Today, after Jeff and La returned from church, the four of us had a lengthy and interesting discussion related to solving several national and world problems. Jeff has a unique idea for getting rid of daylight saving time (in which no daylight is actually saved) as well as standard time. Ask him about it.

When we felt the world was in order, we had lunch and headed for Salvation Mountain.

According to the handy brochure, Leonard Knight began creating Salvation Mountain in 1989 in Niland, CA, near Slab City. His building materials included adobe clay, straw, tree limbs, tires, windows, and lots of colorful paint. All of these items were found lying in the desert or at the local dump. Leonard’s plan was to paint the mountain twice a year, hoping the thick layer of paint would keep the site in good condition so that many people could see it for many years. (That explains the plethora of paint cans around the displays.) Perhaps not surprisingly, Leonard’s first mountain collapsed. As he began rebuilding it, he proclaimed, “No, God, You build it.” Today, we saw the result.

In 1994, Imperial County attempted to have the mountain torn down, but members of the art community all over the United States and around the world united to save the monument. In 2001, Salvation Mountain was designated a National Folk Art Site; in 2002, it was named a National Treasure in the Congressional Record; and, in 2007, it was featured in the film Into the Wild. Leonard believed people need to start loving God more. He often said, “Love is universal. Love God, love one another, and just keep it simple!”

Salvation Mountain is a colorful sight in its brown desert surroundings. Notice the waterfalls, the rivers, and the Sea of Galilee.

I don’t know how much mail God gets, but here’s a mailbox for it. The lumpy multi-colored blob on the right is the museum.

This is a close-up of the museum entrance. It’s closed because there is a danger that the top is going to cave in. The arrow in the photo points to one of many cracks in the dirt structure. If you look, you’ll see several more cracks. There are plans to repair the museum and to re-open it, but Salvation Mountain is dependent on donations and volunteers and cannot be repaired at this time. A public charity, Salvation Mountain, Inc., was established to continue maintenance on the site. No government aid is accepted.

You can “follow the yellow brick road” to the top of the mountain. Jeff and La went all the way to the top via this route.

I made it across the first river before the edge of the yellow brick road came too close to the edge of the mountain for my comfort. I wasn’t in a Jack and Jill tumbling mood, so I chickened out and backtracked. I don’t like to be at the edge of high places unless there’s a large, firm platform under my feet with a protective railing around me. Luckily, on the other side of the mountain, there was a more gently ascending dirt trail to the top. Ted accompanied me to the top via that less scary route.

The Salton Sea was visible from the top of the mountain. It’s the flat, narrow light blue streak running across the upper center of this picture. The Salton Sea is a shallow, land-locked, highly saline lake that lies on the San Andreas Fault. In the 20th century, it was a resort destination, but contamination from fertilizers and clouds of toxic dust, plus evaporation, caused die-offs of fish and birds in the 1980s.

There are a number of vehicles–cars, trucks, farm machinery, a boat, etc.–on the grounds. All of them (except the boat) have flattened tires and all of them are colorfully painted with scriptural messages.

This is a view of Slab City, a community adjacent to and north of Salvation Mountain. Slab City took its name from the concrete slabs that remained after the World War II Marine Corps Camp Dunlap training camp was torn down. The community is known for attracting people who want to live outside of the mainstream society (i.e., off the grid).

The trailers and campers behind Leonard’s “flower garden” in this picture might be a southern suburb of Slab City. Some of the volunteers who maintain Salvation Mountain live here.

On our way back to El Centro, we stopped in Calipatria, a “low-down” town. At 184 feet below sea level, it is the lowest incorporated town in the Western Hemisphere. (Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park is lower at -282 feet, but no one lives there.) The local joke in Calipatria is that its residents have to pray harder because they are closer to hell.

Calipatria’s claim to fame is its freestanding flagpole, at one time, the World’s Tallest Flagpole. At 184 feet tall, its flag flies at sea level. It can be seen from as far as three miles away and, as the sign says, it’s “Dedicated to good neighborliness”–a kind and friendly ideal.

Note: Calipatria’s flagpole is no longer the tallest flagpole in the world. Currently, the world’s tallest flagpole is 662.57-ft. tall and was built in Cairo in 2021. The 400-ft. tall Acuity Insurance Flagpole in Sheboygan, WI is now the tallest flagpole in North America. It is also one of the world’s tallest free-standing flagpoles.

Calipatria’s flagpole has an interesting backstory. The flagpole was built to honor Takeo Harry Momita and his wife, Shizuko Helen Momita. The Momitas were a Japanese-American couple who lived in Calipatria. They and their three children had been incarcerated at the Poston War Relocation Center in western Arizona during World War II under Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The order imprisoned 120,000 people of Japanese descent–two-thirds of whom were American citizens.

