glarus beer from the brewery.  
• Mount Horeb - The thing we remembered about visiting Mount Horeb was the Mustard Museum.  It was cool to discover the history of different mustards plus taste samples of all kinds of varieties.  Well, it is gone.  When I searched for it online, it has been moved to one of the little towns west of Madison.  Darn.
• Wineries.  I have a list of wineries to visit while we are here.  They are not as plentiful as they are in Michigan, but there are still several to explore.   Besides Bailey's Run in New Glarus, we have visited Fawn Creek Winery and Prairie Hawk Winery, both east and north of The Dells.  The first one was recommended by Adam, our Update guy.  The location was very nice, very pastoral, and they were set up for entertainment purposes.  The gal who did our tastings was still learning how to interact with customers but she warmed up as the time went on.  We did buy a few bottles there, one for a birthday gift.  Since we were 'in the area' we found the second one and it was a disappointment.  We weren't permitted in the building, I am assuming because of COVID.  There were tables on a patio and the yard looked a little less kempt that ours does at home when Gary hasn't done the weed-eating for a few weeks.  We were the ONLY people there so that was a little awkward.  We didn't care for the wines that much, but we did buy one bottle to take home.  That one may be a gift also.  There are at least four more wineries to visit so reports will be forthcoming. 
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• First installment - finished!  Stay turned for Part 2 tomorrow!