When Mrs. Momita was killed in a car accident and Mr. Momita was hospitalized for injuries he sustained in the accident, Calipatria residents operated his pharmacy for him and collected $500 for Mrs. Momita’s funeral. Mr. Momita said his wife would not want an elaborate funeral. Instead, he offered to donate an additional $500 of his own savings toward something the city wanted but could not afford: a flagpole reaching up to sea level.

The story made national news and donations poured in. President Richard Nixon sent a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol, and Pacific Southwest Pipe Co. of Los Angeles offered to erect the flagpole at cost (about $10,000).

What a nice way to end our visit with Jeff and La. In the past five days, they took us to all the interesting places I’ve been writing about and they were outstanding tour guides. We had lots of good times together, good food wherever we ate, good family time, and loving hospitality. It was great to spend this time with them.

Our last sightseeing stop today was the Desert View Tower on our way to Jeff and La’s apartment in El Centro. Jeff and La notice the tower when they drive back and forth to San Diego, and they’ve been curious about it.

The 70-foot tall tower was built in the 1920s and was dedicated to the pioneers and to the highway and railroad builders who opened up this area. At first, it served as a roadside advertisement for a restaurant and bar located on the old road across from the tower. It currently houses a museum, has a hurricane (aka observation) deck on its upper level, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The museum is described online as a “collection of unique trinkets that you can purchase.” That’s exactly what we saw on the first floor. There were two older men sitting inside the tower on the first floor. They were very talkative as we walked around the circular room looking at the trinkets. None of the trinkets appealed to any of us and neither did the $6.50 per person admission fee to climb to the hurricane deck, so we walked around outside a little bit. There was, indeed, a desert view.

The cacti around the building were pretty in the late afternoon sunshine.

Are these desert wind chimes?

Here we are, ready to leave the historic Desert View Tower to go to Jeff and La’s house where we made individual mini pizzas for dinner. It was another day of fun together.

Jeff and La have tried several times to stop at La Jolla (pronounced “la hoya”) Beach to see the sea lions, but have been unsuccessful. The problem is parking. Only street parking is available within a reasonable walking distance, and lots of people want to see the sea lions. As a result, Jeff and La have never found a parking place and have gone home disappointed. Until today. Maybe Ted and I were good luck charms because we found a parking spot very close to the beach and here we are, happily spending time at La Jolla Beach with the sea lions.

That’s Jeff standing at the sidewalk railing. It’s pupping season for the sea lions, so humans are not allowed on the actual beach at this time.

That lumpy dark line along the shore is a gathering of sea lions. When you watch the video, look at the right one-fourth of those sea lions. You’ll see a mama sea lion waddling out of the water with her pup behind her, then heading back into the water to follow her pup who wanted to play some more before sunbathing.

These sea lions have picked a prime spot for sunbathing. During the time we were here, you could see that the tide was going out because the rock in the photo below emerged from the water. As the water level dropped, more sea lions headed for this rock, but these had the best (i.e., highest, driest) spots for lying in the sun.

All those black things on this piece of rock are barnacles. The arrow points to a tern. He was pecking at and eating the barnacles.

It was interesting to see so many sea lions and pups go in and out of the water and roll around on the rocks, so we stayed to watch them for quite a while. Then it was lunchtime. Jeff and La pulled out their cell phones to search for a nearby restaurant. It looks like I’m hoping and praying that they find somewhere to eat soon.

When I realized Ted was taking a picture of us, I looked up and smiled.

My prayers (?) were answered. We headed for one of Jeff’s favorite sandwich places and a new restaurant for Ted and me: outdoor dining at Cheba Hut. I told Jeff I prefer warm sandwiches, and he assured me that Cheba Hut toasts their sandwiches. It was the first time I’d ever had a warm PBJ. Yes, even the PB and J were warm! Good food for good times!

Before leaving our San Diego hotel this morning, Jeff posed with the restaurant’s giant waffle.

Our first sightseeing destination today was Annie’s Canyon Trail, which includes a loop through a slot canyon. The trail has a sign warning hikers that some of the trail is very steep. As we set off to explore the canyon, we hoped the steep part was the steps at the highest point of the trail. The photos below might look as if we’re deciding which way to go, but there was only one way through the canyon. We were just looking around and taking some pictures before moving forward again.

Ah, now we’re getting to the “slot” part of the slot canyon.

Unfortunately, my injured ankle is not yet completely healed. Walking on the uneven rock on an increasingly steep upward slope was making my weakened ankle hurt. I was having fun and wanted to see the rest of the canyon and the view from the top, but as the pain became worse and the trail became steeper, I decided I’d rather turn around than aggravate my ankle and miss out on the fun for the rest of the day and maybe even the next day because of continued ankle pain.

Turning around might be the smart thing to do for me and for those who discover that the slots are too claustrophobic for them, but it isn’t easy. As you can see in the photos, much of the trail is only one person wide and is essentially a “no passing” zone. That meant that, as I went down, other people needed to find a wide space, plaster themselves against the canyon walls, and wait for me wriggle past them on my way downward before they could continue upward. I was grateful that they were all very nice about it. I apologized for their inconvenience and got lots of “No problem” and “Don’t worry about it” responses, accompanied by smiles. Ted and Jeff both chose to go back down with me, although I was fine with the idea of going by myself while they enjoyed the rest of the hike. That left La to complete the loop trail by herself and then tell us about it later.

At the end of the loop, the trail continues along a marshy area. We saw this pretty flowering tree.

As we were admiring the view from the trail, we noticed an osprey sitting on a dead tree branch. One of the other people looking at the osprey noticed that he’d caught a fish. It’s the silver strip under his feet on the branch. A man in the crowd mentioned that where there’s one osprey, there are always two and, sure enough, his mate came back, circled, and cawed back and forth with him a bit before she flew away. I think she was telling him she could do without the crowd of people watching and would be back later after we’d all gone away.

The fish wriggled under the osprey’s feet for a few minutes. When it was still, the osprey enjoyed his lunch. It was kind of sad to watch the fish die and then be eaten, but that’s how all animals survive, right?

After a pretty hike with a survival-of-the-fittest ending, we headed for a happier experience with nature. Coming up: La Jolla Cove.

Our last tour stop of the day included a beautiful drive over the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island, with a pretty offshore view of San Diego. Coronado Island is the home of the historic four-star Coronado Hotel, a rare surviving example of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort. It is the second-largest wooden structure in the United States. (FYI: The largest is Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.) The Coronado Hotel was designated a California Historical Landmark in 1970 and a National Historic Landmark in 1977. The 1959 movie Some Like It Hot–starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon–was filmed here, highlighting the hotel.

In case you’re wondering, in summer, the lowest room rates begin at $500. In addition, there is a $50 resort fee, a $15 per day Historic Preservation Fund fee, and a $75 per day valet parking fee if you arrived in your private car. Rates drop as low as $350 for rooms in the off-season. Question: Which part of the year is the off-season in sunny, warm San Diego?

These colorful surfboards stood outside the hotel. I hope those hotel fees allow you to use a hotel surfboard without an additional charge.

There was a (sand-covered) sidewalk along (guess what?!) Coronado Beach, so we followed it for a short way and passed this lifeguard station.

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was shining over the ocean.

I’m guessing that a motorcyclist had fun doing a wheelie here on the beach.

On our way back to the car, I noticed this beachcomber. I hope he found a little treasure to brighten his day.

We ended our day with dinner at Outback to celebrate Jeff’s and La’s February birthdays. Happy birthday to both of you. ♥♥

After our pizza lunch at Phillipo’s, Ted and I and our tour guides, Jeff and La, headed for Balboa Park. This park is one of the oldest sites in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. It housed the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition. What a beautiful place! The architecture is awesome, and the park setting is perfect for it. The park and its buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark District in 1977, and were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This building houses the San Diego Museum of Art, which features European, Asian, American, and Latin American art. It is best known for its collection of Spanish Old Master paintings.

Here’s a close-up of the sculptures over the main entrance to the art museum. The three central sculpted figures are Spanish Old Master painters Diego Velázquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Francisco de Zurbarán–perfect choices for this museum.

This building includes the Visitor’s Center and restaurants, as well as banquet and wedding venues.

We didn’t go into these buildings, but I admired the decorative sculpting on them.

The park includes this large, unique greenhouse with a variety of plants on display.

As we walked around the park grounds, we saw this Southwestern museum. It’s name translates to “Cultural Museum of the People.” With permission, I took pictures of some of the art on display.

I don’t know the purpose of this building, but it’s definitely “eye”-catching! (Insert groan here.)

I am not knowledgeable about art movements and/or styles, but I’m sure these concrete picnic tables and benches represent a specific artistic period. I thought they were interesting to look at, but are they comfortable? Notice that no one is sitting on any of the benches.

Finally, here are the four of us, enjoying Balboa Park on a warm, sunny February day in San Diego.

Our first sightseeing stop with Jeff and La today was the Cabrillo National Monument. I’ve never heard of Cabrillo, but I’ve learned that Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. His contemporaries considered his expedition a failure, but Cabrillo’s writings provided a glimpse of the west coast of North America from a newcomer’s perspective.

Later Spanish explorers used Cabrillo’s records to navigate the Pacific. They learned from Cabrillo’s expedition that a wide, slow current flows from north to south along the Pacific coast of North America. Although this current provides a quick way to reach North America from Asia, it is nearly impossible to travel north, as Cabrillo and his crew found out.

There was heavy ocean fog when we arrived at the monument site. We were on a bluff at the edge of a peninsula, but we couldn’t see the water.

Here we are at Cabrillo National Monument, . . .

. . . and here’s the larger-than-life statue of Cabrillo, including fog in the background. La, Jeff, and Ted are standing on the left of the statue.

The historic Old Point Loma Lighthouse is near the statue of Cabrillo. It was one of the first eight west coast lighthouses to be constructed by the U.S. government. At 422 feet above sea level, its light could be seen from both the ocean and the bay sides of the peninsula.

We drove down the bluff to the beach to see tide pools. It was still a little bit foggy when we arrived.

I love watching the ocean waves. Watch the white cap of the back wave move from left to right as it approaches the shoreline.

This isn’t a good beach for swimming, but it’s picturesque.

I took a geology course in college and learned about sandstone, so I knew the rocks at this beach were sandstone. These circular formations, however, fascinated me. Professor Google told me they are masses of mineral matter, usually cemented by iron oxide. They form in the sandstone layer and appear as rounded shapes when the surrounding rock erodes.

I thought these blocks of strata were interesting too.

The layered appearance of this sandstone is what I’m more familiar with. Jeff stands triumphant on the top of this bluff.

Jeff, La, and I are looking for sea life in the tide pools on this rock.

We found a wide variety of sea shells embedded in the rocks.

The arrow in this photo indicates a living, moving amoeba in a tide pool. I think the black objects to the right of the amoeba are barnacles.

These black circles look like shiny rocks, but look closer. They are pools of water. When you realize that, you’ll notice the upper edges of the holes the water is in; the reflections of those edges on the surface of the water; and–especially in the pool in the lower right–the smaller stones and sea life in the bottom of the hole beneath the water.

Here we are, having a good time at Cabrillo National Monument Beach.

After Cabrillo, it was time for lunch. We went to Phillipo’s for pizza and salads. Does this make you think a slice of pizza would be good right now?

We all enjoyed it.

Outside of Phillipo’s, there was a chair on the sidewalk large enough to hold three of us. It begged us to climb aboard for a photo op, so we did. We did not need to hold anyone liable (see the warning on the front of the step to the chair).

Wouldn’t you know it?! The day before Ted and I were scheduled to leave home to visit Jeff and La in warm and sunny San Diego, we had snow during the day and overnight. It was only 3 inches–nothing like the big January storm–but Ted cleared the first 2 inches from our driveway and sidewalks late in the afternoon, and the last inch in the early morning (7:00 a.m.) before we left for the airport. The roads on the way to the airport were slushy and a little slippery, but not too bad. The forecast low at our house today was 0 degrees; the forecast high in San Diego today was 68 degrees. Yes! I’m ready for some warm weather!

We boarded our plane on time, but then sat at the gate for about 90 minutes waiting for “paperwork,” as the pilot described it. It could have been stressful, but the pilot and co-pilot came into the cabin, and they and the flight crew chatted casually with the passengers. Those who were tired of sitting (and knew there were 3+ hours of sitting coming up on the flight) stood in the aisle and talked with each other. It was kind of like a pre-flight social hour (-and-a-half)–much better than 200+ grumpy people due to a flight delay. We kept Jeff and La posted on our status so they wouldn’t be waiting 90 minutes at the airport for our delayed arrival.

After Jeff and La picked us up, our first stop was Ocean View Beach. Yes! It was wonderful to see sand, sunshine, and the Pacific Ocean instead of snow!

The most interesting thing at the beach was a grassy area filled with people who (apparently spontaneously) played music and did acrobatics. I took some videos of them. In this one, watch the woman in the center of the picture (wearing a pink leotard) as she flips above the man. You can hear the drums if you turn on the sound.

In this video, another woman holds a man’s hands and does a handstand over his head.

Finally, here’s a tightrope walker. Several people tried the tightrope; this guy did jumps and, at times, stood on one foot.

When we finished walking and watching on the beach, we headed for a nearby farmers’ market. The palm trees were a clue that we weren’t in cold (today) Missouri.

There were a lot of colorful vegetable, fruit, jewelry, and floral displays at the market.

Then, it was time for lunch. We went to one of Jeff and La’s favorite San Diego restaurants: Hodad’s.

Hodad’s definitely has atmosphere. The walls are covered with license plates, and the benches are covered with stickers and more license plates. Each of us was given a souvenir sticker when we left the restaurant. Does the surfboard table say “California” to you?

We found a Missouri license plate on one wall.

I’ll bet that you can find the “ELVIS” license plate without an arrow.

Here we are, waiting for our delicious food. We had burgers, fries, and shakes–an All-American Hodad’s lunch.

On our way back to the car, we saw these pretty bird of paradise flowers. Our first day with Jeff and La was fun. And warm!

It normally takes Ted and me about nine hours to go from Kiel to our house, but there was so much road construction along the way, that the trip was longer this time.  Driving I-55 from Chicago to St. Louis includes Route 66 travel. 

We had a happy adventure on our way home when we stopped for gas at Wally’s in Pontiac, IL. 

I’ll let a screenshot from Wally’s website describe what you’’ll find at Wally’s.

I took some pictures in the store.  It’s so big, that it’s hard to show it in a photo, but try to look all the way across the store in the picture below.  It’s not Wall Drug (South Dakota), but Wally’s takes the gas station convenience store to a whole new level!

There’s an entire room offering a huge variety of ice-cold beer.  (For people who are going to drive?)

The wall art at the entrances to the restrooms is impressive.  That’s a 1955 Plymouth Belvedere towing a vintage Shasta trailer, in case you’re wondering.

Buy a t-shirt and express the joy of Wally’s.  Wallelujah to all!

A vintage Winnebago motor home is parked in the store.  It’s a perfect backdrop for the camping gear you can buy at Wally’s.

Wally’s mascot bear is “driving” the Winnebago.

After this stop, Ted and I were refreshed and ready to hit the road for the last stretch to our house.  It was a wonderful nine days, and we loved seeing our friends and family members in person again.  There were so many laughs and so many good memories to be shared at every stop, that we are still feeling the joy of the fun we had with everyone.  Long live the American Road Trip!

Our last stop on this trip was a visit with Ted’s brother, Gary, and a reunion with Ted’s high school classmates.

We had a funny experience as we drove to Gary’s house. I was driving through a small town on a state highway and, as I passed an intersection, a black van marked “Sheriff” pulled into the traffic behind me. That was fine; I hadn’t been doing anything wrong. As I continued driving, I noticed a string of three identical black vans behind me. I knew the first one was the sheriff, but as we crested a hill, it looked like the second car also had a light bar on the top. With a sheriff–or possibly, two sheriffs–directly behind me, I made sure to drive no faster than the 55 mph speed limit.

As we drove through small town after small town, I repeatedly adjusted my speed from 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 to 35 to 45 to 55 again. The three black vans stayed right behind me. As we rounded a curve, I identified the third van as another sheriff! I don’t think I’ve ever been followed by three consecutive sheriffs! Ted and I laughed about it and I continued driving exactly at the speed limit, forcing the officers of the law to do the same or to–gasp!–break the law by speeding to pass me. We wondered if the sheriffs were getting frustrated at having to drive at the speed limit. Do they (slightly) exceed the speed limit like the rest of us when there is no one to see them?

The sheriffs’ convoy followed us for nearly an hour. I could have turned onto a side road, let them pass, made a U-turn, and come back to the highway, but frankly, it was kind of amusing to keep three sheriffs within the law. We were going to arrive two hours before Gary would be ready for us anyway, so we had plenty of time to dawdle our way across the state. Eventually, however, I had to turn to go to Gary’s house, and the sheriffs continued on the state highway and probably followed someone else. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Now, back to our visit with Gary. A few years ago, there was a fire in Gary’s apartment building.  It wasn’t in Gary’s apartment, but there are only four apartments in the building, and they all had water and smoke damage.  When the damage was repaired, Gary was able to move to a different unit than his original apartment.  He (and Ted and I) like this unit much better because the window views are open land rather than the cul de sac on which the apartment is located.  This is the kitchen/living room area.  There are three bedrooms along the right side of the apartment (obviously, not shown here).

On our first night together, we went out for pizza and then played sheephead, a popular Wisconsin card game.  The next night, we went to a more upscale local restaurant that featured Early American decor.

The ladies’ room had an old-fashioned, comfy appearance.

Ted and I planned our trip to include time for me to see my college friends while Eileen was in Madison for a UW football weekend, and we planned our time in Kiel so that Ted could attend his high school class’s annual reunion lunch at the Altona Supper Club. Our kids used to chuckle over the term “supper club” when we traveled with them to Wisconsin. I have no idea why these restaurants have that designation, but a Google search says that “supper clubs are an iconic mainstay of Wisconsin, filled with comfort food and good conversation.” This noon meal included all the Wisconsin noontime “dinner” goodies—a variety of meats and seafood, potatoes, salad, vegetables, dinner rolls, and dessert–and everything was delicious.

Three class reunions were taking place simultaneously at the supper club.  Ted attended his 50^th class reunion, but that was the only time after his high school graduation that he’d seen his classmates until now, so it took us a few minutes to locate someone he recognized.  After we picked up our name tags, things became easier.  Without them, Ted admitted there were very few people he recognized on sight.  It was a nice gathering, and Ted enjoyed talking with some of his old friends.  The midday reunions have been held annually for several years, and a group picture is taken every year.  Ted is the third man from the right in the back row.

Before leaving this part of Wisconsin, Ted and I stopped at the Gibbsville Cheese Factory to buy some “real” (i.e., not supermarket) Wisconsin cheese to take home with us.  Gibbsville offered a new version of Ted’s favorite, super sharp cheddar.  The “Special Reserve Super Sharp Cheddar” brought a smile and a quick “That’s really good!” from Ted.  He bought six pounds of it to take home with us.  We also stopped at the Oostburg Bakery to get some bakery favorites:  hard (this does not mean firm or stale) rolls, filled coffee cakes, and Danish pastries.  

Of course, we needed a picture of Ted and his brother on our last evening together before Ted and I left in the morning for our long drive home.

Holmen, WI is a small town near La Crosse.  It’s where my favorite aunt and three of my cousins–including two more of the six Girl Cousins–and their families live.  Sadly, my (also favorite) uncle died a year ago just two months before his 98th birthday.  One of the Girl Cousins—Lara—was traveling out-of-state on business, so we didn’t have a chance to see each other this time.

Ted and I stayed in an interesting hotel, themed on Wisconsin wilderness, fishing, and hunting.  The supports for a ceiling overhang in the pool room, as well as the wall above the overhang, were painted to look like tall evergreen trees.

We didn’t try sitting in this chair, but it looks like an early attempt at ergonometric design.

On our first day in town, we had dinner at Aunt Ruth’s house and one of my boy cousins—David—and his friend, Deb, joined us.  Later, Jim, Lara’s husband (she’s the Girl Cousin who was out of town), came over for a little while.  The following day, Aunt Ruth treated all of us to a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River.  “All of us” included Aunt Ruth, David and Deb, Jim, Ted and me, and Linda—the second Girl Cousin at this stop—and her friend, Paul.  At first, I was puzzled that we had to be at the dock by 9:30 a.m. for a dinner cruise, but I soon remembered that, in the upper Midwest, people eat breakfast, dinner, and supper, so dinner would be served at noon.  As we entered the park at the boat dock, we passed this “Sister City” garden.  La Crosse has six sister cities and each of them has a portion of this garden designed to represent itself.

The weather was perfect for a river cruise, and we saw one beautiful sight after another during the three-hour cruise. The boat had a paddle wheel, and the captain assured us that it was a true paddle wheeler—the paddle provided the power to move the boat.

A short distance upriver, we passed through—not under—a “swing bridge.”  As a watercraft approaches, the bridge rotates (swings) ninety degrees to allow the boat to pass, as the boat in the left part of the photo below is doing.

After the boat passes, the bridge swings back.  In this picture, it is nearly completely closed.

There are 27 locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River between Minneapolis, MN and Cape Girardeau, MO.  On our river cruise, we passed through Lock & Dam 7 twice—once going upstream, then again going downstream.

Here’s a picture of a barge making a delivery upstream.  According to the captain’s narration, most barge traffic serves either the Upper Mississippi River from Minneapolis, MN to St. Louis, MO or the Lower Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans, LA.

These homes have a beautiful river view.

Here’s a picture of boathouses and houseboats.  Do you know the difference?  A houseboat has an engine; a boathouse does not.  😊  Boathouses are technically not for habitation, but some have amenities to make them more than simply a shed.

Ted and I have traveled along the Mississippi River from Menominee, WI to New Orleans, LA, but this is the first time I’ve seen a Mississippi River sand beach.  It reminded me of all the glacier-formed sand-bottom lakes that I enjoyed while growing up in Wisconsin.

It was a great day to be outside on the deck.  Not too hot (upper 70s) and not windy.  Here’s part of our group.  From left to right, Paul, Linda, me, Deb, and David.  Ted took the picture.

The dinner was delicious.  Turkey and chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots, coleslaw, dinner rolls, and carrot cake.  David managed to extend his arm far enough to get all of us into his picture.  Again, left to right you can see Ted, me, Jim, Aunt Ruth, Linda, Paul, Deb, and David—or at least the idea of David. 

After all the passengers had left the ship, one of the crew members took a picture of our group.  Once more, left to right, you can see Deb, Ruth, David, me, Jim, Linda, Paul, and Ted.  We all had a wonderful time and repeatedly thanked Aunt Ruth for the treat.

Jim, Ted, and I visited with Aunt Ruth for a little while after we returned to her house.  As with our other visits, our time together ended too soon.  Jim had to run some errands, and Ted and I needed to head for our next hotel.

Ted’s and my third stop on our road trip was Lake Geneva, WI, where I was able to visit with two of my Girl Cousins from my mother’s side of the family.  (We have boy cousins, but our brothers don’t have much interaction among themselves.)  Years ago, we girls named ourselves the “Girl Cousins.”  Once we had a Girl Cousin Weekend and it was a blast!  We talk about having another one, but we’re all too busy to organize it, so it hasn’t happened yet.  Donna lives in Lake Geneva and Judi lives in Brookfield, about an hour away from Lake Geneva.  Donna moved to Lake Geneva a few years ago, and Ted and I hadn’t seen her new house, so we had a tour.  Jon builds large, intricate, and detailed model boats and we enjoyed seeing some of his collection. 

Donna served her Grandma Drott’s outstanding lasagna for lunch, and Judi contributed lemon bars for dessert.  Then we got down to business, telling funny family stories for several hours because, as Judi said, “Nobody understands the craziness of your family better than your cousins.”

Judi also came in a new car. Mine was one week old; hers was two days old.  Ted and I left home for this road trip only five days after I picked up my car and, with trip prep chores to do, we didn’t have time to do more than figure out how the essentials on the car worked:  gas cap opener, bright/dim headlights, cruise control, radio, etc.  We decided to wait until we returned home to program the garage door opener.  Judi said they did the same before coming to Donna and Jon’s house for this visit.  We both have lane assist in our new cars and noticed that it’s firm, but easily overridden, if necessary.  Just for fun, as we drove to Donna and Jon’s house, we both (in our own cars) had held our hands just barely off the steering wheel to allow the car to turn itself on a curve.  I even let mine do an S-curve.  It was amazing!  Almost like a self-driving car!  Then we each (again, in our own cars) heard a warning beep and had a warning light with a message:  “Driver does not have hands on steering wheel.”  Oops!  It was good for a laugh that we both did the same thing.

Much too soon, it was time for Judi and Larry to go home and for Ted and me to head for our hotel de jour, but first, we took pictures.

Here are half of the six Girl Cousins—me, Judi, and Donna.

Then, our husbands.  All three men are so nice, and they enjoy each other’s company.  We women decided that, in choosing these guys, “We all done good.”  This photo features Larry, Ted, and Jon.

We finished with a group photo.  Judi propped her camera on a chair back, set the timer, and with only one try, we got this picture, featuring Ted and me, Jon and Donna, and Larry and Judi. Good times!

Although we’ve kept in touch, Ted and I have not visited our Wisconsin friends and families since 2018.  It was time to head north. On (to) Wisconsin!

Our grandchildren are growing up and moving away from home, so Sky no longer lives only a few minutes from our house. Our first road trip stop was in Rockford, IL where Sky relocated for his job with Quik Trip.  The apartment where he and Adelle live is charming, in an older house with lots of windows. 

Sky might have enough Lego to build a Legoland of his own.  For his recent birthday, he bought himself the Lego Star Wars Venator—one of the biggest Star Wars kits to date.  It’s nearly as large as the dining room table.  On the shelf behind the table, you can see the bouquets of Lego flowers Sky has built.

Luckily, the apartment has an extra bedroom that Sky can use to store all of his Lego.   The walls are filled with shelves of boxed Lego pieces, all sorted by type and color.  Here are some of the Lego people Sky has—all sorted, of course.  He said he has three more shelves to add to this wall for additional Lego.

The living room, like that in many older houses, has multi-paned windows and crown molding.

When we sat down to visit with each other for a little while, the oversized teddy bear seemed interested in our conversation.

Because the weather was so nice, we decided to take a walk along the Rock River before going out to dinner.  We saw this colorful sculpture.

These benches accommodate adults (left) and children (right).

A little later, we walked past this pretty gazebo.

Before long, the sun was setting over the Rock River.  It was time to have dinner and then to take a guided, personalized tour of the new Rockford Quik Trip where Sky works in a beginning management position, and which he helped set up for its grand opening.

After our visit with Sky, Ted and I stopped for gas.  While Ted was paying for it, a Black man at the gas station asked if that was Ted’s car.  Ted told him it’s my car, to which the man replied, “If that’s your wife’s car, she’s a hot mama!”  Maybe I should change my car’s name from Gigi to Hot Mama. With a full gas tank, we drove to our hotel in Madison, WI.

The following morning, I met with two of the six members of the Orchard Street Gang–the women I shared a house with during my senior year of college. Four of us had known each other from our freshman year dorm days; the other two were wonderful additions to our group. Eileen lives in Marquette, MI, but was in Madison for a college football weekend and to visit her son; Leila has lived in Madison since we graduated from college. It was a great opportunity to see both women, so Ted and I planned a stop in Madison.  Leila was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 15 years ago and is in an assisted living unit, making it the easiest place for all of us to meet, eat, and visit.  Eileen (left) and I are standing; Leila is in the wheelchair.

Eileen brought breakfast food, and we had a wonderful three-hour visit.  There was so much to catch up on—our families, our current activities, and even some long-ago college memories that we shared.  All these years later, we are still BFFs.

Ted and I were amazed at the generosity of our children when they came to our house to celebrate Ted’s birthday. Due to the pandemic, we had to cancel our scheduled 2020 cruise to South America and we have not yet re-scheduled that trip. Imagine our surprise when Ted opened one of his birthday gifts and saw these vouchers for upgraded accommodations and for two of the excursions we were planning to take in South America. The photo was on one side of each voucher, and the text was on the reverse side.

There was a voucher for upgraded accommodations, . . .

. . . one for a national park in Patagonia, . . .

. . . and one for Machu Picchu.

Also included in the gift box was a personal letter from Pam, our travel agent.

Ted and I were nearly speechless. I remember saying something like “I guess we’re finally going to South America.” I think Ted said something brilliant like “Wow!” We couldn’t believe the generosity of our children. I mean, really! This is an over-the-top, high-end birthday gift! After a few minutes of our astonishment, Jeff said, “Ok, I think this has gone on long enough” and informed us that this was a gag gift. He had created the vouchers on his computer and printed them on very authentic-looking semi-rigid cardstock.

If Ted and/or I had read the very fine print at the bottom of each voucher, we would have known this was a gag. The three vouchers had a total of 99 different disclaimers! They were worth reading because they were so creative, but who reads the fine print when they’re so overwhelmed by the large print and the photo? Here are some of the disclaimers.

Penthouse Veranda: Warranty does not cover . . . typographical errors . . . nearby supernova . . . falling rocks . . . sonic boom vibrations . . . leaky roof . . . forest fire . . . missing or altered serial numbers . . . dropping the item . . .

Gateway to Patagonia: No animals were harmed during the production of this product . . . actual mileage may vary . . . one size fits all . . . at participating locations only . . . beware of dogs . . . some assembly required . . . no serviceable parts inside . . .

Best of Peru: Rent at your own risk . . . keep away from sunlight . . . may contain nuts . . . batteries not included . . . parental guidance advised . . . hand wash only . . . refrigerate after opening . . . do not puncture or incinerate . . .

The letter was written by Kaitlyn, our granddaughter-in-law. Jeff (and possibly others) taught her how to write in cursive so the letter would look authentic and so we wouldn’t recognize our kids’ handwriting. We’ve been making travel plans with Pam since 2015 and, after each trip, she sends us a personal, handwritten “welcome home” note. If Ted and I had not been so distracted by the extravagance of the “vouchers,” we would have immediately recognized that this was not Pam’s handwriting.

We recently had a meeting with Pam, so we took our “vouchers” to her and said we wanted to use them for a make-up trip to South America next year. She, too, was amazed at Viking’s generosity. Then we told her the birthday gift story and showed her the letter “she” wrote. In an astonished voice, she asked us, “Couldn’t you tell it wasn’t my handwriting?!” Again, the pictures and the large print overshadowed the details.

Pam asked if we were disappointed when we found out this was a joke and we said that no, we were actually relieved because it made us uncomfortable that our kids had spent that much money on us. After the “reality reveal” on Ted’s birthday, we had a good family laugh and looked forward to using the “vouchers” to fool Pam.

Well, played, kids. Well played. 🙂